Different Ways Personal Trainers Split Their Workouts
Personal Fitness Training is used to help clients reach their fitness goals as they navigate through workouts and nutrition programs with personal trainers. When most people think about getting fit with a trainer, they just imagine a trainer telling them to do a bunch of sit ups or push ups throughout the week and bam, they’re skinny! There is much more detail than one would think. Every client gets a specialized regime based on the goals they need to meet and their required needs at the moment. If someone who is out of shape and hasn’t ran in years is tasked to run 3 miles in 25 minutes right out the bat, it’s likely that won’t happen. Trainers break up their workouts for clients in what we call splits in the world of personal fitness. Split training is how trainers group weight lifting workouts for clients to make sure they are targeting parts of their body that are needed at the moment. There are various forms of splits, but we are just going to get into a few of the basics so you can get an inside scoop about how some workouts are targeted to meet goals.
Total Body Workouts
The first split is done where throughout the week you are either working out your whole body or resting. Normally it would alternate through the days, for example: Day 1 you’d work out your whole body, day 2 you would rest, day 3 you would work out again and so on and so forth. These workouts are normally done to incorporate all major muscle groups. Different types of workouts that are done during this specific total body split can be exercises like pushups, squats, burpees, lunges, running. If all of those are done during a workout, you will be sure to target the majority of your major muscle groups.
Upper and Lower Body
The split is done by focusing on alternating days by upper and lower body. By doing this you are giving your body a different type of focus as different parts of your body rest. For example on day one if you work out your upper body day two can leave you to work out your lower body without worrying about being too sore since you’re not focusing on the initial body part you worked out for example on day one if you work out your upper body day to can leave you to work out your lower body without worrying about being too sore since you’re not focusing on the initial body part he worked out. On day three you can rest. Certain workouts for upper body can be pull ups, seated cable rows, kettlebell swing and lower body workouts can be jumping squats, wall sits, and step ups to reverse lunges.
Push, Pull and Legs
This split consists of the first session revolving around the upper body but only around push motions. These workouts can be push ups, dips, and overhead presses or anything else that creates a pushing motion that targets upper body muscle groups. The next session will give those specific upper body muscles a break and clients will still be working out their lower body, but this time they will all be pulling motions. This way, you are targeting specific muscles in the same area without tiring out ones you worked out the day before. Upper body pull workouts can be bicep curls, back extensions, and dumbbell pullovers. The next session will be focused primarily on legs. These exercises can be squats, lunges, and step ups.
Isolated Muscle Split
This last split works on focusing isolated muscle groups. Frankly, it’s not always used but it’s normally seen in clients who want to get into bodybuilding or focus solely on gaining muscle strength. Each day will be focused on a specific set of muscle groups. For instance, day one can focus on shoulders so one exercise would be dumbbell side raises for deltoids. Another day can be working out the arms so wrist curls would focus on forearms. Another day, bicep curls would focus on biceps obviously. These workouts help clients pinpoint specific areas of the body and laser focus energy on them.
How Do You Decide How To Work Out Your Client?
How are you supposed to decide what workout splits to give to your clients? Well, first things first, you need to have a consultation and assessment. This would mean that you are going to sign them on and introduce yourselves to each other. Once you start assessing them it is important to know their goals. Do they just want to lose weight? Do they want to gain muscle? Do they want to know how to become a bodybuilder? There are tons of reasons people seek out a personal trainer which gives personal trainers tons of ways to work out clients. It’s good to dive deep. What are they three month goals and one year goals? Do they have any barriers like ailments or injuries? What does their nutrition look like? What are they expecting? This verbal or written assessment can help you decide better how you will be moving forward with your clients. The best way to be a personal fitness trainer is to know how to serve your clients best.