Fit with Rev

One question I usually get is “Are follow along exercise videos on YouTube similar to strength training?”

There really is no simple one word answer to this. Some of the exercise videos can fall under the broad umbrella of resistance training, but with a lot of caveats.

Usually, many follow along workouts on YT are either HIIT or Circuit style workouts, even when they use weights. Not that they are ineffective, but if your goal is to build strength, then these are pretty inefficient. 

Plus the weights they use are generally light, and they end up using the same weight for the duration of the workout across different exercises, which actually defeats the purpose of putting enough load/stimulus on the muscles.

For eg: A full body workout you see on YT may end up using a pair of 5 kgs dumbbells to do bicep curls, shoulder press, squats, rows, deadlifts. These weights may be ok for say bicep curls, and maybe shoulder presses in the beginning, but almost all other exercises could use way heavier weights.

However, like with many things, there are Pros & Cons to these, so let’s see if we can expand a bit on these.

Pros:

🔸 It is free. Duh.

🔸 Certain videos can be constituted as resistance training if you are a beginner and/or new to resistance training.

🔸 Easy access in the sense that it can be done anytime from anywhere.

Cons:

🔹 They have many limitations, one of which is that the workout plans are not personalized to cater to your particular needs and goals.

🔹 Nor are they customized to take into account a person’s physiology and/or physical limitations. This plays a very important part on how to set up correctly for an exercise, for it to be effective and efficient.

🔹 For someone with not much idea on the concept of progressive overload, Youtube workouts can get stagnant real quick that can eventually stall your progress.

So the bottom line is, know your goals enough to know what would work for you. And then decide on how you want to proceed.

But that being said, any kind of exercise that is making you move is better than nothing.

💜

This is a Then vs Now story.

I kid you not, there was a time my workout plan used to look something like a grocery shopping list, with a minimum of 10-12 exercises.👀

And my aim then used to be to get them done as fast as possible (30-45 mins used to be it for me), with close to 0 rest periods between sets, because somehow in my mind that made me strong.

I thought workouts were literally meant to kill you.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

- More doesn’t automatically make it better.

- More exercise in your workout is not inherently better.

- More fatigue is not better.

- More sweat need not be a marker for a good workout.

This is one such case, where quality > quantity.

Now, my workout sessions look worlds apart from how they used to.

- Rarely do I have more than 4-5 exercises per workout session.

- I consciously take longer rest periods (closer to 3-4 mins), as I train to failure.

- And now my workouts take anywhere between 60 - 90 mins. Double the time as before for just half the number of exercises.

And I can honestly say this has made a world of a difference.

Training with intent and purpose, and doing smart programming, is truly a game changer.

P.S.: This is purely from a strength training perspective. I am sure there are other training modalities that may have different requirements and I honestly can’t speak for them.

💜

💜

If I had to list these 3 tips on the basis of priority, I would definitely emphasize on the importance of point number 3.

Even if you take nothing else out of this, try and understand that learning to forgive yourself will do you wonders.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.

💜

Certain concepts seem so simple when we read about it.

However, simple does not necessarily mean easy to execute.
This is one such concept.

But oftentimes, all we need is a reminder to give ourselves the permission that it’s okay to not be running at 100% all the time.

And sometimes, doing the bare minimum can actually help avoid a burn out situation.

💜

I am sure we have all heard of the saying, don’t let the weekend become your weak end.

But how does this happen?

One main reason is because we treat the weekends very differently from our weekdays.

Agreed that for many, weekends are sort of like a recharge for the coming week ahead. But if you start giving yourself free passes over everything, you rarely are going to see the results you desire.

And this applies not just to your health goals, but is true in all aspects of your lives.

Maintain some level of accountability over the weekends as well. Yes, relax, but also have enough self awareness to know where to draw the line.

Remember, we are only as strong as our weakest link.

Don’t let the weekend become your weak link.

💜

As a coach, developing and building rapport has always been my focal point for quite a long time.

A better rapport also translates to you being able to deliver on your promises to your clients, in a much more effective and efficient way.

Even before I got into personal coaching, my aim has always been on how to improve the entire experience for my clients, where they feel heard and seen.

One obvious way to do that is to find grounds of commonality. Something you can talk about to get the conversations flowing. 

But even if not that, simple things, like truly listening to them, and remembering what they have told you can do wonders. This shows that you truly care and have their best interests at heart.

So build rapport, so that you can:

🔹Create mutual trust

🔹Facilitate honest 2-way communication

🔹Give better value and support

💜

🔸 You don’t have to over-compensate

🔸 You don’t have to be restrictive

🔸 You don’t have to do anything extra

Just carry on with your usual plan.

💜

These, more than anything, are mindset shifts.

And the only way these can happen are if we have open conversations around these topics that helps us to change the narrative.

Agree, Disagree or Agree to disagree?

💜

Like with everything else, there are no absolutes and meal plans have their own place. But not as much as people would like to believe.

Plus only licensed and registered dietitians are legally allowed to give them to their patients.

But even if that was not the case, I would still not do so. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which are:

🔹 Meal Plans are very rigid: I have always found that telling someone exactly what to have at what time of the day can make it extremely restrictive. And plus it sort of facilitates bad relationship with food, which could further, down the road, potentially lead to eating disorders.

🔹 Are not sustainable for long. For the general population, what you need to always try and strive for is sustainability. It is what you do over a period of time that defines your success rate. And meal plans can get boring real quick. Which makes it all the more harder to adhere to in the long run.

🔹 Subconscious bias of the one issuing the meal plan: I feel that no matter how hard one tries, our personal bias and preference will seep through (most of the times subconsciously.). And that can defeat the whole purpose of it, for the client.

💜

I honestly believe in this.

When you start enjoying the process, and start celebrating each progress, the destination, aka the results, automatically becomes the byproduct.

💜