Are You Training Hard Enough?

Do you believe you train effectively and efficiently every time you set foo tin the gym?
Do you walk away from every single training session not only satisfied but also feeling exhausted, sore and spend due to the level of training you undertook?

It is very common these days to see many people spend ample time in the gym however their training sessions, in my opinion, are below par at best.
The human body is designed to tolerate a high level of rigor, intensity and pain. Ive often heard regular gym goers complain that they are growing or not losing weight and this can obviously be caused by a number of factors however one of the leading ones is that they simply don’t train hard enough.

Training should comprise of three main facets:

• Intensity

• Aggression

• Intent

The level of intensity should be high enough to not only break into a good sweat but also elevate the heart rate and significantly increase the level of breathing.

Aggression is induced via the mind over matter approach and that when commencing each lift or each set you almost need to take on an angry persona to ensure that targeted rep or set is achieved to your maximum ability.

Intent is ensuring you achieve the desired goal you have set yourself and very rarely fall short. If you are chasing 15 reps then be sure to focus and hit 15 reps. Habits can be built around failure so don’t fall into the habit of failing your reps or sets as this can then become the norm.

A very highly respected Australian coach once said, you need to train like someone is holding a gun to your head. Now while that may be a crude political incorrect way of describing it, in my opinion he hit the nail on the head and perfectly describes how your mindset should be every time you train.
There is time when people spend too much time training or on the other hand not enough.
A good session should be where by you walk into the gym with a set goal of what exercises you plan to do including number of sets, reps, distance, calories etc. Have an end goal, a number to chase to ensure you don’t wander aimlessly for 1-2 hours. If lifting weight, minimise the rest periods to ensure the heart rate remains elevated working the body harder each time. The harder the body works, the more muscle you will build and the more calories you will burn.

Just think your existing 90 minutes regular sessions may be reduced to 45 mins if the intensity is increased and the rest periods reduced.
Remove the opportunity for distraction when training. Keep your phone in your bag, leave your headphones on and minimise the opportunity for general conversations with other gym goers. While this may seem rude at first everyone is in the gym for the same reason…..to exercise and be healthy.

While the above examples don’t apply to everyone, often it is the case that people simply don’t train hard enough or are not aware of how much more they can give per session.
A PT is the perfect person to ensure maximum exertion is achieved each session and but having regular personal training session you will soon learn what you are truly capable of.
So for your next gym session, see if you can improve the session time and really focus on the intensity, aggression and intent you use during it. You may surprise yourself at how much better you feel afterwards but also you may see better results sooner because of the increase effort levels. Sooner results means you will keep training over a longer period making it a lifestyle not just a short term objective. Isn’t a fit and healthy lifestyle for the duration what we all seek at the end of the day?