by Molly Galbraith

Molly’s back with three more training basics everyone should know!

• Stop Neglecting your Prehab Work!

No one wants to go in the gym and spend half an hour doing dinky-looking exercises that kill their ego because they’re impossible to do with more than five pounds. That sounds like a major drag, doesn’t it?

Well check your ego at the door and get over yourself!

Pre-habilitation exercises are just that; they help prevent injury. Actually, everything you do in the gym should help prevent injury… it’s just that it doesn’t always work out that way, so the least you can do, is take the time to properly warm up your muscles and joints prior to moving heavy weight!

If you’re actively nursing an injury, I would pick a few warm-ups, a few exercises, and a few stretches, and do them three to five days a week. If you’re just trying to prevent injury, you can do as few as one or two warm-ups, exercises, and stretches and back it down to one to two days a week.

In addition to preventing injury, this is a perfect way to increase your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) or NEPA (non-exercise physical activity. Also, most warm-ups, exercises, and stretches can be done at home if you have some light dumbbells and a band.

• Cardio is a Tool. Use It Wisely!

There’s so much debate in the fitness world about cardio! To do it, or not to do it? And if you do it, then what kind? How much? How often? Before weight training? After weight training? On off days?

It’s enough to make your head spin! Hopefully I can clear up some of these issues for you right here.

Cardio is not the be-all end-all! It will NOT give you the body of your dreams. Excessive cardio coupled with a lack of weight training will either make you fatter, or if you’re lucky, will make you a smaller and flabbier version of your current self.

I know what you’re thinking, “But what about people who do excessive amounts of cardio, neglect weight training, and still have nice bodies?!” Well, they’re anomalies who look good in spite of their training, not because of it.

So… is cardio bad? Not necessarily.

The correct types of cardio done at the correct times can help you shed fat and show off the beautiful muscles that weight training has helped you build! I personally prefer high intensity intervals to shed fat, and low intensity activities such as light sled pulling or walking with a weighted vest to speed up recovery while burning a few extra calories.

• Fat Loss and Muscle Gains are Rarely Linear!

We’ve all been there, dieting for weeks with no results. You feel like you’ve hit a dreadful plateau and then boom! You hop on the scale and you’re down four pounds and your jeans are looser!

The human body is extremely finicky; it likes to do things at its own pace. This includes losing body fat, and gaining muscle and strength. I’ve heard stories of guys plateauing on their squat for a full year and then bam! They come in one day and hit a thirty pound personal record!

So don’t get discouraged if you don’t see daily or even weekly progress. Take progress pictures, take measurements, write down the weights you are using in the gym, and try to look at progress as a long term thing rather than getting down on yourself if you have a bad workout or two, or the scale won’t budge.

Also, it can be good to sometimes acknowledge accomplishments that are not your primary goal. For example, if you’re looking to lose fat and feel like you’re stuck, maybe take a look back at your training journal and see how your weights have improved, or look at old progress pictures and notice how your shoulders are so much more “capped” than they were four months ago.

If you keep working smart and hard, the results will come, and they probably won’t be linear!

About Molly

Molly Galbraith is co-owner of Red Point Fitness, an online nutrition and training company found here. She is also a natural figure and powerlifting competitor. She also trains clients online and in-person. You can contact her at molly@redpointfitness.com.