Some thoughts and discussions from me.
What Happens if I Don’t Follow a Training Plan?
Hey my friends! I hope you had a delightful weekend and are feeling good on this Monday morning.
It was cool to hear that many of you enjoy more posts that have a personal touch to them after publishing Friday’s post. I’ll make sure to include more in the future! What would you like more of? Random fun surveys? Day in the life? Full day of eating? Let me know in the comments if you have ideas 🙂
Today’s topic is one that I touch of quite often, but we’re going to dive into the other side of it today.
I often lament about the numerous benefits of following an actual training plan to get the results that you’re after. Consistency is key in achieving success in many areas of life, and the same goes for your workouts. When you follow a program specifically written to progress you and get you closer to your goal, whether it be strength-, asthetic, or functionality-related, you get better results.
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Every single one of my clients follow a training plan that I’ve designed specifically for them, their lifestyle, and their goals. Since they all came to me at some point with at least one goal in mind, I’d be wasting their time if I just had them do a random workout each day of the week.
I’ve said this all before. But what I realized I hadn’t ever touched on was the contrasting question that you should be asking:
What happens if I don’t follow a training plan?
Wellll, as much as I tout following a training plan, all of the unicorns will not die and rainbows will now fade if you choose not to.
As much as I sing praises of following a program, I also completely understand that it’s not for everyone! It’s not for:
- Someone who really doesn’t have a specific goal, but rather just wants to “stay fit” or be physically active.
…I guess that’s really it. I almost wrote “someone who gets bored really easily” but even then, there’s types of training program to fit that personality.
First, let’s ask this: if you don’t follow a training plan, then what are you doing?
My assumption is that you’re going to the gym, and doing whatever you feel like doing that day. Maybe you found a fun workout to do on Pinterest. You might bust ass that day, or you might get a light sweat going, you might lift some serious iron, or you might just want to read mags on the elliptical.
And you know what? That’s totally cool.
If you’re consistently working out, loving that time that you spend exercising, and consider it a benefit to your life? Than I am ALL for it. Keep on keeping on. Because it’s not all for nothing. I’ve never said that if you don’t follow a training plan, you don’t reap any benefits at all. If you don’t follow a training plan, you’re likely still keeping a fairly consistent level of fitness. You’re fitter than most people – especially those who don’t get any physical activity in during their day, and you’re doing yourself a service. In a country hosting the laziest people on earth, you’re making your workouts, and that’s awesome.
Now, if you have a specific goal, like to work on strength in a certain area, shed body fat, increase muscle, etc. it might not be the best way of going about it. But you’re still doing much more good than harm.
So, what happens if I don’t follow a training plan?
- You’ll likely have a tougher time reaching specific fitness goals
- You’ll still be fitter than most of America
- You’re doing yourself much more of a service than not working out at all
- You could be furthering muscle imbalances by neglecting certain muscle groups
Notice that one thing I didn’t mention is that you’re still burning calories. This is because I’m an advocate of leaving calories burned out of the equation when it comes to workouts. Yes, working out burns more calories than not working out, but when you put to the two together, you equate food with calories, and exercise with burning off food. More often than not, this in turn makes exercise somewhat of a punishment, even if subconsciously, by thinking about what you’re burning off. This is the reason I always cringe when I see things that say “one piece of pumpkin pie is 100 burpees!” – but I digress.
I just like to keep it 100 with you guys, and since I hadn’t touched on this side of this subject before, I wanted to cover it! Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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Are you following some sort of training plan? What’s your workout set up for the week?
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I also enjoy the more personal posts in addition to the awesome workout and training ideas. My favorites in the past were your posts about what you were up to in Colorado, its nice to live vicariously through someone! I also liked seeing more of what you were eating, it helped give me ideas on how to incorporate more protein into my diet.
Thanks for the feedback, Bets! 🙂
I’m a huge believer for following training plans! Since being on the road with 50 States, it’s been a lot harder since I’m not following the training plan my CF coach came up with for me and while I’m writing my own, it’s been harder to be as consistent with the workouts since there are so many other factors that play into it all. I often say the thing I miss most about 50 states (and visiting CF boxes all over the country), is CrossFit but really it’s the consistent training and plan.
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More recently posted…Music Monday
Great topic! Btw: Your abs are crazy lady!! Seems like all of a sudden they “popped”!
Haha, thanks Tracey! Although this was taken after a workout with a few ab exercises in it, so there may have been a “pump” 🙂
I agree! I feel like you were always strong and fit, but now you’re super lean and everything is showing! Have you tweaked your diet or conditioning? I know we’re all structured differently – I have to eat so little to see change there… Bummer. hehe But I definitely notice a difference in the past…3 months or so? Intense abs for sure (nice work)!
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Thanks, Bonnie! Every year I typically gain 5-10 pounds over the winter while I hit the weights pretty hard..then after New Years, I change up my training and nutrition a bit to shed that winter weight, which I always hope happens to show progress from my winter lifting 🙂
Hey Paige, looking great as always girl!
I am curious to hear what your training week looks like now that you have adjusted to more conditioning over weight training. How often are you lifting (if any), how many met-con type days do you have planned a week, etc? I just finished another cycle of your RESOLVE and want to take a break from lifting and go back to shorter more intense conditioning workout.
Thanks for all the great workout posts and videos lately!!
Hey Kaelin! I definitely still prioritize lifting over conditioning. I’m just implementing more conditioning into my routine, whereas this past winter my only conditioning workouts were the two times/week that I taught a 30-min spin class 🙂 Now I try and get in one tough hike a week (where I challenge myself for speed) and maybe one additional conditioning workout – which could be anything from hill sprints to a trail run. Maybe I’ll do a post or video on that in more depth soon!
Love this! I definitely like having a plan laid out of some sort. I’ll usually wing the exercises that I do, but I always know my specific split and stuff so I have an idea!
Thanks, Paige, I enjoyed this post. I’m living out of the country right now and having a REALLY hard time with my fitness. I’ve tried to come up with different fitness plans, but I don’t know if getting a gym is going to work out for me here and our schedule is so erratic it keeps falling to the wayside. I try to be active everyday but I miss the social aspect of working out at a gym, plus the benefits of someone helping me figure out what the hell to do. That said, the no plan plan has most always been my way.
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Yeah I could definitely see where that might me a little frustrating. But exciting at the same time! I’m sure when you are able to make it back to the gym, it’ll be a refreshing approach that you’ll look forward to at least! 🙂
Me too. I believe in following a training plan. My training plans helps me stay fit and keeps me in top shape while playing tennis.