6 Signs your workout is stuck in the 90s

I’m being kind. I could have said the 80s.

See, there’s a time lag. It takes a while for the latest information to filter into general use. That seems to be true of most fields. In the gym in particular, out-dated methods die-hard. Either people don’t care, or just they don’t know any better.

Here’s my attempt to help. If you’re still doing any of these, it might be time to modernise your approach…

 

1. Your warm-up consists of a 5-minute jog

Ok. A 5-minute jog will ‘warm’ you up. You’ll increase your heart-rate and blood flow to the muscles. But… in 5-minutes you could’ve achieved so much more.

You could have stretched stiff muscles. You could have ‘activated’ others – like the glutes – that tend to ‘fall asleep’ from underuse. You could have improved the mobility in your ankles, hips, upper back or shoulders. You could have done a little prehab, or rehab work on that niggly injury. You could have worked on movement skills and coordination.

You could have improved. But you’re old skool. So you wasted your time jogging …or doing nothing at all.

 

2. You rely on crunches for core work

It amazes me just how many people I still see flopping around like fish on the mats in the gym. Aggressively yanking their head off the floor into a crunch. Or tucking their feet under something and hauling themselves up with their legs.

What is the aim here?

If you think about it, this crunch movement seldom occurs in sports or in life. The abs and other core muscles tend, instead, to be used to prevent movement. They help to keep our torso stable in the presence on movement in our arms and/or legs.

It stands to reason, then, that we should train our core that way. Plank variations, rollouts, and chop/lift patterns seem to me to be a more effective way to train core strength and stability than the out-dated crunch.

 

3. Behind the neck lat pulldowns …and other ugly exercises

Behind the neck pulldowns are ugly. Simply put, it’s not a fun position for your shoulders to be pulling from. And you’re very like going to be thrusting your head forward and straining your neck a great deal too.

This forward head thrusting is a sign of poor technique – especially in any type of pulling exercise. When the weight is too heavy, thrusting the head forward creates the illusion of achieving a full range of motion without actually pulling the weight there.

It’s the same with push-ups: rather than reach depth with your chest, the tendency is to stick your head out towards the floor giving you the feeling of a full range of motion.

Don’t be a head bobber. Keep that chin tucked in. Go lighter if you need to. And use that full range of motion.

 

4. You’re still trying to ‘tone’ specific body parts

Yep. There are still people who believe that burning fat from the torso requires abdominal exercises (is this why you’re crunching?). Work legs to burn fat from legs. Arm curls and extensions to burn the fat from the arms. Oh, and as not to build muscle, you pick a weight so light that it doesn’t actually challenge you unless you do 20+ repetitions.

This idea of fat-burning was buried a long time ago. It’s not how it works. You can build muscle in specific areas. But you cannot, unfortunately, choose where you will lose fat from. Exercising a specific muscle group does not burn away the fat from that body part. Sorry.

‘Toning up’ requires fat loss – achieved by creating a calorie deficit through diet and general physical activity. And building muscle (or at least maintaining it) through progressive resistance training. ‘Progressive’ means it must continue to challenge you as you improve.

 

5. You live by ‘The Bro Split’

Your training programme looks like this (or something very similar):

• Monday = chest
• Tuesday = legs
• Wednesday = back
• Thursday = shoulders
• Friday = arms & abs

So you hammer a muscle group but then don’t train it again for a full 7 days (and that’s if you don’t miss a session).

With great respect, I suggest you might find you get better results by training each muscle group more than once a week. And unless you’re a bodybuilder, you might want to focus on movements more than specific muscles.

So that might mean categorising exercises as pushing, pulling, squatting, bending, lunging and core stabilisation, for example. And if you want to train 5 days-a-week, it might mean trying an upper/lower split …or even something else.  If you train 3 times a week or less, a full body workout is probably a better approach.

“What you training today, bro?”

 

6. You’re trying to go it alone

We live in an increasingly connected world. You don’t need to be a lone wolf. And you don’t need to rely on low-quality fitness mags or outdated ‘bro science’. Social media and the Internet have made it easier than ever before to access quality information and reach out to great people who can help you on your journey – or at least point you in the right direction. And often for free!

If you are a member of a gym, the chances are there is someone there who can put together a training programme for you. Either way, if you don’t know what you’re doing, get some help!

 

BIG IDEA: Many popular training methods are out-dated and not particularly effective.

TAKEAWAY: Modernise your approach. Learn how to do a dynamic warm-up. Learn some core stability exercises. Pay attention to your technique. Keep challenging yourself.

ACTION STEP: Reach out to someone who can design a programme for you and offer some coaching if needed. Get the exact nutrition guidelines I share with my clients.

Always Keep Reaching!

Mike