Achieving fitness goals requires dedication, consistency, and a well-structured workout plan. In recent years, fitness trainers like James Smith have gained popularity for their effective and practical approaches to health and wellness. While specific details about James Smith’s workout plan may vary based on individual preferences and goals, there are general principles that often underlie successful fitness routines. In this article, we’ll explore the key components of a comprehensive workout plan inspired by the fitness philosophy of James Smith.
Understanding James Smith’s Approach:
James Smith, known for his no-nonsense approach to fitness and well-being, emphasizes realistic and sustainable lifestyle changes. His approach is often centered around making fitness accessible to everyone, regardless of their fitness levels or previous experiences. While the specific exercises and routines may vary, the following principles capture the essence of James Smith’s workout philosophy:
- Functional Fitness: James Smith advocates for functional fitness, which involves exercises that mimic everyday movements. This approach not only improves overall strength but also enhances one’s ability to perform daily activities more efficiently. Functional exercises engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, contributing to a well-rounded and balanced physique.
- Progressive Overload: Progressive overload is a fundamental principle in any effective workout plan. It involves gradually increasing the intensity, duration, or complexity of exercises to challenge the body and stimulate muscle growth. James Smith’s approach likely incorporates this principle to ensure ongoing progress and prevent plateaus in fitness levels. You can also read James Smith Not A Life Coach.
- Variety and Enjoyment: Keeping workouts diverse and enjoyable is crucial for long-term adherence. James Smith is known for incorporating a variety of exercises, ensuring that his clients stay engaged and motivated. This might involve a mix of strength training, cardio, flexibility, and even unconventional workouts to keep things interesting.Also do James JSA 12 week challenge.
- Balanced Nutrition: A successful workout plan goes hand-in-hand with a balanced and nutritious diet. While James Smith may not directly provide meal plans, his holistic approach to health likely includes recommendations for proper nutrition to support fitness goals. Adequate fueling before and after workouts is essential for optimal performance and recovery. Visit James Smith CICO.
Components of James Smith’s Workout Plan:
While we don’t have specific details about James Smith’s exact workout routines, we can create a sample plan based on the principles mentioned above. Keep in mind that individual preferences, fitness levels, and goals will influence the customization of any workout plan. Here’s a general template:
Sample James Smith-Inspired Workout Plan:
Day 1: Full-Body Strength
- Squats: 4 sets x 10 reps
- Deadlifts: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Push-ups: 3 sets x 15 reps
- Bent-over Rows: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Plank: 3 sets x 30 seconds
Day 2: Cardio and Flexibility
- HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training): 20 minutes
- Jumping Jacks, Burpees, Mountain Climbers
- Dynamic Stretching: 10 minutes
Day 3: Active Recovery
- Light Jogging or Walking: 30 minutes
- Yoga or Pilates: 20 minutes
Day 4: Upper Body Focus
- Bench Press: 4 sets x 10 reps
- Pull-ups or Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Overhead Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 15 reps
- Tricep Dips: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Russian Twists: 3 sets x 20 reps
Day 5: Cardio and Core
- Running or Cycling: 30 minutes
- Plank Variations: 3 sets x 30 seconds each
- Leg Raises, Bicycle Crunches, Flutter Kicks: 3 sets x 15 reps each
Day 6: Rest or Light Activity
- Restorative Yoga or Walking: 30 minutes
Day 7: Outdoor or Fun Activity
- Hiking, Biking, or Outdoor Sports: 60 minutes
Tips for a Successful 7-Day Workout Plan:
- Warm-up and Cool Down: Begin each workout with a proper warm-up to prepare your muscles and joints for exercise. Similarly, cool down with stretching to enhance flexibility and aid in recovery.
- Hydration and Nutrition: Stay hydrated throughout the week, and maintain a well-balanced diet that supports your energy needs and promotes muscle recovery.
- Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to how your body responds to the workouts. If you feel fatigued or experience pain beyond normal muscle soreness, consider adjusting the intensity or taking an extra rest day.
- Include Variety: Incorporate a mix of cardio, strength training, and flexibility exercises to keep your workouts engaging and target different aspects of fitness.
- Rest and Recovery: Allow your body time to recover. Rest days are crucial for preventing burnout and reducing the risk of overuse injuries.
- Consistency: Consistency is key for seeing results. Stick to your plan and make adjustments as needed based on your progress and how your body responds.
Training vs Exercising
What I want to clarify in this section of the book are what I deem to be the differences between training and exercising. These are my own personal opinions, so don’t expect a study to back my ramblings. Exercising This is any training that sits within the EAT category. Should you stand on the Tube or take the stairs, let’s not get it twisted – that’s NEAT not EAT.
Walking or plodding on a treadmill or cross-trainer I consider exercise – it’s a means of increasing the amount of calories burned in a day within a set time frame, but there’s not often a ‘plan’ in place to achieve a certain result or train a certain muscle. Exercise is often ad hoc and done in varying amounts with little consistency, and usually upregulated in periods of over-indulgence.
We are a walking, talking, breathing encapsulation of our daily eating, drinking and exercise habits. Training Training, to me, is having a goal and making our way towards it with a plan of action and steps in place to progress. Remember that people often have similar goals – just not everyone follows a plan or process to get to them. That’s what distinguishes people who accomplish their goals from those who don’t.
Training requires and demands a specific outcome from the time spent training, whether at home or at the gym. Let’s look at compositional goals: To be leaner This requires a calorie deficit over time. To be more muscular This is training with the objective of muscle growth – or hypertrophy. This requires progressive overload, which I’ll talk about shortly. Also, there is a requirement for the right amount of calories and protein. To be more defined This would be a combination of both simultaneously.
Muscle growth can and does occur in people who are dieting to be leaner, but dieting can hinder results. Imagine if you will, a rugby player who wants to be stronger and faster. He can’t be out on the track and lifting weights in the same session. Should he want to focus on more speed he may have to swap some of his strength sessions if he’s limited in how many times he can train a day.
Then we have performance goals: A personal best (PB) lift A technical movement performed well, like a snatch or muscle up Time over distance – for instance, a 500m row or a 5k run Now, I will always opt for my clientele to aim for the latter and set a performance-based goal because I truly don’t think seeking just low body fat/composition goals are healthy for the body or the mind long-term.
Wherever or whatever your fitness journey, there is someone out there who will look better, I’m sorry to say. Just as no matter how rich you are, someone out there is richer. You could buy the biggest fucking yacht in the world, but I promise you one day you’ll park in a harbour next to a bigger one. If you’re obese, then the initial part of your journey must be finding a sustained path to no longer being that way. For the majority of people who are obese, this doesn’t even need to be in the gym.
I did a TV show with a lovely lady I was partnered up with to help her lose weight over a month. I remember asking her, ‘Do you like the gym?’ She responded, ‘I see a PT twice a week.’ I assumed from how she dodged answering the actual question that perhaps the gym wasn’t a place she wanted to spend a lot of time in, so I gave her 10,000 steps a day and 1,600 calories.
She dropped 7.5kg in just over three weeks without having to go to the gym. In time she will be ready to set her first performance goal and, from there, the physique that comes with it will be more of a by-product of striving for that goal, rather than a goal in itself. With social media we are exposed to an array of physiques like never before.
When we look at the compositional goals, they are very onedimensional: eat less and move weights through the same plane of motion and repeat and repeat until you’re happy with how you look. Spoiler alert: which is usually never. What if I said to you that 0.00001 per cent of the world has perfect genetics. Perfect, out-of-this-world genetics. Of course, I am making this up to prove a point, but just imagine that for a second.
Now, what are the chances of you bumping into that person at Westfield shopping centre? What are the chances of you knowing them? However, with modern-day social media, you’d have over 775 people to choose from to follow on Instagram today with that percentile of the world’s entire population. Performance goals are where it is at! Not just for your gym training, but your peace of mind. This is one of the reasons CrossFit has done so well over the years, putting the community aspect aside.
Trisha from Northampton is working towards her first set of five unassisted chin ups rather than comparing her stomach to someone of her age on the front cover of Women’s Health mag. I find it healthy for both genders in different ways, as opposed to the majority of men who try to go down a bodybuilder ‘bro’ route where bigger is better. I have been there myself – and it’s usually whoever is willing to do the most anabolic steroids who comes out on top: big arms, big chest, massive shoulders.
Not only is it unobtainable for a lot of people, but you have corporate blokes who have an hour a day to train comparing themselves to a lad ten years younger who trains full time and has all of his meals sent to him. I take so much pleasure in knowing that someone out there, let’s call him Steve, has just got his first muscle up, his hands are sore and he has chalk all over him.
He’s been turning up day in, day out trying to master the technical feat of his first muscle up. He will go home, his wife will be so happy he has done so well and they can both rejoice in his progression without him having to take his top off and find immaculate lighting. I speak from experience of being someone who strived for the bodybuilder physique. I succumbed to anabolic steroids – and for what? Trying to fit in or keep up with the other men I saw on social media: totally not worth it.
I was much happier with my own first muscle up than I was at the end of twelve-week cycle of anabolics. Now, in recent years we have seen a huge transformation in female physique training, and I must credit one of my most influential mentors here, Bret Contreras. Bret invented the barbell hip thrust, which is a movement primarily recruiting the hip joint and driven by the glutes (which means bum muscles).
Until recently, female physiques have not had much of a direction to go in, with the thinking being that a good set of shoulders is ‘bulky’ or muscular thighs or arms being ‘masculine’. In recent years, we have seen a growing movement of women training and focusing on hypertrophy, primarily for their bum and hamstrings. And I’m not even speculating – I’m telling you for a fact that this movement has liberated hundreds of thousands of women with a training direction that they actually want and can sustain.
Over the last few years, it’s been great to see women coming into gyms and setting up their barbell hip thrusts, as men look over wondering how on earth they’re lifting so much. They’ve been at it a while, they have a goal and they’re coming in each day to accomplish it. Humans need a sense of purpose – it’s why religions and other beliefs are so popular.
But I feel we especially need it when it comes to training. We’re often not motivated by the health benefits associated with training, and a lot of the time we need to be inching towards a goal or some form of progress. Those who are training (as opposed to those who are exercising) are striving for what is known as ‘progressive overload’.
FAQs
What is a 7 4 workout?
The 7/4/7 protocol is a rep scheme that’s specifically designed to increase muscle and strength. And, you can immediately apply this protocol to almost any exercise to increase workout intensity and add variety to your training! Although the 7/4/7 rep scheme concept has nothing to do with the 747 airplane.
Conclusion:
While this sample workout plan is inspired by James Smith’s principles, it’s important to personalize it based on individual needs, fitness levels, and preferences. Consulting with a fitness professional or healthcare provider before starting any new workout routine is advisable. Remember, consistency is key, and adopting a sustainable approach to fitness, as advocated by James Smith Calculator, can lead to long-term success in achieving and maintaining health and wellness goals.