People don’t like change. I have a gym owner friend who recently learned this the hard way.
In an honorable effort to further his education, he took a couple of days away from the gym and completed an online certification course. In the course, he learned about a new protocol called “Heavy Resistance Training” and instantly decided he was going to implement it in the programming for his clients.
Boy, was that a bad idea.
Heavy Resistance Training, or HSR, involves tempo on every rep of all the main exercises. Three seconds down in the eccentric phase, and three seconds up in the concentric phase.
The first week called for three sets of 15 reps … with each rep taking 6 seconds.
Ninety seconds per set.
Even though this gym owner had explained all the benefits of lifting this way — his clients were going to get crazy strong, and their joints and tendons were going to be healthier and more resilient — his clients hated the new protocol.
It was tedious, mentally draining, and worse, their coach had told them they were going to be doing this for the next 12 weeks.
Of course, the gym owner had to backtrack and admit that it was too much, too soon. He learned the hard way that drastic changes in your program — or anything having to do with your workout setting — should be implemented in small doses over time.
I think there’s a lesson here for all of us. It’s easy to chase the next shiny object and take a “go big or go home” approach.
Sometimes, taking a step back and slowing down works a lot better.
Your innie friend and coach,
Paul F. Sweatt CPT PN1
Train Smart. Train Hard. Train Safe. Train to Sweatt
P.S. – Get a Jump Start on your resolutions this holiday season.
Don’t wait until January to start the next chapter of your health and fitness journey.
Join my 28-Day Resolution Jump Start and get ahead of the stress and extra calories that come with them. My Resolution Jump Start includes: a personalized nutrition and exercise plan designed specifically for your needs and goals so you always know what you need to do to get the healthy and fit body of your dreams, all the coaching you need to keep you accountable and make sure you stay consistent when times get tough, and weekly check in sessions to go over your progress and make changes to anything we need to keep you moving forward. Reply ‘Jump Start’ to get started today.