Nearly 2,000 people have read my post on how the composition of every single workout influences the effectiveness of the whole training program. Of all those readers, only one commented on the topic. Others described their experiences with crude simpletons who pass themselves for instructors and lord over the naive and the undiscerning enrolled in their classes or programs. The bad experiences described in the comments are typical—I have read many such stories and have seen such “instructors.”
I was hoping for a lively discussion on the topic. No such luck—I guess too few people have experienced flowing, optimally effective workouts, conducted by instructors who know how to compose them. This is strange—it shouldn’t take a genius to notice that if the workout flows, time flies as tasks are accomplished. The mood is great, and so are the results.
A well-composed workout is easier to conduct than a bunch of sundry exercises that, although related to the task, are not selected and arranged to flow with a given group of athletes. I have seen many “instructors” who throw exercises at a group, each one with a poor connection to the next; who wander around while the group exercises, trying to figure out what’s next; who stop the group after each exercise or drill to issue new instructions (because the consecutive exercises are so dissimilar to each other); or who with an air of authority order some random nonsense (to keep the group occupied until the “instructor” gets a better idea).
But if each exercise flows from the preceding one, all are closely tied to the workout’s task, and all match the group’s capabilities, then remembering what’s next is no trouble at all. At any one moment the instructor knows “where” the group is and “where” the group is going to be next. Yes, the instructor should have a clipboard with the workout’s plan, with columns on the page to note important observations. Most of the time, however, the instructor’s attention should be on the group, with only brief breaks for writing down those important notes in the appropriate columns of the workout plan. Sure, an instructor can refer to the written plan now and then, especially to check the numbers: reps, times, and such. However, if the plan follows the sound principles of structuring the workout, and exercises are sequenced well, then the instructor doesn’t need to refresh his or her memory often, or even at all, by looking at the writing.
Soon, the next topic….
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