Trust your instincts

Instincts are what tell animals where food or danger is. In humans, instincts can tell us who to trust and who to avoid.

We basically never really know when we’re going to feel on top of the world or down in the dumps

They can save us from fatal mistakes in our professional and personal lives. When built upon experience, instincts are even more useful. Do you have a history of exercise under your belt that perhaps didn’t turn out the best of experiences?

Well, today I might have just the solution for you. It’s time to tear up your programme card and try something new: instinctive training.

To get started, we need a set of guidelines more than an actual programme. I’m not knocking carefully designed programmes; they are essential for achieving peak human performance and, in some cases, there really is no other way, but if certain programmes have proven problematic or unsuccessful for you in the past, then here’s a slightly different approach.

Think about it, if we were all professional athletes living in very carefully controlled environments adhering to strict daily routines of rest, nutrition, recovery treatments and exercise, then it stands to reason a carefully planned exercise routine would be the next logical step. But what about the rest of us?

What about that long, arduous day at work that prevented you from getting to the gym on time, or that argument with your partner that had you depressed and distracted all day, or the furniture you helped the in-laws shift, leaving you sore all over, or the fast-food meal you bought because there simply wasn’t enough time between commitments to eat something healthier, or that lost night of sleep because the new puppy was whining all night? You get the idea. The list goes on and on.

We basically never really know when we’re going to feel on top of the world or down in the dumps. What happens when you turn up at the gym during one of those down-in-the-dumps days and suddenly realise that according to your programme, you’re scheduled to break a record or perform an extra-challenging workout?

Or conversely, what happens when you feel on top of the world and in possession of boundless energy only to arrive at the gym and find you’ll need to hold back because the programe says it’s supposed to be an easy day?

Pushing on an off day could mean sustaining a catastrophic injury, and holding back on a good day is a wasted opportunity to push towards dazzling, new heights. I propose a ‘scale of perceived readiness to exercise’, or in other words, a ‘how do you feel today?’ scale.

On a scale of zero to 10, zero is when exercise is the last thing on your mind. You may be unwell, excessively tired or under extreme tension or stress. Five is the normal state, where you feel perfectly fine and healthy. You’ll happily go to the gym even though you would probably rather be doing something else. Ten is when you simply cannot wait for your workout, and would like nothing more than to get to the gym or out on the road to hit some weights or burn some shoe rubber.

Personally, if I’m level one or two, I would still train but take it easy or cut the session short. I might push, but if things don’t go my way, I won’t be upset. When I’m feeling about five, I would perform my usual baseline routine. When I feel an eight or higher, I will push to or beyond my limit and attempt to break some sort of personal record or other.

For instinctive training to work, you’ll have to set your own baseline routine first. For better health and a more attractive body, a basic gym routine would involve exercises that raise our heart rate to an intensity that may be defined as moderate to high, and a basic selection of resistance training exercises that target the whole body.

Here’s how such a routine might look in practice: a bout of cardiovascular training (cardio) followed by leg presses, more cardio, an upper body circuit, including chest press and rows, another bout of cardio, and finally two to three core exercises.

Try the routine and push to an intensity that is moderate but challenging on each exercise. Record how much weight you lift or what levels you entered into the machines; this is your baseline. Six to eight weeks down the line, if all went well, you will be fitter, and you’ll need to recalibrate what your new ‘moderate but challenging’ levels are.

Now you can apply your scale. If you’re feeling a two or under, delay your workout by one day only and apply the scale again. If you’re three or four, then go for a walk or an easy jog.

If you’re five or six, then hit the gym and perform your baseline workout. If you’re seven or eight, then slightly increase the levels on all your exercises. If you’re a nine or 10, it’s definitely the right time to add some spice to your routine by trying something new over and above your usual work-out, or pushing to the limit on selected exercises establishing a new personal record to be remembered until the next time you feel a nine or 10 and become tempted to break them again!

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