Why do YOU Train?

Is it to look good? Feel good? Or is it just because you enjoy it?
Or maybe you do it because you feel you have to.

Let’s face it, most of you train to look good, right?

The truth is we all train for different reasons, however regardless of our goals does how we look play a big part in the way we train?

Here is what a friend of mine CJ Swaby of CJS Fitness said about it:

“I train for performance results, not for aesthetics. My body is a secondary outcome of my training. NOT the main focus or reason I train. I don't train to look good. It’s a very different mindset”.

So he trains purely for performance and with that we has developed a lean athletic physique (CJ don’t don’t take this the wrong way mate, don’t want to get your hopes up).

Another friend of mine Rannoch Donald said:

“Form follows function. I have never seen someone who intelligently focused on performance and didn't look good.”

A great point has been made here. A boxer, a sprinter or even a ballet dancer will never in their career train for looks. Big biceps and a well developed upper chest don’t win fights neither do perfectly symmetrical abs win a 100m sprint. Yet all athletes ,bar say some power lifters and strong men/women, (not dissing) look f@#?ing good.

So would it be safe to say that the best way to train is like that of an athlete? Focusing on the performance of your sessions rather than “oh yeah my chest feels so pumped” or “surly only the adductor machine can work my inner thighs effectively”.

I am a personal trainer, rugby player and an individual who loves to train hard. I am also a firm believer in that if you focus your sessions on improving your performance the body you truly desire will be obtained (let’s not forget diet here).

The reality is that unless you are a keen sportsman of any kind, chances are your goals will not be directed towards performance. When I ask a client “What do you want to achieve?” Here are some common responses:

• I want bigger arms.
  
• I want to lose fat from my thighs.
• I just want to look good in a bikini.
• I want a six pack.

You get the picture. But remember these people have no need to run faster or have better agility as it is not part of their daily life or a hobby. All they want to do is look good.

Those who are driven by aesthetics, are they ever fully satisfied?

A great quote from Andy Mckenzie of Mckenzie Fit:

“When you train for looks I think deep down there will always be imperfections that training will never correct”

If I’m honest I don’t know a single person who is completely happy with the way they look. This can be a good thing as I highly recommend continuously looking for new goals and testing yourself to get to the next level. However with vanity where does it end? Once you have the six pack or slimmer thighs or the V shape you have always wanted, what’s next?

Everyone that I know who structures their training around looks suffers from body dysmorphic disorder. This is where what they see is nothing like what we see. We tell them they have lost body fat, yet they see no change, or we can see their arms have got bigger, they think they look skinny.

My point here is that it is sometimes hard to see results in the mirror, whereas performance never lies. Whether you're lifting more, have more energy, can run faster or you can perform more reps than you did last week. How you have performed on that particular training session is very clear and there are no if’s or buts it just IS. So surely you would think this is the best way to monitor progression. Are you covering 12 miles in the time it took you to cover 10 before? Have you added 20kg to your 10 rep squat? If you have, it’s very clear you have improved.

Here is a question for you:

What if your a model, body builder actor etc? Then you will train for your "look". Isn't it all to do with what drives you?

The nail has been hit on the head here people. What drives you as a person, your career, your hobbies. This is why you do what you do. A body builder trains so that when they are stood in front of hundreds of people with hardly any clothes on they look good (by there standards). A sprinter trains to run the fastest they possibly can and a boxer trains so they can win fights.

A model for example is someone whose success is primarily based on how they look, so yeah they train to look good but…..

They main point of all the mumbo jumbo above is, whether you are training just to look good or to perform better as a rugby player, is training for performance the best route?

For me, yes. My best results have been achieved when my goals are performance focused. With this method of training my body fat % became the lowest it’s ever been, my arms the biggest and my legs......well leave my legs alone, they need work I know (however there are not many people that can catch me on the rugby pitch and for me that is what is important).

This blog is open to discussion as a conclusion has not been made here. I simply have my opinion that training for performance will achieve far better results, is an easier goal to visualize and a simpler way to monitor progress.

I want to know why do you train? How do you monitor progression? What type of training has achieved you the best results?