Throughout my career advising clients, I have been asked about trying new workouts. Don’t get me wrong, I love chatting with people about different types of workouts. Discussing pros and cons of various exercises and workout structures is fun and I enjoy helping others figure out what will work for their goals and (hopefully) be enjoyable. But there are some basic rules to follow when trying to decide if a new exercise or workout is appropriate, so I thought I’d chat about them today.
We can gather all the information we think we need about a new exercise or workout structure. And health clubs (not to mention the internet) are full of people trying to sell you on their method. But questions abound because the experience of actually doing is how you figure out if that new exercise is awesome or awful.
From my strictly professional opinion (and I have been practicing for almost 20 years), the questions you should be asking need to be less focused on the actual exercise or workout and more focused on you, your ability, and your goals.
The absolute first questions you ask should have to do with your physical health status. Do you have any pre-existing conditions? In other words, do you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, kidney or liver problems, etc? Even if the condition is minor or well controlled with medication, exercise affects the way your body runs and its metabolism. If you change what you are doing, you may change the way your body (or medication) is working. And it may not be for the better.
Do you have any physical limitations or mobility issues? Do you have arthritis, osteoporosis, low back pain, or old injuries to be aware of? This should be obvious, but years of practice have taught me that it isn’t: to exercise, you need to be able to move your body. There are many forms of exercise that can be completed even with limitations and there are even more that can be modified. But some can’t. And some types of exercise should be done with supervision so the risk of injury is lower. This is especially important if you are considering modifying or changing a home based program.
If you have made it past those questions then you get to start asking the “fun” stuff. What are your abilities? And you gotta be honest with yourself here. If you haven’t run in years and you want to attempt a workout that has you jogging more than 3 miles per day, spoiler alert… it isn’t going to end well. Ditto if you want to really bump up your strength work, but you have only dabbled in the machines up until now.
Now, in the absence of pre-existing conditions and physical limitations, I am of the opinion that anyone can do any workout. But you may need to work your way up if the workout or exercise in question is more advanced than your abilities. For my previous examples, maybe consider a couch to 5K first, or purchase a small personal training package for program and form help.
But now we also get to the big question: Does the workout or exercise in question serve your goals? If you are exercising, then you hopefully have a goal in mind. Too often I see people jump on a workout bandwagon because all the cool kids are doing it. Or head gung-ho into an exercise because their buddy got amazing results.
Any workout or exercise you choose should ultimately fit with your goals and plans. HIIT workouts are great if you are looking for weight loss or to improve speed and you don’t have pre-existing conditions or limitations. And if you do have those issues and weight loss or speed improvements are goals of yours, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
And again, ditto for strength training. Barbell bench presses are amazing. But they aren’t necessary for every single goal and aren’t appropriate if serious shoulder issues exist.
If you checked all the boxes: you have no pre-existing conditions or physical limits, you have the ability to complete the workout, and the workout serves your goals; then, congratulations, this is a workout or exercise you can attempt if you would like. And if you didn’t check all the boxes, don’t fret. There are so many different exercises and programs out there for a reason. Find a pro in your area to help you navigate the waters if you can. Each of us needs and wants something a bit different. And that’s okay.
What workout or exercise do you want to try, tell us in the comments!
Until next time, be well friends!
