Exercise Essential: Improve Training-Session Quality (As Much As Quantity)
Last modified 1 week, 5 days ago.
I write about approaching health & fitness as a skill, similar to learning how to ride a bicycle, cook, play an instrument, or speak a language.
As part of this, if we approach resistance training as a skill, then to me, that also means we are improving the quality of our training sessions.
How do we improve the quality, though?
We would need to start resistance training, first.
Borrowing an observation from the bodybuilding champion Mike Mentzer, a new universe could likely be formed by the sum total of wasted energy by the average gym goers in America.
I often shook my head to myself as I saw people at the gym, day after day, spend 45 minutes walking on the treadmill, on an incline, while holding onto the rails. I suggested to some of these people that they start lifting weights. The response was something like, ‘I just want to do some cardio.’ They would refer to “cardio” as if they were physiologists who understood how to train the heart musculature effectively.
So, the first thing is getting in the ballpark. Start lifting weights.
It’s the spirit that counts. If you approach exercise as a skill, then you won’t be approaching workouts like activities to just get done, like sweeping or doing laundry. Instead, you are learning by doing (and applying information), which will leave you a lot better off in the coming years.
I believe that’s the best approach to have. Approach resistance training like it’s a practice, rather than you are “working out.” You’ll experience a big difference in your progress over time, because each time you train, you are improving the quality of the work you do.