It’s all about adherence
The awesome thing about the ACE Personal Trainer Manual that I am studying is that it is super repetitive with major concepts. So if you miss something, no worries, you are going to read about it a few more times.
The annoying thing about the ACE Personal Trainer Manual that I am studying is that it is super repetitive with major concepts. So you are reading the same things over and over. Enough already, I get it!
Heh heh heh.
The most comical thing, lately, is how much the book is drilling in about client adherence. I get it. You want to develop a program for a client that they will adhere to – you want custom plans that are not too easy, not too challenging… you want the client to want to come back. You want them to eventually like exercise. I get all that!
Data is the a great example of adherence. A few years ago, he would just slither around in his harness! Now, he has built up to long walks. Go Data!
It’s just so funny. Almost any instructional section I have read lately is followed with a warning paragraph.
(My wording)Varying the intensity of workouts not only engages different muscle fibers, it also keeps things interesting for the client. BUT OMG! ADHERENCE, PEEPS! DON’T MAKE IT TOO INTENSE OR NO ONE WILL EVER COME BACK TO YOUR STUDIO EVER!!!!! EVER!!!!!!!
I suppose it’s funny to me, because one of my top concerns* in developing exercise programs is keeping it challenging. I really want people to leave the workout feeling like they got a great whole-body exercise, and challenged themselves. I don’t want them to feel like it was easy. I want them to feel the workout was worth their time.
But that is minor disconnect between the book and real life, for me. A lot of the people in my classes already have the adherence – they are already committed to exercise, taking the class, and doing other cardiovascular activity on the side. So, while I get where the book is coming from, I think it is too cautious at times!
I was thinking about this, because I am reading about it, but also, dang, I am so sore from the class I taught Monday night. In fact, someone in my office asked me if I am hurt because I am walking so slow. Ha ha ha.
I’m that “good” sore. That “ooo, I worked some weaker muscles” sore.
So that made me wonder. Maybe not everyone has that “good” sore. Maybe for some people, all sore is “bad” sore. Maybe, my perception of good sore needs to be altered if I need to focus on adherence.
What do you think? Do you have levels of soreness? Is there a “good” one that comes from a challenging workout?
*Obviously, safety and comfort is first (among other things).
Themocracy
Personally, I LOVE the workouts that kick my ass, and leave me feeling it for 3 days. I feel like that hour was well spent.
Not so much runs, but strength workouts, for sure…
I love the good sore! Makes me feel like I kicked my own butt and pushed myself in a good way
The last time I went to a personal trainer, it ruined my running for an ENTIRE week. No joke. I could barely walk the next day and day after was even worse. That was before foam rollers and “the stick” where you could actually help flush some of the lactic acid yourself.
So if I ever come see you, please don’t kill me. I’m weak, I admit it. No need to teach me a lesson that you are bigger and stronger. I’ve already got that or I probably wouldn’t have signed up in the first place.
And yes, the trainer was a man. I hate men.
I am sorry you had an experience like that! Had you been doing strength training and decided to see a trainer to try some new things? Or was this your first strength session in a long time? I think if it was your first, you are going to be pretty sore, because your muscles just aren’t used to it! It takes about 72 hours to recover, so it’s no suprise it hurt for so long. However, it shouldn’t hurt THAT bad. The trainer should use a RPE scale to get the exercises in to your challening/yet “not going to kill you” zone.
That being said… if I have a race coming up, I go easy on the strength training so I don’t have DOMS so bad after.
And who even knows if using the foam roller or stick fof myofascial release would have helped! Sometimes I just think the microtears have to heal 😉
I think the whole “good sore” vs. “bad sore” really depends on where the individual is at – like you said if they alerady have adherence or not.
When I was first getting into running and fitness, there was no “good sore.” There was only “If this is how doing XYZ makes me feel the next day then, eff this noise.” Now that I’ve learned to actually like exercise, I can appreciate the times trainer kicks my ass from time to time or I leave the gym with my arms feeling like jello or my quads feel like they’re on fire.
Maybe the best solution is to just ask your clients how they feel about it and approach training accordingly.
Exactly – individual plans need to be highly customized! And modifications need to be given in a group setting. I totally get that. I just wondered what you guys all thought (even though this is a totally biased group). I appreciate you saying that you hated feeling sore at first!
Data just rocks!!! I am so jealous you can take him for walks on his leash!!! That is so amazing!! :o)
I love a “good” sore after a workout!!! It makes me feel like I accomplished something, honestly, if I’m not sore I don’t feel like I worked out hard enough! I wish you could stream the classes you teach!! I would so participate!!! Too bad you don’t live closer, I would hire you to be my trainer!!
=^..^=
That would be awesome if I could stream! Ha ha ha. I cannot imagine what I look/sound like on camera 😉
Data is doing so well with his walks this year! 🙂
I like the “good sore” now, because it feels like I didn’t waste my time on a workout (um, that said, I also know which days I won’t get that, and I’m okay with it!). I understood the idea of it when I was just starting out, and was nowhere near adherence, but if you’ve been sedentary for a long time and aren’t used to working out, things like being sore or out of breath are scary and maybe not the ideal outcome. I remember the first time Katy really challenged me – I just had to do 4 inch worms, but it was so hard I was crying and hyperventilating, and not totally sure I could keep going.
So it’s those feelings that I think can deter someone from getting too far into a new exercise program. I remember reading a post from a blogger who lost like 160 pounds, where she said her first workout was to just ride her bike ONCE around the cul-de-sac where she lived, and even that was painful and exhausting for her. Somehow she stuck with it, but feeling like that while knowing how far you have to go can be really discouraging too! I think I may have gotten a little off-topic here though…
No, you’re not off topic! And I get that that is the type of client the book has in mind, when it mentions this. It’s just interesting to me, since the people I work with are generally past that, you know? 🙂 All programs should fit where the client is, at that moment.
But once you’re training full-time, you’re bound to have plenty of new people 🙂
Full-time is not a plan, but maybe new clients will be!
I agree with Bobbi. I want to feel like I worked, and I got my money’s worth. As I learned from that doomed class, some people just prefer to think they worked.
I love feeling the good sore then I know I got a good workout!
Also, lets talk about how cute Data looks in his harness. I bought one for Sonic and have taken him out a few times but he’s still too scared to actually walk on a leash.
It took Data a year to get used to the harness/leash! Keep trying! 🙂
Interesting….I think for exercise junkies like us we LOVE that sore feeling, so typically people who are paying to go to fitness classes LOVE that feeling. I know if I feel sore after a class I know I worked hard and I’m looking forward to the next class already!
I feel like I’m mildly sore on an ongoing basis. Not am OMG I can’t brush my teeth sore, but just a low-level base soreness that I’ve gotten used to.
FOr me all sore is ‘good’ sore (unless it’s an injury). I feel just like you said: I worked on a muscle group(s) that needed it. The classes I have not gone back to are those that are either boring, too easy, or so hard I injure myself.
So interesting! Most of my workouts are individual based, but I remember with PT, how I started doing super easy stuff and then they gradually made it harder and harder. My husband is doing PT now, and it’s the same – they are really ramping it up!
The one class I attend fairly regularly is a spinning class and the instructor is KILLER. There is a ‘usual’ crowd that goes to him because they know that he’s going to kick our butts. But, I feel that we know what we’re getting into. For new people, it’s a bit intimidating, but he’s an excellent teacher, so he makes sure that they are hanging in there.
I don’t know what the perfect balance is. Maybe you’ll find out!
Personally, I LOVE to be sore. I just can’t work myself hard enough to get there right now. I need someone to hand me a heavyweight and say, “lift this this way.” Otherwise I just use the 15 pound dumbbells 🙂
ANYWAY, Jason HATES being sore like that. Hates it. Yet he always lifts as heavy as possible and then whines for two days about how much he hates exercise. Getting people to understand that it’s okay to work up to heavier weights/higher intensity/longer endurance is a challenge!
It sounds like you are in need of a new routine! Maybe your pullup challenge will get you there 🙂
LOL. You can’t just leave heavy as possible every once in awhile. Of course you’re going to hate it 🙂
I get pretty demoralized from hard workouts, but I do admittedly quit with very little prompting. I hate going to a class and feeling like it’s above my level and then like I got nothing out of it because I couldn’t do anything in the first place. Maybe that’s why I don’t do strength or core classes…or, okay, any classes at all these days.
Do the instructors not provide modifications or lower weights? There should always be some option!
I wish I had leash trained my cat when she was young!
I don’t think we trained Data until he was 7 or 8! There is hope!
there’s def a “good” and “bad” sore.. well.. marathon post-soreness def falls into the bad soreness category. You can’t do ANYTHING. walk up/down steps. sit on the toilet without being scared of getting up too fast haha
the good kind of sore I like. Like when I up my weight and/or reps. or when my arms feel like jello. I really like 🙂 a few weeks later I get all happy when I start seeing results from the good soreness haha
Yes! The sore where it hurts to take pull your shirt off over your head to take it off 😉
I love allll (non-injury related) soreness. Especially “it hurts to sit on the toilet” soreness. It just feels like I did something GOOD for my body, something it needed.
Ugh. Toilet sore. That was me the last two days. I couldn’t believe I did that to myself! I mean, besides me doing the workouts… it was a workout I designed!!!