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Are you tired of hitting plateaus in your fitness journey? wondering why you’re not seeing the changes you expected? We understand your frustration, and we’re here to introduce you to the game-changing concept of progressive overload. 

What is Progressive Overload?

Progressive overload is the key principle that lies at the heart of every successful fitness journey. In essence, it involves gradually increasing the demands placed on your body during exercise. This can be achieved by manipulating various aspects of your training, such as intensity, volume, frequency, or duration. The principle is based on the idea that in order for your body to adapt and grow stronger, it must be challenged with increasingly difficult stimuli over time.

Why Progressive Overload Matters

Imagine walking into TMB for the first time. You start with manageable weights and movements, and as your body adapts, those initial challenges become easier. This is where progressive overload steps in to keep you from hitting a plateau. Without increasing the demands on your body, it has no reason to continue adapting. This is why some people see initial improvements but then stagnate in their progress.

Applying Progressive Overload: How We Do It

• Structured Training Programs: Our experienced trainers design structured training programs that incorporate the principles of progressive overload. You’ll start with a solid foundation and gradually increase the difficulty of your workouts as you advance.
• Weight Progression: Whether you’re lifting dumbbells, kettlebells, or working with bodyweight exercises, our trainers will guide you in gradually increasing the weight or resistance you use, ensuring a continuous challenge.
• Volume and Frequency: We help you find the right balance between the number of sets and repetitions you perform, as well as how often you train. Adjusting these variables is essential for avoiding stagnation.
• Variety and Complexity: As you become more proficient in basic movements, we introduce more complex exercises to keep your body adapting and growing.

Tracking Your Success

Tracking your workouts is a great way of managing your volume, holding yourself accountable on both good and bad days and visualising your success! Recording your workout doesn’t need to be complicated and often for your eyes only, so do it in the way that is most convenient for you. Check out the Tracking tab in our TMB app! 

Embracing the Journey

In the world of fitness, there’s no shortcut to success. It’s a journey that requires dedication, consistency, and the right guidance. At TMB we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Functional nutrition is all about nourishing your body with the right balance of nutrients to support optimal health and physical performance. It’s an approach that takes into account the individual’s unique needs and goals, rather than a one-size-fits-all diet plan. In this post, we’ll cover the basic principles of functional nutrition and how you can use them to fuel your body for optimal health and performance.

Nutrient-Dense Foods

One of the key principles of functional nutrition is to focus on nutrient-dense foods. These are foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients but relatively low in calories. Examples of nutrient-dense foods include leafy greens, berries, nuts and seeds, and fatty fish. Eating a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods can help ensure that you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs to function properly.

Macronutrients

Another important principle of functional nutrition is to pay attention to macronutrients, which are the nutrients your body needs in large amounts. These include carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Each macronutrient plays a unique role in the body and is necessary for different functions. For example, carbohydrates provide energy for the body, proteins help with muscle repair and growth, and fats play a role in hormone production and cell function.

Calories

Calories are a measure of the energy in food, and it’s important to pay attention to the number of calories you’re consuming each day. The number of calories you need will depend on your age, gender, weight, and activity level. If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll need to consume fewer calories than you burn each day. On the other hand, if you’re trying to gain weight, you’ll need to consume more calories than you burn.

Conclusion

Functional nutrition is all about nourishing your body with the right balance of nutrients to support optimal health and physical performance. By focusing on nutrient-dense foods, paying attention to macronutrients, and managing your calorie intake, you can fuel your body for optimal health and performance. Remember to always consult a professional nutritionist or a dietitian for the best advise for your individual needs and goals.

We are all aware of the importance of moving our bodies for both our physical and mental health. The fundamentals of fitness should be simple, yet the concept is often overcomplicated which can sometimes leave us feeling uninspired. We’ve shared a few ideas below to shed more light on the area and help you set the foundations for your health and fitness goals.

Establish Where You Are

Establish where you are now, where you want to be and the best path to get you there. It is often more effective to work in accumulate short term goals, such as improving your movement. Patience is key, so have aspirational goals but understand it takes time, as well as hard work and consistency, to reach them.

Choose How Often to Workout

For an average individual, with no injuries or health issues, aim for 3-5 workouts per week but perhaps start with 2-3 if you are a beginner and scale it up, don’t do too much too soon! If you have concerns or need some guidance then reach out to a personal trainer or fitness coach for help.

A workout means moving your body with intent and that means the intensity will vary from person to person. We host a number of different workouts, to suit all fitness goals, so definitely seek advice if you are unsure as to what is right for you.

Try a Variety of Exercises

By varying your training, you’ll keep things interesting and engaging. A wise man once said “Train everything and be ready for anything”. To be strong makes you more resilient to all forms of training and a good level of aerobic fitness will help you recover faster between workouts so don’t be afraid to give everything a try.

Warm Up and Cool Down

Every workout should start by preparing the body for what lies ahead. Break this down into a pulse raiser, joint mobilisation and activation of supporting muscle groups. Cooling down effectively is the process of down regulating your heart rate to allow your body to start the recovery process.

We hope you find this helpful; please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our personal trainers who would be delighted to help.