How to improvise your workout
Ah, January. For anyone reading this that has been working out at a gym for a number of years, you know the pain of January. It’s the time of year when you walk into to do your routine but every station you want is taken by someone that has no idea what they are doing and is having more fun socializing than actually getting a workout. When I was a little younger I remember just praying February would come so I could get back to my workouts as planned. I guess my age is catching up with me now though because I find myself giving these people pointers on their form and encouraging them to keep at it.
For some reason though, this January was somewhat amiss. Really, all month I’ve been able to go in and get in my workouts. Things haven’t actually been that crowded and I am incredibly thankful. However, over this last few days, it has felt like the first week of January any other year. Every time I walk In the door, there are new faces all over my weights. Normally I would just ask to jump in but because I have timed rest periods, its not something that is really all that feasible. So I’ve had to make some compromises and that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about.
Yesterday was my leg day and it seemed every leg station I wanted was taken. Now I have very specific exercises I’m supposed to follow for the Maximize Your Muscle program so what should I do? Well, in a situation like that, you only really have three choices. You can ask to work in and inevitably sacrifice things like rest times which are vitally important, you can choose to pack it up and go home because there is just no way you’re going to get in your workout or you can do what I did and start improvising.
If you’re on a specific program though, you can’t just start throwing in new exercises off the top of your head or you’re not really following the program. So what to do? I’ve decided to put together a few tips for you below that I believe will really help you stay on your program even when parts of your program aren’t available.
1. You have to have a program:
This may seem like a duh concept but you’d be surprised how many people fail to create or follow a program for themselves. Without a program, measurable progress becomes virtually impossible. A good program should have goals, proper warm up and stretches for the exact workout your doing, specific exercises to reach your goals, and a way to keep time on your rests. For instance, if you’re trying to gain weight like me, you have to have a lot of compound movements such as bench press, squats, deadlifts, cleans, lunges, pull ups, etc. You should have a set and rep scheme worked out and know your rest periods for each. You should know how long your time under tension should be and you should have a count for your reps and you should have a journal to ensure proper tracking of your workouts so you know what you’re trying to beat. And we can’t forget nutrition. All of these things are critical to achieving success. Leave any of them out and you might just be spinning your wheels.
2. Understand what your program is about:
The first good step in making a program is to understand what you are trying to do. If you don’t know exactly what you are trying to do and how the things you are doing will take you to your goal, you will never reach your potential. I don’t care if you workout daily with maximum intensity. If you don’t have some understanding of what you are doing or have someone close by that does, you will never reach your potential. You will just be flailing around bouncing from one worthless thing to the next and your body will never figure out what its supposed to be doing. So the first step in being able to improvise, is to know what you’re improvising for. If you have a program designed that calls for a stretch exercise for you triceps but you don’t realize it, you may decide that dips or a close grip bench press will work in place of it but being mid range tricep exercises, you won’t be accomplishing what your program has set out for you and you won’t reach you full potential in the program.
3.Planning:
You know what they say; failing to plan is planning to fail. Once you have everything else worked out, once you know your goals and have a program worked out. You then have to have contingencies set up for when something takes you off your set track. This could be a number of things, maybe one exercise is giving you physical trouble. Maybe you’re back or wrists are bothering you with a certain exercise, maybe someone has taken your machine, maybe the station you use normally is out of order. There are a number of reasons why you may need to make a quick switch to another exercise. The trick is that you have to have an alternate exercise in the can and waiting for execution. For instance, if someone is on the squat rack, be ready to move to the leg press, if the pull down area is out of order, do some pull ups. If you can’t access the easy bar for curls, use dumbbells. There is always another way to get done what you’re looking to accomplish but in the middle of a good workout, you can’t hum and ha around trying to figure it out. If you’re trying to keep the intensity going, you have to know where to go and do it now. Get a list of alternate exercises and keep it handy. Write it in your journal ahead of time so you don’t waste precious time in the gym. Plan ahead, and you will never be knocked off your path to success and the body you want.
There you have it. Three tips that you should keep in mind at all times if you want success in fitness. I know to some of you, the thought of putting together a plan like that can be daunting. If this is the case for you, do yourself a favor and get a trainer to get you going in the right direction. If that’s too expensive, there are many great programs online. I’ve used several but a really good one is one I talk about all the time. Vince Delmonte’s No Nonsense Muscle Building. In that program, Vince goes over everything you need to know and actually builds several programs for you. He even includes nutrition plans for whatever your goals are based on wherever you are right now on your path. Do yourself a favor and check it out here. Or if your goal is to lose a few pounds or finally get those coveted six-pack abs, Check out Your Six Pack Quest here. Both of these programs are great places to begin!
Expect Success!
Kris
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