Líkamsrækt af Ásetningi:
TRAIN WITH INTENTION.
Whenever I am coaching—whether within the context of a group setting or a private or semi-private training session—I always like to begin by reminding my clients/gym members to keep their training intentions in mind. Depending on the athlete and their goals, intentions may vary, even within the same programming. On the other hand, one thing is always for sure: Your body will become whatever you train it to become.
All of the group classes at MBR are designed with a specific intention in mind. We have strength, power, and endurance training days. “Power” days are more about developing fast-twitch muscle fibers which allow us to be more explosive—our ability to rapidly generate and absorb force. Power training also increases our physical size by increasing muscle mass. “Strength” days on the other hand are more geared towards increasing the body´s ability to generate strength—that is, training the nervous system to recruit as many muscle fibers as needed in order to overcome an outside force—hopefully within a stable environment. For now, I will assume that the goal of the “Endurance” days is self-explanatory (although I will likely say more about this in a future post).
I could go on and on about intention in training, but for this brief illustration, just consider this: If your intention is to train power, train with power. If the workout of the day has suggested 6-8 reps but by the third set you are struggling after 4—i.e. your execution is no longer explosive—the set is done. Similarly, you would not want to jump right back into your next set after a 10-15 second rest. Rather, rest as long as needed to once again execute with explosivity. An olympic sprinter would not be coached to run sprint after sprint, quickly becoming slower and slower with each run. If they trained in this manner, they would eventually become a marathon runner. Their power training would become endurance training. Not their intention.
Keep this idea in mind next time you are in the gym. Ask yourself the following questions:
What are my goals/what does my sport require for me to best perform?
The sprinter does not need to be able to run forever. When it is time to compete, they need to be as fast as possible. Once.
What have I already trained for this week?
Most sports (and life in general) require a bit of balance. Have you already trained for power/strength/endurance this week?
If your training is 2-3 times per week, what have you already trained for in this session. One session may serve many purposes.
What would I like to get out of this specific exercise?
My favorite example for this one is stability exercises. If the intention is stability (take a waiter carry, for example), do not use a weight that you can not hold with stability. If the intention is to strengthen your core, keep your core engaged throughout. When you are ready to increase the difficulty, search for ways to create more muscle engagement/internal tension (try doing this before adding weight—especially when training for stability/strength or endurance, rather than power).
As I said, I could go on and on, but will leave it at this for now.
I would love to hear your thoughts and questions if any have came to mind as you were reading.
