One of the questions we ask potential new Spartans is what their previous history and experience of exercise is.
 
Sadly, one of the common threads running through most answers is that these guys have been taught, and programmed, any number of virtually pointless exercises.
 
The source of this pointlessness is varied, sometimes fitness rags, sometimes the internet or social media, often Personal Trainers.
 
This happens because the need to be entertained, and to entertain others, all too often surpasses the commitment to achieve. The path to results, be they improvements in strength, conditioning, or body composition, is a simple one.
It’s not easy, but it is simple.
 
If your programme is complex, chances are it’s not effective, and you’re the victim of an entertrainer (see what I did there?)
 
Why does this happen?
Because simple seems too good to be true, hence all too many people are no longer trained, instead they’re entertrained.
 
How do you know if you’ve fallen into this all too common trap?

It's Sunday.

You have a new programme.

You have a new set of goals.

You're excited to get to the gym, studio, or park, on Monday and get started.

Then it happens.

Monday hits you. Your enthusiasm disappears as fast as the weekend when the blaring klaxon of your alarm rudely awakens you.

You picture the crowded gym with the queue of boys hanging around the benches, or the hard day you're going to have at work, and you convince yourself that today isn't the day to start training.

You'll start tomorrow instead though... but we all know what the problem with 'tomorrow' is.

From my experience (which, despite my youthful looks, is vast) most people who miss Monday will then totally-self destruct for the whole week, on the proviso that they'll 'start afresh' the following Monday. Sadly, each missed session makes it even harder to get back on track.

So how do you fix this?

One of the things I increasingly see is trainers calling themselves ‘Nutritionists’.

Let’s get the facts straight, shall we?

To be a Registered Nutritionist you must have a degree or post graduate qualification in Nutrition or Public Health Nutrition.

To call yourself a Dietician you must have a degree or postgraduate qualification in Dietetics or Human Nutrition & Dietetics.

That’s not my opinion by the way, that’s a stone-cold fact.

Here’s another fact: if you’re trainer is telling you he’s a nutritionist or dietician in the absence of the above qualifications, he or she is lying to you.

But what if…

One of the questions I regularly get asked is:
“Can you teach me how to do Olympic Lifting please?”

The answer is always no.

Actually, the first ‘answer’ is usually “Why do you want to learn it?”, followed by “No”.

Why do most people want to learn Olympic Lifting?

Sadly, the answers range from: because it looks cool, they’ve read in a fitness rag that they should add it to their training, or because they’ve just watched the Crossfit Games.

All of these answers are equally redundant.

Why do I always say no?