Programme Planning; Guest Blog by Micheal Baker For those not fortunate enough to be linked in with a personal trainer or coach, the conundrum of planning your own sessions and perhaps a programme is probably harder than doing the sessions themselves! Though the more-recreational gym goer may be able plan their sessions as they go along, for those who are driven towards specific goals, planning will enable you to make the most effective use of your gym time. Here are my tips for helping to plan a successful programme: 1) Be clear on what your goals are – write down what your goals are and when you want to achieve them. Making your goals explicit in this nature will assist you in planning and justifying the different elements to your programme. If you can’t justify it against one of your goals, are you effectively making use of finite resources (your energy, and your time!). If you are planning with sports performance in mind, unpack what high performance looks like and the components that go into making high performance. Let these components then guide your goals. 2) Be knowledgeable about how to achieve your goals – with a wealth of information at your disposal nowadays, you will always be able to extend your knowledge of training theory and broaden your awareness of different training methods for different goals. Don’t be afraid to talk and share ideas with friends, fellow gym goers, and more knowledgeable others in the field of fitness and training. 3) Know what training for your goals does to your body – Rest is an important component of any training programme to allow adaptation to occur. Prescribing how many rest days you should include in your programme though isn’t straight forward; it depends on what your goal is, what training you are doing to achieve your goals, and the effect of that training on your body. For example if you have a cardiovascular goal your training may be of long duration but may be lower in intensity. Consequently you may be able to do a repeat stimulus on consecutive days. Conversely, if your goals are built around strength development resulting in heavy resistance lifting, you may have to take two easier days between sessions. Understanding the impact of a certain training method on your body will help you plan to maximise adaptations and reduce injury. By colour coding sessions based on the impact of your session on your body you will be able to keep a tabs of whether you are working hard enough, or taking enough rest. Assuming a red, yellow, green colour code (where red is a ‘hard day’), I’d avoid two consecutive red days, no more than three red days in a week and at least one green day a week (possibly more depending on your level of training and what your goals are). Writing and understanding your programme isn’t easy, but if you can, it will give you a sense of freedom and creativity which could ultimately lead to greater motivation and the potential for greater results. Happy planning! Michael @mikebaker400h Michael is a former international level athlete, qualified athletics coach based in Loughborough and was a Strength and Conditioning centre manager for the Leicester Tigers Development Player Programme this year. He also lectures on degrees in Sports Coaching and Sports Science at Loughborough College.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:41:09 +0000
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