The days of just ‘going down the gym’ and doing your own thing are almost gone now!
With the popularity of ‘aesthetics’ growing so much that bodybuilding style training has become huge, also people wanting to improve their strength and athletic ability so has a crossfit style of training become massively popular as well.
We also love to train with others in a group class such as a circuit or spin class, tunes pumping and the instructor shouting out to keep you motivated can make for a great fun workout for people!
A cardio session made up of some long intervals on a treadmill and bike can leave you feeling really good about your efforts and anytime you just get a good sweat on is always a bonus right?
As you can see there are so many different styles of training these days that picking what is best is a difficult decision, after all what is best?
What is best? Well that all depends on why you are at the gym to begin with?
What are your long term goals?
To lose weight? To get fitter? To build muscle? As you can see even this is a difficult choice?
Maybe, all of the above right!?
Once you have an idea of what your goals are then, you should start to look into the benefits of all of these styles of training.
If your goal is to look a certain way (beach body/ripped etc) then you are certainly going to want to incorporate some body building style sessions in there, as you are going to be wanting to build some lean muscle tissue. This doesn’t mean you have to only follow a typical bodybuilding split (unless you really enjoy it, you can get some amazing results like that) you can also include some Crossfit style conditioning workouts as well. These are fantastic at not only burning a load of calories but again helping build some muscle and getting you super fit at the same time!
If your goal is to lose some weight and start getting into the ‘whole gym thing’ then classes can be great, you will be in a big group, and also have an instructor there to help you through the session.
Spin classes, Bootcamp style sessions are a great way of getting you moving and burning calories even if you think of yourself as a beginner or you are not very confident in the gym environment these can help get you more and more comfortable in the gym.
As you can see there really is something for everyone!
Where I am going with this little ‘ramble’ is that there is certainly not a ‘best’ way of training, only what is going to be best for you personally.
Working as a Personal trainer I would certainly say that over the years I have developed my own methods of training my clients.
No matter what my clients goals are I want them to feel as strong and fit as possible, being able to squat with good form, to a good amount of press ups etc are all going to give you a load of benefits.
As for myself I have my own goals and these are to stay as strong and fit as possible as well, also I don’t mind admitting I like to look a certain way (I love having a six pack!) so I have taken pieces of training from all of the above styles. Bodybuilding pieces, crossfit conditioning workouts and basic power lifting such as heavy squatting and deadlifting all play a part in my own training these days.
I love to keep it simple and just focus on the basics of some good old heavy lifting with squats and deadlifts, and on other days I will spend a lot of time during my session working on just 1 lift such as a ‘power clean’. On other days I will follow more of a bodybuilding style session and do a lot of ‘chest and shoulder’ exercises as you can see, I will do a large variety of different sessions over the week. Why do I do this then? Well the main reason is because I really enjoy it! And that is the most important thing with your own training, you MUST enjoy it other wise you will never keep it up long term!
The most important part of your training is that you must be consistent over a long period of time.
I could put together what I would say is the best training plan for you to follow but if you don’t enjoy it you will not stick to it?
If you want to make progress i.e. to lose body fat or to build some muscle, you are going to need to be consistent week in week out. This could mean you go to the gym Monday, Tuesday and Saturday for 12 months straight. Or I could put a training plan together where you train 6 days a week Monday through Saturday but you hate it and only manage to keep to it for 6 weeks and then you give up… who is going to have made the most progress over the 12 months?
So going back to the title of this blog, there are so many different styles of working out there is going to be something out there that you should enjoy? We should all exercise on a regular basis not because of vanity reasons but because the human body is built to move… lift run and jump! We have been doing this for 1000s of years!
If you don’t keep your body moving and active on a regular basis then it will start to let you down, we all want to feel fit and healthy for the rest of our lives right?
So look after your body and it will look after you!
Ever heard that quote ‘Use it or lose it’!
I love to train and keep active, its probably a bit of an obsession, I don’t mind admitting that but I love how it makes me feel. I have a young daughter and she is Hyper… doesn’t stop moving and I love being able to take her to places like a ‘soft play’ playground as she loves it and I can go in and chase her around without being exhausted or even getting injured in there!
I want to be able to keep doing these things with her, so its not just about ‘the ABS’… as much as I love having a six pack, its also about feeling fit and healthy for life!
So try to find a form of exercise that you enjoy so that you can stay active and stay healthy for the long run!
Hope you enjoyed the blog and will catch you on the next one.
Stay strong and fit people!
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