The Devil is in the details
Exercise is a fairly simple concept at first glance, do some movement and raise the heart rate a bit but what sets apart those who succeed and those who fail to reach their health and fitness goals lies within the nuances and minutia of training. There are number of things that should be considered when training that may greatly enhance your chance of success some of which will be discussed below.
Exercise selection - often the first hurdles where most people slip up is deciding what exercises to use and this especially true with beginners. Exercise selection can and should be based on the needs and goals of the athlete or individual, thinking about such things as their capabilities, training age, physical age, sex, maturity, physical characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, medical history, time availability and specific goal or desired outcome that they are seeking to achieve. My advice to most/if not all people is always to begin with the basics and progress from there. It is easier to progress from success than it is from failure so by starting with basic movements and making sure you master them before moving on you are essentially tipping the odds of achieving your goals in your favour. Picking overly advanced exercises you’re not ready for yet and picking overly flashy/complicated (often ineffective) exercises will both tend to lead to the same outcome which is an inherently increased risk of injury.
Exercise execution -Simple exercises executed perfectly are far more beneficially than advanced exercises performed poorly. Learning correct form should be your first priority when it comes to training as this will allow you to maximize your results and get the most from your workouts further down the line and even though it may initially seem like it will take longer to achieve your goal the reality is that it will save you a lot of time in the long run. It is often the case that some people will rush past this key phase but they tend to hit a wall down the line where due to poor technique they are unable to produce their maximal force and/or in a worst case scenario may end up causing injury as a result of poor form.
Volume - Volume refers to the total amount of work or load lifted/performed during a workout/exercise. Calculating volume is done simply by multiplying sets, reps and load or intensity. The reason for understanding why volume is important has a lot to do with both recovery management and achieving the required stimulus in order to produce adaptations. Finding the right amount of volume for an individual is never going to be a one size fits all scenario due to numerous lifestyle factors similar to those mentioned in the previous section on exercise selection.
Frequency - Frequency refers to how often you workout, this is typically looked at over the course of a week. Just like training volume it is looked at on a case by case basis with the goal of optimizing both recovery management and training stimulus.
Intensity - Exercise intensity refers to the difficulty of a workout/exercise and can be measured in numerous ways depending on the the type of training you’re focusing on such as percentage of 1RM, Rate of perceived exertion (RPE), Reps in reserve (RIR), Heart rate zone training. These are just some examples of how you might measure exercise intensity. Exercise intensity will be a key determining factor when calculating both volume and frequency with the typical premise being that higher intensity will require lower volumes and/or frequency. Higher intensity will also typically require more focus towards recovery management due to the increase demands placed upon the nervous system.
Recovery- The hardest training in the world won’t get you anywhere if you don’t allow your body to recover from it. This is arguably one of the most fundamental flaws that people make. They go to the gym and train their asses off day in and day out pushing themselves to the limit but spend little attention on their recovery. An important thing to understand is that the training itself is not where your muscles grow but rather it is a stimulus to promote growth during recovery from the training. This in its most basic form can be summed up in four words; Train, recover, adapt, repeat. When we talk about recovery, aside from the nutritional aspect which will be covered next, we are looking at things like stretching, myofascial release and, most importantly, sleep. Stretching and myofascial release work complement each other by helping to release built up tension in the muscles after a workout as well as help the body to maintain/improve mobility and range of movement which will decrease the risk of injury throughout your training. The importance of a proper amount of sound deep sleep cannot be understated. During deep sleep this is where your body does its best work with regards to rebuilding and repairing tissues of the body in order to recover from and adapt to the stimulus of the training in which you performed. There a many factors that can determine how much sleep is optimal for an individual in order to recover properly but a good guideline to achieve would be roughly between 7-9 hours. There will be certain conditions that may require up to 10 hours sleep in order to optimally recover such as those individuals competing at and elite level or younger children who are going through puberty, this is due to the amount of work the body is being subjected to on a daily basis. So if you want to see the absolute best result from your training then focus just as hard on your recovery as you do the workout.
Nutrition- Nutrition tends to go hand in hand with recovery as it is what provides your body with the necessary fuel, vitamins and minerals in order for your body to operate, recover and grow efficiently and effectively. If we look at nutrition from a fuel source viewpoint then our focus is on the calorific density. A calorie is essentially just a unit or measurement of energy and throughout the day our bodies will burn through a certain amount of energy in order to perform tasks throughout the day such as moving as well as providing energy for our basic life support functions to operate. In order to change our body whether that be to increase or decrease in weight and size there needs to be a difference between our calorie intake and the calories that we burn throughout the day. If we want to decrease our body weight then we would need to achieve what is known as a caloric deficit (Calories in < Calories burned), alternatively if we wanted to increase our weight or grow then we would need to achieve what is known as a caloric surplus (Calories in > Calories burned). The nutrient aspect comes in to play when we look at the materials/ingredients our bodies need to operate optimally and, just like any baking recipe, there are specific things our bodies require in order to produce the best results. Generally speaking these can be looked at in two different ways which are macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are named as such because our body requires them in relatively large amounts, these include things like carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Micronutrients are nutrients that the body needs but in much smaller quantities in order to function properly. Most people will get most if not all of there essential nutrients through their diet alone so long as the eat a relatively diverse range of foods however sometimes this may not be the case due to lifestyle factors in which case the use of certain supplementation might be utilized in order to accommodate for those deficits, fish oil supplementation is a commonly used example. An important distinction to be made is that of the difference between a calorie dense food and nutrient dense food. It is possible to have have calorie rich meals with nutrient content just like is it is possible to have foods with high nutrient content but our low in calories. When it comes to health and performance it is essential that you aim to provide yourself with a nutritionally rich diet that also meets the caloric demands of your daily activity so that you can achieve the absolute best results.
