Doing it "wrong"

**WorldWarCheese** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 5:06am

This is kinda inspired by the "screw functionality" thread started recently, but what is the real problem with exercising the "wrong" way? After a lot of reading online about fitness and exercise, especially those related to Martial Arts. There's loads and loads of information telling you how to build muscle, slim down, gain cardio, gain strength and many of them conflicting (do I do HIIT and sprints or long runs? Skip ab work and only do heavy lifting or do bodyweight? Do I do full body exercises every workout or do I switch it up?). It feels like an overload and when I want to buckle down and start to train I find myself at a loss on what to do... and this often leads to inaction; by the time I'm finally done deciding what I actually need to do I haven't done anything and am about to sleep or go to work. Not to mention that almost all of the advice conflicts with my actual training in Muay Thai class (on the fitness side, not the training of the art)

Recently, I've stopped reading articles and articles of online information and focused on just training, just getting out there and doing something, anything, regardless of how "proper" it turns out to be. At the moment I'm doing pretty much everything I "shouldn't" be doing according to most places (or doing things "inefficiently" at least) but:
a) I'm not hurting myself, my trainer and I keep a close check on my physical health so I don't blow anything
b) I'm working out nearly every day

Where as before I fretted about making a good plan, now I just make sure I do something, if anything and do it well when I do it. Instead of spending time writing down potential running plans filled with spaced days of long runs, short runs, fartlek and sprints all on the right day, when I want to run I just do it (well, not at the moment, my knee is busted) and in whatever form felt right at the time.

What do others think? Am I somehow wasting my time performing a poorly planned scheme or is it the process of planning that wasted my time (not saying it would for others, I just never got past the "planning" stage).

**scipio** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 6:22am

I think that I'm a bit the same, I try to get a mix between cardio and weights (Cardio is running/cycling), I also chuck in the odd bit of circuit training and TRX/Vipr. I worked out that over the space of an average week I'm training 5-6 days a week about an hour and a half a day.

A lot of my work out schedule is detirmined by how I can fit it in around work and quite often it's a case that I only have a half hour in the gym so I either target say arms/shoulders/abs etc or more likely do something more circuit based around TRX and Vipr. Other than that I tend to run or cycle to work.

I do find that I get a bit bored with following a "structured" training plan and tend to do what I feel like that day.

Saying that, I'm not trying to have any specific goals other than to keep a level of all round fitness rather than look like a cover model for Men's Health.

**StepInCross** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 7:50am

Why would you care about training right? Training right gives you an edge. A very very small edge. The type of edge that only comes into play in sports like boxing, sprinting swimming etc. The type of sports where everything has been refined and the complexities now lie in the subtleties.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 7:53am

Originally Posted by scipio

I'm not trying to have any specific goals other than to keep a level of all round fitness rather than look like a cover model for Men's Health.

The type of training is going to have to be geared toward the objective of the person doing the training. My goal is also overall fitness, I enjoy being energetic and just feeling well. As long as I can stay HWP and not end up shaped like a bowling pin or baseball bat, I will be happy. My training is all cardio and toning. it suits my needs.

If I had the time and was so inclined, I would do Insanity, P90 X or if I didn't have to work, CrossFit.

**WorldWarCheese** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 10:32am

Looks like I'm not the only one doing whatever they feel like when the exercise. I am troubled, however, in that my fitness goals are boxing related, but I'm not at that level yet anyways.

Any workouts or exercises you guys do that are now panned my the modern online fitness community? I mean, I keep seeing "you don't need to do your abs, lifting does it for you" but I do literally hundreds of situps and other assorted ab-related workouts a day. I also do other less-respected things such as dumbbell curls and ****. These are all things we do in Muay Thai as our regular workout.

**Cayvmann** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 12:56pm

I am not an expert.

The workout that you will do, is always better than the one you won't do. Barring injuries, whatever you want to do is probably helping with something.

There are probably better protocols, which help with certain goals, but if the workouts bore the crap out of you, and you don't do them, they are worthless. Also everybody is at least slightly different in how they respond to exercise, so what is right for one person may suck for the next guy.

I like reading about different modes of working out, and occasionally try new ones out. If I like them I will do them a while, if I don't I go on to the next one, or back to a previous one.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 4:53pm

Originally Posted by Cayvmann

The workout that you will do, is always better than the one you won't do. Barring injuries, whatever you want to do is probably helping with something.

In general, I agree with this. I consulted with three different personal trainers several years ago, outlining my goals. Two were on the same page and the third was really focused on alternative and holistic medicine. The two that agreed also referred me to a nutritionist; advice I declined.

**ignatzami** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 5:26pm

I care less about right, or wrong, and instead care more about the workout I'll actually do.

I should run, my cardio isn't terribly good. However, I loathe running with a passion. I loathe swimming, in fact I loathe anything that doesn't "feel" like I've done something.

The one workout I do, and have been able to do regularly for months, is weightlifting. Heavy 5x5 style weightlifting. It's not ideal, it's not going to carve away at my gut, but I feel good, and it's a workout I'll do, as opposed to not.

**elipson** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 5:32pm

Everything depends on what you want to accomplish. You can train wrong all you want, but someone who is training "right" will do better off than you, all else being equal.

This doesn't matter to you? Then who cares, train however you want. Most people, however, train with goals in mind and bust their ass to achieve them. If you have no serious goals, then it doesn't matter how you train.

Also, many of the "wrong" ways of training contribute to problems years into the future. So just because you feel good now doesn't mean you will escape shoulder impingement or a blown disc 10 years from now.

**alex** · Posted On: 7/03/2012 5:43pm

what he said. of course, something is better than nothing, and people often overanalyse what they are doing. at the same time though, if you are in a competitive sport that excuse doesnt really cut it- because that guy you are facing off against who IS doing the right **** is gonna have an advantage.