How Often Should I Train?
Throughout my entire life I have been active in some sense, whether it’s play as a child, sport as a teenager or training in the gym. Because it’s something I’ve always done it’s something that is “normal” and most importantly is something that I enjoy.
It makes sense then that I’ve ended up with Hybrid Performance. It is a trap many of us trainers fall into however- we love exercising, we are a little crazy and enjoy really pushing the physical limits. That is our normal.
Understandably however, it isn’t everyone else’s and that’s cool.
With the rise in exercise forms such as CrossFit and HIIT style training a primary method of advertising was that you could train like an athlete and perform like an athlete.
But what if you don’t want to be an athlete? What if you just want the health benefits from exercise- a clearer mind, drop a little body fat, look good and feel good.
If this is your training goal- how hard do you need to work? This is a question I was asked this week and it got me thinking.
On one end of the spectrum if your training goal is to lose twenty plus kilograms, or build stacks of lean muscle then realistically there will be lots of hard work. Provided you are working smart WHILE working hard you may find you need to be doing something most days.
Depending on your start point your week may be predominantly working on recovery with a little harder work, or vice versa. The point is big changes in a short time require daily work, but it should be smart work to make sure you’re always progressing.
Flip the scenario over to the other end of the scale and say you want to lose two to three kilograms, improve your health and fitness a little and have fun doing so.
Realistically you may find that two to three sessions may be all you need- they might not even need to be intense, some of the work should be, but it doesn’t all need to be. Depending on your goals and what kind of exercise you enjoy your week may look like one HIIT class, one strength class and a yoga class. Maybe you mix the HIIT class up with Zumba.
You won’t need to be busting your ass in the gym seven days a week and dieting like a person possessed by the food demons. This ties in with last weeks article- performing the minimum effective dose, or just enough to get results moving in the right direction.
Ideally the majority of people will find a happy place where everything is balanced. Their nutrition is 80/20 nutrient dense foods to some less nutritious foods. Exercise is not a chore but enjoyed and as a result is varied in it’s stimulus, demands and outcomes.
Our bodies are capable of incredible things, performance is a extra-curricular, good health should be the standard.