FITNESS TRAINING: ARTICLES

Work Out Smarter Not Harder
By John Hoeber, MS, RD

The perfect workout has been discovered. It’s the newest routine and it’s guaranteed to get you into shape and take you to the next level. You sign up for the class or the training sessions, learn the basics and begin a three-day a week regimen. Since you are consistent you begin to see some changes in your body. You get stronger, more flexible or whatever the exercises effect. After a while, however, the benefits come slower and are harder to achieve. You don’t want to lose the momentum so through force of habit or the advice of a well-meaning trainer you workout harder. Your workouts become longer and more intense. You go up to four or five days per week, trying to improve your results. That seems to help slightly, but now you’re working out all the time, just to end up on a plateau, burned out, or laid up with an over stress injury.

What happened? There was probably nothing wrong with the routine or with you. What happened is that your body got bored. Your muscles got so used to the exercises that they barely woke up during the workout. You hit a plateau, and if you spend enough time on that plateau, eventually you start a slow steady decline.

What is needed is a new challenge for the body to adapt to, a totally new workout with similar, but slightly different goals. The body is amazing in the way that it adapts to any given challenge. The response is immediate. As soon as you challenge a muscle it responds by becoming stronger. As soon as you use your balance and coordination, the neurological pathways are enhanced. Once it adapts to that particular challenge it’s ready for the next one.

Weightlifters use the practice of periodization where a period of heavy weights, say 6-12 weeks is followed by an easier period, then a moderate period, before going back to the heavy stuff. Athletes have different goals and different workouts for the off-season, the pre-season, and during the season itself. The overall goal is to peak at a particular time (with a higher peak each season), and avoid the overstress of doing a single routine all year round. Good fitness trainers focus on specific short-term goals for their clients and reassess every three months or more.

If you’re one who defines him/herself by a single sport such as running or tennis, and that’s all you do, working out harder will only lead you to a plateau, burnout, or an overstress injury. Instead you should workout smarter. Diversify your workout investment like a smart mutual fund manager. Find the right mix of exercises for your goals and tweak it every so often to give it some fresh excitement.