I am passionate about workouts. I stay up thinking of them at night. I get excited when I discover new ways to workout on the web. And more than anything, I love putting a client through a workout regime which I know is going to be good for them.
But what is a workout? Many fitness punters, and even some trainers, think that a bunch of old exercises thrown together classifies as a workout.
I’m here to tell you that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Here are my key definitions of what a workout is:
1. It must blend together the different movements our body is capable of. It should include some pushing and pulling moves. It must include twists and bends. It should have squats and lunges, and it can include bursts of high intensity short cardio. It can also include some isolated moves tailored to areas you believe need work.
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2. A workout should have core training running through its veins. Eighty per cent of the moves you choose for a workout should challenge you to maintain your posture. Many exercises like push-ups and squats have an important core component to them.
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3. More than anything a workout must pose a strong challenge. You should look at it and think, “I’m not sure I can do that”. It may include challenging exercises or it may be the format of the workout that poses the challenge.
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4. The best and most effective workouts have a means for you to assess the quality of your performance. It may be timed, or the total weight lifted. It may be the reps and sets you can achieve in a certain time period. This allows you to retry the workout at a later date and compare your efforts.
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5. It must be intense. In general a workout that doesn’t have you puffing, burning or cursing is not cutting the mustard. Intensity increases the metabolic effect, adds to toning effects and is the only way to truly maximise your efforts (and burn calories). Just ensure that intensity never comes at the cost of good technique.
6. Give you variety. Workouts can get monotonous if they feel, and are similar. There are thousands of ways you can tweak workouts to ensure they are different. This will also help you maximise your results.
Train smart by doing true workouts and love your results.
For more great ways to exercise visit Damien Kelly’s workouts.
How do you put your workouts together?
Do you have a workout plan you follow each week?
Which workouts give you the best results?
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