Why Time Is Screwing Up Your Workout
By admin
I love high intensity workouts. I love workouts where I know if I push harder and move faster, I’ll be done sooner.
I feel like gone are the days where you simply walked into a gym and perform 3 sets of 10 reps of a few exercises. I’m not complaining at all, as a gym owner and trainer, I love creating fun workouts for my clients. New ways to push them.
Workouts have become so much more creative over the past 10 years. The sky really is the limit.
But one thing is still important to most workouts…
Time.
A lot of the programs I build revolve around time.
- How many rounds can you complete in xx minutes?
- Here’s the workout, how long will it take for you to complete it from start to finish?
- Quick, 30 seconds on the clock, how many reps can you do?
Timed workouts work great because it gives us a mental image of how hard we can push.
If we know one part of the workout will be over in 10 minutes, we can really give our all for those 10 minutes. Right?
Or if you’re just doing push-ups for 30 seconds, you’ll find yourself really working to not stop at 25 seconds to rest.
It’s great, but most people do it wrong.
Feeling Rushed
I know what my clients are capable of. I know each person’s individual abilities and I know when they’re taking short cuts.
Last week, I went over a 10 minute workout. Their goal… complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes. Now, I know that every single woman in that class was capable of doing every single move of the workout with perfect form.
Yet, when I said the magic words “5, 4, 3, 2, 1… GO!” it was as if they all forgot how to exercise.
I stopped the timer and every person in the room to discuss exactly what I am about to discuss here…
Stop feeling rushed.
Most people get their workout britches in a wad when time is brought into the equation. They suddenly feel as if Superman woman is working out next to them and they have to beat him.
The good news is that Superwoman isn’t working out next to them or you, so slow it down.
Instead of focusing on speed, focus on quality.
As a trainer, I would much rather see 3 awesome rounds, with every single rep being executed perfectly than to see 6 rounds of shitty, rushed reps.
It’s Okay To Rest
If keeping proper form or continuing to do the unmodified version of exercises means you have to rest…
Then rest! <– Don’t take a nap or anything but resting a few seconds to shake out muscles… there’s no shame.
I had a client that began doing push-ups on her knees once she grew tired. When I called her out, she said that she was only able to do 2 reps at a time if she did “big girl” push-ups but could do all the reps on her knees at once.
I responded back that 2 reps at a time is perfect.
It’s working to make you stronger. Taking short cuts to get more rounds or to get done faster isn’t helping you achieve that. It’s actually holding you back and increasing your risk of injury.
Slow & Steady Wins The Race
Okay, let’s cover a few things here and why you need to slow it down.
Perhaps your squats aren’t so squatty. Or your push-ups have you leaning back and doing what I like to call the “chicken peck” <— You know you’re not really bending your arms as much as you are simply letting your head bob up and down as if you’re pecking the ground.
If you start your workout going at 100% and rushing through reps, you’re going to burn yourself out. Long and more frequent rests will find you and at the end you’ll feel as if you completed a marathon even though you didn’t come close since all of your reps were crap.
But if you slow down to make sure every rep is in fact a rep, you’ll be in control. You’ll control the pace and the outcome. Oh, you’ll still feel as if you ran a marathon at the end, but that’s because you actually did the workout full out, making every single rep count.
Make sense?
And finally, let’s talk about injuries. I mentioned that sacrificing form can increase your risk of injuries. It’s a no brainer.
But it’s not just immediate injuries I’m worried about. Yes, do a snatch too fast or haphazardly and you’re likely going to end up with a torn rotator cuff. But let’s say that doesn’t happen. Instead you make it through the workout but the moves weren’t really done to your best ability. Yet, no workout you do is.
What happens? Overuse injuries… and those are the pains in the butt. The little ache that works its way up to being a big ache that you want to ignore. And you try to. But effectually it makes itself known and before you know it, you’re out for 6 weeks to allow your body to heal.
Learn to do things right, ALWAYS, and improve your life. <— That’s what exercise is suppose to do!
Makes sense right?
Reindeer Run Speedy Recap
After talking it up for so long, I didn’t want to neglect sharing my costume from the Reindeer Run this past weekend.
I ended up showing up dressed as a pseudo Christmas Tree.
In my race packet were a pair of reindeer antlers, which I cut the material off and used the wire and handband to create my star topper.
The rest was just a green outfit with ornaments pinned on.
As for the run itself, it was awesome. I surprised myself by running a 22.03 which was over 30 seconds FASTER than last year. Pretty good considering that I haven’t trained for a 5K in over 6 months!
I placed 4th in my age group and 16th overall female. I won’t lie, those 3 seconds bother me just a little. Next time, next time.
Thanks for all your recommendations for costume ideas!