Avoiding The Burn!

Jul 7, 2016
3 min read

People often think more is better. They think just because they don't get sore that they aren't making gains. This is the biggest problem with the fitness industry "MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER BETTER IS BETTER"-Gray cook. I hate when I see trainers pushing their students too hard. Now don't get me wrong a good trainer must push their students from time to time but a good trainer knows exactly what their student is capable of and understands the difference between pushing them to the point of success and pushing them to the point of failure. When I program for my students I keep it simple and effective. You can't reinvent the wheel when it comes to true strength training, nothing beats the basics. I also take into consideration what energy systems we are training and how it effects performance. When programing, my goal is to avoid the burn, which many have come to associate with hard work. There are times when I program for the burn but this is very rare. My goal when programing for my students is to allow them to work efficiently and complete each rep with success. It is very important to know your energy systems and how to properly train them. There are three energy systems and we engage all three during a training session, you can use more or less of a specific system through certain activities. The first system is the alactic system also known as the anaerobic (without oxygen). This system is best described as your turbo system. The alactic system supplies quick, intense bursts of energy. It also runs out quickly. This system is primarily taped into during sprint and heavy lifting. The in between system is known as the glycolytic system. This system is both anaerobic and aerobic. The glycolytic system kicks in when you try to sprint as long as possible or do more than 15 reps. This is the system that is associated with the burn. This is the system most people become addicted to because of the feeling they get from completing an intense workout, along with the initial success of sudden weight loss it will often lead to people wanting to do more glycolytic work. It is important for trainers to have a understanding of the science behind their programs. Trainers must educate their students that over time too much glycolytic training will break down your body. The third system is known as the aerobic system. This system is referred to as the long term system that relies primarily on fat for fuel. This system is highly efficient, but low in power. if programmed right this system will melt fat and build great endurance. My goal when programing is to tap into the alactic and aerobic systems. Proper programing of these two systems allows my students to harness the fat burning aerobic system to replenish the alactic system. My goal when programming for strength is to avoid going into the glycolytic system to often, like I said before there are times when glycolytic training is appropriate however we must avoid overtraining it. The majority of my group training programs call for 3-7 reps @ 70-85% 1RM. For conditioning it's mostly 15 sec of work followed by 30-45 sec rest. This allows the body to be trained efficiently and effectively. TRAIN FOR SUCCESS NOT FAILURE.