Eat the Biggest Frog First

• By vishwa on Training

• January 15, 2013

Many of my gym clients hate performing thigh workout the first day they come to the gym. They say, “Coach, why is that you force us to do thighs on Mondays?”

I inherently believe in the statement that if you have to eat a plate of frogs, eats the biggest one first. An accomplished athlete, writer, speaker and coach with over 30 years in the field of athletics, coaching and teaching, Dan John, in the book titled Mass Made Simple clearly asserts this statement. He dedicates a sub-topic on the importance of doing something that you don’t want to do.

He says, “Imagine a plate of frogs sitting before you. Which one should you start with? Reach in and grab the biggest one and swallow it down and, from there, none of the little ones will wiggle down as much.”

Now, don’t scratch your head. This isn’t calculus—brain teaser. Let’s apply this to our gym’s routine. Before that let me ask you, which is the most dreaded workout in the gym? You will say, “thighs.” Do you know now why I insist on performing thighs workout on Monday’s?

Similarly, I was surprised when a lady, gym client, asked me that she wanted to perform HIIT on Monday. I agreed. She obviously feels that performing a bout of HIIT is exhaustive than doing thighs. I believe my clients who come to lose fat would agree with what she says.

However, I won’t allow performing a thigh workout right after executing a vigorous cardio session. Repeated high intense workout regimens will hamper the central nervous system.

Now, remember that you should always perform the most challenging workout regimen in the beginning of the week when you are fresh. Pick the worst thing first and windup. You can relax. It makes the rest of the goal easy.

Find the big frog. Eat it.