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5 Reasons to Hit the Gym with a Plan
Heading to the gym without a plan can be a complete waste of your time. And our time is a valuable commodity. Here’s 5 reasons why you need a game plan.
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To Meet Your Goals
– Depending on your health & fitness goals, you need to work out in different ways. For instance, if you are planning on running a marathon, then you need to work on your endurance. You will also need to focus on running. If you are wanting to lose weight, then you will need to incorporate high intensity intervals. If you want to get stronger, then you need to lift heavy and scale back your reps, while increasing your rest time. You have to know your goals to get the most out of the gym. Here’s a Goal Setting Form for you to start exploring now.
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To Prevent Muscle Imbalance & Injury
– You may have seen a bodybuilder walking hunched over. Often times, they’ve built up their chest muscles more than the opposing muscles of the posterior delts, traps and rhomboids so the chest muscles are pulling tight and rounding the shoulders. When you hit the gym, depending on your schedule, you want to make sure you are working the complete body through functional movement. Hit all the major muscle groups first and then focus on the smaller groups. By working all the muscle groups, you will have less risk of imbalances and injuries. Here’s a chart for the Opposing Muscle Groups you can print to help make your plan.
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To Move Well
– As Gray Cook notes, “movement is at the core of our early growth and development spectacle, and movement remains the central theme throughout life.” If you don’t have a plan in the gym, you will walk around aimlessly performing random lifts and moves. Your form won’t be as good and therefore you will not move well. When you begin to think how you will move in the gym, your plan will become better. You will begin to move in multiple directions. You will consider proper form. And, you’ll begin to feel the muscles your focusing on during that move.
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To Make It Worth Your Time
– We are all limited on time. Most people don’t have hours on end to spend in the gym. Therefore, you need to make the time you are in there count. You can achieve results in just 20 minutes if you have the right plan. Know what you need to accomplish and you will get it done. Don’t waste your time in the gym. Make a plan.
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To Be the Best You
– In order to be the best you, take into account all of the above. When you know your goals, and you think about the muscles you are going to work, and you’re aware of your movement patterns and plan out your time wisely, your gym time will be amazing. You will start to see results you’ve been dreaming of. Print off my Food and Exercise Journal to get your started.
If you want more training information or need a plan, contact me at kwiesmann@inspireonewellness.com.
Cooke, G. (2010). Movement – Functional Movement Systems. Aptos, CA, United States: On Target Publications.
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