Thanks to everyone for entering my giveaway for Spright Cosmetics! Head on down to the bottom of the post to find out if you won!
Onto today’s topic…training programs!
If you’ve been a reader for a long time, you probably already know that I usually follow strength training programs and have for a few years. Once I had Connor and decided to train for the RKC I got even more serious about it and brought in the big guns…my hubs. First of all, he’s a really smart guy and knows what he’s doing when writing training programs and second, he makes me do the things that I hate.
I’m not training for anything specific right now so I have written a few of my own programs, but he wrote my program this month and I love it.
Regardless of who writes your program (I’d be happy to help you!), here are three specific reasons WHY I recommend that you follow a program instead of making up workouts as you go along.
1. Having to think of what to do every time I train stresses me out. I have a limited time every time I train and I’d rather use the extra few minutes to warm up longer, do a few extra turkish get ups or add-in some metabolic conditioning. Or to be honest…lay on the floor in silence sometimes!
2. Writing my workouts down and keeping track of what I do helps me to stay consistent. One of the biggest challenges people have when trying to get fit is staying consistent. Just like using a food journal to help you stay consistent with your positive nutrition habits, using a training journal can help you become consistent with your workouts (both getting them done and making progress).
This has helped a ton with doing Pavel’s Fighter Pull up Program…31 pull ups yesterday and 32 on the docket for today! Wowza!
3. Training programs (when well-written) are like road maps to your goals. Think about it. What if you want to go to a new friend’s house and you have his/her address, but you don’t have directions/GPS/phone? You know where you want to go, but how the heck are you going to get there? If you just get in the car and keep trying to find your friend’s house, you might eventually get there, but it will take a lot longer than if you had directions.
Same goes for your goals! If you do ad-hoc workouts and randomly throw together exercises you may or may not reach your goals and you certainly will not get there as fast as you would if you had a program to follow.
Are there exceptions to following the plan?
Of course! There are days when you just don’t feel like training and it might be better to go for a run or take an extra rest day. You know your body and deep down I bet you know if you’re making excuses and you should just stick to the plan even though you don’t feel like it.
Since my goals lately have been strength-based, I use my metabolic conditioning and any other cardio that I do to add variety to my training. I have two days a week I make up workouts on the fly, but I am pretty strict about sticking to the program on my 3 strength training days. If you’re a runner and have goals based on endurance then you are going to have to be a bit more strict about the conditioning portion of your training program to reach your goals.
Spright Cosmetics Winners
- Kimberly – Fun and Fit
- Jen – Marathon Mom
- Andrea – (one of our clients at SOS!)
Winners – email me your address. I’ll pass it along and you’ll have your new cosmetics soon! Non-winners don’t forget that you can get 25% off your order with the code in the Spright giveaway post!
Questions? Thoughts? Do you follow a training program or do you just make things up as you go?
Gotta say, for the most part I wing my workouts! Sometimes I wing the bootcamps I teach too, but luckily my head is filled with exercises and routines anyway 🙂
Such a great post Amanda and so true. It totally stresses me out to come up with my own plan but I normally do come up with stuff on my own, based on what I’ve previously done or seen in a magazine. But I tend to gravitate towards the things that I like and not the exercises that I hate (and are probably good for me). I’ve been doing Tina’s bootcamp and it’s made me realize more that I could benefit from having some more guidance more regularly.
Yay! Will email you right away 🙂
Hi! Never commented before, but have to agree with you! About a year ago I started my first strength training plan and haven’t looked back! Once I finished that program, I knew I needed another to keep me going. If I don’t have a plan, it’s really hard to be motivated at the gym…
Have a great day!
Love this post! It’s totally about consistency and accountability isn’t it? You look amazing btw!!