One of the best things about my job is watching my clients’ fitness improve over time. They gain strength, flexibility and endurance, and it’s incredibly rewarding to watch my team put in the hard work to reach their goals.
At every session with every single client, I build a personalised exercise selection based on their goals. Then, I choose the weights and how many reps they’ll do for each one. My personal goal is to make my clients’ workouts challenging every time, so that each workout routine never feels too comfortable.
I always start each training session by asking my client how their body felt after their last workout. I don’t expect them to be uber sore after every single one, but I need to know that they felt it, and to what degree. If they answer that they didn’t experience much soreness or stiffness, I generally take that as a cue that I need to ramp the workout up a bit so that they don’t plateau.
I realise that this may a bit frustrating at times because I don’t readily give my clients that sweet satisfaction of mastering every move I’ve given them, but in my professional opinion — this is how you get the best results! It’s important to change it up if you stop feeling the effects of your workouts.
If you’re not getting the results you want from your current workout, or have been repeating the same old workout forever, then it’s time you ramp it up a bit!
Below are some great ways to shake up your workout routine.
- Always make your last rep your last rep! If you feel like you could do an exercise forever, please for the love of God, don’t! Add some weight to make it harder or research a more challenging version of the same exercise.
- Try some plyometrics — a trainer’s fancy term for jumping. Integrating fast, repetitive movements will use a different energy system and challenges your body in a different way.
- Try a compound set! A compound set is a group of two or more back-to-back exercises that work the same muscle group. A good example of this is doing a push up followed by a chest fly. If you’ve ever trained with me, you know I love these combos!
- Add some extra cardio to your life! By doing 20-40 minutes of cardio after your strength training, you’ll stay in the fat burning zone for longer. And who doesn’t love a little extra fat burning?
- Challenge yourself to add in another workout a week. Pick a body part you want to improve and challenge yourself to do a workout centred around exercises that target it specifically.
- Try a new class or hire a personal trainer. It’s always great to get a few new ideas from professionals!
Well team, I hope these ideas inspired you to go do some research for your next workout! I’m always posting new workouts in my Instagram story, but don’t hesitate to send me a message if you want to learn more about structuring your workouts more effectively so that you can continue to crush your fitness goals!
Until next time,
Xo Jenna