Keep it interesting!
If you have ever worked out for a prolonged period you will have undoubtedly hit a sticking spot.
Well, actually with any activity we undertake that is long term we can always plateau with our improvements.
So today I want to let you in on the not so little secret that seems to work for so many people around the world.
And that is keeping it interesting.
The biggest factor in succeeding with any exercise program is consistency. That is number one and not at all negotiable.
But what happens when that consistency leads to stagnation? Are you not getting where you want to be?
When you start an exercise program the results and personal records (PRs) come thick and fast! Your body responds to the new stimulus you are throwing at it and adapts. These adaptations are the improvements you are seeing.
When that stimulus ceases to be new, or different anymore, that is where we hit plateaus, or sticking points.
I hear you saying, ‘hang on Jim, you said be consistent!!’ Yes, yes I did.
And that is where I come in.
The thing about being consistent is that you need to turn up day in day out, but you needn’t do exactly the same thing each time.
For me the answer is CrossFit. And the way I program and train it.
CrossFit is constantly varied. No, not random! Varied.
When I am writing a program I look at how we can progress people, how do we get them from point A to B, then to C, D, E and so on.
So I will take movements and have my people progressively overload them. That might look like increased weight on a bar bell, or it might mean more reps. It could also mean more work in the same amount of time, or a shorter time to complete the work.
By changing up the reps and the loads we can see people break through those little plateaus they encounter.
The other side of this coin is the variety and in turn not really getting bored with the program.
I know I have been in the gym sick of the same routine. But that was now over 15 years ago. Since undertaking my first CrossFit workout in June 2011 I have yet to become bored with it or sick of training.
There is always something to learn in CrossFit, and that is part of my love for it.
I have nothing against people that go to the gym and do chest and bis Monday, quads and lats Tuesday, hammies and delts Wednesday, glutes and core Thursday, and cardio Friday (who am I kidding, there is no cardio haha jks). If that works for you and you turn up day in day out, more power to you. But if you are finding that you are not hitting the gym as often, or you are scrolling your phone more than lifting when you go then maybe you are in need of a change up.
I make sure there are progressions in our program here. So we see cycles, and we see blocks of exercises. But I also make sure there is plenty of variety.
It is super easy in the modern world to be distracted and end up bored of your regular routine. That’s super understandable. So I want to make it as easy as possible to go to the gym, not as easy as possible to fob it off.
I have now been helping people here at CrossFit Armidale for over 13 years as an affiliate, and in that time I have learnt from my mistakes, I have released myself from the fitness dogma that permeates at times.
And what that has resulted in is I am better equipped to help you find what works.
I know you sometimes need to really feel like there is nothing left in the tank. But I also know that you cannot maintain that every single day. I know that varying the intensity of your workouts is in your best interests,
I know that you want excitement, you want it to be different.
I know you need to feel better in your skin and find the best way to do that.
So today I want you to commit to yourself, commit to consistency in turning up, and commit to constantly varying those workouts so that you don’t get stuck and give it all away. Because that is the last thing we want.
Maybe CrossFit is the thing that might stir the workout fires again for you.