Read 40 times since Saturday, January 14, 2012
We all have days where you just can't be bothered going to the gym. When you feel like this there are 2 options, either miss the session altogether or adjust the session to suit your state of mind to ensure you get something worthwhile done. Skipping the session entirely should not be thought of as a negative thing. If you have been training hard for an extended period the feeling of suddenly not wanting to train is your body's way of telling you to back off a bit. Missing the session and picking your training up at the next scheduled session will really help the body to recover and let you get back to work.
As the saying goes though, a change is as good as a rest, and that is what your emergency session is all about. All you need is 4 sets of 3 great exercises you love doing, done with escalating intensity and squeezed into a short timeframe so you can get in and out of the gym and keep the ball rolling. My Glasgow personal training clients tend to push themselves pretty hard and sometimes it is appropriate to give them a lower volume session using exercises I know they like to keep them from overtraining.
The key to exercise selection here is to pick stress free exercises. Choose ones that are quick to set up, are freely available in your gym, you are technically skilled at or low injury risk and exercises you love to do. You will apply these rules to choose a quality leg, upper body pull and push movement. I would use reverse DB lunge, pull ups and dips. Next pick your preferred rep range which for me would be 6 because it is a good all purpose rep range. Now you will do 4 sets of your leg exercise, starting light to warm up, then take a couple of minutes before adding weight each set to decent weight for you on the 4th set. Then do the same for the upper body pull and push movements you selected.
This will allow you to recover physically and mentally from the training you have been doing without any detraining effect. After the session I would recommend an extra day of rest from what you would normally take while making sure you are getting early nights and drinking lots of water. The reduced load from the session, extra rest, quality sleep and getting yourself fully hydrated will go a long way to getting you back on track with your regular training plan without disrupting it at all. Iain Smith (MPhil/CSCS) owns Standout Gym, an independent warehouse gym in Glasgow, focusing on weight loss. He offers small group training as an affordable alternative to Glasgow personal training. Iain is a former international decathlete with 17 years coaching experience. www.standoutgym.com.
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