“I go walking everyday for one hour but just can’t seem to lose any weight.”
Sometimes I feel like a mechanic peering over an open bonnet.
“I’ve been training in the gym for nearly a year now and I haven’t put on any muscle.”
I often hear such complaints and, just like a mechanic performing diagnostics, it seems I’m expected to spot the malfunctioning component of ineffective training schedules and fix or replace it.
Training programmes are just like mechanical engines. They drive us towards our goals just as a car is propelled forward.
Some are sports models, power-ful and fast, while others are simpler or not intended for optimal performance. Whatever their purpose, however, just like engines, training programmes can sometimes break down.
As a specialist in physical exercise, I consider myself to own and operate a set of tools just like any other worker, whatever the trade.
Fitness professionals don’t wear belt kits or carry briefcases, but that doesn’t mean we don’t possess tools of our own to handily deal with odd fitness jobs, however large or small.
In the programme-fixing tool kit, the must-have basics on a par with hammers and screwdrivers are what have come to be known as the principles of training and programming, the most useful of which in this case are the ‘FITT’ principles specifically, which stand for frequency, intensity, time and type.
These can be applied to any programme and adjusted to maximise the all-important parent principles of overload and progression. Let’s have a look at these in more detail and, just like getting a nail into a wall clearly dictates the requirement of a hammer, see which principle we need to fish from the tool kit to get our efforts moving in the right direction again.
Just like those of us with some knowledge about the way our cars work can save a lot of time and money, getting on with small maintenance jobs on our vehicles without having to call the mechanic, many programming issues can be fixed with a few diagnostics of our own and the effective use of the principles of training without ne-cessarily calling in expert help.
All training at some point should represent some form of overload, a stress slightly beyond that which we can comfortably handle. Overload triggers an adaptation response in the body.
Lifting more than what we are used to will lead to increased muscle growth. Performing more aerobic training than that to which we are accustomed will lead to increased efficiency of the cardio-respiratory systems. If overload is absent or if training is too easy, then the body will have no reason to adapt or change. It will remain the same.
Once we have triggered an adaptation, the overload must then be changed or increased to continue triggering positive adaptation progressively.
That’s what the parent principle of progression is all about. Small incremental steps will take us towards our goal and, if a programme does not involve some form of progressively increasing form of overload, then just like a broken-down vehicle, it won’t take you anywhere.
Frequency refers to how often we train, so perhaps we need to tweak this to allow more recovery between sessions, or perhaps we’re not training often enough to create a lasting adaptation we can build on.
Intensity refers to how hard we train. Perhaps we’re not training hard enough for our efforts to constitute an overload. Or maybe we’re training too hard, which, combined with too much frequency, may lead to an inability of the body to keep up, a syndrome known as overtraining.
The time we spend training might be the issue, either too much or too little. Training for hours on end will trigger the release of destructive stress hormones in the body. Or perhaps we’re doing the wrong type of training altogether.
All training at some point should represent some form of overload
If we want to run a marathon, a programme consisting entirely of swimming will not be optimal. If your gym training isn’t delivering, tweak your intensity. You weights might be too heavy or too light.
Just a little more than you did last time should do nicely. Remember, we need an overload: one or two repetitions more or a five per cent increase in resistance is a good rule of thumb once you find yourself trapped inside a comfort zone.
Very often, progression tends to be the issue. We get stuck doing the same things over and over, thus staying in the comfort zone when all we need to do is push a little harder.
Walking the same pace and distance every day will work for you in the beginning, but you’ll have to up the ante if you want your body to keep changing for the better, to keep adapting.
But, of course, just like car troubles, the problem might be wider than what can be identified from a quick search under the bonnet. When our programming tools fail us, we might need to look holistically at the bigger picture and consider lifestyle factors like sleep patterns, stress levels, smoking, alcohol consumption or eating habits.
Where weight loss is the goal, eating healthier food in smaller quantities is the perfect addition to an effective and progressive training programme based on the FITT principles.
matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt