Proper Progression

Trust me in that (a mistake I have made before) Not only have I done it but after 30 some odd years I see it everyday in videos, social media, and other gyms. Even with some of my own clients trying to get ahead when working out on their own and trying to see quick results. Even to watching other trainers with their clients. People desperately trying to beat the system. Plain and simple our bodies are meant to work out with proper progression to get the gains and rewards without paying a hard price of the outcome.

Progression = start small and progress according to your level of fitness and goals.

Progression is not just in how or what you workout. But with appropriate warm up exercises.

First you need to start moving your body. Keep movements small at first and progress accordingly once the muscles and joints gets loose. Warm up with similar movements that you will be doing in the workout session. Warmup longer with the muscles groups you plan to work harder in that session. Warmups can be anywhere from 3-7 minutes. Depending on fitness level and workout goals.

By jumping into a workout too fast the body simply might not be ready to take on the overload to get the gains you are asking for. The demand on the muscle, joints, and bones are too risky and most times will cause injury. They are not warmed up and flexible enough to take on overload to get the muscle gains you are looking for. (Which is one of the 7 principles of training).

By not warming the body correctly a couple of things could set you back. Strained or pulled muscles. Stiff or sore muscles. Which could lead into taking days off because of pulled or strained muscles then all the gains you thought you were getting are lost because of the irreversibility (another one of the 7 principle of training) due to not working out that muscle group in enough days or times because you were misinformed to rest and recover.

I am not saying to not rest and recover but to keep the body moving with maybe lighter exercises. Think about yoga, stretching, different ways to workout, lighter weights or different muscle group. But keep the body moving. By moving the body it keeps the muscles/joints moving where it doesn’t get stiff and blood is pumped into the muscle to possibly heal the muscle/joint faster. By not overdoing the exercise.

Now with the proper gradual warm up the body is ready to exercise.

Once the body is warmed up and stretched out you progress within that exercise session. Start progressing with movements that doesn’t completely burnout or fatigue the body too quickly.

You want to exercise multi joint and multi muscle exercises first. Then progressing to single joint and single muscle exercises. You will want to work larger muscle groups before smaller muscle groups. Example quads and hamstrings before calf exercises or adductors or abductors. For upper body you would workout chest, shoulder, back, before bicep and tricep. Try not to fatigue or exhaust the smaller muscles where they cannot assists with the exercises for the larger muscles groups to get the gains and rewards.

Then you have the progression for workout over time. You have progression phases. It would be extremely hard to run a marathon if you can barely walk a mile. You must walk before you can jog and jog before you can run. Same goes for lifting weight or body weight exercises. It takes time and duration (2 of the 10 components of health to get Optimal Fitness) to progress correctly to see the gains and goals faster.

Same goes for losing weight, gaining weight or using heavier weight or difficult exercises.

If you want to lose weight you need to progress to harder exercises in appropriate format and timing. If not done properly you might not see the weight loss and reach goals in a desirable amount of time. It will take you longer to obtain them.

The body needs to be challenged to lose fat and burn calories at a faster pace. If you don’t challenge the body to preform to the appropriate fitness level the gains will take longer to achieve. Then frustrations sets in the give up mode takes over.

It is a lifestyle change even after you reach your goals. Eating right exercising correctly and sticking with the progression and appropriate workout plan will make the difference in maintaining the body.