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6 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR TRAINING MORE EFFECTIVE!

Learn these training techniques to set you on the fast track to success for your goals

1. Use of Supersets/Paired exercises/Tri-SetsThe use of Supersets/Paired exercises and/or Tri-Sets can work wonders for your progress

in the gym. By incorporating these techniques you can effectively double your training

volume (the amount of work you do in a given training session).

These techniques involve pairing different exercises together and performing them one after

the other in an A1, A2 or B1, B2, B3 format. What this means is that you perform A1, which

might be a Sumo Deadlift followed by A2, which might be a Dumbbell Bench Press.

This sequence would then be repeated until the required number of sets is completed. You

would then move onto the B1, B2 (or B3) pairing. Ideally, you would pair non-competing

muscle groups, i.e. a lower body exercise and an upper body exercise. This allows rest

periods in between exercises to be short and maximises an optimal fat loss environment

within the body.

Paired exercises can also be done between agonist and antagonist muscle groups, i.e.

opposing muscle groups. For example you might pair a chest exercise with a back exercise,

or pair a biceps exercise with a triceps exercise. By doing so, you are again increasing

overall training volume (important for muscle growth) and there is research that shows by

using this training method you can lower the rate at which you tire from set to set. We call

this lowering the drop-off curve, so as you get fatigued your ability to perform 10 repetitions

with a certain weight decreases. But when you use the agonist-antagonist technique it

lowers this drop off curve.

Another benefit of using this technique may actually allow you to have greater motor unitrecruitment ability thus being able to recruit more muscle fibers! This is important for

muscle building.

If youre not using paired exercise techniques youre leaving results on the table.

2. FillersFillers are used within training to work on your specific needs that may be affecting your

movement patterns as well as your structural balance issues. All of which should have been

picked up on by your trainer when he/she put you through your initial movement

assessment.

Fillers are designed to be used in-between exercises or during your rest periods. By doing

so you are again accomplishing more in that training session! Instead of standing round

talking waiting for your next set, you can be working on specific exercises designed to make

you feel and move better.

For example, you may be performing a Clean-Grip Deadlift as your A1 exercise for the

session (your money movement more on this later). Instead of standing around during

your rest period for 2-3 minutes chatting about the weather, you can be mobilizing your hip

flexors. This would then allow you to recruit your posterior chain muscles (gluteals,

hamstrings) to a greater extent and would allow you to easily maintain a good spinal position

during your deadlifts.

Fillers are a powerful tool when incorporated in your program if applied correctly.

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3. Try not to sit down when training we sit all day, dont go to the gym and sit downagain!

This is when a person goes to the gym after spending all day at work sitting down at their

desk and then performs all of their exercises sitting. This is a common theme within a

commercial gym setting.

Joe Bloggs walks into the Health Club and is inundated with row upon row of machine

based exercises. After sitting 8 hours at his desk today with only a short walk down the

street to get some lunch, he continues to move from one machine to the next to get in his

work out.

From the chest press to the Lat pull-down to the leg extension to the bicep curl to the

shoulder press to the abdominal crunch machine all sitting on a machine. Does this sound

familiar to you?

Why go to the gym only to sit down the whole time?! It seems like insanity to me. Why not

get up and move, stand on your feet, try and help reverse the effects of sitting all day that we

all know are unhealthy!

There are more effective ways to train!

4. Start your training with the Money MovementWhat is a Money Movement? A money movement is another name for the main exercise

for that training session. Its the one that is the focus of the session, everything else you do

is to support that movement or to bring up weak links otherwise known as assistance

exercises.

What this does is it gives you a real focus, a goal for that session. This exercise must be a

big compound (multi-joint) exercise; it cant be an isolation exercise, like a curl for instance.It must be the exercise that gets you excited to come in that day, examples include; Deadlift

variation, Squat variation, Bench Press variation or even an Olympic lift variation.

This exercise is a big ball of fat blasting and muscle building awesomeness. You can pair

this exercise with a filler, to help support it.

Doing this sets the tone for the session.

5. FoamRollBeforeTrainingHave you seen those weird foam cylinder shaped objects at your gym before?

You might even have seen some people rolling around on these strange things?

Its called a foam roller. The foam roller is a great invention which allows you to

get some of the benefits of a massage right before you train.

The technique of foam rolling is called SMR (self-myofascial release). I wont

bore you with the anatomy of it (though you are more than welcome to ask

should you be curious), what it will and can do for you is make you feel and

move better than you have in years.

Foam rolling is designed to be a self-massage tool, performed correctly it has

the ability to iron out any kinks or aches you may have developed over time.

Its not a miracle cure but performed consistently, it can help enormously.

What it does is by rolling over a muscle or body part it aids in relieving

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tensions/adhesions in a muscle group. Tensions and adhesions (otherwiseknown as knots) in one area of the body can restrict mobility and function in

associated areas. Sometimes, these adhesions have progressively gotten worse

and worse, and your body has started to compensate for those adhesions, it

can cause pain. By decreasing the strain in an area of restriction it can lead to

decreased pain at area of symptom of that pain.

Isnt that what stretching is for I here you ask? By stretching you are simply

lengthening the muscle around the adhesion. Think about a knot in an elastic

band, if you pull on it what happens? It only gets tighter and tighter.

Tissue quality, not length is king here.

Use the foam roller before every training session and it can help you feel betterand move more efficiently throughout your training session.

6. PerformFull-BodyTrainingSessionsEfficiency in your training should be a number one priority. Time is a precious

commodity and nobody likes having their time wasted. Then why spend 45

minutes to an hour performing biceps curls and triceps kickbacks? Or every

possible variation of calf raises? Or using the hip abductor/adductor machine?

Whats going to be more effective at building more lean mass and losing more

body fat performing arm exercises for 45 minutes or training your whole body

performing squats, pull-ups, presses or deadlifts?

Whats going to recruit more muscle fibers? Whats going to burn more

calories? If you want to get better results in less time, then perform full body

training routines prioritising big compound movements.