I was doing a goal review with a new client the other day who completed their first month with us. This individual presented with similar movement issues. Pain in the lower back, cranky knees, shoulders and elbows. A lot of these issues would come and go with him reaggravating them on a semi-regular basis. Our goal is to get this individual back to training the way that they want to.
The biggest change we did was incorporate a mobility/activation routine that is going to reinforce the joint health we are chasing. In conjunction with his mobility routine, we added a lot of “corrective” work. Single leg movements, direct core work, plenty of exercise variety to keep things from becoming stale.
Often times, getting people out of their comfort zone will force their body to change.
And therein, lies a little secret to causing positive changes to your body!
This individual has been training on their own for years. Their weight has been consistent for quite some time as well. So…when we evaluated his progress, we found a decent amount of weight loss in his first month.
It was a surprise to him that a lot of these “minor” exercises had such a large impact.
Truthfully, it is pretty simple.
We simply introduced a new stimulus to his body. In other words, we were making his body do things that it did not want to do.
For example, if you set out to run a mile every day to get into shape, after some time, that mile will not be enough. Your body will become quite efficient at dealing with that stress. The logical thing to do would be to up the mileage or increase the intensity. But as long as speed and distance are held constant, adaptations will decrease over time!
A lot of times, when we add a 10 minute warm-up to a new client, that is enough to get their heart rate up and force changes as well. It might sound crazy that just ten minutes of low intensity work changes the entire landscape for a new client but…sometimes all you need is a little nudge.
This is why we switch things up on a monthly basis for a lot of our clients. But it does not have to be drastic…one month we will use sleds a lot to develop their lower body. The next month we may use goblet squats and so on. Even switching up your grip on pull ups will be enough to cause a positive change.
In closing, if you are doing the same thing over and over expecting different results…you’re not crazy, your body is just efficient. Switch it up and reap the benefits!
If you need a change and need a little help, head over to www.getjdfit.com and schedule your free consultation!
