What Is Holistic Training?

By Howe Russ


Every ten years or so, an old style of exercise comes back into the foreground. From kettlebells to high intensity interval training, the fitness world loves a comeback. One of the items doing this right now is the art of holistic training.

You could be forgiven for thinking your local gym didn't want you to train, such is the fitness industry's obsession with developing new methods to get you in and out of there in less time each day.

Despite the constantly evolving world of fitness, the workout styles you can see on display in any gym or fitness magazine have existed for years. The industry operates on a fifteen year cycle, with old techniques disappearing from the public eye for a while and then making a comeback a few years down the line. So the next time you ask for tips on how to lose weight, bear in mind that the answer you'll be given could be older than you are. This can be seen already with kettlebells and fat loss boot camps.

Back in the 1980's, holistic methods were all the rage. As with most things, we do love to give things scientific names. When you get down to the real facts, however, you'll notice that the things at the foundation of this training method are actually very simple indeed.
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The definition of the word holistic is very simple. It means variety. If you apply this to a gym setting, this means you'll be adopting several different training styles into the same program. Usually you'll be switching styles every seven days.

So, what are the benefits to this often overlooked method?

There are two main advantages.

* A weekly change in your program will stimulate new gains and fat loss.

* Gym sessions become intense, interesting affairs rather than drawn out, predictable nonsense.

The most common problems with people who hit plateau usually involve boredom and lack of progression. As you can see above, those are the two main areas this workout method attacks, making it a great choice for those who usually succumb to the pressures of either issue.

You'd be training for both lean muscle gain and weight loss simultaneously, which appeals to the majority of gym users. By switching on a weekly basis between low rep strength training to high rep endurance workouts you'll notice your overall fitness level improve dramatically, too.

There is one drawback, however. Monitoring your progress can become tricky when you are using so many different options. It's going to be difficult to tell if your bench press has improved over the course of your training month because you'll be switching between heavy and light resistance every seven days.

Depending how important that factor is to you, you may actually really enjoy this way of exercising. Holistic training is one of the simplest forms of breaking a plateau and, therefore, it's usually one of the tried and tested methods which pops up whenever any gym user asks for tips on how to lose weight.




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