Goals
Set goals and start progressing yourself towards them. Maybe you want to bench press 100kg or do 20 press ups. You set the goal yourself, make it tough enough so that you are going to have to push yourself to reach it, this way you will increase your fitness. When personal training women I like to set them some resistance goals, do ten full press ups is normally a good place to start, don’t worry ladies you won’t get big muscles setting goals like this will really help tone you up. Once you reach any resistance goal set a new one, keep pushing yourself till you reach it. Examples of goals could be do a certain number of press ups or chin ups, or you could set yourself a weight to life doing squats or bench press.
Increase intensity
Intensity is the amount of energy you use in a given time. To increase the intensity of your resistance workouts you can do all or one of the following, add more weight to your exercises, increase the amount of sets you do or cut down the rest time you have between sets. When I’m personal training I increase the intensity every session as it the quickest way to get you fitness up.
Supersets
There are two ways to superset the first is to work two different body parts straight after each other. For example you could superset your biceps and triceps, as soon as you have put down the weight after finishing you bicep set pick the triceps weight up and do a set on them. When personal training clients I like to superset the back and chest muscles, as they are big muscle groups and you burn loads of calories in the process. The second way to superset is to work one muscle but use different exercises each set. For example say you were working you chest you could do a set on the bench press then once you have completed that immediately move onto a set of dumbbell flies. The key to super setting is to have little or no rest between sets.
Stripping method
The stripping method is when you work you muscles to failure doing a particular exercise then when you physically can’t do anymore you grab a lighter weight and continue with that until you reach failure and drop the weight again. For example when I personal train people and we are doing the chest press, and the client physically can’t do anymore reps on the first set, I will take off some weight off each end of the bar and they carry on until they can’t lift the weight anymore, then I will remove a bit more and so on. This technique is great to use at the end of your workout to really work the muscles thoroughly.
I go/you go
I often join in the personal training sessions with clients and I like to use the I go/you go technique. It is very simple for any given exercise that we are doing as soon as I have finish my set my client takes the weights off me and does their set. Then when they have done their set I take the weight off them and immediately do my next set. If you have a training partner you can use this technique with them, it stops you standing around chatting for ages and gets your fitness to a new level.
21s
I use this technique when personal training to really work a particular muscle thoroughly. Take the barbell bicep curl for example you are going to do 21 reps, 7 in the lower half on the range of motion, 7 in the upper half of the range of motion and then 7 full reps to finish up on. This technique can be applied to most resistance exercises. Your muscles should be burning by the end of it.
Ballistic training
I use this ballistic training when I a personal training a client and they want to develop the power in their muscles. This technique is great for sports training to develop massive power. Use any exercise, take the bench press for example, any lower the weight very slowly to your chest, and then push it up as fast as your can accelerating it all the way. Lower the weight slowly then push it up as hard and a fast as you can, a great technique to recruiting the maximum amount of muscle fibres in the muscles being worked.
Count to 10
I use this technique when personal training clients to get them fit quickly. It is very simple you are only allowed 10 seconds rest between sets. When you have finished a set count to 10 then pick up the weight and do the next one. Makes you muscles really burn and great for reducing your recovery time.
Priority training
When personal training I find out which area of their body the client wants to make the most improvement on, e.g. arms, abs, bicep, chest, legs etc… Once I have found this out I tailor the resistance part of the session to work that muscle first when they are still fresh, as they will work it more thoroughly when they have more energy rather than right at the end of the session when they are tired. If you have a particular muscle you want to develop more that another give this one priority and work it at the beginning of you resistance workout.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or e-mail me:
E-mail: pete@petegriggs.com. Phone: 07947 049889.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.