A WEEK OF WORKOUTS

Within the current climate, it’s quite easy to mope around the house and feel sorry for yourself. However, it’s time to turn off Netflix, get off the couch, and start building that summer bod! It’s never too late to get started. Here at SportsPower Geelong we have you covered for all things fitness, enabling you to feel better than ever with our weekly fitness program, covering numerous fitness components. Although as they say, nothing in life worth getting comes easy, so let’s get moving! First things first though, ensure you’ve got exercise apparel covered… look good feel good! If not, pop on down to SportsPower Geelong to be supplied with high quality activewear, produced by brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and many more! Furthermore, the perfect pair of shoes is vital to maximizing your exercise capabilities. Check out SportsPower Geelong to obtain the pair suited to your training, receiving the comfort and support necessary to perform. Now, that’s all sorted, let’s get into it!

First, we’re going to look at our running sessions for the week. Our aim is to smash out 3 different running sessions a week, being completed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday ideally. Performing running sessions on these days allows for adequate rest in between each run, whilst also allowing the weekend to act as a freshen up before attacking the next week of running. Monday’s session will consist of a longer, steady state endurance run focusing on maintaining a steady pace. Wednesday’s session will be an intermediate interval run. This involves shorter, more intense efforts followed by periods of active recovery. Head to our ‘Build your run’ blog to acquire further knowledge for these sessions. Friday will consist of a ‘fartlek’ running block. Fartlek originates from a Swedish term referring to “speed play”, meaning that running intensity will vary throughout a long-distance run. Essentially, it’s a combination of a steady state and interval run. This session will provide numerous benefits towards the cardiovascular system, with the heart being made to constantly change in its output.

Next up, we’re into our gym sessions, again consisting of 3 workouts for the week. These sessions will be performed on Monday, Tuesday and Fridays, being an upper body, lower body and core session respectively. Overall, these sessions will aim to improve on muscular strength, power and endurance. In addition, these exercises will improve bone strength, something pivotal in everyday life. The upper body and core sessions can be performed whenever during the day. Some may prefer to perform them directly after running sessions, or others may prefer to break up the day and split sessions into the morning and afternoon. The Tuesday lower body session is to be completed on a day off running. This is due to the high demands on the lower body for running sessions. Fatigue will generally be felt within the lower limbs after running sessions, therefore it’s important for them to recover directly after, whilst performing a lower body gym session in isolation. Load management within an exercise program is potentially the most important aspect. Essentially, it’s what allows you to continue training. It is important to train 3 days a week in terms of improving muscular strength. 1-2 days a week is seen as maintaining your strength, whereas 3 sessions a week typically sees noticeable improvements. No matter how advanced your home gym setup is, we’ve got you sorted with a range of free weight and body weight exercises. Examples include:

When performing a training program, often a lack of motivation can act as a barrier to achieving goals, particularly when similar sessions are being repeated regularly. To combat this, cross-training is a great way of adding variety to a program and keeping participants invigorated. Cross-training can include many modes of training which differ to running, yet still lead to cardiovascular and muscular endurance improvement. Popular options for cross-training are swimming, cycling, boxing and yoga. Try to find something new, as this will often encourage greater motivation. The idea of this session is that your legs aren’t being put through the physical strain of a run, yet cardiovascular improvements will still be occurring.

Another key aspect in maintaining high training standards is being able to feel good for sessions. In order to do so, an adequate recovery is required. Stretching is a key feature in improving your flexibility and allowing the body to recovery from exercise. For our program, we recommend at least 15 minutes of stretching per day. Try to complete this before going to sleep, and it can be as easy as quickly having a stretch in front of the TV in the lounge room! Your body will thank you!

Finally, our favourite part of the week. We believe such a program is only possible with enjoyment! So that’s why we have dedicated our Sundays to a “Feel good Sunday” session. We’ll throw this one to you. Whether you enjoy going for a surf, taking the dog for a walk, or having a hit of tennis… it’s completely your choice. Spend at least 30 minutes doing something you enjoy, whilst remaining relatively active. This will be a bit of a mental freshen up to end the week, before getting ready to dive into the next week of training.

And there you have it! A balanced program which will improve a range of fitness components including cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, strength, power and flexibility. In conjunction with this, try to adopt a healthy diet and aim to consume 3-4 litres of water per day. For running and gym sessions, look to slightly progress in intensity when feeling comfortable at a certain level. This could mean increasing the distance of a run or performing gym exercises at a greater weight. This will allow for gradual improvement over time, rather than just maintaining a base fitness level. In summary, the following table should act as a guide for your weekly program. Remember to try and follow the program as closely as possible – the results will show!