Welcome to May's workout cycle.

If this is your first workout cycle then make sure you read through all the tabs to ensure you understand exactly what you need to do 🙂

You only need to read and watch the videos in this section if you are a new member (or if you're existing member and want to remind yourself of these rules) 

Before you get onto the actual workout you need to understand frequency, volume and intensity. This is essentially how many workout sessions you do per week, how many sets you do per session and how hard each set should feel when you do them. (a set refers to an exercise set - i.e 3 sets of 10 reps of a particular exercise)

These are are the cornerstones of well programmed workout that will actually get you results.

Frequency 

Frequency refers to how many workout sessions you do per week.

This can range from between 2 and 5 sessions depending on experience, fitness levels and of course how much time you have in your schedule.

In general I advise members to try and do 3 sessions per week, ideally with a rest day between each session. So something like:

Monday: workout
Tuesday: rest day
Wednesday: workout
Thursday: rest
Friday: Workout
Weekend: rest

The above is just an example. You can pick and choose your workout/rest days as you please but again, try to include a rest day between workouts.

Each session will take between 20-45 minutes depending on experience and fitness levels. You should already have an idea of your session duration from our pre-workout consultation call.

Volume 

Volume refers to the amount of sets you do per exercise (and therefore per week). Volume is very important because there needs to be enough of it for adaptions to be made. I.E - for you to get stronger.

Volume and frequency work together. If you do 3 sets per exercise per session and you did 3 sessions per week that would mean you are doing 9 sets of that exercise per week.

Research tells us that optimal strength adaptions are made when between 9-21 sets per week are completed. Obviously that's quite a big difference. Less experienced people can stick to the lower end and the most experienced can stick towards the higher end.

Intensity

Intensity refers to how hard you push yourself during each set. Intensity is also very important because you need to provide enough stimulus to your muscles for them to grow stronger.

If you did 3 sets of an exercise where each set was really really easy that wouldn't do a whole lot for your muscles.

At the same time it's not a good idea to work so hard that it totally destroys you.

In order to know how hard each set should be we use what's called the RPE scale or rate of percived exertion.

1 would be absolutely no effort at all and 10 would be complete failure.

If you're doing a set of 15 reps, by the time you get to the 15th rep your RPE should be at around 7 or 8. That's how you know you've achieved a good amount of intensity that will drive adaptions and make you stronger.

And that's it!

Did you know, most personal trainers don't even know about volume, frequency and intensity.

These principles are not typically taught within a personal training qualification.

It's frightening quite frankly!

This workout is for anyone who can confidently move from a standing to lying to position (and back up again).

(You should have already discussed whether workout B is best suited to you during your initial call with Ollie. If you haven't had that call yet book it now)

Exercise A: Chair squats

This workout is for anyone with limited mobility. Most of the exercises are done whilst sitting in a chair or standing up with support.

(You should have already discussed whether workout B is best suited to you during your initial call with Ollie. If you haven't had that call yet book it now)