| The instinctive training principle has been around for | | | | you feel as fatigue you will skip the workout and the |
| decades but the full impact of what it can accomplish | | | | next because the body will keep playing this hand to |
| has eluded the average trainer, leaving them in | | | | spare itself the stress. |
| confusion and believing there is something mysterious | | | | Another example is using exercises in your routine that |
| and secret about it. The fact is they use it every day | | | | are favorites without regard to how they feel or |
| and probably don't even realize it. This principle has | | | | whether they produce results, this usually stems from |
| everything to do with being in tune with your body, not | | | | ego, convenience, or comfort, exercises such as flat |
| some mystical spiritual voodoo, but being able to | | | | bench press, barbell curl, leg press, etc. Bench press |
| decipher how your body feels in a given moment. | | | | being more macho than incline dumbbell press, leg |
| A few examples are feeling tired near bedtime, feeling | | | | press being more comfortable than barbell squats, |
| as if you are coming down with a cold or flu due to | | | | barbell curls being more convenient than seated incline |
| fatigue and achy joints, or feeling like you are getting | | | | dumbbell curls. To make real progress you must |
| thirsty. These are obvious cases of your body trying | | | | question your motives, monitor the results of a given |
| to communicate its needs to you and by recognizing | | | | exercise or routine and be able to throw out an old |
| these physical feelings you are able to give your body | | | | favorite to be replaced with one you don't like if that is |
| what it needs when it needs it to stay in balance. The | | | | what the body responds to or rearrange the order of |
| instinctive training principle is an in depth ability to read | | | | exercises or body parts to be worked in a given |
| even the most subtle nuances in body function | | | | workout if a muscle group is lacking without regard to |
| fluctuations as they pertain to exercise stimulus and | | | | which body parts you enjoy training. |
| diet to get accurate feedback on the effectiveness of | | | | Pay careful attention to how different set and rep |
| a given training program, exercise, intensity level, | | | | schemes affect your energy and mood levels, notice |
| workout length, number of sets and reps, etc. | | | | the difference in how your muscles feel and respond |
| Mastering this technique can speed your progress and | | | | between exercises like pull downs feel compared to |
| save many months or years of wasted guesswork | | | | chins or barbell squats verses hack squats, nuances in |
| using cookie cutter training programs or mimicking | | | | grips, angles of pull, hand and foot placements, body |
| what you see others doing in the gym without really | | | | positioning to be able to gauge their effectiveness to |
| knowing if it is right for you. It does take some time to | | | | ensure the most productive use of your time and |
| be fully able to trust your instincts and read your body | | | | effort. |
| correctly because the body has its own agenda when | | | | This going by how you feel can get out of hand if you |
| it comes to expending energy, that of being self | | | | approach every workout with whatever whim strikes |
| sparing. | | | | you because there still must be structure, consistency, |
| For instance when you hit the gym for a leg workout, | | | | and rational thought in your approach. It is a balancing |
| as the time approaches you start getting butterflies in | | | | act that can change with time as you get to know |
| your stomach and your energy seems to wane, you | | | | your body better and it is a process that keeps |
| have to be able to distinguish between real fatigue and | | | | evolving for as long as you train, so start now to |
| anxiety over the intensity of effort to come because if | | | | master this indispensable tool that can make the |
| you push through when you are actually still tired from | | | | difference between failing or attaining your physical |
| the last workout you are flirting with over training and | | | | goals. |
| backsliding in progress and if you misread the dread | | | | |