The Training Checklist Manifesto.
I recently finished a book called the Checklist Manifesto by Dr. Atul Gawande who is a surgeon and a Havard Professor.
Essentially the Checklist Manifesto explores the importance of the hubble checklist in organising and managing complex tasks and processes. Gawande speaks from his own experience, explaining how even the most competent surgeon can make catastrophic mistakes without a good checklist.
Personally I love a checklist. I think a checklist is one of those simple yet incredibly effective concepts. It clearly makes a huge difference in the world of medical and aviation.
In this post, I thought I would share a training checklist with you. I would highly recommend having a checklist for sleep, hydration, movement and general health.
- Do you use exercises that work well for you?
Are you using exercises that make you better? Most people these days are just getting programs from their favourite instagramer or choosing exercises because they saw someone who was shredded doing them.
In order to know what your best exercises are you need to have some sort of screen. Knowing where you currently are, what your limitations, strengths, weakness etc are will give you a guiding light to exercise choice. A simple screen can make A program and turn it into YOUR program.
Book your screen here alternatively you could keep trying to bang square pegs into round holes. Your choice.
- Do you use good form ?
Are you bouncing, yanking, heaving, throwing or jerking your way through exercises? Are your squats so shallow that they are mistaken for superficial wanna-be’s 😉 does your deadlift look more Bob in the first pic or his twin brother Dave who has obviously been seeing a Personal Trainer in the second pic .
If your form isn’t up to scratch then make some changes now. Poor form will lead to poor results and more than likely some kind of injury. Consider booking in with a PT even if it’s just one session. Literally one session of proper coaching can be worth its weight in gold.
- Do you train hard ?
Most don’t train hard enough and a few over-do things. Remember an average program performed with intensity will elicit far better results than the best program performed in a lackadaisical fashion.
The key is finding that sweet spot. I call it the search for Goldilocks. Working sets should be challenging enough to change you but not too challenging that your form falls to pieces. ‘’Stimulate don’t annihilate’’
- Do you follow a sound rep/set scheme
There isn’t just one sound rep/set scheme there are several. All can be effective, just as all can be ineffective
As I say to my kids.. First you need to know the rules before you try and break the rules.
The table above is a good starting place when it comes to choosing reps and sets. As you can see, if the goal is to get stronger then doing more sets of less reps at a heavier load would work well. If the goal was endurance then a lighter load with higher reps and less sets would be a better choice.
The thing to note here is that the lines get blurry. For example 10 reps of 3 sets is a classic that can be found in most commercial gyms across the country and though this rep and sets scheme can be great, who’s to say the 10 sets of 3 reps wouldn’t be a better choice. The latter would provide the same total amount of reps but as you are only performing 3 reps your load would naturally increase and therefore your total volume lifted in the session would dramatically increase. I could go on but it’s more than the scope of this post.
- Are you consistent with your rest intervals between sets ?
This is a big one. Most people in the gym will finish a set then spend some time scrolling the Gram before hitting the next set.
If your goal is fat loss then one of the BIGGEST pieces of the puzzle is rest interval. Too much rest and you’re not going to elicit the right training response. On the flip side If your goal is maximum strength then you need to make sure your nervous system has recovered. This requires at least a few minutes between working sets.
Get yourself a gymboss timer (I’m not a fan of phone timers as I think phones are far too distracting and should be left in the changing rooms. Call me an old dinosaur if you will)
- Are you keeping a training log ?
Are you making written notes week to week on increases in poundages or reps. If you are guessing roughly week to week then know your results will be nothing more than guesswork too.
Get yourself a pad and pen and write down your big lifts. I don’t think you need to write every little lift down but certainly knowing the big lifts will take you far. Also, note I said pad and pen not phone and finger. There is no place for phones in gyms !!
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