Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
As we head into the New Year and we reflect back and look forward, I thought it might be a fun idea to make some predictions. I’ve made a number of them so will feature examples over the next couple of weeks … although some of them may be somewhat optimistic.
People will learn that killing themselves in the gym isn’t great. How’s that for starters?
We live in a society that glamourises the ‘no pain – no gain’ mentality. All these motivational pictures that are plastered all over Facebook, big training montages all show us how important it is to train as hard as humanly possible at that moment in time and that if we do that then we can get results in no time...
However, the results that we actually will get from training like this are a weaker immune system, great fatigue, higher cortisol, digestive stress and slower progress.
Constantly training like a mad-person and pushing yourself to the very limit every session does not improve the body, it only tests it.
Training at a percentage of your max is what minimises joint stress and central nervous system fatigue. This is what builds strong, lean bodies, most people need to dial it back a notch and allow themselves to progress.
The other issue with all this ‘pain is weakness leaving the body’ thinking is that it puts people off starting training. It alienates those that have not yet started their journey and makes it seem impossible.
Listen to me when I say holding back, keeping fresh as much as possible is the key to making and keeping long-term progress.
I think this year people will should start training smarter rather than harder.
Yes, lift heavy. Yes, train intense. Yes, work hard. But people will realise that fitness is truly a long game plan.
