My Virtual Workout with Chris
The one theme that continues to emerge in exercise science research is this: We produce better results if we have direct supervision in our strength training workouts. It turns out that supervision isn’t primarily about optimizing safety or increasing our motivation; supervision actually produces better results in terms of driving muscle strength, endurance, hypertrophy, fat loss, caloric expenditure, and a host of health-protective benefits. We applied this research when I worked in professional football over 20 years ago by 1-on-1 training every athlete. Of course, this is what Discover Strength has been built around for the last 18 years. I’ve applied this in my own workouts. Over the last 22 years, I have strength trained by myself a total of nine times. All of these workouts occurred when I was traveling, and I didn’t have access to a personal trainer or training partner to supervise my workouts. Of course, this was before the advent of virtual personal training.
Last week, I was in Las Vegas for three nights (one too many nights in Las Vegas in my opinion!) speaking at three different events. I had done a workout with Ben in our St. Louis Park location on Sunday and I knew I would be doing a workout with a number of our staff on the following Saturday morning before our staff holiday party. So I scheduled a virtual workout with Chris, an exercise physiologist in our downtown Minneapolis location, on Wednesday when I was in Vegas.
The hotel fitness center at the Bellagio was very well equipped (I’m accustomed to Courtyard Marriotts, which generally have a set of dumbbells, an adjustable bench, and depending on the location, an apparatus to do chin-ups; this will suffice, but it’s still pretty sparse). The Bellagio had a full set of selectorized (machines with a weight stack) strength training machines. Although the quality was not on the Discover Strength level, this was still a far superior option compared to the average hotel fitness center.
Here is the workout Chris took me through:
Wednesday, 4:00 pm Las Vegas time.
Cybex Shoulder Press – “Regular reps” – 2 seconds up and 4 seconds lowering to muscle failure.
Cybex Pulldown
Cybex Chest Press
Cybex Seated Row
Push-ups
Cybex Biceps
Push-ups
Chin-up – Starting on top of the rep and coming down for 60 seconds (so only the lowering portion)
Cybex Hip Abduction
Cybex Leg Curl
Cybex Leg Extension
Walking DB lunge (note, I had planned to do a Cybex Leg Press, but a guy had set up camp there and was occupying the machine for a good 12 minutes).
Roman Chair Back Extension.
3 Reasons this workout was great/effective:
I never needed to know the exact amount of weight to use on the machines. Why? Because the research is conclusive that 6 reps, 16 reps, or 26 reps are equally effective for improving muscle strength, endurance, hypertrophy, etc. Stated otherwise, as long as you go to the point of failure, the number of reps you do is not consequential. There is no such thing as too light or too heavy.
Chris used a number of techniques – advanced overload techniques – to challenge me at the end of each set. Sometimes we did a breakdown set (reaching muscle failure and immediately making the weight lighter). Other times we did a “rest-pause,” taking a 20-second rest at failure and then attempting as many additional reps as possible. And other times, we did an extended static hold when I could no longer lift the weight.
The workout fit into my travel schedule. The walk from my room to the fitness center was about 7 minutes (the Bellagio is… vast!), the workout was 30 minutes, and then I headed back to my room and transitioned into the rest of my day. That day was a busy day for me: I spoke for 3 hours in the morning, I had another 3 hours of virtual meetings, I had other work to complete, and I had a dinner reservation; yet, I didn’t have to sacrifice the workout.
Take Home Message: Try a virtual workout during your next business trip, vacation, or holiday getaway. I can all but guarantee your day will get at least 20% better.
