Fitness Camp Ireland

Avoid the Mistake Everyone Makes
It is six years since I first began working in women’s fitness and in that time I have seen many training mistakes. These include everything from poor technique and snapping joints, to overworking or not working hard enough. All of these errors are underpinned by one mistake. It is this one mistake that hinders achieving results at the rate they should be achieved and significantly slows progression. So take heed of the following advice to avoid making the same mistake yourself.

Think about what you are doing..
It is so simple, and yet it is essential in achieving fast results, just think about what you are doing. When the brain is tuned into the body and exercises are performed consciously, the benefits are manifold. Since starting the fitness camps, I noticed that different training personalities began to emerge amongst participants. Two in particular I see more often than not and they serve to highlight the point.
These are the ‘All or Nothing’ trainer and the ‘Daydreamer’. They are polar opposites in their approach to training, although both make the one mistake… neither listen to their body.

All or Nothing
The ‘All or nothing’ approach sends arms flying, legs swinging, feet pumping – high intensity, high impact, everything is momentum. A clear distinction needs to be made between pushing boundaries intelligently and working far beyond capabilities without adequate preparation. The repercussions for this ‘All or Nothing’ training may involve days of muscle soreness with high risks of strain/injury, fatigue and ultimately deflated motivation. High impact work is NOT necessary to achieve results when exercises/moves are executed consciously.

Day Dreamers
On the flipside there is the ‘Day dreamer’, who just floats through the session – thinking of everything else other than the exercise/movement at hand. Their brain is engaged in every idle thought imaginable instead of the immediate task. This lack of focus, and effort, results in a considerably slowed training effect and limited progress.

How to Train Consciously
Although these are two extreme examples, most exercisers are guilty of losing focus during a training session. The key lies in being able to identify when your attention slips and to refocus. The best way to do just that and to train ‘consciously’ is to apply the following checklist (this gets more abstract towards the end).
• Check posture
• Focus on breathing pattern
• Synchronise breathing with movement
• Think about the body part that is working and focus on the muscles being used
• ‘Perform’ the movement, control it
• Try to feel the energy and forces at play

The Benefits of Training Consciously
And here is the incentive for putting in that extra effort…
• Re-shape your body faster – especially flatten tummy
• Greatly improve posture
• Decrease likelihood of injury
• Faster improvements in co-ordination, strength & flexibility
• Your body will start to respond faster to the demands you place on

When you THINK about what you are doing even very low impact aerobics can be highly effective at yielding results. With this increase in focus you will find you become far more physically in-tune. You will start to feel the need to move in certain ways, you will feel the need to stretch and reach and move, as opposed to coercing yourself into it.
So give it a shot and see the rapid transformation that comes with a little extra conscious effort. It will amaze you, I promise! 