Intuitive Training – Who Can Benefit From It?

What is intuitive training?

At gyms and fitness clubs, the prevailing approach is to use more or less rigorous training plans supported by a proper diet. However, recent years have brought criticism of this approach. This is because it has been pointed out that demanding, strict workout routines have become a factor that generates excessive pressure for results, thus lowering motivation and satisfaction with activity and building a culture of obsessive pursuit of the perfect figure. An alternative to this is intuitive training, that is, training which involves performing exercises without a specific regime.

In intuitive training, you pick the type of exercises and their intensity on an ongoing basis, according to your current needs and condition. This is because this approach implies awareness of one’s own body, flexibility in the steps taken and a more relaxed attitude toward physical activity. It rejects strict planning and striving for perfectionism, instead focusing on adjusting exercise volume to one’s needs and on satisfaction with exercise.

Is intuitive training a training without a plan?

At first glance, intuitive training looks like simply doing those exercises you care about. In reality, however, effective intuitive training incorporates elements that can be found in training with a plan, such as periodisation, proper balance between exertion and recovery, and matching the load to the exercising person’s capabilities.

The real difference lies in intuition – that is, the combination of knowledge, experience and awareness of the exercising person’s own body. That is why intuitive training is the method more advanced people are more likely to go for. Intuition tells them when they can afford to do more and when to give up excessive effort. When to increase the load and when to change the type of exercise. When to give yourself more recovery time, and when to use training to set new records.

But even with this approach, such people retain the basic structural elements of training that have become a habit after years. Therefore, it is the advanced athletes who most often enjoy the benefits of intuitive training. They simply know more than beginners, have better technique and are less likely to make mistakes.

Who can benefit from intuitive training?

Intuitive training is primarily a good choice for advanced people who view it as a variety to their regular exercises. But not only that – the assumptions of intuitive training related to the mental sphere make it useful for people whose physical activity involves specific needs, such as:

• Improving the relationship with one’s own body – in intuitive training, physical activity is a form of individual self-care, rather than a strict regime based on a lack of satisfaction with one’s figure or an inability to stick to a certain diet.
• Avoiding overtraining – pressure for results promotes falling into patterns of physical activity addiction, reaching for excessive loads, and eventually leading to overtraining and burnout. An intuitive approach can counteract the development of such patterns.
• Reconciling activity with other spheres of life – inflexible training plans can lead to family and social conflicts, while intuitive training assumes a much greater level of freedom that allows you to balance the various spheres of life.
• Overcoming limitations – the lack of pressure for results and focus on enjoyment make intuitive training a good choice for people who experience various psychological barriers to physical activity, such as those returning to training after injury or those suffering from eating disorders.

The biggest drawbacks of intuitive training

It should be noted, however, that while the very nature of intuitive training seems appealing, in practice this approach has serious drawbacks that even disqualify it as a first choice, especially for beginners. Some of them include:

• Inability to implement effective habits – intuitive training does not develop desirable habits that stay with you for the long term and enable further development, either on your own or with the help of a coach.
• Problems with regularity – if you don’t have the knowledge of how to exercise, and on top of that you lack self-discipline, intuitive training can be a waste of time with fruitless, irregular exercises.
• Limited effectiveness – if one does not set specific training goals, it is difficult to determine whether the results of training, in an objective sense, can really be considered satisfactory.
• Risk of mistakes and discouragement – if your knowledge of self-performed workouts is low, you run the risk of typical beginner’s mistakes, such as reaching for excessive loads, neglecting warm-up, stretching and rest, or poor diet. This can lead to lack of results, injuries and discouragement.

In short, if you decide to do intuitive training, you should know why you are doing it. The basic problem is lack of knowledge. It makes intuition a trap for beginners or an excuse to justify basic mistakes that can easily be avoided using proven methods that incorporate training plans. And if you complain about their rigour and lack of flexibility, you can always introduce your own variety and modify the assumptions according to your needs.

We believe that any physical activity is better than none. We understand that in some cases intuitive training may be the right choice. However, we always encourage you to consult your training goals with trainers and to set your diet with specialists.

^References:

1. ^{Reel J. J., Galli N., Miyairi-Steel M., et al, Development and validation of the intuitive exercise scale, Eating Behaviors, 2016.}
2. ^{Reel J. J., Lee J. J., Bellows A., Integrating exercise and mindfulness for an emerging conceptual framework: The intuitive approach to prevention and health promotion (IAPHP), Eating Disorders, 2016.}
3. ^{https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/0123p48.shtml, doi: 13.11.2024.}
4. ^{https://breakingmuscle.com/the-benefits-of-intuitive-lifting/, doi: 13.11.2024.}