*Personal Trainer, Mat Scott, training at Wise & Prime PT Studio Hove*

As a Personal Trainer in Hove, I’m always refining how I train–both myself and my clients. Every day. With every session. I love making tweaks to optimise each workout and get the most out of my time spent in the gym.

In fact, I’ve come to see programming as an art form. There are so many elements to consider: strength, hypertrophy, cardiorespiratory, mobility, flexibility, time, volume, intensity, difficulty, skill, repetition, variety, balance. All whilst making sure all 7 functional movement patterns are trained in a balanced way. It’s like a jigsaw. Each element must have a purpose and fight for its position in the workout.

Now, one unique aspect of my Personal Training approach is that I follow the exact same protocol as my clients do*. So I know EXACTLY how they feel both during and after each workout. And this is really important as it enables me to understand how much intensity and workload to ask from them.

*exceptions apply.

Why Does Intensity Matter?

Everyone is different in terms of their physical build and how much exercise their central nervous system can handle. Some people can ‘go hard’ multiple times per week and return the next day relatively fresh. Whereas others (like myself) know the impact going too hard too often can have on my physical and mental health.

There are a multitude of factors involved here including body type (mesomorph, endomorph, ectomorph), stress levels, personality type, sleep quality, diet etc. As a PT, it’s our job to get to know what level of intensity our clients can handle and work within those limits to maximise their performance, results and recovery.

*Personal Trainer, Michelle Inness, completing a heavy Deadlift set*

For myself, I’ve come to realise that if I push to a maximum effort lift on a compound movement (such as squats or deadlifts) it will take about 2 days for my central nervous system to recover fully and I will see a drop in both mood and energy levels during that time.

This can be tricky to balance sometimes as my job is very physical and requires me to sustain good energy levels all week long. At the same time, I enjoy progressing my strength and fitness levels so enjoy pushing myself.

As a result, I tend to opt for (and recommend most people adopt) the 80% rule more often than not. This allows you to train more consistently at a slightly lower intensity. As a result, you’ll still get the results but won’t completely wipe yourself out.

Be Aware Of The HIIT Fallacy

Many people enjoy high-intensity fitness classes that focus on ‘pushing to your limits’. This sounds great in principle and aligns with the film-trailer-style, David-Goggins-esque ‘go hard or go home’ motto many have fashionably applied over the last 20 years to attain ‘superhero physiques’. But what is really going on here and does it really work?

Well, shortly after you’ve finished your high-intensity workout that’s kept you at a Zone 5 (90-100%) heart rate for the last 20 minutes. You’ll most likely feel an enormous high (which is essentially the body taking a huge sigh of relief now the physical stress is over). This level of euphoria can quickly become addictive (hence, why many recovering addicts turn to endurance sports). And this great feeling may last the remainder of your morning or even the entire day. So you think, wow I feel great, I want to do that again. And the owner of the fitness class you attend says, “yes please, come every day and you’ll get super fit!”

*Teammates fist pump on floor after high intensity workout*

OK so what’s the problem… well, during each workout, you’ll also significantly tax your central nervous system. And this is as it sounds–central to your nervous system.

As a result, each session also impacts your ability to perform outside of the gym too. Training too often at this intensity (both in terms of cardiovascular effort or heavy lifting) will–over time–deplete you. Not to mention, increase injury risk and the likelihood of health issues. I know this because not only did I experience it first-hand, but have seen countless clients go through the same thing.

The other secret issue that no one talks about is when you have a depleted central nervous system you’re body will crave A LOT more food to help rebuild and repair. So ironically, this can lead to people gaining weight if they aren’t aware this is happening and don’t prioritise good nutrition (protein and good quality fats). So what is the solution?

Know Your Body Type

If you want to maximise your efforts in the gym, it’s important to know your body type and to figure out what level of intensity you can tolerate consistently (this is usually done through trial and error). Everyone is different and we are designed to be this way.

How do I find out what body type I am?

One way to tell is simply by looking at your physical build, the other is by noticing what forms of exercise you naturally enjoy and which ones you don’t.

For example, Endomorphs (larger frames, curvy) typically enjoy weightlifting as building muscle comes naturally to them. They often dislike gymnastics or running for the opposite reason. Whereas Ectomorphs (tall, skinny) will typically enjoy long-distance running or cycling and find it harder to build muscle through weightlifting.

My guess is, from an evolutionary point of view, we needed people in a tribe who were excellent hunter-gatherers and could scamper over large distances to find food but also needed people to build homes and move/carry heavy objects around. To quote Mufasa, “You must take your place in the circle of life.”

Train Smart To Train Often

So there you have it. If you want to stay fit and healthy long-term, train smart to train often. And if you ever need any help with that, book a free taster session with one of our friendly Personal Trainers and get started today.