Have A Plan
When many people workout, they just walk into the gym and get going. It is as they are walking through the door to the gym or as they are warming up that they decide what lifts or movements they are going to do that day. They may know prior that it’s an upper body day or lower body but far too often people have nothing in mind. This leads to wandering around the weight room/exercise areas instead of actually working out. A plan helps by making you more efficient with the time you spend working out and also helps to reach training goals.
A plan starts with the goals. The goals are the end. They are the results that someone wishes to get out of their training. End goals are great but how does one get there? With a plan. With an approach to each workout. Every time you go to work out, have a set plan of what muscles you are trying to work and the exercises you wish to perform. This way, you can make sure that you have what you need and are not stopping in the middle of a workout to find a piece of equipment or rearrange the workout area because you needed more room. This also allows for adjusts to be made as well because when you have a clear plan for a workout, you know exactly what you are trying to accomplish that day. This means that if a piece of equipment is not available you can find another variation/exercise that achieves the same goal.
Having a workout plan is all about being prepared. It means that not matter what you encounter you are ready to get the most out of a workout. A plan of “I will do an upper body workout today” is a great start but I challenge people to go deeper. To go beyond this into what specific muscles, then further to which exact exercises, then to sets and reps. This progression allows for specific, quality work to be performed in a timely and efficient manner. More so, when it comes to adjustments, this progression allows for things to changed within a plan so that a day that was supposed to be chest and back, to all shoulders and arms. For example, say all the pull-up bars are being used, you can pivot to a lat pulldown and get very similar benefits without completely throwing away your plan heading into that workout.
In the times of closed gyms and at home workouts, having a plan is even more important. When equipment is limited, planning is even more important because often one has to get creative to get a variety of movements completed. With this limitation, planning allows for you to use the same piece of equipment in many ways throughout one workout. For example, the one suspension trainer (i.e. TRX, etc.) you own can be utilized effectively while doing a superset. In this example, you set up your workout so the exercises that require the same length are performed at one time so you don’t have to be constantly adjusting the suspension trainer for each exercise. Through having a plan, you won’t be wasting time in your workouts and thus will can get most out of each minute working out.
Having a plan could also be called programming. For those not in the strength and conditioning world, programming is the process of setting up workouts over a period of time. This means that there are specific movements, exercises, set, and petitions that should be performed in a specific fashion, order, or timeline. Then planning out workout session like this over a time period of days, weeks, and sometimes even months. In the end, this is the goal of having a plan. To not just plan one individual workout but to plan longer periods worth of workouts. This is what having a personal trainer, strength and conditioning, or performance coach is all about. They perform assessments and ask questions about goals and dreams so that when they put together a program for an individual, they maximize their time in the gym and reach those goals.
Have a plan. Get help with making a plan. Develop a program. Ask questions, get the right people around you and make the most of your training. Here at Grisdale Performance that is what it’s all about. Developing high quality plans and programs for individuals and teams so that they can maximize their goals and abilities. If you have questions about this, feel free to reach out!
-Tyler Grisdale, MS, CSCS, RSCC, CES, TPI