Here are just a few of the best tips from the FBD Trainers (of course) regarding getting the most out of your strength workout.  Send us a comment with one of  your favorite tips! 

1. Get Focused:  The Mind | Muscle connection – concentrate on the muscle/area you are working.  If you are working on your biceps, then focus on your biceps.

2. Set Performance Goals for specific exercises that you want to improve on, either by more repetitions of an exercise or by using more weight.  It goes without saying, but we’ll harp on it anyway….NEVER compromise good form for more weight.

3. Test your limits:  Pick the weight that will challenge you to get better (typically women underestimate the amount of weight they can handle).

4. Be prepared: Arrive a few minutes early to get “in the zone” for your personal training session.  For class participants especially, you need to arrive early so that you can read and understand the workout of the day.  You will need to figure out your weights for that day based on the type of sets that are posted.

5. Keep your core activated during all movements to stablize the body.

6. Make sure your body is properly nourished (fueled) before and after the workout.

7. Use pre-exhaustion techniques to target specific muscles or areas. Pre-exhaustion is using a single joint movement directly followed by a compound joint movement on the same muscle group.  Example:  chest fly’s before bench press

8. Be willing to push yourself to momentary muscle failure (MMF).  This will help you to recruit more muscle fibers and build muscular strength.

9. Record your workouts!  You don’t know where you are going if you haven’t written down where you’ve been.

10. Celebrate improvement:  It’s hard to work to gain muscle and get stronger.  Be excited about your accomplishments.

After more than 25 years in the fitness industry one of the things I’ve learned is the importance of continuing to learn. Any good trainer is always trying to learn more and improve their services. The best instructors are also students.

I make it standard practice to listen to the top experts in our fitness industry (I’m not talking about infomercial superstars). Anytime you think you’ve got it all figured it out you’re all wrong. Whether we’re talking about training tips or tips for doing business better, there is always something new to be learned.

Here are three quality trainers I’ve come across recently:

In preparation for the youth soccer conditioning class we’re going to do I’ve been looking at DVD’s and materials from Michael Boyle. He specializes in strength training for athletes. He wrote the book Functional Training for Sports. I like this quote from the introduction of his manual on designing strength training programs:

“Think about practicing the art of common sense. While you read keep your mind open. Often good ideas seem so simple that we discount them based only on their simplicity. As coaches, as personal trainers we continue to jump on and off the latest bandwagons. Try to stay with ideas that work and, be wary of anything that seems too good to be true; it probably is.”

Strength training coach Jason Ferruggia is another trainer I’m learning from. He also believes in being extremely skeptical about claims that seem too good to be true.  At his Renegade Gym in New Jersey they don’t let just anyone in. They are only interested in working with people who demonstrate 100% commitment. That’s something I really agree with. I like his attitude!

Another New Jersey strength training expert is Joe DeFranco. I’ve been checking out his DVD’s on strength training. Already I’ve gotten some new ideas and tips that I’ve incorporated in to my own workouts. He’s got some great ideas, and I like the slogan on his website: No Gimmicks, Just Hard Work.

These are just three new “mentors” I’ve come across recently. At times it’s overwhelming how much good stuff there is available via the internet. You can’t spend the whole day in front of the computer but if you want to improve yourself as a trainer then set aside at least a little time each week to be “in class.”

“What are we doing today, Rob?” is not a question boot campers have to ask very often. Typically, they can look to the whiteboard to see what the day’s workout will be. Today I threw ‘em a curve ball.

Mystery Boot Camp Workout

It’s a priority to me to put together workouts that are both interesting and effective. From time to time the workout includes a movement or series of movements that some people might not consider their favorite. I’ve noticed that some will start focusing on the exercise they don’t like that they know is coming up. This prevents them from focusing all their attention on what they’re doing right then and it drags down their energy.

That’s why I chose not to write down what we were doing until we had finished the previous exercise. The built in recovery time offered plenty of time to accomplish this without throwing off the flow of the class. I probably won’t do this too often but it was effective and people even liked the mystery.

This is an example of the kind of thing you can do if you’re putting together boot camp or fitness class workouts. Don’t get stuck in a rut. It’s not good for you or those in the class. Collect ideas from people and programs you respect. Every now and then throw in a twist or a change.  Spice it up to keep things interesting. However, it’s important to be consistent. Doing something differently every workout would be counterproductive and work against the goal of progression. Fitness training, personal or group, is not all science and math — it’s also an art.

Getting and staying in shape has everything to do with what goes on inside your head. There are many effective approaches to fitness, but none of them will work if you don’t have the right mind set. These 8 tips will lead you to fitness success.

Make fitness a priority

This is the first decision that must be made. Care enough for yourself and your loved ones to make your health and fitness a priority.

Set Goals

Take both a long range and short range view of diet and exercise. Focus on daily goals and take committed action. when obstacles come up, don’t let short term failure get you down – remember your long term objectives. Progress toward your goal is will keep you motivated.

Plan

Preparation is the key to your success. Getting fit is a process. It will not happen by accident. Determine when, where, and how you are going to do it.

Be disciplined

Act on your plan. Follow through on your commitments regardless of how you feel.

Get a support person

A personal trainer or workout buddy will be a huge help. Having a support person will provide accountability, motivation, and someone to share in your success.

Don’t compare yourself to others

Focus on self-improvement. Challenge yourself to set new personal bests.

Find your inspiration

Changing your diet and exercise behaviors are going to require continued strong emotional commitment. The more excited you are about your fitness goals the more possible they become. Believe in a bigger possibility for yourself.

Take action

Start today. There’s no reason to put it off. Do something good for yourself today to get healthy and strong. Build on that action and keep it up, one day at a time.

Time to check-in on the fitness goals I shared previously.

Last week the news was good.  This week…not so good.  I have not done well. Specifically, I’ve not been disciplined with my eating plan.

I’m a sucker for good cookies or a big slice of cake. In the past few days I’ve had a couple of bad eating episodes involving both.  During the day at work being disciplined is no problem but when I get home in the evenings or on the weekends I’m vulnerable to bad choices.  Most of us are.

These 5 things will help when you find yourself in temptation.

Run away

Get away from the temptation.  Get out of the house.  Go do something.  Workout.  If you can’t get out of the house or the apartment then go to another room.  Being out of arms reach of those cookies would have helped me.

Involve a friend

Do you have someone you can call when you’re close to breaking down?  Talking to a friend can distract you from the immediate desire to eat that bag of Cheetos.  Or maybe a friend could exercise with you to get you over a psychological hump.

Review your goals

You need something else on your mind.  Sit down and read through your goals.  Get your brain thinking about a different subject.

Remember your motivations

This is similar to the idea of reviewing your goals.  If I’m going to stick to my goals it will be helpful to remind myself of why I was going after them in the first place.  What was I thinking about when I felt motivated?  Where are the pictures that represent what I’m trying to achieve or become? Is there a swim suit I’m trying to fit in to?  Look at it.  If I’m doing this for my kids, I could look at pictures of them or maybe even go play with them.  Keeping my mind on the right track is essential to my discipline.  It’s where everything starts.

Plan ahead

Being prepared will really make the difference.  Obviously, it might be too late once I’m standing in front of the plate of cookies but I can use the situation to help me plan better.  Did I have the right kind of food in the house?  Did I let myself get too hungry?  Did I not tell the other people in the house what I was trying to do?  Can I find a healthy recipe for some cookies?  Etc…  I need to expect some difficulties.  Thinking about them ahead of time will help me beat them.

In addition to those tips I need to have an honest conversation with myself.  Are my goals appropriate and reasonable? It’s possible that my goal of reaching a peak fitness level is not reasonable right now.  Maybe I should adjust my goal.  It could be that my goals are right on target and I need to reexamine my discipline.  Do I want it bad enough? Maybe there are distractions that I need to deal with.

Don’t beat your self up.  Just because I blew it one time (0k, two times) doesn’t mean I need to give up completely.  If I messed up and had a piece of cake when I shouldn’t have it doesn’t mean I might as well eat two pieces…or the whole cake.  Most of the time I eat very clean.  There’s no need to abandon all my efforts.

And one more piece of advice, don’t punish your self with a workout or strict diet. It doesn’t do any good to try and make up for a failure by working out until I hurt myself or by depriving myself of food.  Pain, exhaustion, and hunger are not the right kind of motivators.  You do not want to associate exercise and healthy eating with punishment.  That kind of negative attitude will not help.  I’ll say more about the importance of attitude another time.

We’re all human.  Get back on the horse. Keep up the fight.  Push the reset button and start again.

Photo from Flickr by Crystl