How to choose the right workout tools

How to pick the right training method at the right time to get the best results and see faster gains

Choice is usually a good thing, especially when it comes to political parties, lifestyles and sandwiches. It’s often a good thing in the gym too: everyone gets bored doing endless deadlifts or running on the treadmill time after time. But it can be tempting to programme-hop like a rabid frog, never sticking with one thing for long enough to see its benefits. 

The solution is to choose your workout weapons carefully and use the right ones at the right time. Here’s how to do that. 

Odd lifts

There’s nothing wrong with adding variety to your programme, but think about why you’re doing it. For example, when doing heavy front squats your form will break down around eight reps in, but you’ll be able to perform back squats better for longer. So if you’re planning a high-rep squat session – great for fat loss or building muscle – do the latter.

Olympic weightlifting

The snatch and the clean and jerk, along with all their training variations, are exercises designed for power. In order to do either properly, you have to produce a lot of force rapidly. That’s why they’re often used in the training of other sports – to improve the rate of force development or, to put it less technically, explosiveness. 

However, if you want to develop maximum strength, exercises such as the front squat and deadlift work better. Successful athletes often plan phases that incorporate both. Research and practice show the gains in one area are greatest when a large percentage of the work is focused on that area, so improve your max strength and then work on power instead of dabbling in both at once. 

Plyometrics

Plyometric and explosive exercises are now common in fitness and fat-loss programmes. However, the point of such exercises is to use the elastic nature of muscles and tendons – basically, to save muscle energy and be more efficient at returning stored elastic energy. This means they’re actually unsuitable when you’re trying to metabolise fat, because the better you get at performing them, the less energy you use. It is simpler and safer to add load to a set of dumbbell lunges or sled drags than to add it to depth jumps. So do plyometrics to get better at jumping and sprinting, not for fat loss. 

More advanced training methods are great if you’re bored with the daily grind, but they’ll be much more effective if you put the groundwork in first. Get good at the basics, then start including the sexier stuff, and you’ll get the results you want.  

Smart plyo

How to master this tricky exercise strategy

1. Squat

First of all, make sure you can squat at least your own bodyweight with good form.

2. Jump 

Once your squat's up to par, warm up on squat day with three sets of five 60cm box jumps before you start work.

3. Bounce

Now it's time to introduce depth jumps. Drop off a 60cm box, then immediately explode into a jump.