I am a personal trainer at a local health club, and I always get flack for training my clients (particularly females) with strength training. This is topic may be more geared towards personal trainers, but I figured I'd ask you guys what you think.
Typically, I will be assigned to see them 2 times per week. I'll have them do Bench Press, Parallel Squat, Bent Over Row, and Barbell Situps on Day 1, for 3-5 sets of 5 reps, at near-maximal loads. I correct them on their form until it's perfect, and then I add weight when they can handle more, without quite going to failure. On Day 2, I do the same thing with Romanian Deadlift, Military Press, Assisted Pullups, and squats with 80% of what they did on Day 1. (I borrow a lot from Madcow's 5x5. With some of my clients who have a lot of built up sessions, I'll take them through the full routine 3 days a week. Or, if they are doing a lot of cardio on the side, I'll just have them do 3 sets per exercise, and use the 5/3/1 format for the rep scheme.)
If it's a female client, and she wants to lose weight and "tone up", it is up to her to eat small, healthy portions every two hours, perform cardio as often as they can recover, and should be losing 1-2 pounds per week. The "toning up" will come from being able to lift heavier and having a solid strength base to work from...am I right?
HOWEVER, I always get flack for this, because my bosses and female clients protest by saying that strength training will make you "big and bulky," and that instead, I should put them through circuit training.
Pardon my ignorance, but whenever I see other trainers do circuit training, it just seems like a bunch of random bull**** without any measure of progress. The clients don't get stronger, and they just do different stuff every time. Seriously, what is the point?
It looks pretty boring, if you ask me. To me, and some of my clients, there is nothing more motivating than feeling strong and being able to increase the weight you are doing on a basic lift. What is the motivation behind doing a bunch of random stuff without ever really increasing the weight or perfecting the form?
See, if I want to give the client a higher intensity workout (meaning, more sweat and much less recovery to create an aerobic benefit), I will take them through a Muay Thai workout. Hitting thai pads is motivating, because of the power output you are generating and the resistance you recieve from the pad holder. There is progress to be measured by your form getting more proficient and your coordination getting better by doing longer combos at max power.
This is true with most sport activities as well, if performed intensely. But with weight training, the whole point is to get stronger! Lifting weights with random exercises, no increase of weight, and no ryhme or reason is just plain boring and pointless...or at least that's what it looks like to me. If the client wants a cardio benefit, but doesn't want to learn Kickboxing or play another sport on their own, then they should just go run or swim.
Am I missing something here?
Oh, and furthermore... Isn't it true that the optimum rep/set/recovery for building size is 8-12 reps, 3-6 sets, and 30-60 seconds recovery? That seems to perfectly describe most of the circuit training that I see most trainers do.
When I have my clients do strength training, it's 3-5 sets, 5 reps, and 1-2 minutes recovery. The only thing that happens to the clients that continue with me is their posture gets better, their numbers on the exercise increase dramatically, their form vastly improves, and they feel phenominal, rather than worn down and over-reached. They don't "get big" and gain a bunch of weight...or any at all. They start losing weight only when they start eating properly and cutting their calories enough to lose 2 pounds per week.
What's wrong with that? Sounds a hell of a lot better than random circuit training to me.
Typically, I will be assigned to see them 2 times per week. I'll have them do Bench Press, Parallel Squat, Bent Over Row, and Barbell Situps on Day 1, for 3-5 sets of 5 reps, at near-maximal loads. I correct them on their form until it's perfect, and then I add weight when they can handle more, without quite going to failure. On Day 2, I do the same thing with Romanian Deadlift, Military Press, Assisted Pullups, and squats with 80% of what they did on Day 1. (I borrow a lot from Madcow's 5x5. With some of my clients who have a lot of built up sessions, I'll take them through the full routine 3 days a week. Or, if they are doing a lot of cardio on the side, I'll just have them do 3 sets per exercise, and use the 5/3/1 format for the rep scheme.)
If it's a female client, and she wants to lose weight and "tone up", it is up to her to eat small, healthy portions every two hours, perform cardio as often as they can recover, and should be losing 1-2 pounds per week. The "toning up" will come from being able to lift heavier and having a solid strength base to work from...am I right?
HOWEVER, I always get flack for this, because my bosses and female clients protest by saying that strength training will make you "big and bulky," and that instead, I should put them through circuit training.
Pardon my ignorance, but whenever I see other trainers do circuit training, it just seems like a bunch of random bull**** without any measure of progress. The clients don't get stronger, and they just do different stuff every time. Seriously, what is the point?
It looks pretty boring, if you ask me. To me, and some of my clients, there is nothing more motivating than feeling strong and being able to increase the weight you are doing on a basic lift. What is the motivation behind doing a bunch of random stuff without ever really increasing the weight or perfecting the form?
See, if I want to give the client a higher intensity workout (meaning, more sweat and much less recovery to create an aerobic benefit), I will take them through a Muay Thai workout. Hitting thai pads is motivating, because of the power output you are generating and the resistance you recieve from the pad holder. There is progress to be measured by your form getting more proficient and your coordination getting better by doing longer combos at max power.
This is true with most sport activities as well, if performed intensely. But with weight training, the whole point is to get stronger! Lifting weights with random exercises, no increase of weight, and no ryhme or reason is just plain boring and pointless...or at least that's what it looks like to me. If the client wants a cardio benefit, but doesn't want to learn Kickboxing or play another sport on their own, then they should just go run or swim.
Am I missing something here?
Oh, and furthermore... Isn't it true that the optimum rep/set/recovery for building size is 8-12 reps, 3-6 sets, and 30-60 seconds recovery? That seems to perfectly describe most of the circuit training that I see most trainers do.
When I have my clients do strength training, it's 3-5 sets, 5 reps, and 1-2 minutes recovery. The only thing that happens to the clients that continue with me is their posture gets better, their numbers on the exercise increase dramatically, their form vastly improves, and they feel phenominal, rather than worn down and over-reached. They don't "get big" and gain a bunch of weight...or any at all. They start losing weight only when they start eating properly and cutting their calories enough to lose 2 pounds per week.
What's wrong with that? Sounds a hell of a lot better than random circuit training to me.
