![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
NASM and what it's good for
Apr. 15th, 2007 07:02 pmWhen I tell people I'm studying to become certified as a personal trainer, the first thing they tend to say is "so are you working out differently because of it?". When I said no they would almost immediately lose interest, even though I thought it was pretty great to be learning the anatomy and stuff (I have lower-body postural distortion, eep!)
These days I still haven't changed a lot because of studying, but I have changed things. Probably the biggest thing is getting my very own foam roller to do self-myofascial release on. I tried these for the first time after reading about them in the NASM book, and immediately on trying the adductor one I wanted to howl in pain. Who knew I had that tightness in there!? So I bought my own. The IT band exercise is the other one that surprises me with its intensity, considering that I've never had IT band problems. Anyway, I wanted to talk about this a few weeks ago but couldn't because I wanted to buy one for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
apfelsingail's birthday.
The book also has convinced me that to change body composition I should probably do my weight workouts in more of a circuit (vertical loading), without as much rest between sets as I usually take in my usual (horizontally loaded) routine. Also, as an 'intermediate client' I probably don't need to be doing 5 sets of squats anymore. Something the book doesn't address, though, is giving up equipment when doing vertical loading. You can't really do a consistent circuit if you're waiting for the squat rack, waiting for the bench, etc. So, thus far I've only gone circuit-y between exercises that use the same thing.
Also, I'm trying to measure my strength workouts against their rule of thumb (24 to 36 sets per workout). I've done a LOT of leg workouts that were only 11 sets (5 of squats, 3 each of calves and hamstring curls) plus some messing around. Today I did ( eleven again ) even though I mixed it up quite differently. Gah. :P I dunno how to count the yoga poses I throw in. L-sits ought to count for something too.
Upper body, if I'm counting right, I do about 13 (not counting handstands, headstands and other playing). Either the book's crazy or I'm not working out nearly long enough. Of course I'm now in the chapter where it says I should be cycling too (Papa Bear annual cycles, Mama Bear monthly cycles, and Baby Bear weekly cycles). I still have doubts about this, or rather, I think I do cycle in an instinctive kind of way, and have doubts that I could really handle doing heavy cycles on a schedule as opposed to when my body feels like it wants to.
As a side note, I'm racking up an arsenal of really impressive exercises, more from physical therapy and Oxygen magazine and hanging out with Kathleen than the NASM stuff. Oxygen has pretty regularly been teaching me 1-2 good exercises per month, which is a little bit amazing. :)
These days I still haven't changed a lot because of studying, but I have changed things. Probably the biggest thing is getting my very own foam roller to do self-myofascial release on. I tried these for the first time after reading about them in the NASM book, and immediately on trying the adductor one I wanted to howl in pain. Who knew I had that tightness in there!? So I bought my own. The IT band exercise is the other one that surprises me with its intensity, considering that I've never had IT band problems. Anyway, I wanted to talk about this a few weeks ago but couldn't because I wanted to buy one for
apfelsingail's birthday. The book also has convinced me that to change body composition I should probably do my weight workouts in more of a circuit (vertical loading), without as much rest between sets as I usually take in my usual (horizontally loaded) routine. Also, as an 'intermediate client' I probably don't need to be doing 5 sets of squats anymore. Something the book doesn't address, though, is giving up equipment when doing vertical loading. You can't really do a consistent circuit if you're waiting for the squat rack, waiting for the bench, etc. So, thus far I've only gone circuit-y between exercises that use the same thing.
Also, I'm trying to measure my strength workouts against their rule of thumb (24 to 36 sets per workout). I've done a LOT of leg workouts that were only 11 sets (5 of squats, 3 each of calves and hamstring curls) plus some messing around. Today I did ( eleven again ) even though I mixed it up quite differently. Gah. :P I dunno how to count the yoga poses I throw in. L-sits ought to count for something too.
Upper body, if I'm counting right, I do about 13 (not counting handstands, headstands and other playing). Either the book's crazy or I'm not working out nearly long enough. Of course I'm now in the chapter where it says I should be cycling too (Papa Bear annual cycles, Mama Bear monthly cycles, and Baby Bear weekly cycles). I still have doubts about this, or rather, I think I do cycle in an instinctive kind of way, and have doubts that I could really handle doing heavy cycles on a schedule as opposed to when my body feels like it wants to.
As a side note, I'm racking up an arsenal of really impressive exercises, more from physical therapy and Oxygen magazine and hanging out with Kathleen than the NASM stuff. Oxygen has pretty regularly been teaching me 1-2 good exercises per month, which is a little bit amazing. :)
