Trial And Error.

• By vishwa on Training

• January 17, 2011

During my initial days as a coach, the workouts prescribed to clients were relatively voluminous, which was unnecessary.  But over the years of TRYING to understanding the nitty-gritty of the workouts, I have and I am constantly changing ( fine tuning) the workout protocol, for now the workouts  for intermediate gymmers perhaps is voluminous depending on the individual and the context.  But for raw beginners the routines are usually not voluminous.  When it comes to training advanced athletes, the workouts become qualitative than being quantitative. As advanced athletes we eliminate all the less important workouts, for we want to qualitatively spend time on workouts which give the biggest bang for the buck.

In addition, when it came to training people with previous injuries I was naive to dictate proper routines, but now after years of training, learning, and updating my knowledge, I can discern, and prescribe routines which  would not, at the least, aggravate the injury.  For example, there are few individuals in the gym who have anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.  I avoid jerky and zigzag movements, which would buckle their knees but incorporate movements which would strengthen the knee joint. Individuals with ACL tears have felt more stable after strengthening the knee joint, for they continue to frequent the gym.

Fine tuning  the routines is an ongoing process.  You will incorporate what you feel is right in the context and eliminate what you feel is wrong.  I cannot declare that my routines are fool proof, for I feel there will always be scope for further improvement.  For the same reason, I have capitalized the word “Trying” (in the second sentence of my first paragraph) to stress the importance of the word.  As Brooks Kubik has said in his book STRENGTH, MUSCLE, AND POWER, “I hope it’s not a problem that my training has changed over the years.  Remember, everyone has the right to grow, to learn, to try new things and to make changes over time – even a guy, who’s been training hard for over years and writing about the subject for almost 20 years.”  You should know that Brook’s Kubik is 54 years old and has been a prolific writer on strength training.  He preaches what he writes, for he strength trains even at this age and has also incorporated Olympic movements into his routines now.  So, we see  that he still continues to learn and grow, and I am fortunate to have read all of his books.