Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be wrapping up the two part series on being present. Now be sure to read part one if you haven’t already at the link here: And as always, if you have any questions about today’s blog then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
Going back to the idea of being busy versus being productive, have you ever experienced a workout that makes you sweaty rather than a workout that is being effective? Maybe you have gone in and done these workouts and you get sweaty, you get sore, but you don’t ever see the physical changes that you are looking for. Well that is where being present in the moment, obviously having a trainer that is present in the moment with you is very helpful, but being present in the moment of what you are doing will actually start to make your workouts more effective. And when they are more effective you are going to be wasting a lot less time. So again, you could be increasing those results just by changing your mindset.
So how do you do this? Well there are three ideas that came to mind earlier.
First, you can stay away from regular movement patterns. It’s really typical for people to go to the gym and work their way through the same set of machines the same direction in the same order everyday. Now there is a specific way that training professionals actually design programs specifically in certain orders, so you can’t just go and make it mass chaos. However, if you’re doing the typical gym circuit and you’re constantly just going in a circle, you would really thrive to pay attention to what your thoughts are during that time. How much are you actually focused on the exercise or are you daydreaming, or thinking about the other things you have to do that day? There is a lot of thoughts that are going through your mind.
If you change up what you’re doing movement pattern wise, then you’ll actually start to build the cognition into what you’re doing, bring your focus into what you’re doing, and become present, therefore increasing your results. So that can apply not only to the machine circuits that you go on, but also typical movement patterns. So if you constantly do a forward lunge, and that’s all you do, you are going to fall into a movement pattern where it’s going to be like that drive to work and you’re not going to be paying attention. On the cardio machines, if you spend more than ten minutes on any one machine, you will typically lose all cognitive focus on that machine and you will just go through the motions. You won’t actually powering the legs of the muscles but rather just allowing the momentum to carry you.
So I recommend to my clients who are going out to cardio machines to split it up. Switch up between two or three different machines. If you’re going to do thirty minutes, spit it up and do several machines so that you have time to regain that focus and re push so that you aren’t wasting that thirty minutes. Because if you’re going to take time away from your day, your family, you’re friends, whatever it may be to go and workout, then make sure that it’s worth it. So that basically leads into complacency whenever you are doing things like that. We just want to stir the pot and get things going and get your brain working.
So tip number two is to count out loud. If you are standing there and doing bicep curls and you’re not thinking about them then you may not be breathing correctly, you may not be focusing, but if you start to count your reps out loud then you have to breathe. And if you count your reps then you are really paying attention to what you’re doing. Now you don’t have to be shouting them in the gym or anything, but you can definitely count them out loud to where you can hear them and you can feel your breath and you can become more aware of your movements.
And number three is to remember the intensity that you need to be moving at. So if you are doing cardio, you should be working at a level where you could talk but not sing. If you want to do some sprint cardio, some burst training, then you want to be able to get out a few words but not really have a conversation and then bring it back down to that to that talk.
So if you are at a level below that and you can sing during your cardio exercise, you’re probably not pushing hard enough and you’re not going to get the right results. But then again that goes into our comfort level of just kind of going through the motions, we don’t pay attention as much, we take longer breaks, we move a little slower, an we don’t realize how much damage we’re doing in the effectiveness of our program.
So whenever we are talking about the strength what should we be aiming for as far as intensity goes? Well, the last three to four reps of any exercise that you do should take your focus to get them done. Not meaning that your arms are going to fall off or that your legs are shaking so bad that you can’t push that bar back up, but they should take enough focus that it really draws you mentally into that exercise in order to push those weight wherever you’re going with them. So we want to make sure that those last three to four reps that you’ve got enough weight to make those a serious endeavor. Really keep an eye on form though, make sure that it’s not so much that it’s like you’re losing good form. You always want to maintain that good from.
So, if you are wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for. We work with our clients not just on fitness, but also nutrition. What we do is we will ensure that you are supported throughout every aspect of your health and wellness journey, and that includes making those eating changes. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.