Body Shift Fitness

Nothing better than being part of peoples journeys in bettering themselves, in whatever way that may be 💪😊

REGRESS, TO PROGRESS ..

Ever hit a brick wall, plateau or even started to go backwards in your training ? 🤔

At first you might think regressing deliberately from where you are at would be counter productive.. however when utilised in the correct circumstances it can be a powerful tool to continue progressing .. 1 step backward to take 2 forwards. 🏃‍♂️

So what are these circumstances .. ? Let’s go through a couple of examples 🤓

1. Plateaus
These can be down to a number of reasons but the main ones are simply overtraining and accumulating too much fatigue or at the opposite end of the scale, under training or not working hard enough and not giving the body enough reason to adapt (e.g, still doing the same routine for weeks on end)

In both cases deliberate regression can be applied to continue progress. For overtraining - reduce your current total volume by a third, or try a deload week if you’re feeling a bit beaten up.

For under training, we can again reduce the load (weight) but perform more sets across. Total volume increases, providing more stimulation but the intensity decreases/regresses.

2. Pain/Injury
At some point, everyone who’s lifted weights will have suffered from some form of stiffness, aching of the joints due to new or increased stresses placed upon them. Managing that before it becomes pain is key to continue progress - continuing to blast through pain for fear of regressing, losing muscle etc will only result in the pain getting worse and you’ll end up having to stop completely in any case.

Deliberately regressing before you get to that stage will both give your joints the rest they need and provide your muscles with a different stimulus. Here swapping out exercises that give you the pain for something else works great, but if you are dead set on keeping the exercise scale the weight right back and stick to very high reps (25+) to help the tendons strengthen pain free. It can be a hit to the ego but realise that it’s a long term game and these solutions are a short term fraction of your training lifetime.

Play the long game, and let the progress, however slow, keep going forward ✅

Ever tried a bodyweight only full body workout ? 🤔

Take day off the weights and give this 1000 rep/unit bodyweight only workout a blast and aim to get all the reps for each exercise completed as quick as possible and in as few sets as possible 💪

Some rules:
✅ ALL eccentric/negative phases of a lift must be at least 3 seconds. No bouncy press ups or dips with half range of motion!
✅ No kipping on pull ups
✅ Step ups one leg at a time
💡 Tip: perform exercises in pairs to reduce the rest between sets

Note your time, perform it again in 4 weeks and see if you can beat it

🏃‍♂️💨🏆🥇

Here we go then 2022 .. 💪

🔮 Whatever it is you want to do with this year .. Set your goals, and go get them !🙅🏻‍♂️🙅‍♀️🏆🥇

‼️I have 4x slots available throughout the week for new clients - drop me a DM or come see me at the gym for a free half hour chat 👍

‼️Don’t forget to check out the new class timetable for this year starting Monday 3rd Jan - kicking off with SPIN 6:15am with me 🚴😰😁

Always, always have a plan ..

Preparation time is never wasted time ✅💻📝⚖️💆🏻

Most underrated fat loss tool? WALKING..

Don’t underestimate the value of this simple exercise 🧐

Often dismissed as a beginner exercise with no benefit, it has a lot of value both physically and mentally 🏆

Here’s 10 benefits:

✅ Low stress on the system
✅ Is restorative and assists recovery
✅ Burns fat
✅ Builds work capacity and aerobic fitness
✅ Stress relief and head space clearance
✅ Scalable
✅ User friendly / accessible
✅ Functional
✅ Low impact on joints
✅ Works fasted / on empty stomach

To get the most benefit, aim for 30 mins daily as a minimum and anywhere up to an hour. To scale this up, add hills into your walks or consider “rucking” - walking with a weighted backpack. Keep the weight low though to avoid it becoming a too intense exercise which then removes the benefits of it. Keep the intense stuff for the weights room and the walking outside of it 👍