The 5 Biggest Mistakes Beginners Make

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Beginners Make

  1. Rush the process.
    • Patience is a virtue. It takes months of foundation building and years of training to achieve most people’s goals. Don’t be sold on quick fixes or the idea that you can change your life or physique in a few months. Build a quality foundation and layer on gradual intensity to achieve your dream.
    • All roads lead back here. Without a program that includes consistency as the foundational element, it will fail.
  2. Work too hard (yes, I do mean this)
    • Keep the intensity reasonable.
    • You don’t have to be dripping sweat or feeling a crazy burn to be effective, and likely shouldn’t for the first month or two.
    • Too many people start too aggressive and end up burning out or too sore/tired to keep it up.
  3. Too much frequency
    • Yes I know that it sounds crazy that doing too much is a problem, but burnout really is the biggest risk to achieving success.
    • You aren’t ready to workout every day – start with 2-3 days per week, increase to 3-5 after a few weeks or a month depending on how you feel.
    • Time management is one of the biggest obstacles to success, make it more achievable.
  4. Too much volume
    • You don’t have to be in the gym for an hour to be effective.
    • Start simple and keep it to the most important exercises – keep your workouts under 30 minutes.
    • Once again, trying to do too much is one of the biggest mistakes.
  5. Too much emphasis on abs
    • You cannot spot reduce fat, which means no amount of abdominal training is going to give you a beach body – you’ll just get stronger abs beneath the surface.
    • Spend time on compound exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, presses – you will gain far more value out of these than a ton of abdominal exercises.

Notice that the majority of this list involves doing “too much”. We have to take a step back if you are a beginner. Hard work is noble and necessary for results. But not in the beginning. We have to lay the groundwork for success and cannot emulate what a seasoned bodybuilder or powerlifter workout looks like if we’ve never done it before. Make your goals 6 months to a year out. You will not gain any meaningful results by trying to cram a lot of exercise or movement into a short amount of time. Good habits are the building blocks for long term success and reaching your goals.

How Old Do You Need To Be To Start Strength Training?

How Old Do You Need To Be To Start Strength Training?

We have been told in the past that kids shouldn’t be lifting heavy weights. We’ve had a rough guideline for young kids that they really shouldn’t be doing any sort of formal strength training before puberty / teenage years. We’ve often cited that the risk is too high for injury or that kids can damage their growth plates. I still hear this pretty consistently from parents of young athletes.

In truth, there is very little evidence to support the idea that strength training will harm growth. If that were true, we would have to tell kids to stop running and playing as well. I don’t know any young kids who can lift three times their bodyweight. Yet if we look here, going for a run puts up to 3x bodyweight forces into our joints. Jumping up to 7x our bodyweight. A normal, healthy sport like gymnastics can produce up to 11x bodyweight forces. The math doesn’t add up. A typical, controlled weight lifting session would probably put .5-2x bodyweight forces into a child’s joints and that is “dangerous”, but jumping and running and sport all “safe” despite having significantly higher stress. Do we see the contradiction here?

ActivityBodyweight Forces (Lower Extremity)
Walking1-1.5x
Running2-3x
Jumping (Two Legs)5-7x
Gymnastics8-11x

Young kids are likely to be putting more stress on their joints from normal activities like sport and play than they are with weightlifting. Furthermore, more stress is not a bad thing. Stress is ultimately what builds us stronger and more capable. It’s the dosage that matters. The same way we wouldn’t introduce a track athlete to running with marathon distances, we would never introduce ridiculously heavy weights into a person’s programming until they’ve earned it over many many years. The same for adults.

Strength training offers so much value for the health of our bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage, nervous system; it helps with performance and injury prevention. It’s probably time to start rethinking the idea that strength training at a young age is dangerous, and instead look at the best ways to introduce appropriate training to the younger generation. Very young kids would probably benefit more from learning how to control their bodies in space, do more jump, sprint and agility training and build strength through more fun activities rather than barbells and dumbbells. But these are just tools to gain a mechanical advantage, and they shouldn’t be seen as these scary objects. If a child is both physically and emotionally mature enough to use tools that could help them improve, why wouldn’t we want to utilize them? Our problem is the perception that they are dangerous. The truth is that they are not appropriate for many adults just starting out either. But for the kids that are a little more advanced or mature, we are probably holding them back from reaching their potential. We should let the trainers help to determine who is ready and who is not.

Stop Fearing The Barbell

Stop Fearing The Barbell

Getting stronger is very simple. Do stuff that’s hard enough for a long enough period of time and you will build strength. We will see muscular changes, bone changes, connective tissue changes and central nervous system changes as you do hard enough stuff over time. Lifting heavy things to get stronger has been around for centuries. But in the last few decades we’ve seen a shift in perception where many people will blame heavy things for the reason they are hurt or injured (or how it will inevitably cause injury). This couldn’t be further from the truth. Strong things don’t break. Weak things vulnerable. It’s as simple as that. I still hear so much negative commentary around heavy lifting or heavy impact activities (running, jumping) that talk about how bad they can be for your joints. I’m here to help put an end to these ideas. They’re wrong for so many reasons. There is far greater evidence out there saying that a joint exposed to these high forces over time have BETTER cartilage preservation and joint health than those that do not. We must stop fearing the things like running, jumping, and lifting heavy. The negative discussion surrounding things that stress the body continues to permeate our culture. The worst culprits, in many ways, are health care providers! So many doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, masseuses etc. perpetuate these lies without showing any evidence. And, naturally, if the “educated” are willing to spread nonsense, of course the general public is going to believe it. We all agree that the healthiest individuals are typically the ones that train the hardest and eat the best. The stress to our system is far more advantageous than it is disruptive.

It’s not uncommon to see weightlifters get injured. Bench pressers often complain of shoulder pain, squatters deal with a lot of hip and low back pain, deadlifters might experience some low back pain. And for some reason we’ve decided to assume that because these things happen, lifting weights is bad for us or makes us more injury prone. Weightlifting, contrary to popular belief, has one of the lower injury rates of all sports. And, maybe most importantly, the injuries we see in weightlifting are typically under our control (ie you did too many reps, too much weight, poor mechanics etc.). Very rarely so we see any acute trauma in recreational weightlifting that requires major surgery or intervention. There is far more likelihood that you will get injured from NOT lifting heavy than lifting heavy (as long as you train appropriately). Be smart, train hard, and understand that pain is a normal part of the process at times. But good training will significantly reduce the probability for and severity of injury. Don’t be scared of working hard. Be smart, be confident, and push your limits.

Exercises for Beginners: Where to Start?

Exercises for Beginners: Where to Start?

Stuck not knowing where to start on your exercise journey? We’ve all been a novice at some point in our lives. And I believe having the right system in place to help is paramount to being successful. I’ve worked with thousands and thousands of people across the spectrum: beginners to pros. And with the growing amount of access to instagrammers, tik tokkers and youtubers telling you the right and wrong way to do things, it’s become increasingly hard to know who to trust. The exercises I list below can be replaced with other exercises that you have more experience with or simply enjoy or like more. But the have a system and guide is so important.

Whether you are starting on your fitness journey for the first time or the tenth time, know that we support you no matter what! It is so hard to make positive changes and anyway out there trying deserves so much credit and respect. I’ve worked with a lot of professional, collegiate and high level high school athletes. I can genuinely say that I enjoy working with the general population so much more. Don’t get me wrong, working with the strongest, fastest, most coordinated people are a lot of fun. It’s really cool to see what humans are capable of at the highest level. But they have such a small window for improvement. They’re so close to their peak that what I offer really isn’t all that special. Some minor adjustments to their programming or introducing a few new exercises or stretches is about all that they need. People in the general population, however, have so much potential and I love exploring new and creative ways to help people reach that potential.

All of these exercises below are designed with the idea that they are compound lifts (hit many muscle groups at once), efficient, achievable, and require zero equipment. It doesn’t matter whether your goal is to move better and get stronger, reduce pain/injury, to improve your aesthetic, to lose weight, or to simply become healthier. There are basic principles for success and the majority of it comes down to consistency. I implore you to start small no matter your motivations. Build a foundation that is rock solid. One that you can do in your sleep and that you can repeat habitually. One that generally feels good to do, that challenges you a little bit, and doesn’t take too much time. These principles are SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than the actual exercises. I can’t emphasize this enough. If you have NEVER exercised and do not feel comfortable at all doing movement, please start with A group of exercises. If you used to exercise years ago, are used to doing a little bit here and there and just fail to stick with it, have been to classes in the past or a trainer or have just always done a little bit of exercise on your own, please go to the B group of exercises.

A.

  1. Sit to Stand
  2. Wall Pushup
  3. Stairs
  4. Walk whenever you’re able but don’t punish yourself if you don’t

B.

  1. Squat
  2. Modified Pushup
  3. Mountain Climber
  4. Lunges
  5. Squat Jumps

Do these 3-4x per week for 4-6 weeks. DO NOT CHEAT AND PROGRESS SOONER. Your body needs this time to adapt and be ready to progress. Be honest with yourself about the consistency and do not progress until you get 4-6 CONSECUTIVE weeks under your belt. See next week’s post for why this is so important for a beginner.

Training With Pain or Injury: Prevention vs Response

Training With Pain or Injury: Prevention vs Response

How do we go about training with pain or injury? We often over-complicate the process. There are only two things we can control in our body:

1. How well we prepare

2. How well we respond

If we look at diet as an example, we prepare the best we can by eating nutrient dense, well rounded, healthy meals. Most people know that we have a better chance for a healthy body the more regularly we prepare with healthy eating. When we have GI distress or heartburn or inflammation, we then need to make the necessary response by making certain accommodations (ie eliminating fatty, fried, processed foods if we get heartburn, taking some medicine). 

With regards to injury, all we can do is prepare our body as best we can and, when a tissue fails (pain or a tear), shift our focus to recovery. TRAINING IS THE SOLUTION FOR BOTH. The better you prepare your body with strength training, joint mobility, cardiovascular health etc, the better prepared you are to avoid pain and injury. When we have pain or injury, we respond with an adjustment in our training, but rarely remove training altogether. We may lighten the weight, we may move through a partial range of motion instead of a full range, we may reduce the reps or sets. Rarely is absolute rest the correct response. Modification is typically much better for healing. Even acute or traumatic injuries need input and load (lower levels) in order to heal effectively.

We often spend too much time focusing on things outside of what we can actually control. Things like:

Our anatomy is at fault – “I have flat arches”, “I have one leg longer than the other”, “I have a back that is out of alignment”

Or

Our posture is at fault – “My head is too far forward”, “My back is too flat or too rounded”, “I sit the wrong way or I sleep the wrong way”

We have the power to make things move better and the power to make them stronger or more resilient. But we can’t change our anatomy (without surgery) and we can’t really make permanent changes to our posture, nor do we have to (I’ll post more on this later because I  know this is a big and controversial topic). Spend more time preparing your body to move better and get stronger. Ultimately, those are the only things we can actually control day in and day out that can directly impact our likelihood for injury and our daily experience. Focus less of your attention on the flaws that we can’t change. It’s unproductive and inefficient. Create the best version of yourself in spite of the flaws you have. Don’t worry about what you cannot change. Life and pain alike become much simpler when we accept the fact that everyone has pain, and the best way to treat it is to prevent it as best as you can through good quality training. Let us help you to establish a healthy preventative program that will help you to move better and get stronger, the things you can actually change in your body. 

What Makes Up Good Workout Routines?

What Makes Up Good Workout Routines?

Good workout routines are difficult to find and, ideally, are individualized and structured based on your injury and medical history, your experience levels, and your goals for training. There is never a “one size fits all” approach, and for good reason.  As a society, we love fads. Clothing, haircuts, music and…exercise. 

Over the years, we’ve seen many transitions in the fitness worlds: from calisthenics to weightlifting to crossfit to soulcycle to barry’s to orangetheory. Some may call it an “evolution” of fitness. But in reality, they are really just making a corporate structure for what people want out of exercise. They are a place to socialize, to create a community environment around getting healthier and a place to hold you accountable. This communal training helps many people to stay structured, to stay consistent, and to stay goal driven.

But what they don’t do well is cater to you as an individual. And there’s nothing wrong with that if you’re just looking to get healthy and you want to find a group of like minded individuals to support you on your journey. The instructors are intentionally going to design programs that incorporate a generalist approach. A bell curve strategy. Appeal to the middle of the pack where 60-70% of people will get what they need. But that leaves a big percent of the training groups either training above or below the necessary training stimulus for results. The ones at the bottom are at risk for injury from training above their current level, and the ones above are probably investing more time and energy into a system that isn’t going to yield much in the ways of progress.

We’ve established that ideally, a good workout routine should be individualized. But in general, there are certain factors that should be fundamental for nearly all workout routines. Exceptions to this might be injury limitations or a specialist athlete training for a very specific goal. Strength is mandatory. The approach by which strength is gained can vary, but strength is paramount to any good program. Tissues need to be strong for performance, injury prevention, and durability. Endurance should also be included. Being able to handle activity for longer durations and to reduce fatigue is an important thing to incorporate into any good training program. Mobility is also very important. We should be incorporating movements that are large ranges of motions and spend extra attention on deficits and limiting factors. We should also have elements of speed work, power work, control work and some cross-training.

Because a good workout routine should at least touch on most of these factors, you can see why an individualized program is so important. Having trouble building a workout routine for you? Let us build a program for you to help improve or begin your fitness journey (link)

References:

https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/calisthenics#:~:text=Calisthenics%20are%20exercises%20that%20rely,levels%20of%20intensity%20and%20rhythm.

https://www.britannica.com/sports/weightlifting

https://www.crossfit.com

https://www.soul-cycle.com

https://barrys.com

https://www.orangetheory.com/en-us?utm_medium=sem&utm_source=gg&utm_term=tombras&utm_campaign=10199120119–FreeClass–NationalPromotion–Orangetheory-PPC-Brand&utm_content=:&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw8rW2BhAgEiwAoRO5rAJTmMljjTStCu4lUZM5KWJ56vR99BAp0telPB4nwDIoRvmY9gWH8xoCpAoQAvD_BwE