Christmas is almost here. Every year I make a list for my family. This year I am going to make a list for my blog. So in no particular order this is a list of the things I would like for Christmas as they relate to training:
1. I would like for people to stop using poor form in the gym. Every single day I go to work out I see perfect examples of poor form. What is maybe most unnerving about this is that often times the people exhibiting poor form look to be in halfway or even great shape. Listen, if you take someone with good or even great genetics and put him or her on a weight training protocol … chances are their bodies will respond pretty well. BUT! If that person is using poor form to work with the weights they are most likely causing accumulative stress to their joints and musculature that will eventually result in an injury. Do NOT confuse a good-looking physique with knowledge of how to attain it!!!
2. Personally, I would like to finally be able to put a diet plan in place for myself that compliments all the hard work I do in the gym. My cardiovascular training is on point. My weight training is especially on point. But I am a living example of how if you do not have the right dietary strategies in place, all that hard work you do in the gym can be almost totally nullified. The most infuriating thing about my situation is that I know what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat it, and all that good stuff. But I hate/don’t know how to cook and I love to go out and eat (and maybe even drink a little). Sometimes I think people look at me and think, “Why does a personal trainer not practice what he preaches”? Well in almost all cases I do. But when it comes to eating, that is my Achilles heal. Plus it is always easier to “diagnose and treat” someone else’s problems than your own!
3. This year for Christmas, I would really like to stop hearing people use injuries and or ailments as excuses to avoid appropriate exercise. I would guess if you asked ten random people in your life whether or not they had some nagging issue like a bum shoulder, bad knees, bad back, elbow pain, or something along those lines … 9 out of 10 of them would tell you about one or more of those. I do not work with a client that does not complain of some ailment. And that is okay – for whatever reason we are a society of people who neglect and mistreat our bodies. My job is showing these people how they can work to alleviate and maybe even correct those “problem areas”. But I am constantly amazed at how often people will tell me about a problem they have and then follow that up immediately with a statement about why the “can’t” do certain exercises. What is even more amazing is the rationale they develop for some of the exercises they do in place of what they supposedly can’t do!
SO for this Christmas, I will continue to try and spread the message of educating as it relates to these issues and as far as I am concerned, I will just wish for a little more discipline … and maybe some cooking lessons???
Thanks for reading
Andy
