First up I will put this out there now because I know that this will end up offending someone or more likely a whole heap of people....but those who train with me and know me know that when it comes to training advice I tell it like it is and if I offend someone, well too bad. 

So once again I have another person who comes up to me and says the same thing that I have heard a million times "Joe I have been going to the gym for a while now and I have been having personal training sessions and I still have no results!"

The amount of itme I have heard this is amazing. 

So here is the deal.  There are several types of people that go to these what I call "commercial" or "pretty boy/girl" gyms"  These are:

• People who are there to socialise and maybe do a little bit of working out while they are there (but god forbid that they work up a sweat and ruin their make up or get their designer workout gear wet!)
• People who "think" that they are doing the right thing by working out by doing the same old boring routines day in day out. They spend an hour on a treadmill or a bike reading the latest magazine (seriously, if you can read while working out you are not working out nearly hard enough and you are not concentrating on what you are doing!  Seriously throw the magazine away, go outside and do some sprints!)
• Body Builders (I will get to this later)
• Those who just dont know any better (these people seriously want results and want to train hard, but they do not know how and have been misguided.  They will eventually wake up and quit their "pretty" gym and get training at a real one)

And then there are the trainers at these gyms.  Majority (not all) have no idea about real functional training,...so they do the only thing that they know and train people uysing body building techniques.

Now here is the thing about body building.  Firstly let me say that I do admire their dedication to the sport.  To get the way they are takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice....but lets not kid ourselves.  Body Builders are by no means either strong, fit or healthy!  They are basically training for show!  Sure they "look" good, but they are not strong.  They train their muscles to be big and look big but they are not strong and they DO NOT know how to work with the rest of the body's muscles.  Lets put it this way...it is like taking the outside of a ferrari and then putting the engine of an old VW beetle in it...it looks good, but it aint going to perform like the way it looks!!

Unfortunately this is the only way majority of trainers know how to train, and as a result their clients suffer.

To get real results and real strength and fitness you need to train "FUNCTIONALLY"  By this I mean train the whole body as one unit (or as one muscle).  You need to be using your whole body in every movements or exercise that you do!  How do you do this?  Well by focusing on our primal movements (Squat, twist, throw, pull, push, run, lunge etc  We dont do anywhere near enough of this stuff anymore....and why?  Because people think that training like this is too hard....and in place of it they will go to a fancy gym and use a fancy machine to make their body move in a way that it would never move in the real world!!!! 

The old school gyms and way of training is where it is at!  They had it right.  Get back to moving odd objects like, kegs, tyres, sledghammers, heavy barbells....use things like kettlebells etc;  Hey here is an idea, use your own body weight!  That is the perfect type of workout...and for those who think that they cant get a sweat up or build strength using their body weight...then I ask you to let me know and I will give you a body weight workout that you will be begging for to end!!

So all in all, if you want to be pretnetious and be seen to be in the "right" gyms with the perfect make up with the designer gear....then by all means do so.....but please do not come up to me and whinge to me that you are not getting results or you dont want to work hard for it!!   Otherwise, get your ass out of those gyms (or off the couch) and start proper training!!

Thats my rant for today.

Train smart all.

Joe

P.S.  Enjoy your easter with family and friends.