It is all GymGuyMark’s fault that I have a current obsession with pyramids. It started last Tuesday when he announced that, to help me off the exercise plateau, he would be changing the way we do my Gym ‘routine’. Quote “as you get fitter, the exercises get harder” kind of a reverse compliment for a Gymophobe to take in! I can see his point though, why sit still and enjoy the view from the plateau when you can decide to push on and get a better view from the next hill!
So I hear you ask, pyramids? Well, one of the exercises we did is based on a pyramid type theory; we started with a high weight ten reps then moving onto lighter weights every time but increasing the number of reps as the weight decreased. Now a lot of you Gym Bunnys will be thinking that is not the usual way of doing it, the reason we did the exercise this way is because I want to tone up not bulk up. GymGuyMark explained that if I had wanted to put on muscle we would have reversed the way we did this, but what we are looking for is ‘muscle burn’ to get the bingo wings and arms toned up. Believe you me, don’t know how the ancient Egyptian’s slaves felt building these amazing monuments but me, I was knackered after the first go.
The next day my arms were knackered, even going back down to the Gym to do some Cardio was tiring, the rowing machine felt like I was pulling a tanker down the Clyde. But we struggle on and what it did do was made me realise how much we use the image of a pyramid to illustrate educational models, business plans and life theories. The most famous I guess is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (see diagram below) that well-known tool beloved of therapist and trainers alike. The theory is based on the fact that you need to satisfy one basic need before moving onto the others and it got me thinking, how you could adapt it to suit someone who is thinking of starting on an exercise programme of some kind. What needs to do you have to satisfy before reaching your goal?
Over the next few days, with help from GymGuyMark, we have put together a wee plan that we hope might help you. It is in our words with our ideas and has been done so that you can adapt it whether you are a beginner or are about to step off the plateau and aim for higher heights.
So I hope you find it useful and any question please comment on the Blog, tweet us on @ginorgym or like Gin Or Gym on Facebook and leave a message
G x
PS Thank you everyone on Twitter who answered my questions
