This is probably one of the most common questions I get asked in my work, alongside “what should I be eating?” and “did you see the match last night?” To be honest there is no single answer to this, and because of this I spend my working day writing exercise programs tailored to each individual I work with.
The exercises in your program will depend entirely on factors such as your goals, past experiences, injuries and lifestyle.
The best way to approach this is to make a list of your wants and needs, with your needs taking priority From this you should then choose exercises that will help you reach your goals.
All exercises that you choose should be FUNCTIONAL or CORRECTIVE and above all have a PURPOSE.
FUNCTIONAL: This is a word that often gets horribly misused and abused in the fitness industry. Simply your choice of gym activity should have some relevance to your life. For example the movement and position of a leg press is a little unnatural, whereas a box squat despite using similar muscle groups is a very day to day movement.
Leg Press
Box Squat with Dumbbell
CORRECTIVE: Injuries can happen, but you should at all times be trying to prevent them. A lot of common exercise related injuries happen as a result of imbalances in posture and movement, which could be avoided by a few simple exercises.
For example the wall slide (Left) is useful to help stretch muscles related to the shoulder and in turn helps to improve posturePURPOSE: Simply ask yourself, “why am I doing this exercise?” Answers such as “a dude at the gym said I should,” and “the skinny B list celeb does it,” are not good answers. An exercise should always have a purpose, whether its to help you reach your primary goal, to help with an other aspect of fitness or to teach you something which will make you a better rounded athlete.
Over the next few post I plan to cover exercises that you should have in your training and a few hints and suggestions about how to reach your goals.
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