Choosing The Right Workout For Your Goals With Personal Trainer, Karla
It’s no secret that exercise is an important part of any weight loss journey, but sometimes the hardest part is knowing what workouts to do and where to start. Which is exactly why I interviewed my friend and personal trainer, Karla, about how to choose the right workout for your health goals.
With over 25 years of experience in health, wellness, strength and fitness, she has been a gym owner, Personal Trainer educator, along with being a long time bodybuilding competitor and National Champion. Now, at the age of 52 she’s still going strong, and is living proof that age is no barrier.
She’s passionate about helping others not only achieve their best physical body, but also showing them that developing lifelong healthy habits that are sustainable can lead to so many other benefits such as, living longer, living a better quality of life, stronger bones, better posture, more energy, more confidence and inspiring others around you.
Let’s dive in.
Q: How would you approach designing workout plans that specifically align with different goals, such as weight loss, muscle toning, or overall fitness, and how do these plans differ? Could you give us some examples?
Weight Loss: Weight loss is all about moving the body, big body movements that require maximum effort, which means energy expenditure. Depending on the person’s current level of fitness I would have them start with mild levels of activity (3 x resistance training sessions per week) that entail lots of superset, lift and carry movements and circuit style activities, then some gentle cardio, whatever they can manage to fit into their schedule. It’s crucial to work within the person’s lifestyle and not prescribe something that is unattainable. You don’t want to focus on cardio alone as there are much more benefits of resistance work compared to cardio work alone, so a combination works really well. Of course Nutrition is a huge part of this as well.
Muscle Toning: Muscle Toning is just a step up from weight loss. A similar structure however with a little more muscle hypertrophy type exercises, but still including lots of superset etc. As we all know there will be no muscle tone showing through if the person's body fat is still too high, so nutrition will be prescribed to complement the training.
Competition Training: Aaaah Comp Prep! This is next level again, and very specific to the individual, their current physique, what category they will be competing in and much more. It is always good to plan 12 months in advance for a competition so you give yourself plenty of time, but in some cases you will need longer than this. Regardless of what category the competitor is entering into, there will always be a big part of programming that incorporates hypertrophy, a little strength and of course conditioning (getting the body in a hard and lean state).
You always want to focus on building as much muscle as possible, as this is what gives that hard firm look on stage. If there is too much muscle you can easily adjust the programming to bring it down closer to comp, but you can’t do it the other way around, as the athlete will be in a deficit coming in closer to the competition.
Nutrition is an absolute key, and a real science to get it right. Comp prep is such a journey of discovery for the athlete, learning just how mentally strong they can be, learning their triggers, and what they can truly achieve when they put their mind to it. This is why I was hooked on competing for 15 years!
Q: What combination of cardio and strength training exercises do you find most effective for weight loss and overall fitness for women?
Full body exercises such as squatting to pick something up, lifting it and walking with it (called a lift and carry eg: 2 kettlebells and walking 20meters putting it down then…), overhead medball slams, sled runs, battle ropes, step ups, squats, lunges, dumbbell thrusters, burpees, manmakers….oh boy the list goes on.
A good combination of resistance exercises, circuit style or a group of supersets.
This type of training is invigorating, functional, fun and so effective that your body continues to burn fat for hours after you finish, compared to traditional cardio as soon as you stop the fat burning stops.
Suggestion: 3 resistance workouts per week, plus 2-3 cardio sessions (the length of these sessions would be determined by the current level of fitness of the person)
Q: How do you take into account factors like age, fitness level, and any pre-existing health conditions when customizing workout routines for women?
Factors such as age, fitness level, health conditions or injuries, what is their exercise history, what the person does for work, Is their work really stressful, what is their family life like, are they married or single, kids, grandkids, how well do they sleep, what are their eating habits like, do they smoke, do they drink alcohol, how many times a week can they realistically exercise, can they get to a gym or do they have a home gym etc.
All of these factors come into play when creating a personal plan for someone. The plan needs to fit into the person’s life, not the other way around. If the plan is too challenging and too far fetched then they are less likely to follow it, and stick with it. Always start a little conservatively so that the person feels they can do this, that their journey will be successful, and build slowly, changing their program and progressing every 4-6 weeks.
Q: What methods do you use to track and measure progress with clients, and how often do you recommend reassessing and adjusting their workout plans?
When a client comes on board my coaching program they are required to fill out a measurement tracker, which is full body measurements and weight, along with pictures of front side and back. These can of course be daunting to begin with and let's face it no-one likes pictures of themselves at the start of a health journey. But it's an important step to take and really a powerful tool to look back on and compare as the journey progresses.
Every week my clients are required to send through their weight and waist measurement at the time of our weekly check in call, the reason for this is that we all know the number on the scales doesn’t tell us everything that is going on, especially if you are weight training. So taking the waist is just another way of seeing what could be happening bodyfat wise. Every time I change their program every 4-6 weeks is when we redo all measurements and pictures.
Q: What is the biggest mistakes you see women make when it comes to their workout regimen (specifically related to weight loss)?
Too much cardio
Not enough weight training or resistance training
Over training - training 6-7 days a week
Not training heavy enough! Trust me ladies, you are not going to get bulky by lifting heavier, it’s actually going to help you drop more body fat and get that firm toned look you are after.
Q: What role does the mind-body connection play in achieving fitness goals, and what strategies do you use to help women cultivate a positive relationship with their workouts?
The mind-body connection is a very complicated relationship, but the more time and effort put into cultivating that relationship, the easier it is to achieve your fitness goals and will also help to make the outcomes permanent. The more a person understands what a particular exercise is doing, what muscles are being used and where they should be feeling it, the more they can concentrate and focus on doing the movement right, instead of the opposite which is just moving the weight from A to B and done!
Rather than just giving someone a program and saying “there you go, now go do it”, I like to spend time running them through each exercise giving an explanation of not only the exercise itself but what muscle groups are used and why that exercise is in the sequence that it is in with other supporting movements around it that flow and compliment the muscles being targeted. This gives the client a much stronger connection to the program itself and in turn they enjoy their workouts as they know exactly what it is doing for them.
Q: What is the #1 thing you wish all women knew about building a sustainable fitness regimen that will help them achieve their goals?
BIGGER . BETTER . STRONGER . FASTER . FITTER . HEALTHIER
My slogan for a healthier, more energized, and better quality of life!
The bigger, better, stronger, faster, and fitter you become, the healthier you will be!
Q: How can we get in touch with you and learn more from you?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karla.gambell/
Instagram: @coach_karla_ifbb_elitepro
Linktree: linktr.ee/KGBLifeFitness
