Train Easy

I’ve spent a lifetime training, really. I can define the moment I started training as PE class in secondary school where the principles of progressive overload and recorded training were explained to us, before doing a weights session.

25 years later and I still basically apply the same principles to my training, with a few nuances added here and there. But something I think is missed within the media, is how easy training really is. Especially going to the gym. It takes almost zero mental toughness to do a gym session. And if you’re progressive in your training, it really isn’t exhausting either. For vanity and self-promotion, or ego protecting, I think most people would have you believe otherwise. Don’t listen to the Model Athlete telling you to push – they don’t know you or what pushing is to you.

Let me explain how training can feel:

Your first few sessions will be all over the place while you establish your benchmark weights and reps for each exercise. These sessions often feel uncomfortable because, you’re not going to be getting the overload right. But eventually you’ll work out that you can do 15 reps of 10kg on the imaginary curl without feeling sore the next day.

In fact, you’ll probably feel pretty good the next day, and so the next time you’re in the gym, you can do 12 reps of 12kg, and then 13 reps, and then 14 and 15. Now back down to 12 reps of 14kg. Repeat this process and it never gets harder. You don’t need to think, you don’t need to try hard or even care. You just do the reps. It’s a process and it’s clinical and that’s exactly what it should be. You train so you can do other things; going to the gym should not be the ambition, it should facilitate ambition.

This is why I really dislike group classes, they’re random exercises thrown at you like an obstacle course. And if that’s what you’re after then great, but it isn’t training, it’s just doing. It’s like the equivalent of going climbing, not knowing what the route requires – you’re hoping your training has paid off so you can get up it. But the route itself isn’t training, it’s doing.

The challenge of training while doing stuff is that the stuff we do will take us away from our training. I’ve been away working and haven’t seen the inside of a gym for a month, but that’s what the training is for: I’ve been climbing, I’ve developed a new route, and I’ve carried heavy filming kit up mountains. Now that I’m back, I’ll pick up the notebook, work out how many reps I can do on the imaginary curl, and start doing them. It feels no harder than it ever has, and neither will the next session, nor the one after that. But I will get stronger. And if I keep increasing the weights and reps as my strength improves, every session will always feel easy. There’s no need for it to be anything else. So save your grit for adventures – the gym doesn’t need it. And stop following the fads, they aren’t there to help you, they’re marketing, and you’re fooling for it. #Hyrox

So if I was coaching anyone and it was their first session we’d try light weights and we’d aim for being able to do 3 sets of 15. We’d probably do the same session a handful of times until we felt confident that we’d established our benchmarks. And then we’d keep going, following the formula above, but sticking at around 15 reps. This is conditioning and this is generally very very good on it’s own. But we may want to develop a specific component of strength like power, which is only sensible to do once you’re pretty used to training anyway. Then we’d find our benchmarks for the lower rep range – again, this may take a few sessions. Get the weights up for a short period and then go back to the 15 rep range again. Look for the difference the power training has had, and get benchmarks again.

Finally – Train with a purpose, know why you’re there and what you’re doing. Do that and then leave. If you can’t be arsed then just walk away. You aren’t trying to prove anything, and there may be a good reason you’re fatigued/drained/burned out/exhausted. So train easy, be progressive, and be clinical about what you’re doing. But most of all, don’t just stay in the gym. Please, please get out there and use your training to do something cool.

I don't use AI. I write each post in one go, and I don't proof read what I've written. Hopefully the repetition, spelling mistakes and mental unload will make this obvious to you.