We have people coming to us from all different levels looking to get better at the sport of fitness. It’s a sweeping statement made frequently, “I want to do competitions.” So we wanted to dig a little into how we help guide clients into performance.

The first thing we always have to assess is goals and why…

What competitions?

Are you working towards regionals? The games? Or do you have a local competition in mind. This starts the process of our needs analysis. We have to map out what it’s going to take to get you there, and whether or not its realistic based on your time, money, training age and a few other things.

Or is it a local competition? What movement standards and time frames do you have to be competent with?

Do you want to participate or compete?

Again this makes a big difference in how you need to train, and what standard you will need to work to.

And most importantly why do you want to compete?

This is a big one!

We often have people come to us looking to compete, and when we really dig down into the why, it’s because they want to look like Matt Fraser,  or Tennil Read. If this is the case, there are much better and healthier ways to achieve that goal!

If you don’t have a burning desire to be the best, then what is competition to you?

Mindset is the bedrock of performance, so if you want to compete… know why you’re doing it.

Assessment

We base our personal training programs on an in-depth assessment, and training for competitive fitness is no different. Once we know the goals and the why, we can design a personalised assessment to see where you sit in relation to your goals.

Depending on the competition and level of performance required, we would look at things like 1 rep maxes, creatine phosphate battery test, long aerobic tests like a 60 minute row, mixed model tests like the opens, lactate repeatability test and anything that helps us to expose your limiting factors.

The Program

Once we have done your assessment, it’s time to create your individualised personal training program. We use many different methods in our personal training programs, but we always follow certain principles for repeatable success.

One of those principles is the 3 P’s

Priorities

After a quality assessment, you should have a clear picture of your limiting factors. So once we fully understand the goal, the why and what needs to be corrected or built to reach that goal, these become the priorities.

Planning

The next step is mapping out the time frame and what’s required in time, and energy from now until the goal. We map out the plan for our clients on both a macro level (multiple years) and a micro level (daily actions).

Periodisation

Now the priorities and plan are laid out, we use periodisation to ensure quality adaptation, better peaking, performance and reduced injury.

At OPEX Bristol we use accumulation phases, intensification phases, pre-competition phases, competition phases and deloads.

If you don’t have a specific individualised plan to achieve your fitness goals, your likely leaving it up to chance and guesswork.

If you are interested in discussing how to become fitter, healthier and improve performance, then schedule a gym tour with one of our personal trainers.