Personal Trainer

ok, so i got a personal trainer, and he gave me a pep. (personal exercise plan)

what do you guys think of it?

Week 1
(Do this for 2 days in a row, then take a day off)

Warm up:
Light jog 15 min
Stretches 5-10 min
(Lower body)
Gastronomies (calf)
Quadriceps
Hamstring
(Upper body)
Biceps
Deltoids
Trapeziums

Main session:
(Mat work) 10 min
3 sets of 40 rep sit-ups
1 set of 15 rep push ups
2 sets of 10 rep push ups
(Free weights) 15 min
1 set of 15 rep 5kg weights (lateral)
2 sets of 10 rep 5kg weight (lateral)
1 sets of 15 rep 6kg weight (shoulder shrugs)
2 sets of 10 rep 6 kg weight (shoulder shrugs)
1 sets of 15 rep 5kg weight (adduction)
2 sets of 10 rep 5kg weight (adduction)

Cool down:
Stretches 5-10 min
(Lower body)
Gastronomies (calf)
Quadriceps
Hamstring
(Upper body)
Biceps
Deltoids
Trapeziums

thanks

First what are your goals, training status, any injuries, etc?

I personally don’t think those exercise choices are sufficient nor the loads heavy enough to stimulate muscle growth. A lot of time is being wasted on the warm-up which isn’t that big of a deal if you have the time. If you’re like most of my clients you need the most bang for your buck and your workouts shouldn’t go much more then an hour.

Anyway I hope you don’t have one of those trainers who thinks that squats are bad for your knees and deadlifts are bad for you back because that just drives me nuts and probably a lot of other people here as well. The compound movements should be the base of almost any program in my opinion.

I’ll second the “what’s your training/injury history” question…

No leg work (jogging doesn’t count as leg work)
No back work
15lb shrugs?
Situps?
Why so much direct shoulder work?
Warmup - static or dynamic stretching?
Was the trainer able to explain why it was structured this way?

been lifting about 5 months now. no injury history.

i said i wanted to focus on shoulders and arms.

we upped the weight to 20kg’s.

[quote]Sarpedon wrote:
been lifting about 5 months now. no injury history.

i said i wanted to focus on shoulders and arms.

we upped the weight to 20kg’s.

[/quote]

Saying that you want to focus on shoulders and arms isn’t a clear definition of your long term goals: Where would you like to be 5 years from now? In order for anyone to structure an efficient program for you, you’re going to need a fairly good idea of where you to go.

Regardless of your goals, I’m uncertain why the trainer structured the program the way he/she did. There’s more time spent warming up then actually training. Ten minutes of dynamic stretching should be sufficient to prepare you for your workout so long as you match the stretches to the muscles being trained.

My advice to you, if you wish to gain some information from this site, would be to clearly state what you wish to accomplish with your training. It wouldn’t hurt to peruse the “Beginners” section of this site and read through some of the stickies.

20kgs doing what? Shrugs? Curls? That personal trainer, at the moment from looking at that plan, seems like a weekend seminar certified dumbass. Just sayin.

Can him.

It’s really hard to say what woulkd be best for you without doing a complete history, medical workup, physical assessment,and a long discussion of you short and long term goals.

Assuming that a asll of those things are within normal ranges and that your goals are to lean up and add strength,

I would start with basic, compound moves as a base and add in isolation moves over time. HIIT type cardio a couple of days a week also

Diet assessment and eating plan would go hand in hand with the training.

Doesn’t seem great. Only sure way to grow is through complex movements. As you’re in the UK can I suggest you have a read through my PT’s blog…

http://wwwneilmctcom.blogspot.com/

Worth a read, and combined with this site might point you in the right direction…

I think you are spending the majority of the workout either warming up or cooling down. The exercise selection is poor at best. As was said before, there is no leg work, and very little compound movements.

I’m with Cressey on this one. Get a new trainer, or pick a program from the beginner section and work on that.

You see, this is the kind of stuff that gives us Personal Trainers a bad name.

Unless you have a history of injuries or a specific reason why you need to train that way, he should have set you up with a basic prog of compound stuff (press, row, squat, deadlift etc) combined with some prehab exes (r. cuff etc). He should have started by teaching you good technique on these and then gradually increased your weights. Did he mention anything like this??

Even if someone told me they wanted to just focus on shoulders and arms, I’d give them a better prog than this.

Your plan is absurd. Get your money back.

You should give that trainer “the Hell.” Look into some programs written by Christian Thibaudeau.

Go in cold and fast, Soul Drinker.

[quote]Lift & Eat wrote:
Even if someone told me they wanted to just focus on shoulders and arms, I’d give them a better prog than this.[/quote]

And it would probably include presses, rows, squats, and deadlifts, like you said before.

Looks like crap really…you should get your money back and tell him about T-Nation.

[quote]Sarpedon wrote:
ok, so i got a personal trainer, and he gave me a pep. (personal exercise plan)

what do you guys think of it?

Week 1
(Do this for 2 days in a row, then take a day off)

Warm up:
Light jog 15 min
Stretches 5-10 min
(Lower body)
Gastronomies (calf)
Quadriceps
Hamstring
(Upper body)
Biceps
Deltoids
Trapeziums

Main session:
(Mat work) 10 min
3 sets of 40 rep sit-ups
1 set of 15 rep push ups
2 sets of 10 rep push ups
(Free weights) 15 min
1 set of 15 rep 5kg weights (lateral)
2 sets of 10 rep 5kg weight (lateral)
1 sets of 15 rep 6kg weight (shoulder shrugs)
2 sets of 10 rep 6 kg weight (shoulder shrugs)
1 sets of 15 rep 5kg weight (adduction)
2 sets of 10 rep 5kg weight (adduction)

Cool down:
Stretches 5-10 min
(Lower body)
Gastronomies (calf)
Quadriceps
Hamstring
(Upper body)
Biceps
Deltoids
Trapeziums

thanks[/quote]

I agree with what’s already been said…the program looks like crap. I also agree that this type of program design is the reason why so many people think all of us personal trainers are bosu balancing, pink dumbell lifting, metrosexuals.

First, a 15 minute warm-up jog is at the high end of the spectrum, and if you are also performing dynamic stretches, it’s absolutely overkill. You really only need about 5-7 minutes of work to be sufficiently warmed up, then do your dynamic stretching.

I also agree that the exercise selection is pathetic. Everyone, beginner or advanced, young or old, man or woman, should be doing some variation of the following exercises:

  1. Quad dominant movement- squats, leg press, hack squats, etc…

  2. Hip dominant movement- deadlifts, step-ups, lunges, etc…

  3. Horizontal push- bench press, push-ups, etc…

  4. Horizontal pull- seated row, bent over row, face pulls, etc…

  5. Vertical push- military press, push-press, jerk, dips, etc…

  6. Vertical pull- pull-ups, lat pull-downs, straight arm pull-downs, etc…

Aside from these, most people should also include exercises for the following muscle groups:
Biceps
Triceps
Calves
forearms/grip
core (stabilization and/or flexion)

Finally, I agree that you need to seriously consider either telling your current personal trainer that you are unhappy with the routine that they have laid out for you, and why. Or, you need to consider hiring another trainer who actually knows what they’re doing.

Good training,

Sentoguy

I’d like to know more about the original poster - can you give us the basic status, height, weight, bodyfat, prior experience with any form of athletic exercise - etc

Tho hmm… I’d have to say that workout looks a tad… whats the word, neutered. May be your trainer doesn’t think you have the tenacity to work hard… or maybe he just wants to string you as long as possible o.O maybe it’s politically correct… to the point that as long as you try… your a winner in the race of life…

I’m going to go read Waterbury and Thibaudeau posts til I feel cleansed.

If you’re looking for someone good in the UK, drop me an email at ec@ericcressey.com. I was just over there myself and met up with some qualified people who would be better-suited to help you.