Previous installments of Feel the Burn can be found here.
I try to run sometimes. I do yoga pretty regularly. But, I’ve also started seeing a trainer. And it’s great. He’s awesome, pushes me to lift heavier things (which is what I told him my goal was) and he’s super supportive and encouraging. I feel super SWOLE BRO after my training sessions and love bragging about my 105lb bench for reps. Did I mention the Bulgarian split squats with 40 lbs? Getting there felt great.
But, my question: I can’t afford this trainer forever. Sigh. I can definitely stick with it for a while longer, and then probably go down to once a week or something for a little while (I go twice now) But, what tips do you have for both knowing when you can train unassisted (both mentally and physically, like spotting etc?) and for keeping with it without the nice young man saying “Nope, that didn’t count. Do it again.”
I recognize that I’m lucky to have this problem and that some of this is just suck it up, buttercup and go to the gym and do your sets and don’t cheat. But even with a good background in lifting, and not giving a shit about the dude bros in the gym, how should I handle the transition from trainer to self-guided training? How do we do it on our own?
Ah, trainers. I love them! I am very happy to have gotten this question. Let me begin with the exposure to personal trainers that is most common in our modern, workaday world, to make this accessible to everyone: you join a new gym you cannot quite afford, and with your membership you discover you get (depending on how horribly expensive your gym is) one to three complimentary sessions with a personal trainer. Or a pack of three or six sessions for a relatively nominal fee, which you choose to acquire. Good for you! FITNESS.
When you have a complimentary session with a personal trainer, it is similar to the experience of chewing happily on a free sample at a fancy grocery store. “Mmmm,” you say, “I will certainly consider purchasing this chicken hot dog/marinade/freeze-dried banana dipped in dark chocolate. Might I have a second to make up my mind?” Your mind is already made up. You will eat these two samples, and then come back if a new person takes over the shift for two more.
What you want, then, is to shake this person down for everything they’re worth to you, in a transparent and honest matter.
What I mean by this, of course, is that in most situations, personal trainers are really hoping to turn three complimentary sessions they are paid very little for, but are part of their jobs, into long-term clients. BECAUSE THAT’S HOW MONEY WORKS. This is very natural, but, depending on the gym environment, can result in a hard sell. And if that’s not something you’re going to be able to do, let them know in literally the first minute.
“What are your goals?” they will ask you, unless they are terrible. IF they are terrible, ask for a different trainer. Like snowflakes and Bobby Drapers, no two trainers are alike. Some people love being yelled at, some people enjoy endless puppyish enthusiasm and bellows of good cheer! I don’t know your life.
This is what you say. Write this down.
“I can’t afford to work regularly with a trainer, although I would like to, so my goals for our time together involve coming up with an exercise routine or set of routines I can do on my own two or three times a week, and some advice on how to scale it up as it becomes too easy. Can you help me with that?”
And then go from there! And as they are helping you, write it down! Take cell phone pictures of how they set up the whatever! Ask a series of dumb questions. A good trainer will be fine with this, because they want to help you achieve their goals. And if they immediately start into trying to explain why helping you develop a workout routine is NOT their bag, then you say (PROMISE ME YOU WILL SAY THIS!):
“No problem! I don’t want to waste your time, I’ll have someone else do my intro sessions. Have a nice day.”
AND THEN YOU WALK AWAY. (This, by the way, is also what you do if you are a larger person, and your trainer constantly volunteers diet advice or talks about losing weight if it’s not a goal for you. You will not want to keep working out with someone who has a different agenda for your body than you do, so cut ‘em loose ASAP, before it’s an established relationship.)
Okay, so that’s how to use a trainer to help you succeed on your own. But, to get more into the particular question we’re answering today, having a trainer start you down the correct path is only part of the battle. You want to know how to make yourself actually do it. To do the extra rep. To not allow things to quietly get easy. Are you ready to train unassisted? Yes! Everyone can train unassisted. If you’re doing something you feel nervous about, ask for a spot. SWEEPING GENDER ESSENTIALISM: men love spotting people, because they are incapable of forming true emotional connections. This is the highlight of their inner life for the week. Now, back to working out:
You want to feel like garbage at the end of a workout, and you’re not sure you can do that on your own.
Oh, I feel you. I feel you hard. As I mention below, I have worked out with my wonderful trainer for ages now, and when I’m out of town for a month visiting my mom in Canada, I always go to the gym and stand there dumbly for the first day or so. I use the Roman chair, I do some squats, I get on the elliptical, I futz around on circuit machines, I stare sadly out the window. And then I get my shit together, because once you get in decent shape, you start to get antsy as balls if you’re not moving around.
Here’s what works for me, and what I always recommend to others:
Write it down. Go in with a PLAN. It can literally be three pages you tore out of Shape, it can be what you worked out with the aforementioned trainer, it doesn’t matter, just go in knowing what your warmup will be and how long it will last, then, like, three sets of six-to-eight reps of six different exercises, then your cooldown plan, and STICK TO IT. Otherwise you may find yourself sitting on a bench idly flipping through your phone, and then you will be filled with self-loathing.
The next day, are you sore? Adjust accordingly (and, by that I mean: everything you worked should be a little bit sore.)
When you start to be able to do eight reps, go up on the weight. And, yes, ask the meatheads for advice, mess around on Stumptuous, the WORLD is your source for workout material. The key is to know what you’re going to do before you walk in the door, to check items off your list, and to be honest about your intensity level. You can have lazy days, but I like to spend my lazy days watching Netflix and staying in my jammies. When I’m at the gym, I want to leave it all on the table.
Bless you. Godspeed.
*
BRIEF ASIDE ON PERSONAL TRAINERS: I share a personal trainer with a good friend here in Utah (Utah: a cheaper place to have a personal trainer than many places), and we work out together twice a week, and it’s aces. I can afford it, I love it, I do it. When I have visiting friends and family, he makes me bring them to the gym and he trains them for free. He’s trained Mallory! He’s a gem. There’s nothing wrong with working out with a trainer eternally, if you can afford it and if you feel like you are not stagnating in their hands.
Tags: feel the burner, fitness, personal training, your needs
men love spotting people, because they are incapable of forming true emotional connections
This theory delights me.
Nicole, this is unrelated to this specific Feel The Burn entry, but it’s a good chance to thank you. I really appreciate how you approach exercise and fitness as a mantle anyone can wear, and how you acknowledge that we all have different goals and abilities.
I’m no one’s idea of physically fit, and an injury prevents me from working out as hard as I might like*, but since you started publishing these entries, I’ve been more diligent in working modest fitness goals into my day along with my physical therapy. When I’m doing my wall-sits or my countertop push-ups, I sometimes think of you gratefully.
*Okay, let’s be honest: I wouldn’t like it. I might work out harder it if I could, but I’d hate it every time.
I just want to chime in and second all of this. Thank you, Nicole!
This is literally the happiest an internet comment could possibly make me.
i just resumed running + weights + SQUATS and this morning EVERYTHING HURTS. Is there something I could be doing to ease the burn besides work out again / epson salt bath? Uck. / #STRONG
I would take some ibuprofen and do some slow, deep stretches? I really like this hippy-ass video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDQNqZMv1V0. I feel like I would not work out again since…something something MUSCLE RECOVERY, right? Like, your muscles are sore because technically the cells are dying and being rebuilt, yeah? So give them a day off and fill them with electrolytes and so forth.
It only took me 30 secs into this video to feel at peace & David has perfect Yoga Voice– everything will be ok
I tend to focus on copious whining to everyone around me. Eventually the amount of whining surpasses the degree of actual pain and I start to feel sheepish about it and suck it up. Plus then everyone knows I worked out!
Long hot showers are also nice.
Foam rolling! It’s like a massage you give yourself. Also do some mobility stuff– anything that hurts, focus on moving it slowly and stretching it out. Yoga is really good for this.
My coach says to avoid lots of sugar and alcohol if you have a lot of muscle soreness, because they cause inflammation that will make you feel worse. But that is a hard rule to follow sometimes!
Stretch after everything, then foam roll/muscle stick the next morning when you still feel AWESOME! because DOMS hasn’t set in yet. I wouldn’t take ibuprofen unless you actually tweaked something, because that can undo some of the gains you made (some studies say all), plus it’s hard on your tummy.
Also I’d alternate between running and strength training, so you’re overloading your muscles in different ways on different days instead of just exhausting them all at once. Your form will be better that way and you will not hate having to lower yourself onto the toilet quite so much.
2 reps stretching, 2 reps whining/grunting/sighing, repeat as needed.
Utah: a cheaper place to have a personal trainer than many places
Catchy – they should put that on their license plates!
Seriously though, the whole “You want to feel like garbage at the end of a workout, and you’re not sure you can do that on your own.” thing is my whole problem with working out. I won’t willingly do something that makes my body feel bad unless another person is, I don’t know, threatening me with something terrible.
What has really, really, really worked for me is group classes. I go to a gym that offers a ton of them. I personally like zumba, yoga, and the occasional pilates when yoga is not available, but they also offer more traditional strength training group classes. No one is yelling at me individually, which I would loathe, but the momentum of everyone else doing the same thing as me keeps me moving. It’s actually made going to the gym an unmitigated treat rather than a chore, I have so much fun.
Now, granted, while I work up a hard sweat in Zumba and am always a little sore after yoga, I never feel just really horrible after a workout, but if I’m not working out quite as hard as I could but I’m super happy the whole time and after…that’s definitely a tradeoff I’m willing to make.
Related: how do I make myself go to yoga? I run and do sports and stuff but I know I should also be doing yoga type stretchy things so my body doesn’t fall apart or whatever, and I have such good intentions, and there are a million classes at my gym, but somehow every time yoga o’clock rolls around I suddenly have something better to do.
please have my unsolicited yoga opinion! I think how good a yoga class is depends so much on the teacher. I love my yoga teacher so much, and it makes me want to go to classes. A teacher can really make or break the experience imo, so it might take a bit of trial and error to find one you really click with.
Also, my other main motivator is having some friends in the same class, and we take turns to host each other for dinner afterwards, so it makes motivation much easier when you know dinner is being cooked for you, haha. But really, I guess it’s much like anything, a lot of the time I don’t want to go, but I just know how wonderfully calm I feel afterwards, so I just make myself do it.
That’s why I play sports! (I lift a little bit, too, but it’s not my main exercise.) I have little willpower to do cardio on my own. Isometrics, some lifting, sure, but nothing involving moving. So I play two sports. One is a one-on-one combat sport that’s intense but doesn’t involve running and in which the reward for working hard is hitting somebody/winning. The other is an outdoor running sport. I still hate running, but the shame of not running as fast as I can in front of my team and my anger that so many people can outrun me (I am naturally incredibly slow) are good motivators. Also, since they’re at set times/days, it makes it harder for me to talk myself out of going.
(This makes it sound like exercise is awful and I have to trick myself into it, but it’s not! It’s more like delayed gratification. I like it once I get warmed up, I like the after-workout feeling, and regular exercise does wonders for my mental health. And even as you ramp up your workouts, the more you do, the easier it gets.)
I will admit, it is a weird kind of “fuck YEAH” accomplishment feeling that also feels like garbage. I can’t do it all the time, but when I do I go around smirking like a little masochist all “yeah, my quads are killing me, uh huh!”
Normal fitness exercises are horrible and boring and terrible. And boring. I have to be learning new things or competing with people to enjoy exercise. So I do judo. Throwing people is awesome. Other people trying to throw you is highly motivating. And the learning curve is long enough I expect to be learning new things until I’m physically incapable of doing it anymore.
I willingly do a certain amount of additional fitness exercises, but only so I can keep up with/ throw the 200lb dudes that my club seems to attract like bees to honey.
Somebody mentioned the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe in the comments on a previous post, and I can’t recommend it enough if you want to lift heavy things. I progressed up to a 1.2x bodyweight back squat using Rippetoe’s technique, with pretty good form considering I never had a coach.
Also, the dudes at my old gym were complete garbage at spotting (they’d basically take the whole weight out of my hands the instant my bar speed slowed down a touch). If your gym dudes are like my gym dudes, research how to fail safely in the various lifts you do. Having that knowledge lets you push yourself a little further.
HER TRAINER MADE ME THROW UP
IT WAS AWESOME
OH WAIT NO IT WASN’T THROWING UP SUUUUUUUCKS
Ha ha omigod I’ve never once thrown up in the gym. That is awesome.
The pool on the other hand, well, yeah…
EXACTLY, I hate throwing up, it is the worst, and if anyone ever made me throw up via working out too much I would be VERY UPSET
(no offense meant to your trainer, Nicole, obviously)
My very best Adult Skill is no longer throwing up or fainting when I exercise, and yet regularly exercising to the limit of my (no throwing up or fainting) ability. It is awesome!
Also, Knowing My Limits means I can go hiking with my MIL, which was a serious issue for awhile as her typical hiking pace is definitely into the danger zone for me, especially if it is up a hill and the weather is not ideal. She is appallingly bad at accepting other people’s (or her own) limits, so I am super happy I now know exactly where mine are and can stick to them with confidence.
I fainted in Hot Yoga like 2 years ago and am still wallowing in the shame 🙁
Hot Yoga would definitely be non-optimal for me. I sit down sometimes in the middle of the conditioning circuit in group classes even in rooms of a normal temperature, which is mildly embarrassing but nowhere near as much so as fainting, so I just remind myself of how much more awkward it would be if I did not sit down.
i did the 3-sessions thing with a trainer at my gym and he is my dream trainer: supportive of lifting heavy, smart about fitness research, didn’t yell at me, getting a PhD in physiology. HOWEVER. since he is so awesome and educated, he’s their most-expensive tier of trainer, which means it’s $90 (!!!!!!!!!) per session. i can’t even afford that once a week. so, i will plug away sadly at the little routine he gave me by myself forever.
My trainer is the same way, and we have a happy “Once a Month” agreement. I have a session once a month where she sees how I’m doing and changes things up for me to try for the next month, then switch it up.
It really is worth it, because after a few months she was able to say, “Ok, I want you to do this routine on X and Y days, then do two months ago’s routine on A and B days a week.”
I love the personal trainer I’ve been seeing at my work gym, but I’ve been embarrassed to tell people about it. Something something can’t do it on my own? Something something too self-critical? Something something having a trainer is too yuppie for words? But it’s reasonable and I can afford it and it’s what makes me consistent and get results, so I will work on owning that.
By all means own it! I’ve never had a job with a perk like that but sweet heezy, if an employer wanted to help me stay healthy in order to squeeze additional productivity out of me I would twirl around on a mountain singing “The hills are alive, with the sound of squat thrusts!” Reasonable! Affordable! Results! Good on ya!
I wish I had read this before I did a free training session at my gym. I told him I was coming off a foot injury and was looking for things that would accommodate that and he said he just had a set routine and to mention if it hurt. Then got my BMI and kept talking about lean muscle, both of which are nonsense. Foolishly I just went ahead with it because I was already there.
THAT MAN IS GARBAGE.
…
Can I send my trainer after him? God, that’s awful.
Definitely endorse the writing shit down before you go approach. It totally works. Also, I don’t carry my phone in the gym. Like at all. I have a ipod shuffle just for music. Because the internet is way too distracting for my feeble brain. I am filled with self-loathing if I don’t work out, so that also helps on the motivation front.
It’s maybe helpful to think of training as adapting your body to new things – you’re teaching it to do new, more difficult things. So you have to do that gradually, not all at once. I like Nicole’s eight reps rule – that’s a good one.
I think it can be easy to get sad at the gym if you look around and oh hey that girl is lifting so much more than me or whatever. Just do you. Me, I’m an endurance athlete, and I’ve never in my life been able to lift especially heavy. If it was all I did, I might maybe sorta be able to do it. But not that well, really. So I’ll go and do my wee endurance athlete weights. But I feel thrashed and glowing at the end, so that’s all that matters. Shorter, I guess: Don’t look at what the other kids are doing.
I realized bringing my phone to the gym was a bad idea when I found myself on the elliptical looking up cookie recipes on the Epicurious app.
I would so do that. Because why do the elliptical if it weren’t for cookies. Yeah, no phones for me. It ends badly.
A few years ago I did a few sessions with a nutritionist and she would look at my food journal and go, “I see you burned 300 calories exercising, but then you ate 300 calories worth of cookies, so what was the point of working out if you were just going to eat back your calories?” Uh, obviously the point was to be able to eat cookies without feeling guilty (not that anyone should feel guilty for eating anything, except stuff like shark fin soup and other unethical foodstuffs). She once lectured me on eating a single Lindor truffle because “those are unnecessary calories and I can tell you’re starting to backslide.” So I stopped seeing her.
My people.
Also, man, she sounds… not that rad at all. I really like to eat, and not always wisely. But I also like to work-out, so it evens out, mostly.
Someone who considers calories derived from chocolate “unnecessary” sounds like a bad fit, no kidding.
Ooh this Feel The Burn has come at the right time for me! I am moving to a new city/country soon and due to the stress of that plus a breakup plus work and taking my driving test today (which I failed) I have entirely stopped going to the gym, which is a thing I dearly love and which makes me feel good.
Thanks Letter Writer and Nicole for reinstating some motivation to get my ass to the gym tomorrow and kill it with weights.
I had one session with a trainer about a year and half ago and need to get another and use the script above so they can show me how to go up weights without dying, aka how to use the squat rack. A resolution for when I start my new gym in my new city I think.
Can’t even focus on Nicole’s advice because of this line:
Like snowflakes and Bobby Drapers, no two trainers are alike.
Okay, now to actually absorb information about personal trainers.
Hey, does anyone have any crossfit horror/success stories to tell? I likewise am transitioning from working with a trainer to a more affordable option, and there is a crossfit gym near me that comes highly recommended. But the internet is full of horror stories and my friends act like I am signing up to snap my spine in two! Would love to hear from people who have actually given it a try.
I’ve tried crossfit! It’s actually how I transitioned into lifting.
So, quick pros and cons list:
pros
-access to good equipment (includes women’s oly bars, and microplates so you can increase your weight load reasonably, which is good for shoulder presses and other arm stuff)
-ideally it’s small group coaching (5-8 people)
-scaling exercises to meet your current fitness level is strong encouraged
-super-supportive environment; even if you are not the fittest people will cheer you on
-wide range of movements, so even if there is something you suck in, there will be something you are pretty adept at doing (e.g. my husband is super strong and long-limbed so he is amazing at wall balls and rowing, but thrusters make him want to kill himself, I have the opposite reaction to those movements because I am short)
cons
-cost (although I would argue that given the quality of equipment and potential quality of coaching, it is worth it)
-uneven coaching competency from gym to gym (so take those intro classes and see if you like a particular location)
-(follow up to above bullet) sometimes the programming at a gym will ask you to do things that are, IMO, silly
RK Fire nailed it with the pros and cons, I think!
I’d just add that the uneven coaching competency is really true and super important to keep in mind. I’ve tried a bunch of places through various Groupons/start up deals, and I DEFINITELY noticed a difference in coaching and culture in different gyms. Some take a lot of care to make sure everyone’s working out safely at their level while still going hard, and some focus heavily on the GET SWOLE BRO PUSH THROUGH THE PAIN (aka didn’t make me feel super safe). The places I’ve liked best all had mandatory intro classes for new people to introduce you to the equipment and get to know you/your body before setting you lose in the regular classes.
If it comes highly recommended from people you trust, it can be super fun though!
Thank you for breaking it down like this! Very helpful.
CrossFit horror story here! http://www.torontolife.com/informer/features/2014…
AHHH BOX JUMPS
ETA: why didn’t her gym scale workouts for people?? Her coaches should’ve been eyeballing the fact that she had a bum knee
SERIOUSLY. Even if she didn’t have a bum knee, box jumps are difficult and terrifying.
They have been responsible for waaaay too many torn achilles tendons. Also, the fact that she chose a 24 inch box which was smaller than everyone else’s box? Maybe I was at a gym of weaklings, but I thought that at most CF gyms the 24 inch box was the maximum. (I mean, they use 24′ boxes for the CF Games, right?) Not that she should’ve been jumping with a bad knee, she could’ve just stepped up and down.
[ETA: just looked up the 2014 CF Open standards out of curiosity, and they had women using the 20 inch box for the week 3 workout.]
So much side-eye on that one. She’s a lot taller/bigger than me at 5’8″ but the line “we all did the same workout, no matter what” is really telling.
To all Toasties: NEVER JUMP DOWN FROM A BOX JUMP UNLESS YOU HATE YOUR ACHILLES TENDON
PREACH.
I not only have physical limitations for box jumps, but psychologically they freak me out, too. When we had box jumps for a WOD, the coach found me a little four-inch riser thing to use. And nobody laughed, god bless them all.
Box jumps. Ugh.
Guh, box jumps, a thing I’ve never really been able to do. I’m so clumsy, you guys. Which, is a bit embarassing when I’m supposed to be sporty and shit. True thing! You can be sporty and clumsy at the same time.
Ugh, the comments. Really interesting article, though!
Yes yes yes to everything RK Fire said, above. If you find a good box, it is SO SO SO AWESOME. I was consistently the oldest and most unfit person at every single WOD I attended–including the twelve intro sessions–and not once did I feel marginalized or degraded. The coaches were caring and encouraging and attentive. They scaled stuff for me and never made me feel less than because I was doing less than everyone else. They respected me for working hard. And not just the coaches! I always finished the workout last (ALWAYS) but nobody ever left before I was done–they’d all come over to cheer me on and keep me going. Nobody ever tried the screaming drill sergeant technique with me, ever. It was all “yes! you’ve got this! keep going!”
Seriously, when I think about the support I got at my CrossFit box it makes me a little teary-eyed.
Tragically, I had an adrenal gland meltdown a couple years ago and had to stop doing WODs. Now I work one-on-one with one of the coaches at the CrossFit box, and he is super patient and supportive and keeps an eagle eye on my energy levels as well as my form and technique.
But I know that there are shitty coaches and bad boxes out there. Just watch out for assholes who judge you for your age or ability level or, hell, ANYTHING. Don’t stick around a place that emphasizes speed or amounts lifted above form, and don’t waste your time on anyone who won’t scale a workout for your own ability level.
Good luck! I hope you find a great box if you decide to go that route!
Thank you! This was just the encouragement I needed to sign up for the intro sessions and get a sense of the gym. From everything I have heard, this particular box is very supportive and responsible, but reading that Toronto story makes me kind of want to run in the other direction! So I’m glad to hear you had a positive experience!
Oh, and I gotta say? CrossFit HQ sucks donkey balls and as far as I can tell, they’re run buy a bunch of douchebro asshats. So there is that problem.
YESSSSSSSS
hiii I think I’ve run in and yelled ROSSTRAINING.COM without context before, but I want to reemphasize that he has a pretty (if brotastic) approach to exercise based in bodyweight/minimal equipment/at home type of work. Personally, I find that having a gym helps me not sit in my bed (HOW CAN I WORK OUT IN MY ROOM IF I ALSO SLEEP THERE) but in times where I’ve been unable to afford one I’ve found his website really helpful.
Feel the burn, I missed you.
You know last year I walk hadirans wall? Well, if all goes well, I will be walking Peddars Way and the Coast Path this year and today I walked on the heath for 45 minutes for training.
I loved having a personal trainer because not only did I not actually have to think about/keep track of exactly what I was doing in order to keep doing it with progressively more resistance, and also there was someone pushing me to keep going when I would have just gone “eh, good enough”, basically the only way I got to the gym regularly was to have that appointment. I’m a little more goal-oriented now and actually do some workouts at home (free weights + bodyweight), but still haven’t managed to keep myself to a schedule. I miss training, definitely, but, I guess, not enough to make myself do it? (Now that I have quit my shitty-ass job with the ridiculous, varies week-to-week-with-little-notice schedule, I will *probably* be able to share a trainer with my dad or my boyfriend, which is exciting.)
A couple of years ago I had gotten good at going to the gym regularly, lifting weights, all that good stuff (I was doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women program) but it didn’t take much to knock me out of the habit because I am essentially a very lazy person and after a day at work it’s all I can do to kick off my shoes before collapsing into bed with a book. There’s a good inexpensive gym a few blocks from my apartment but I know that I would never go. My building has a “fitness centre” which is actually like, a closet containing an old treadmill and some mismatched dumbbells.
In line with self-guided workouts, does anyone have advice for getting out of a rut with swimming? I’m endurance, not a sprinter, and while the thought of doing intervals ever again dismays me (leaving aside the fact that I’m half blind once my glasses come off), should I just suck it up? How do people mix up their swims?
I’m also a swimmer trying to mix things up! I actually prefer intervals to just swimming laps because it keeps me more engaged. I’m not very rigorous about times because the clock in our pool is always broken and I still haven’t purchased a watch (and I’m also optically-challenged and swim without contacts/glasses), but I read somewhere that after 100m it takes 30 seconds for your heart rate to decrease? So I just do a set of something and then rest either 10, 15, 20, or 30 seconds before the next set. It’s not at all exact or interval-like, but it’s low-stress and works for me. I click around this site a lot for ideas(you can search by difficulty and time) and incorporate what I like. http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/swim-cgi/wor…
Edit: I took up swimming later in life so I’ve never been on a swim team or anything–just trying to figure things out for myself.
Thanks, that’s a good site! I swim relatively fast but have essentially one pace, so maybe I just need to get over myself and try some interval-esque things.
I’m pretty bad at it myself, so this may not be helpful, but: I make up sets for myself to do. I am a pretty weak swimmer compared to when I was younger, so it’s something like 2 x 200 breaststroke. Then I decide what comes next. I could NEVER just do laps until I had gotten a workout, I get pretty bored/stuck.
Absolutely! Unfortunately, many days my lazy ass decides what comes next is cutting the workout short and going to find wine. Enjoyable, but not exactly pro-fitness.
When I was swimming regularly (which I miss), I would alternate backstroke with elementary backstroke, and as I got better, I would reduce the number of laps of elementary backstroke I would do (essentially along the same idea of doing run/walk intervals, where backstroke is the running and elementary backstroke is the walking) Sometimes when I get bored, I will take a kickboard and just focus on making sure my kick form is perfect, or I will challenge myself to swim the length of the pool on just my arm strength (they have little floaty things you can put between your legs if they are going to drag you down). You can also just mix up your strokes, especially if you’re not doing that now. I think every swimmer has strokes they love and strokes they hate, so you can challenge yourself to do some of the stroke that you maybe don’t like so much (and then maybe reward yourself with one you do like).
That would be butterfly, which I dropped like a hot potato after leaving swim club at the end of high school. I suspect I’d only have the courage to do that these days if there was no one else in the pool and I’d bribed the lifeguard to go have a break.
(pull sets are actually one of my favourites)
Heh, I was actually going to say “unless it’s the butterfly, which is a stupid and inefficient stroke that no one should do”. I was so excited to learn it when I took swim classes, because dolphin kick, but it just feels so unnatural and I feel like there is so much unnecessary vertical motion.
I just signed up for swimming lessons! Turns out I’ve completely forgotten some fundamentals, like how and when to breathe? I’m very excited even though I was only able to find one maternity bathing suit at Target that wasn’t strapless (?!?!?!!) and it is HIDEOUS on me and there are high odds that one or both of my boobs will be exposed at all times.
Congratulations and have fun! If you’re worried about flashing the joint, you can always throw a sports bra under your suit. Bonus: improves aerodynamicity!
Is there a masters workout near you? That’s sorta the last resort for me, because the idea of having a coach tell me what to do ever again gives me hives a little. But it could be a way – like say, you go once or twice a week – to mix up your workouts.
Can you mix up your swim days with like two gym days or a couple run days? I find I love swimming most when it’s not my only sport.
If it is your only sport, I’d say adopt the advice from Nicole. Sit down, and write yourself a work-out each day. I don’t see how you can totally avoid intervals, but you could probably minimize them. LIke okay, I’ll do 500 swim-400 pull-300 kick. Then, I’ll do 5x200s. Then, I’ll maybe do some 50’s. Then maybe hey, 500 more pull or something, you know? So some intervals, some longer efforts.
But definitely pre-write it – put it on a small piece of paper, use ball-point pen, get it wet, slap it to the wall. Then swim. That was my ritual for quite a long time. At the moment, i mostly use the pool as a recovery workout so I just do a straight up swim. Sometimes with more determination than others. 😉
I’ve been really reluctant to seek out a master’s club, but I suspect that’s the answer – it’ll make me sprint when I don’t feel like sprinting. I take yoga regularly though and my teachers have always said the poses you hate are the ones you need to do most. The same is probably true for the pool. Thanks!
Ha ha, yeah, it is! And depending on where you live, you might meet some fun swimmer people there? So that might be a cool trade-off. I’ve resisted so far. But it could totally happen at some point. 🙂
Absolutely! Anything is possible, right?
I am SLOW AS MOLASSES, so I can’t actually hit the intervals she provides (even for the shorter workouts), but I am working my way through Ruth Kazez’s 50 Swim Workouts. Which I love. Like sweet_turnips, I also was never on a team or anything, so Ruth’s plan also taught me how to swim a mile (she has a couch-to-5kish thing).
There’s also Swimplan, which I stopped using because they kept telling me to do 12 laps of breaststroke in the middle of my workout, which I hate (Ruth’s workouts do the same thing just with–GAH–kicking). I suppose if I had paid they might have stopped doing that?
Corrective Goggles!! Also apparently called “optical googles” which is a stupid redundant name.
for example these ones for $8: http://www.swimoutlet.com/p/sporti-antifog-optica…
basically, you know how if you’re far-sighted, you can pick up cheap reading glasses at the grocery store that aren’t your exact prescription, but are close enough? these are the equivalent, but for nearsighted people, and for swimming instead of reading.
granted, if you are really really nearsighted, they might not come close to your prescription (I am on the -7s by now. if my eyes get much worse, I will be out of luck.) but if they are an option for you, they are great.
…so yes, that wasn’t a workout suggestion. just a goggle suggestion. but i must sing the praises of corrective goggles! they have allowed me to see the clock during workouts! (yay!) they have also allowed me to see how dirty the bottom of the pool actually is. (boo.)
Holy doodle, I totally forgot about those – tried on a pair when I was last shopping for goggles and was surprised at how well they corrected vision; wound up going with ones that were a better fit for my face, but when they wear out I’ll pick up a pair of the optical goggles.
…but yeah, nobody wants to see the filth on the bottom of the pool.
You need a spot? My bro over there keeps yappin’ about his feelings or whatever, so I got a sec.
Burning Toasties! I need some advice!
I… slightly maimed my left hand while cleaning a knife earlier this week. It will be a clean scar in probably a month, but in the meantime, I need to find a way to exercise. My go tos are:
-Running: Still on the table, although a little more jarring than is comfortable.
-Swimming: Not with an open wound.
-Lifting: Nope. Can’t grip things.
-Rock climbing: Nope. Can’t grip things.
-Cycling: Nope. Can’t grip things.
Does anyone have other suggestions? I have access to a pretty standard lifting/cardio gym, and want something to alternate with running.
Biking on a stationary bike would probably be pretty safe, right? I mean, it’s boring as hell, but at least it’s something to keep you sane if you’re one of those people who gets batty when you can’t exercise.
Also, ouch!!!
Definitely stationary bike. If you can stand to do intervals on them, you can actually get some solid fitness out of that. I like to go low resistance and high revs, but that’s partly because of training on real bikes. But you do you.
I raced one year during an El Niño winter and got really really fit on stationary bikes. Because uh it was pouring all the time.
Yikes! Some of Neila Rey’s bodyweight challenges might keep you from going nuts with boredom. I wouldn’t recommend doing some of the exercises until your injury is a little more healed, but she has a lot of options that don’t necessarily involve the hands. For instance, while you probably need to omit the clapping pushups, the other stuff in Airborne should be feasible. I’ve been doing 30 Days of HIIT, so I end up lying on the floor drenched in sweat at the end of 20 minutes; if you can push yourself, her workouts are the business.
Oh, hey, that website looks super great! I like the labels and advice for different goals. This will help fill the gaps when I get bored with the Feel the Burn routines I’ve been doing.
These look great! I have a standing Tuesday appointment with my living room for bodyweight workouts and I could use some variety.
Oh hurray for the shout-out to Stumptuous. She’s got a lot of good things to say.
Why did I never think of sharing a trainer with a friend? This is like a revelation to me! Even though my friends and I share a roller skating coach (we’re in roller derby, but our coach is a figure skater. We get worked hard once a week by a person who focuses intensely on form and not hitting the crap out of people.) We could use the same system with a trainer! And we know one. A woman in our league (who is also a fire dancer, because she’s just that cool) is a personal trainer.
Also, I love that you advocate for muscles on women. None of this “toning” crap.
Hallelujah Feel the Burn is back! Just in time for me, because I just moved and have committed to Actually Working Out. So. I started a few days ago and got set up at the gym with some weight machines, treadmill, yadda yadda.
My question is: how should I alternate things? This is my first week and my schedule is changing (because: just moved) so I’m not sure how many days a week I’ll be going. I have a reasonable amount of free time, how many days a week should I gym? Should I rest a day in between gym-ing? Should I not be afraid to go consecutive days and alternate cardio day/weight day? Should I cardio every time and alternate upper body weights/lower body weights every other time? HELP
Also if it’s important, my goals are: general fitness so I can walk/run and not be afraid of hiking, but also sculpting my body to be more muscle-y instead of smooshy. Tips for how to build visible muscle also appreciated. Sexy arm train, I want to be on you!
Oh, and I am pretty young (22) if that’s important to how often I can work out.
When you’re just getting started with Actually Working Out, the best routine is the one you’ll stick to and be consistent with. Building up that base expectation of “this is when I go to the gym, even if I’m a little tired, even if I don’t feel like it” is the #1 thing for the first few months, I think. So figure out the “when”– that will determine your “what.”
If 3 days/week is what works for you, try a full-body weight workout (I mentioned the Starting Strength program above, it’s perfect for this) followed by some cardio (I like intervals on the treadmill or rowing machine). I used to do this M/W/F, with rest days on the other days. The whole routine took about an hour.
If you want to exercise more often, you’ll have to mix things up a bit. There are a million ways to do it: an upper body/lower body split, a pushing/pulling split, or different exercises on different days. When I was exercising 6 days/week, I cycled through running, weights and yoga, doing each one twice a week.
Good resources for getting a workout plan going, no matter how you choose to do it:
ExRx
Breaking Muscle beginner workouts (these are all 3 days/week, I think)
Stumptuous (linked in Nicole’s post, and F’ING AMAZING)
Good luck!
this is so helpful! especially the bit about fitness goals! I bought those introductory sessions recently and mentioned that balance and flexibility were my main goals, and to her credit the trainer did address that. However, she also talked a lot about how “great” I would look in my new body if I trained with her 3X a week and how my friends would be envious of me. That….did not resonate with me particularly
I am going to do some dishes and then I am going to make a plan!
Corrective Goggles!! Also apparently called "optical googles" which is a stupid redundant name.
for example these ones for $8: http://www.swimoutlet.com/p/sporti-antifog-optica…
basically, you know how if you're far-sighted, you can pick up cheap reading glasses at the grocery store that aren't your exact prescription, but are close enough? these are the equivalent, but for nearsighted people, and for swimming instead of reading.
granted, if you are really really nearsighted, they might not come close to your prescription (I am on the -7s by now. if my eyes get much worse, I will be out of luck.) but if they are an option for you, they are great.
…so yes, that wasn't a workout suggestion. just a goggle suggestion. but i must sing the praises of corrective goggles! they have allowed me to see the clock during workouts! (yay!) they have also allowed me to see how dirty the bottom of the pool actually is. (boo.)
Late to chime in for anyone who reads this and loves it but feels like they would hyperventilate if they had to go to a gym, and also hyperventilate while trying to work out at home: 8 Minutes in the Morning by Jorge Cruise is very corny and will cause you to worry that you’re being conscripted into a cult, but the intro to circuit training is accessible, adaptable to wherever you’re starting from, and really does take very little time. I’ve been doing variations on it for the last ten years and it’s still my jam.
Late to chime in for anyone who reads this and loves it but feels like they would hyperventilate if they had to go to a gym, and also hyperventilate while trying to work out at home: 8 Minutes in the Morning by Jorge Cruise is very corny and will cause you to worry that you're being conscripted into a cult, but the intro to circuit training is accessible, adaptable to wherever you're starting from, and really does take very little time. I've been doing variations on it for the last ten years and it's still my jam.
DUDE! I am so excited right now after reading this! Thaaaaankkk you!