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Editor’s note – There is so much monthly science news when it comes to muscle fitness, that it’s probably hard for you to keep up. In these occasional posts, I’ll summarize various items of research in the past 90 days or so. I’ll cite the official reports so that the hard-core of you can read the science for yourself. But for the rest of you, these summaries should save you some time…
More Evidence That Muscle Strength Reduces Mortality Rate
Research covering 10,000 men over about 19 years shows that the death rate was lowest for the group with the greatest muscular strength. This includes death from cancer, death from cardiovascular disease, as well as a large category of “death from all causes”. This was reported in British Medical Journal, 2008;337:a439
They measured “strength” as the one-rep maximum for bench press and leg press (I sure wish they had used squats, but anyway…).
Plus, for the cancer mortality and the “death from all causes” in the stronger group was reduced, regardless of cardiorespiratory fitness. But as you can imagine, the mortality from cardiovascular disease was partially tied to cardiovascular fitness.
Increasing strength makes you live longer!
Fruits and Veggies Increase Muscle Mass?
This is a bit contrary to what most muscle gurus talk about. Most of them say to avoid fruits, and some even say to limit your veggies. I personally think they are nuts. But their point is that fruits contain too much cheap carbs (fructose). And the anti-veggie crowd is usually part of the ketogenic crowd (high protein, high fat, near zero carb diet).
But there’s too much evidence of overall health benefits to fruits and veggies. And now I found a study that might link muscle mass itself to including those in your diet. In American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 3, 662-665 scientists from Tufts University found such a linkage in over 300 older adults (>65 yrs) over a 3-yr study. The group that ate only proteins and grains had more muscle loss than the group that ate proteins, grains, and fruits and vegetables.
The improvement was small (about 3%) but because of sarcopenia (the natural muscle loss with aging) even 3% over 3 yrs is significant. And these were not “bodybuilding seniors” so my guess is that combining a balanced diet with resistance training would see even more start differences.
You see, proteins and cereal grains are essentially acidic. Fruits and veggies are essentially alkaline. The main ingredient they focused on was potassium. One theory is that the alkaline counteracts the muscle-wasting acids. This can get confusing, for sure, because proteins are essential for producing muscle despite their acidic nature.
Green Tea Mixed Science For Fat Loss
I’m actually not going to cite the various studies in this segment, because my point here is that there are several contradicting studies that have been published over the past year about green tea. Most indicate it has fat reducing properties, but more recent studies show that it increases the conversion of testosterone to estrogen – that could reduce muscle growth and lower fat loss. The tricky thing with these studies is that the doses are usually really high – more than you would normally consume – and some fail to isolate the caffeine effects. I don’t drink green tea, and so far I’m not sure the science is conclusive enough. I think there are many other ways to reduce fat (like eating smarter, lifting weights, and adding in interval cardio).
Endurance Cardio Reduces Heart Fat
Score another point for those of us who like medium- to long-distance cardio (endurance cardio)! Scientists in Japan found that after 12 weeks of running for 60 minutes, 3x per week decreased epicardial fat – the fat surrounding your heart. Of course, you’d expect overall fat loss in this type of program but the rate of change in epicardial fat was twice as fast as fat loss in other parts of the body. The patients were obese middle aged men. The study was published in Journal of Applied Physiology, 106: 5-11 2009.
Time Of Day – Workouts and Eating
Do you think people who workout in the mornings eat more or less that day than people who workout in the afternoon? Well, last December at the Australian Conference on Medicine Science in Sports, researchers at the University of Western Australia had in interesting tidbit. They found that people who exercise in the morning vs. afternoon ate the same number of calories. This was based on cardio exercise, not weight training, so it’s possible that results could differ.
Avoid Valsalva
Some heavy lifters recommend the Valsalva Maneuver – where you essentially hold your breath during your heavy reps. Those lifters claim that they breath-holding increases their strength. Too bad for them – in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: January 2009 – Volume 23 – Issue 1 – pp 127-132 researchers compared
a) normal breathing
b) forced inhaling
c) forced exhaling
d) breath holding (Valsalva)
They tested various exercises, both flexion and extension, and found that no breathing type really affected performance for flexion (e.g. leg curls, biceps curls). But the best strategy for extension (like dips, squats) is forced exhaling. And the Valsalva Maneuver didn’t improve things. Because Valsalva dramatically increases blood pressure, I strongly recommend NOT using Valsalva – you get no benefit and increased risk!
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A few weeks ago we had fun talking about what we think about when we run. I figured it would be cool to do the same think with lifting. But I’ve got a serious message at the end of this, so be sure to read all the way through.
Unlike jogging, where you are doing the same physical motion for long periods, weight lifting is more staggered. You have the lifts themselves of course. But you have rest periods. You have between-set activities like changing the weights. [Aside - interval training is somewhat similar, especially if you are doing my "inverted Tabata" routine.]
You may also have a lifting partner who influences what you think about.
And then, in commercial gyms, there’s that dreaded background music. I absolutely hate that. Not because I don’t like the particular music (sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t). I hate it because it’s something I can’t control and it distracts me from my lifting.
But what do you think about during your body building workout? (And I’m using “body building” here generically – as two words – meaning that if you are lifting weights, you are building your body in some form.)
If you unplug your ipod, and tune out the commercial gym music, I’m betting you fall into one of these camps…
The 8.5 Thinking Body Builder Types
1. The gabber – You actually aren’t spending much time thinking – you’re talking, chatting about the weather, and talking up the nearest person. Congratulations on your social skills, but you’d do yourself (and other gym goers) a favor by talking less and lifting more.
2. The paranoid – You are worried what other people are thinking about you. Maybe you’re skinny. Or maybe you’re fat. Or maybe you are just out of shape and weak, worried about other guys laughing. Don’t worry. Stick to your program, get those thoughts out of your head, and soon none of those things will be an issue because you’ll have an awesome physique. But don’t become the next guy…
3. Narcissus - Opposite of the paranoid, your thoughts center around how everyone is looking at you with admiration. You MUST be the most blessed person in the gym (man or woman) and the gym should plaster your picture everywhere so that the mere mortals have something to be inspired by. Look – you might actually have a greek god physique, but we hate you. Not because you have a great physique – but because your egotistical thoughts are obvious. If you look that good, congratulations. Seriously. But don’t strut around the gym like a peacock. Get your head into your lifting routine.
4. The self-defeatist – This is one of the worst thinking types to be – you are already telling yourself that you can’t lift what you need to lift. “Oh, I’ve got to move up 10 lbs on my bench today. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to do that…” You undermine your lift even before you start it.
5. The optimist – This is a great place to be in. You are telling yourself that you CAN get that extra rep or lift some extra weight. Your thoughts are centered around excelling.
6. The programmer – If you are thinking about changing your workout, while in the middle of your current workout, you are the programmer. It’s great to reflect on what you can do to modify and maximize your next workout, but wait until after this workout. Stay focused on your next set. Period.
7. The high overachiever – You focus, as you should, on the set you are about to do (or the set you are in the middle of). You get into that zone and perform better because of it. You might even repeat to yourself “7 reps, 7 reps, 7 reps” if your last set you only got out 6.
8. The workaholic – Thinking about your job should be banished from the gym. With one exception – sometimes creative ideas spontaneously pop into your head while working out. For these cases, I always carry a mini voice recorder with me, but you can use a plain old pencil and paper (you have a pencil and paper anyway right, because you ARE using a training log, right????). The key is to capture the creative idea, and then get back into your work out. Capture, but don’t flesh it out. Move on.
8.5 Clueless – We all start here. We are in the gym, walking around unsure what to do, feeling a little bit like we are at the playground, but not really sure what to think. We can’t think about changing our program, because we don’t even follow a program. We are just starting, so we think about random stuff like “should I use the collars or not?” “Why does that guy use a weight belt but the other guy doesn’t?” “What is the square root of pi?”. The good news is that you will outgrow this phase (most likely).
What Type of Thinker SHOULD You Be?
Most of you probably vary across several of the above types. But what type of thinking should you be?
I’ll save that for the next post. Till then, I’m interested:
Do any of these resonate with you?
Share this, Digg it, and make a comment!
Tags: motivation, thinking
Two days ago my workout called for me to do front squats. However, I wasn’t really focused that morning, and instead, I loaded up the weight I use for BACK squats.
For those of you who do both, you know that most of us can do a lot more weight in back than we can in front.
I did my warm up set, no problem.
I did my first working set, and was struggling, but finished.
I then did my second set and failed miserably. Thankfully I was in my squat rack, because mentally I was thinking I was going to do 6 reps. I ended up doing 1 and failing on the second.
Here’s the funy part – I still didn’t realize my mistake.
I asked myself, “why am I so weak today?” I really wondered if I was getting sick, or what the heck was going on.
I was so freaked out, I did something I haven’t done in months – I actually lowered the weight. (Of course, since I was doing the “wrong” exercise, I forgive myself that lapse.)
But the bigger lesson here is that I wasn’t paying attention.
And if I were in a situation without a rack or without a spotter, I could have really hurt myself.
Other Weight Training Attention Failures
This isn’t the first stupid thing I’ve done. And I’m sure you can relate with your own stupid stories.
One thing I see a lot is guys paying attention to the WRONG stuff.
Take mirrors. Mirrors are great for making sure you are using proper form.
But do you really need to turn your head for every set on every exercise to watch yourself in the mirror? Probably not.
I’ve definitely seen guys paying too much attention to the mirror that they actually lose balance.
And then there’s the guys are are gawking at women in the gym. Not only is that a little disrespectful to the women, it also distracts you from your workout. Lifting heavy stuff and distraction don’t mix. Stay focused.
Mental Focus and Workouts
At the most basic level though, paying attention means focusing your thoughts on your workout. I’ll be sharing some ideas about what to think about while working out on Monday.
In the mean time, are you willing to share your stupid-lack-of-attention stories?
Last week we shared the first 9 of these tips for beginners. Check them out here: Top Tips For Beginning Weight Lifting. This week we finish up with another 10 must-know items before beginning your weight training regimen.
10. Intensity Is Underrated
Whatever your routine is, do it hard. (After you’ve gotten the form down.) When I say hard, I mean hard. Other than your exercise-specific warmup, you should feel like you couldn’t get another rep out of your set. (This is different from “train to failure” which means you go past the last rep you can do – that’s not something I recommend for beginners.) Oh, and if you can do 2 more reps than your plan calls for, then you need to increase your weight.
And heavy weight helps your progress. To get the proper hormonal response from weight training for building muscle, losing fat, and gaining strength you have to really push yourself.
This also means that you don’t skip workouts. I realize that life happens, and you might have to miss a day. But with your 3x per week schedule, you can miss a day and make it up to stick to 3x/week. If you do get to the gym and “don’t feel too motivated”, you need to psyche yourself up. A short intense workout is far better than a long half-effort one.
11. Rest
There are two types or rest: in between sets and in between workouts. For rest in between workouts, that’s taken care of by only going 3x a week (see previous point). Muscle doesn’t grow during the exercise. It grows AFTER the exercise and if you don’t let the fibers heal, you’ll see minimal progress.
As far as rest in between sets, this is a subjective area. Generally, if you are going for fat loss as your primary goal, you want to have only 1 minute max in between sets. For strength or muscle gain, you might want longer. But remember point #3 from last week? Stick to the program.
12. Water Helps Things Grow
Muscles are mostly water. To build muscle, you need to drink a ton of water. Many pro bodybuilders, in a bulking phase, will drink a couple gallons of water every day. You don’t need that much, but a glass of water (not soda, not juice) every 2 hrs would be a good idea. And check out http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/2008/12/how-to-harness-the-healing-power-of-water-for-muscle-health/
13. Cardio AFTER Weights
I’m a firm believer in cardio, not just weights. While this is not an article on cardio, the take-away point is that you should do your cardio after your weights. Remember, you need a rest day in between workouts (and rest means no major exertion). So do your cardio on the same day as your weight training. My ideal is doing weights, then eat some good carbs and protein (see next point), and do cardio 30 minutes later. Or you can do weights early in the day and cardio late in the day.
14. Eat: Protein + Slow Carbs
Entire books have been written about the bodybuilder diet, but I’ll have to be super brief. When trying to build muscle and strength, you want about 1 gram of lean protein for every pound of bodyweight. If you are obese, then you might want a little less protein (since so much of your existing weight is fat and you’ll need to watch calories by reducing all your intake). For carbs, you want to avoid processed food and processed sugar. Ideal carbs are veggies, whole grains, oatmeal. If your goal is muscle building, eat about twice as much carbs as protein. If you are trying to get lean, you can dial it down quite a bit. But as a beginner weight trainer, I do not recommend super-low carb diets. Again, this topic is wide and deep and there’s no way I can do justice in this short article!
15. Sleep To Grow
By committing yourself to getting in shape, you need to commit to sufficient sleep. That means calling it a night early if you are working out the next morning. It does not mean making up for lost sleep by having 4 cups of coffee. You may even find that you need an extra 30 minutes or so of sleep once you start weight training. Listen to your body so that it can heal between workouts and be ready for the next.
16. Patience – The Results Will Come
This is the most important mental rule. Patience. If you are impatient, you’ll give up too soon. But the good news, if you are truly a beginner, is that if you stick to your plan (assuming your plan follows the philosophy of this article, like Full Body Attack), then you are going to see gains pretty quickly. But it might not be the way you think. Gains come in three flavors: how you look, how you feel, and what you can do. Pay attention because you might be expecting gains in one area and before you give up, maybe you’ve gained in another. And as an advance warning – after about 3 to 6 months, you’ll probably plateau and need to re-examine your workout. But that’s a topic for another post…
17. Get A Training Buddy
Unless you are an unusually self-motivated guy, you’ll have more success if you find a buddy with similar goals to workout with. On your slow days, he’ll push you and vice versa. Even better is to find someone slightly more advanced than you who’s willing to take you under their wing (even if it’s only for 1 of your workouts) but that’s hard to find. If you can’t find a buddy to do this with you, don’t use that an excuse to sit on the couch!
18. Don’t Judge A Trainer By His/Her Physique
If you decide to get a trainer, that’s great. Present the program you plan to use and see what they think. Then quiz them and see if their philosophy matches this list. If not, find another trainer. Some trainers try to get too creative and jump onto fads. But the best practices have been tested for decades. And don’t judge the trainer by their physique – there are some incredibly good trainers who might not look the way you want to look. They need to be in good shape of course, and they need to be weight trainers themselves. But going for the trainer who looks like a Men’s Health cover model could backfire as they may be the least knowledgeable of the bunch.
19. You Get What You Measure
You need a training log where you record what exercises you did, how many sets, how many reps, what weight, etc. I was traveling recently and went to a commercial (chain) gym. Other than me, there was only one other person in the entire gym (out of over 100 people across 3 days) who had a training log with them, methodically tracking progress. And guess who the two best physiques were in the gym?
I’m sure you want to comment, right? Questions? Ask here! Disagree? Say so! Just want to show your appreciation? Make a comment or share this with a friend!
In many countries around the world, today is a day to celebrate fathers.
Being a proud father myself, I like this holiday!
This will be a short post, with a few notices at the end, so that you all can get back to the day’s celebrations.
Father’s Day And Fitness
Father’s Day reminds me of part of the reason I take fitness so seriously:
- to be around longer for my kids and (future) grandkids
- to have the energy to play with my kids, even after a long day
- to model great behavior so that they grow up to be healthy and strong (it’s kind of hard to preach eating right and exercising if I sit on the couch eating chips and drinking beer all the time)
- to keep up with them! My older kids are fast and in an all-out race I can barely win!
- for my daughters, to model the fact they they should choose a partner who also takes his health seriously
You probably have similar reasons. But it’s hard sometimes to help kids understand why I don’t eat the deserts they do. Or why I get up early and work out to build muscle. Or why I’d rather go for a run than watch a movie.
While I’m sure they “get” the big picture, I also have to understand that they can’t see the world exactly through my eyes. So sometimes they think I’m a bit extreme!
But not today! Today will be a carbolicious day!
Now some of you might not have ideal fatherly role models yourself. Maybe your dad is/was fat. Maybe he never taught you how to eat right. Maybe you have to work twice as hard as the rest of us because you have to un-learn bad habits from your youth. Or maybe your dad simply wasn’t around.
None of that matters now.
You are in control of your beliefs and actions.
The very fact that you are reading this says that you are taking responsibility for bettering your health and fitness.
Congratulations!
Now, if you are a father, take one more step towards being a great role model and do some exercise WITH your kids. For example, bodyweight-calisthenics with your kids are great.
“Winners” For the Modified 5×5 Program
Thank you to everyone who applied for the 10 free slots for my 4-week “modified 5×5″ program. (The “modified” will become clearer to the rest of you once I release the program next month.) The lucky 10 have been notified and start their training – with daily access to me – this week. Wish them luck!
New WFN E-Books
In case you missed it (admittedly, I haven’t really done a proper launch), there are three new ebooks from WorldFitnessNetwork that you should definitely check out. And one of them comes free with a purchase. Great Father’s Day gifts! (Yeah, cheesey, but true!) Check out:
1) Solid Performance – a 170-page e-book covering all the basic weight training exercises, with pictures and descriptions! Order now and get Train Better (a 200-page tip-book) for free!
2) Full Body Attack - a $10 program/routine that takes you through exactly what to do on what days to start gaining strength, packing on muscle, and losing fat. Ideal for beginners or intermediates.
Both of these are backed by a 100% refund guarantee if you don’t like them. So no risk!
Survey Results
A couple weeks ago I asked for 2 minutes of your time for a survey about what the best topics would be for an upcoming teleseminar series. Wow – you all jumped on that – great! The response has been so strong that I think I’ll actually be turning it into something closer to a course. I’ll be announcing the week-by-week schedule soon. I’m just trying to work out the best way to pack as much information as possible into each one so that you get a great value for the price. But it’s not going to be cheap – I intend this to be a very high-quality course. More later.
Any good father's day thoughts on relating strength, fitness, or weight lifting to fatherhood? Jump in and comment!
Tags: dads, motivation
Tired of your current physique? Looking to build some muscle? Burn fat? Gain Strength?
Done properly, weight lifting is the best exercise for all three goals. Wanna lose fat while you sleep? The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns at rest. Wanna look good in a t-shirt and shorts? Build some curves by adding muscle. Looking for extra power in your favorite sport? Strength training with weights helps almost every sport.
But if you’re just starting out (or if you’ve been just toying around at the gym and need to get your butt into a serious routine), you need to remember these 19 things.
1. Don’t Read The Muscle Mags
Ok. You’re fired up like a George Forman Grill, and ready to become Arnold Junior. So where do most guys like you turn for advice? The muscle mags. But 50% of the muscle mags are pure ads. And another 30% are ads disguised as articles. And another 15% is either flat out bad advice or advice inappropriate for beginners. That leaves 5% of goodness. And the sad truth: as a beginner, you won’t know the difference. Skip the magazines and go for a serious book (see below).
2. Only Full Body, Compound Exercises For Your First 3 Months (No Curls!)
I know you want to do curls. It’s ok to admit it. Guys think big biceps are the sign of a real man. Stop. If you can’t do 15 chin-ups, you have no business doing curls. What you want to do – exclusively – for the first 3 months are compound movements. Compound movements are those that involve more than one joint (and thus, recruit more than one muscle group). Why? You’ll burn more fat, you’ll get stronger, and you’ll build muscle more evenly throughout your body. Plus, you won’t look like a ninny standing there doing curls for your full workout while your chicken legs squawk at all the serious lifters in the gym. Most guys think the big guys at the gym will laugh if they do too little weight. What the serious lifters really laugh at are men who think curls are going to do them much good.
3. Pick Somebody’s Program And Stick To It
This article is too short to give you specific routines. After you read this, go to http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/more/fullbodyattack.html and pick up a great $10 beginner program. Or visit a bookstore or online and get a good weightlifting book with a routine that matches these principles. There are so many good programs out there that follow these principles. But only get one! As a beginner, just about anything is going to work. Pick it, and stick to it for at least 6 weeks before changing it (probably more like 10 to 12 weeks). If you don’t know where to start, get Full Body Attack.
4. Incline Your bench
If I’ve gotten you to skip the curls, the next male impulse is to run to the bench press. Good news for you – benching is a compound movement! But I’m going to suggest doing an incline bench – I typically go for a 35 to 40 degree incline. This will work the upper part of your chest a little better and also bring in some shoulders (front deltoids). But use about 10% lighter weight than your flat bench.
5. Squat All The Way
Yes, you have to do legs. Big time. They are the biggest muscles in the body. And yet many guys seem to avoid working their legs. Plus the guys who do squat, most of them only do half squats – they don’t go down! Despite what your mom may have told you, it’s totally fine to squat past the 90 degree bend in your knees. There’s not much muscular advantage to go past the 80 degree point, but if you stop at a 120 or even 100 degree bend, you are losing a great opportunity to increase muscle and strength.
6. Deadlift As If Your Life Depended On It
Deadlifts are a power exercise where you lift the barbell of the floor. Beginners tend to avoid it because they are afraid of getting hurt or looking silly. And to be sure, done poorly, a deadlift can wreak havoc on your back. But you need to add this to your routine right from the start. Learn the proper form (see the next point) first. And then be ready for the most exhausting exercise of your life, because deadlifts put your metabolism into hyperdrive. You’ll thank me for it later. I accept cash.
7. Practice Movements With Bodyweight/Light Weights Until You Are Doing Them Right
As a beginner, you might want to hit the weights hard on day 1 to prove yourself and start seeing results. Hold on. Get the proper form down first. Click here for a great resource on proper weight lifting exercises. I don’t care if you are embarrassed because you are bench pressing a broom stick – start out super light. This is important. It’s much harder to unlearn bad form later than it is to learn proper form to start with. For many exercises (like squats), start out with just your own bodyweight. But be careful of youtube – I have done scans of weight training videos online and most of them are horrible – just because they are lifting a lot of weight doesn’t mean they are doing it right.
8. Progressive Overload
At every workout, you want to advance in something. Maybe it’s a little more weight on your lunges. Maybe it’s one more rep on each set of pull-ups. Maybe it’s one extra set of bent-over rows. This is called progression and you’ll never progress if you just keep doing the same weights, reps, and sets every week.
9. Go 3x Per Week, Full Body
As a beginner, you want to do full-body workouts three times a week. Note that full body means you do legs, back, chest, etc. all on the same day. Everything. After a couple months or so, you can consider split routines. But not yet.
Next week – points 10 through 19!
I’m sure you want to comment, right? Questions? Ask here! Disagree? Say so! Just want to show your appreciation? Share this on a social bookmarking site!
Tags: beginner, Weight lifting, weightlifting
Everyone seems to really like Tom’s posts so today I’m going to send you a link to a new article he wrote on his site.
Ever wonder what a champion bodybuilder – with an amazing physique – eats to promote both muscle growth and fat loss?
I bet a few of these things will surprise you.
http://budurl.com/burnthefatfoods
Even if you don’t think of yourself as a “bodybuilder”, you should check out his lists of top 10 foods.
What do you think? How closely do your eating habits match his? Come back and make a comment after you check it out.
Oh – and anyone who orders Tom’s book in the next 3 days will get a free copy of my new ebook Train Better To Gain More & Lose More ! Just email me your receipt and I’ll get you my ebook!
Tags: bodybuilding food, venuto
I’m coming to the realization that most of you are probably “settling” when it comes to your gym. If you belong to a commercial gym (like 24 Hour Fitness), then you have most equipment you need, but not everything.
Every hear of Bally’s? I had heard of it, but never worked out there until last week.
Most commercial gyms pretty much suck. Despite the high # of equipment, it’s often the wrong mix. Of course, they are better than hotel gyms.
But the environment of the commercial gym also stinks. The people surrounding you are doing the wrong thing, with the wrong attitude. And I’m a firm believer that to raise your level of performance in any activity (from parenting to training to career), you need to surround yourself with positive influences.
What to hear me rant? Read on. But most of you probably have better things to do than listen to me complain, so I’ll understand if you want to skip this one…
Oh, and did you hear about Solid Performance yet? It’s only $37 and includes Train Better To Gain More And Lose More for free! Just go to http://www.worldfitnessnetwork.com/more/solidperformance.html to get your copy!
Read on to hear my rant and chime in with your own!
How To Get In Honestly For Free
First off, I’m always surprised that all these commercial gyms have people working there giving away business. I mean, I’ve been traveling a lot this year, and I’m always 100% honest with people at the front desk: I’m traveling here on business and will only be in town a few days. I have no intent to join long term. Then I ask for a week-long pass. They always say they don’t have one, that it is just $x per day. I then don’t say anything. Seriously, I just stand there. They ALWAYS break the silence by saying, “I’ll tell you what, pay for today and I’ll put you in for the week at no charge”. Im serious, it always happens.
I’m not complaining here – I figure it’s good to start off saying something positive before I bring out the hammer…
[As a businessman, I don't know why they don't offer a special price for a week-long pass. Then they'd get more $ and the customer wouldn't pay full price. Win-win.]
Now let me do a quick summary of a Bally’s in Chicago…
Bally’s Stinks
I have no way of knowing if all Bally’s are this way, but the heading of this section is literal: the bathrooms were not properly ventilated and so the entire place spelled like a toilet.
I’m NOT one of these guys who thinks a gym as to smell like a florist’s. I love a little grit and the smell of hard work. But toilets? It was very distracting.
The place was also messy. They don’t label any of the racks – the dumbbells and plates were completely randomly stacked, or not even stacked at all. I was there at 5 am every morning, right when they opened up, and plates were laying around everywhere. Without labels, the average lifter has less motivation to re-rack weights. But the employees also failed to clean up the night before. Bad management.
Most commercial gyms have a single squat rack, and this place was no different. But no deadlift place at all. Everything was so cramped that I literally had to move machines out of the way in order to make room to deadlift.
The People Environment
And once I did start deadlifts, people looked at me like I was doing some African rain dance as part of a circus – it’s like they had never seen it before. I got some strange looks. Of course, maybe those looks were looks of disgust because I was covered in sweat and dripping everywhere (hey, squats followed by deadlifts are KILLER). I’m not sure they had ever seen someone sweat who wasn’t on a treadmill.
Oh – and that brings me to the treadmill. Out of the 150 or so people I saw there over 3 days, here were the top activities:
- walking on the treadmill (the weather was actually beautiful outside, by the way)
- bench press (and variations)
- very slow jogging on the treadmill
- curls
- doing machine circuits
Don’t these guys know how to do other weight lifting exercises?
But you know, this is nothing new and has nothing to do with Bally’s. It’s the stupidity of the masses. Sure, I applaud people getting on the treadmill compared to doing nothing (or if you have some mobility issues that make other exercise difficult).
But in the weight room the value of the bench press is, well, overvalued. I mean, maybe 10% to 15% of your upper body workouts should involve the bench press. Many of the guys there only did bench press variations. That’s it! And they rested for 5 minutes between sets of 10 reps, did like way too many sets, had huge pot bellies, only used a partial range of motion, etc. It was really frustrating.
And don’t get me started on fat guys doing curls. If you can’t do 15 chinups, don’t even look at a curl bar or any other kind of biceps curl exercise. Lose your fat, ramp up your chinups, and then only do curls at the end of your workout (if ever).
Remember that single squat rack I mentioned? I was the only person to use it while I was there over 3 days. Except for one guy who decided to use the squat rack for… wait for it… bench presses! I did see one guy doing squats – on a Smith machine though! (Bally’s had 3 Smith machine racks…).
Another rant: the personal trainers working with clients there. Man, these guys sucked. I know they sucked by one simple observation: they didn’t look their clients in the eye. In other words, they were going through the motions with newbies and they didn’t really give a hoot about their clients. If you ever hire a personal trainer who doesn’t care as much about your progress as you do (and who won’t look you in the eye), fire them and move on.
One shining light: I did see a guy with a workout journal! Yay! He wasn’t in great shape (yet) but my heart was filled with joy that here was someone setting goals and tracking his progress. I’m sure in 3 to 6 months he’ll be seeing some great results!
I Leave You With 3 Questions?
So I’ve mentioned in this post, and in my post on 24 Hour Fitness, some pieces of equipment that I wish commercial gyms had. My biggest three:
a) more than one squat rack
b) at least one deadlift station
c) a hex bar or two (a/k/a a trap bar)
What do you wish YOUR gym had (or had more of)?
What can’t you live without?
Do you belong to a gym that has everything you need?
Chime in with your wish lists and feedback!
[Next week I'm going to summarize my tips for getting the most out of workouts in unfamiliar gyms because hitting a new gym can be very inefficient...]
Tags: commercial gyms, equipment
