Right, you've had enough, your ready to get it together and get in the best shape of your life..
The more you do, the better the results, right? No, actually!
As a PT, you wont believe the amount of clients I have worked with that are keen, borderline obsessed with achieing the goals they have set out for themselves, to the point where I have their weeks training planned and prepared, yet they come in an extra three or four times A WEEK repeating exercises they had done with me. Cue the keyword, OVERTRAINING, which is a whole other topic within itself.
Whilst motivation is always a great tool to have in your progression arsenal, it can sometimes take over rational thought and planning, and end up being detrimental to the long term goal. Here is where the key word comes in. PERIODISATION. Periodisation is the systematic planning of physical exercise and rest days in order to achieve the best results for a specific date/event.
“But im just training for my physique, so surely this doesnt apply to me?” Incorrect.
Although technically the definition of periodisation is as above, the principle still applies in order to be able to progressively overload the body consistently, and more importantly safely! Consistent progressive overload = consistent progressive results. You may or may not have heard “your muscles grow outside of the gym” This, to the most part is correct. When resistance training, essentially what you are doing is creating microscopic tears in the fibres of whichever muscle you are training. Its not until you are outside of the gym resting that your body initiates the recovery process – during which the said muscles are repaired and, with the right nutrition, grow.
In my experience, a good starting point for a new resistance trainee would be three days in the gym, split evenly over the week, with a view to increase these as they become more conditioned (fitter).
So to wrap it up, if you're starting a new training programme and are raring to go, good! Just be sure to make a plan of WHAT you are training, WHEN you are training it and BE SURE to factor in sufficient rest days in between!
Luke