Today’s topic is about volume – how much is the right amount of activity? In the DTS MasterClass last weekend we talked about training volume – how often programs need to be changed for each person’s level, overtraining and building habits. I wanted to share the key points with you all to help make workouts and training more effective, and maybe dispel some myths.
1. You can not over train beginners. This one comes up a lot when people are first starting a new gym routine from not previously being active. Can you start training 5 days a week? Can you get that class trial pack and go all 7 days? The answer is YES, as long as the demand of the workouts does not exceed the capacity of the person. Because your muscles and cardio system are not conditioned, you physically cannot train to a hard enough level to “over train”. This is not to be confused with doing a workout that is too advanced and pushes you past your capacity though, in which you could get injured. For people getting back into it, it is recommended to do smaller workouts and activities on a more frequent basis, for example a 15-20 minute full body routine 5-6 days a week, versus a 1 hour sweat fest 2 times a week. This is why I give all my clients homework to do the days they don’t see me – they are equally as important, if not more, for building capacity.
2. Consistency over Weekend Warriors. We all know the person who does a 3 hour crazy workout on Saturday, is sore for 4 days, does a small workout on Thursday, rests, and goes hard again Saturday. As we noted above this is not ideal in terms of building capacity and I would question whether it is good exercise at all. We have to remember that in an increasingly digital world our bodies are still biological – they change slowly, adapt to repeated stimulus, and have their own timelines. Think about your bone density – we know with load-bearing exercises we can strengthen our bones, but how long does this take? Years, months, hours? We have some insight into this from watching a wound heal, recovering from a broken bone, or watch a child grow up. These things take time. Same with muscle building. It is a slow process that requires repeated stimulus to see any results. I found this thought experiment very helpful:
Imagine your body is a bank account. Every day you workout you add $2 to that account. But the cost of having the account is a fee of $1 a day. Monday you open at a $0 balance, and get your workout in. You deposit $2, and at the end of the day get charged $1 for having the account, leaving your end of day balance at $1. Tuesday you do the same thing. $2 in, $1 out, now we have $2. Wednesday, $2 in, $1 out, now we have $3. If we keep up this routine of getting in some activity everyday (our $2 deposit), but at the end of the first week we’ll have $7. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but remember, as you build that account (your capacity), you increase how much you are able to put in (how hard your workouts are). By the time you’ve saved up … let’s say $50, you are now stronger and have a higher cardio capacity than when we started – now everytime you workout you deposit $3 instead of $2, and the cost of the account stays the same at $1. Now instead of only getting $7 a week, you can save $14 a week! The results keep compounding – BUT you have to get to that first $50.
On the flip side, let’s say we start with our first week and we workout Monday – $2 in, $1 out. Workout Tuesday, $2 in, $1 out. Off to a great start with $2 in the bank for Wednesday. But then we take Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off. That’s $0 in, and $3 out leaving us at -$1. Then we workout Saturday, $2 in, $1 out, rebalancing us at $0. Sunday we rest again to start fresh Monday – but we’re back to $0. At this pace, every week we are saving nothing and not growing our account at all.
3. Mobility and Physio require consistency as well. This one I can’t stress enough. As a Personal Trainer I have a very rigid scope of practice on what I can do with clients or program for you. If you have an injury or issue that is outside of my scope of practice (something that requires physio, chiro, etc.), I am bound by my certification to refer out. When you go to these appointments and are given homework (physio exercises, stretches, etc.), it is imperative that you do them daily to recover – if not, it puts limits on what I can do for you until the issue is resolved. For example, if you have a “shoulder thing” that is undiagnosed I can do the screenings and assessments I am allowed to do, within the additional courses I’ve taken to expand my scope, but I am not allowed to diagnose anything. This means I can assume what the issue is but I don’t know for sure if the shoulder issue is a torn muscle, strained tendon, shoulder impingement, thoracic outlet syndrome, nerve damage, pinched nerve, etc. (all PT’s are bound to these same requirements unless they have also obtained the education and certifications as a Physio Therapist or Chiropractor). Once we know what it is and you have a treatment plan in place, we can resume! And the more frequency with which you do the recovery homework, the faster we can get back to normal!
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