Mindful training

At the beginning of your fitness journey, going through the motions is important. It's all about learning how to move and navigate through workouts. The practice of training is a learned skill. Getting through the beginning phases of learning to train starts with being mindful.

Mindful training means thinking about your movement. It means honoring the details. Choose proper weights and use rest times to your advantage. Understand the purpose of your workout. Being mindful instead of "just getting through it" gets you to your goals efficiently. It's the next level. Let's dive deeper on what mindful training means and how to apply it.

1. Mind-Muscle Connection

When training, slow it down. Focus on the muscle-groups being used and your technique. When doing push-ups for example, focus on bracing your core while pushing into the ground with your hands.

This is known as the mind-muscle connection. Rather than just moving for the sake of moving, be intentional.

The irony is that through the mind-muscle connection, you'll probably lift more weight as a result, because you're using more muscle fibers and focusing on technique.

2. Following the Recipe

Understand the why behind what your workout calls for. Great programs are designed to lead you towards your goals. The things that get you there are the tempo, load, & rest. Is the weight supposed to be heavy today, or is it supposed to be light with a bunch of reps? It's kind of like the recipe of the workout. Do this much of this, and add a little bit of this.

Let's break down this squat example. This block calls for moderate reps, slow movement, with a moderate weight.

Goblet Squats
3x8
Tempo: 3131
Load: 7RPE
Rest: 90 Secs

Here we have 3 Sets of 8 reps on the squat.

Each rep will involve a specific tempo:
3 secs down,
1 sec pause at the bottom,
3 secs up,
1 sec pause at the top.

The weight on it should feel like a 7 out of 10. Lastly take 90 Secs of rest between sets. Lots of details here for a simple squat. But depending on where you are in your program, these details can change and create a different result in your training, whether it's building strength, or improving conditioning.

3: Purpose Leads to Outcome

Understand the purpose of your program. Does it align with your goal?

A program that isn't designed for your purpose in mind is like doing random workouts. Any workout is better than nothing, but they might not lead anywhere monumental. Making sure your workout program is aligns with your goal leads to the right outcome 🙏🏾

Hope you enjoyed this Weekly #53!