Exercising
is by far one of the best things a person can do for their overall health, be
it for physical, mental, or spiritual reasons.
Like a person going to a doctor when sick, people seek the advice of
personal trainers to get a diagnosis on their health, and then a prescription
of the right exercises tailored for them. A skilled, educated, and experienced
trainer should know how to prescribe a workout without overtraining their
client.
Overtraining is
a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and
intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. The
client ceases to make progress, and can even begin to lose strength and
fitness. Personal trainers will have a preference about how to train
their client, whether it be training someone to improve overall health, weight
management, stress reduction, or an athlete for their sport, however, they
should follow strict
periodization guideline.
Regardless of why a person is exercising, it all can be
counterproductive if they are pushed to the point of overtraining. The
following link gives the signs of over training that every personal trainer
should know.
So how does a personal trainer avoid overtraining his or her
clients? Here are 5 simple tips to help ensure a personal trainer does not
overtrain his or her client:
1.
Quality over quantity: When starting
out with a new client, a personal trainer should always pay close attention to
providing cues on proper form of each exercise.
2.
Control the goal: If a client has an
unrealistic goal, like losing 10lbs a week until they reach their desired
weight, a personal trainer should educate them about why that is an impossible
goal and help set one that is more realistic and appropriate.
3.
Empathy before intensity: Use
appropriate periodization even when a client is exceeding expectations. Ex: never go from 20min of cardio to 40min in
the same week.
4.
Too much stress equals no progress: If
a client is going through a stressful time and not getting the good quality
sleep they need, it will affect their progress.
5. Information before further stimulation:
A personal trainer should always inquire about how each exercise makes a client
feel, and level of muscle soreness during and post exercise.
Truth!
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why we created www.fitzeal.com - to connect people everywhere to the experts they need.
ReplyDeleteovertraining is a real problem and can cause you to take two step backwards instead of forwards. My trainer does a great job at making sure that my form looks good or guess what? we go down on the weight, and i am ok with that because if your sacrificing form to have more weight then your not really getting the true effect of the exercise. We have set realistic goals are attainable, so that i can actually reach them and make new ones. One day i came in sick and he even offered to reschedule because i wouldn't be at my full potential. Overtraining is only setting yourself back and keeping you from progress.
ReplyDeleteNice article Donny!
ReplyDeleteA great way to prevent overtraining is to start measuring recovery objectively. With so many heart rate variability apps available now its never been easier and gives PTs an accurate insight in to how their athletes are in terms of recovery and readiness to train. Its proactive as opposed to reactive!
I really like this blog from one of boxer Luke Campbell's coaches showing how HRV is used to guide his training http://myithlete.com/blog/?p=2189#.Ul0Dk1CTjOU
Good article. Americans are notorious for over training. The average american is malnourished, dehydrated, and sleep deprived making them very susceptible to 'over training' and related injuries. An interesting fact about over training is America is one of the only countries that believes in it. In China, Russia, and Bulgaria they would say you're either under eating, under sleeping, or under hydrating. I believe the best prevention for over training is proper periodization and program design.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely true. Overtraining is a real factor that can negatively impact someone’s progress in the weight room. Personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, sports specific coaches and athletic trainers must implement an appropriate periodization program that fits the individual´s needs in order to avoid overtraining and possible injuries.
ReplyDeleteAll five tips that you provided must be considered when creating a strength and conditioning program for a client. A good personal trainer or fitness clinician always takes into account the individual’s emotional status, nutrition, fitness level as he comes up with the most suitable program for his client.
Overtraining can most definitely takes it toll on someone that has worked very hard to get where they are at. This blog is beneficial to me because my mother is trying to get back into shape and get her tone back but she gets stressed out because she is not seeing results like she wants so when I advise her in some exercises I try to make sure that she is not going overboard. I also take into consideration everything else that she has going on so she is not stressed out while working out. Love this blog!!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great article! It is too often that a person enters the gym and thinks that they should take their bodies to pure exhaustion and repeat that same process day in and day out. Yes your body requires stress to be able to grow but it also requires time to rest from that stress for this to happen. When one constantly beats their body down they are doing exactly that, beating themselves down, without time to rest one just keeps digging themselves into a deeper hole that will just take them longer and longer to climb back out of. This article is great for a beginner in the gym and really identifies the fact that sometimes less is more.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. People who are trying to get back into shape get discouraged easily. This is why providing fun motivators is beneficial such as putting paper clips in a chain for every pound lost or transferring marbles from a jar labeled pounds that the person currently has to a jar with pounds lost written on it. Also, a fitness test will give the personal trainer an accurate representation of the persons' physical fitness. Trainers must remember to motivate not discourage.
ReplyDeleteThis article hits some great points. It is not uncommon for a client to come to you with an obsession about reaching their goal. Whether our client is like that or not, it is our job to control the how those sessions look. Being organized is another tip/OBVIOUS MUST to avoid overtraining our clients. Too many personal trainers come up with workouts right before the session. What about progressions? What about alternating muscle groups? How do these trainers even remember what they did last session?
ReplyDeleteIt's vital for trainers to go in with a plan. We are responsible for the safety of other human beings! Trainers should educate themselves, if they are not already, how to avoid overtraining. It's what our clients are paying us for.
A lot of times people workout and train so they can keep their self physically fit, but what people don’t know is that exercise is also good for your mental health, stress reduction, and general mood, which are definitely benefits. Overtraining can be an issue though when working out. If you over-train and don’t give your body enough time to heal before working out again your muscles can break down and it can be counterproductive. Also, I agree, sleep is one of the most important things you can do to feel refreshed, recover, and can help you be productive throughout the day. A personal trainer should learn the person’s body and interpret their non-verbal body movements to see how the person is responding to the workout.
ReplyDeleteOvertraining is definitely a problem that occurs as a result of working out. Some people are so dead set on trying to lose weight and get into shape that they think that they need to continuously over work their body in order to lose weight. It is absolutely true that if you overwork your body, you are not going to get the results that you want. This in turn causes people to continue to over train leading to serious health conditions.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very educational. I've never had a trainer, but I would like to know how to be able to train myself I guess you could say. I love working out but I want to learn how to put together a work out instead of just running on the track and lifting a few weights. That's why I'm really enjoying your class, Its helping me learn how to not over train myself. Its letting me know whats too much for me right now and how to push my self to get better.
ReplyDeletethis really shows how a good trainer can be. i have had a trainer who really showed me my fittness and my health and worked so well with it. its amazing how good you can put a workout together like crossfit. its prolly one of the best thing ive done in my life
ReplyDeleteThis blog really shows how a trainer should help their client. Exercise is very important to a person over all well being. However if a trainer does not do their job by making sure their client isn't over training it can hurt them instead of help them.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has made me realize that I need to make more realistic goals for myself and gradually workout harder instead of going from 10 min cardio to an hour of cardio. I will start working out using a better pace for myself and not push myself past my limits. This has really helped my workout plan out and my confidence
ReplyDeleteI agree. Overtraining is a big issue.
ReplyDelete