Are You Missing Out on These 8 Workout Basics?
Are You Missing Out on These 8 Workout Basics?
Just read a quote, and I’ve seen a few different ones along the same line, but the TRUTH in the message is the same. Principles are universal and don’t change! Fades, new “systems” come and go. But if you follow those sound principals – the path you follow is all yours. Just make sure the path you run down is marked with some sound elements along the way to get you to where you want to go.
Here are 8 workout basics that can help you get to your health and fitness goals no matter what direction you head!
- Start with a Good Warm-Up
It’s easy to forget to get in a good warm-up. And we’re not talking about doing few arm circles and touching your toes twice! It’s often overlooked because the results are not as visible as results from resistance training or seeing the sweat and burn from a hard cardio workout —or so you thought. Warming up should get your body warmed up, activated and ready to work.
2. Do Different Movements for your “Core”
Key here is to remember that your “core” isn’t just the ab’s on the front of your body! The core is from the chest to the knees and all the way around. So instead of just doing those crunches on the floor (which gives you flexion), make sure you are doing different directions; flexion, extension, rotation and Anti movements where you resist movement through that motion – think of doing a plank where you don’t want to flex or extend, but be able to hold posture; thats anti-flexion and anti-extension. Change up core workouts to hit all areas and angles.
3. Do a Pull for every Push
Don’t just work the “mirror muscles”! How often do we see folks doing chest, shoulders, arms, leg extensions, ab’s; and numerous exercises and movement for those muscles, the ones that we can look and see when we’re in front of the mirror. We often forget about the backside of the body, which is just as important to maintain good health, posture, keep our body moving correctly and help prevent alignment issues. Make sure for every mirror muscle you work, you work a group on the back side that is just as important.
4. Make sure you do some type of Resistance Training
If you’re not doing some type of resistance work with your workout, you’re missing a huge way to improve your health, fitness and performance. Maintaining strength is vital as we age, and if we are training for a specific activity, making sure to add some resistance work will reap huge benefits; protecting bone health, maintain muscle mass for faster metabolism, keeps weight off, works with better body mechanics and boosts energy levels.
5. Check to make sure your Pattern of Movement is correct
Just “doing” an exercise to get it done can lead down the wrong path. There is a reason we talk about DOING THE RIGHT MOVES. This is about doing the right exercises you need to help you be the best you can be, but also about doing those movements correctly. If you can’t squat without having your knees go way out in front of your toes, or your knees buckle and drop inward, maybe squatting isn’t your best exercise. There are still a number of exercise you can pick from to help get your legs stronger, so find one that helps you get closer to your goals – and keeps you safe, injury free and healthy as you go.
6. Add proper progression to the mix
Doing the same sets, reps, intensity, volume (all these are training terms you should get to know!) all the time can lead to hitting a plateau in your training, make your workouts boring and even lead to a decrease in performance levels. By adding some type of progression in your workout; adding more weight, taking less rest, doing the same movement (pattern) but changing what type of resistance you are using, can make a huge difference on your training program and the results you see. Again, if your not sure about what you should do, get with a professional who can help you maneuver through the workout maze.
7. Put a Plan together for your goals
We talk about this often. You have to know your “why” you are doing what you are doing, and the “how” becomes easier. By knowing what the goals are, the time frame to reach those realistic goals and the benefits you’ll get from working to get there, the journey, the work and the effort will be easier and you’ll be able to set markers to make sure you’re on track to get there.
8. Make sure you’re having fun
Last, but not least – MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FUN when you’re doing what you are doing. Experts know that when you enjoy the things you do – yes even working out and training – your chance to sticking with it long term increases greatly. So just don’t get in another workout – train with a purpose and enjoy the results.
Mark “Coach Rozy” Roozen is owner/director of Coach Rozy Performance – Powered by AVERA Sports Yankton. He can be reached at 817-219-2811, email him at rozyroozen@gmail.com you can find about training programs, bootcamps and athletic & sport development.
