The Sweat Complex

How do you know that a training session is a “good one?” Surely, there can be some physical enjoyment to training and the feeling you get afterwards, but I feel as though students often evaluate training based on the wrong things.

If the amount you sweat during training spoke to efficiency in developing fitness, Bikram yoga would develop the fittest men and women on Earth. It doesn’t.

“Man, that was a good workout,” is often synonymous with those days you breathe hard and sweat through your shirt. Of course, sweating a ton and feeling like you worked hard often go hand and hand with quality training, however, it’s important to recognize that it’s not the sweat or even how “hard” the workout feels that makes it good.

That’s silly.

Too many times I hear folks validating training by how hard it is, whether it’s yoga, Pilates, CrossFit, or otherwise. Training is done to come out on the other end different. To go about it any other way is silly, especially since virtually no one comes into the gym wanting to sign up for a membership so they can feel like their going to puke a few times a week. The purpose is adaptation. They want to look better, feel better, and perform better.

In that way, programs that are “great” because you sweat the most in them might not be that great. You know what would make me sweat through my shirt, challenge me every minute, and be excruciating challenging? Balancing on one foot while holding two encyclopedias with out stretched arms for thirty minutes, except that’s not smart training.

By all means, I’m not saying one shouldn’t enjoy the struggles of training and embrace getting a good sweat. If, though, that’s the extent by which your training is validated, it’s probably short sided, ineffective, or both. Believe me. We don’t write our programming here based on how much you’ll sweat or how tough it’d feel.

We’re changing your fitness.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach