I think I know the source of happiness. Took me over 40 years, but it’s this:
Progress.
Progress in career. In family relationships. In fitness. In understanding. In friendship. In health.
Even if the progress is slow (like it is for our turtle friend pictured here). In some cases, slow progress is even better. In some cases, progress that’s too slow feels like treading water.
And stagnation is unhappiness.
That’s why people give up on their fat loss plans, especially on fad diets. They lose a bunch of weight (including muscle mass, unfortunately) but then they can’t make further progress. And so what do they do? They give up. And then get even fatter than they were to start with.
Stagnation why most people don’t stick to their weight training program. They see some gains in the first few weeks, but then the progress doesn’t continue at the same rate. It slows. Or, if they aren’t dedicated, it may even back slide. So instead of digging in, rededicating themselves, and working through plateaus, they give up. And become flabby. Next thing you know, they are 65 yrs old and can’t lift a gallon of milk above their heads.
That’s why many marriages end: stagnation. Boredom. (Sure, there are other reasons, but even the “other” reasons are often linked to stagnation.)
Some people find comfort in the status quo. But I believe that’s a false comfort, born out of fear. They fear that things could get worse if they try to improve/progress. Or they fear they may fail. They believe it’s safer to just live with things as they are (status quo).
But is it really safer?
Obviously, living with the status quo of poor health and pitiful physical conditioning is anything but safe.
And in your career, do you think you can coast for very long in any business? Eventually, you need to advance your skills, push through with more effort to complete a big project, or do something to advance yourself.
Even in relationships, where the “comfort of status quo” is most prevalent, it’s still a fear of failure that makes things stagnate. If you take that step to re-engage your spouse/friend/parent/child and improve your relationship a bit, you may get rebuffed.
But the rewards for growing and progressing far outweigh the downsides and risks of stagnation.
You’re either growing or dying. There is no in-between.
It might be baby steps or it might be giant leaps. But if you aren’t progressing, you’re stagnating.
So what are you going to do today to break yourself out of the status quo?
How are you going to make sure you progress tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that?
When are you going to create your own happiness by dedicating yourself to steady progress in every aspect of your life?
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Ever see “Lady In The Water”, the M. Night Shyamalan movie? Remember the guy who only worked out with ONE of his arms? Pretty funny filming to make him look all lopsided – one arm huge and ripped, the other arm normal.
- image from about.com
Ever feel like you are lopsided?
I’m sure, if you did curls, you’d find one arm noticeably stronger than the other. (But thank goodness you don’t do curls, right?!?)
Same thing applies to your legs, though you might not be as aware of it.
Even applies to your abs. Yes, your abs. (Try side-planks for 60 seconds and you’ll see that one side tires out sooner than the other.)
Movement Specialists often try to correct movements that we all develop, over many years, to compensate for
- Usage habits, like being right handed
- Physical differences, like one leg slightly shorter than the other, which is common
- Poor form overall in exercises
- Various other things that make me think they are magicians (I’m not a Movement Specialist and am in awe of them)
Without treading on their ground, I’m going to give you one rule to follow whenever you are doing a movement that alternates one side then the other:
Always Do Your Weaker Side First
If you are right handed, this usually means doing your left side (arms, legs, abs, everything) first. And if you are left-handed, your right side is usually weaker.
However, in some people their lower body is “oppositely strong”, so you’ll need to test this for yourself.
How Does This Work?
For example, if you are doing static lunges (where you do one side first, then the other) always do the weaker side first.
Every set. Every workout.
Why?
Over time, your weaker side will catch up to your stronger side. It may never be 100%, but for most people, after 6 to 12 months of this strategy, will find that the weaker side is at least 95% as strong as the stronger side. At least, for the exercises you are doing.
All bets are off for new exercises! That’s because with each exercise, the secondary and tertiary muscles involved, as well as supporting mass like tendons and ligaments, vary. As such, new exercises may call on a different set of support.
And then there’s the fact that structurally you will have differences (like bone length, width, etc) that put one side at a long-term disadvantage.
There are two basic reasons for a spotter:
First, a spotter helps prevent injury that could be possible if you are either caught with too much weight over you or forced to use really bad (dangerous) form to complete the last rep.
Second, a good spotter helps you get the most out of a set by giving you the smallest amount of assistance needed to complete your last rep without sacrificing form.
[Always remember – if you have to use crappy form to get that last rep, then don’t count that last rep! Ditto for using a spotter for your last rep – it doesn’t “count” – but it’s still a fantastic idea to use a spotter.]
But sometimes, you don’t have a spotter.
So what do you do?
Here are a few tips to either prevent injury or get one more “partial” rep out of your set, for each of The Big 7 exercises.
Squats
1) Use a squat rack, or a power rack the with horizontal catch bars set to be lower than your full decent position.
- If you fail, no worries, you’re fine. Of course, you’ll have to strip the weights to get the barbell back up to the starting position (smile).
2) Use dumbbells instead. While I don’t recommend this as (more…)
Continue reading about Tips For Training Without A Spotter – The Big 7
Progressive overload.
If you’ve been lifting for some time, you’ve no doubt heard that phrase.
The brief explanation: Over time, you need to consistently add work to your muscles, beyond what they are used to doing.
This can take the form of going up in weight. Or adding more reps. Or adding more sets. Or lifting more explosively. Etc. For more ideas, click here.
These, and other, techniques keep you progressing – your muscles have to get bigger in order to accomplish the added work. And bigger muscles can be progressively overloaded more. And they in turn get bigger. It’s a virtuous circle!
[Another technique for consistently making progress involves switching your routine itself periodically, but that’s a different post…]
My point being that you
a) Hear about progressive improvement in weight training a lot.
b) Have several techniques at your disposal to accomplish it.
Even if you are saying to yourself, “I’ve got the right amount of muscle now, I don’t need to gain any more,” then you need progressive overload (and periodization) just to prevent muscle loss. Otherwise, in a few years you are going to see less and less muscle mass due to sarcopenia.
But What About Cardio?
How do you keep progressing in your cardio?
I mean, if your body will reach a sort of homeostasis with weight training unless you continually force it out of its comfort zone, won’t that happen with cardio too?
The short answer is yes, but it’s more subtle.
See, it all starts with goals.
Why are you lifting weights?
Probably to gain more muscle mass. And that’s really hard to do. As I’ve written before, gaining muscle is much harder than losing fat.
Which brings me to “why are you doing cardio?”
Chances are, it’s to lose fat (or worse, to lose “weight” – ughh – please don’t ever use that phrase, “lose weight”).
Sure, for some of you it’s to build endurance. Or compete. Or you simply love running.
But most you have it tied to the calories it burns and the impact on your metabolism.
And make no mistake, you will reach a point where doing the same cardio week after week will stop producing fat loss. Your body will adapt.
How To “Progressively Overload” Your Cardio Training
I’ve got a favor to ask. Can you review this variation I came up with for the traditional “triceps kickbacks” and weigh in with your opinion?
See, I love this exercise as a “finishing” extra at the end of a workout. (There’s no way this should replace The Big 7 or anything!)
But so far, the feedback I’ve gotten has been negative. So I want a wider swath of feedback. Just click the play button below, and then post a comment here (not on youtube.com!). A simple “good” or “bad” is fine, though I’d love to hear “why” as well.
It’s that easy! Be polite!
Oh, and there’s a text description below in case you can’t see the video. Thanks!
The “Triceps 30 Kickbacks” are done with both arms at the same time, where your upper arm is not parallel to the floor like the regular 1-arm triceps kickbacks. Instead, you drop your elbow about 30 degrees. You start with the dumbbells curled, wrist up, with the weights close to your armpits. You should be standing with knees slightly bent, leaning forward about 30 degrees, and back in a natural arch. Start by slowly lowering and twisting the dumbbell as you extend the triceps so that the extended position is also palm up behind you. Then slowly return and curl the dumbbell.
Why this movement? While it has a smaller range of motion compared to the standard triceps kickbacks, this turns it into a semi-compound movement involving your triceps, your biceps, your forearm, and even some rear deltoid. Plus, you are (more…)
Continue reading about Triceps 30 Degree Kickbacks – good or bad?
If I were to say to a roomful of average Americans, “I’ve run 4 times a week, every week, for the past 10 years, without an exception, even when I was sick,” I’d get most of the audience nodding their heads in appreciation and admiration. I’d probably even get some spontaneous applause and a few people would be so impressed they’d be speechless.
If instead, I said to that same room full of average Americans, “I’ve lifted weights 4 times a week, every week, for the past 10 years, without an exception, even when I was sick,” I’d get
- Blank stares (confusion)
- Frowns (disappointment)
- Shaking heads (how could he waste so much of his time?)
- Scoffs (“he must be so vain to be that focused on how he looks”)
- Etc.
You get the picture.
The Average American Is A Running Snob
We’ve been conditioned/taught over decades that runners deserve admiration.
Don’t get me wrong – they certainly do deserve admiration.
But bodybuilders and strength trainers don’t get that same breadth of acceptance. Instead, they get scorn. Sadly, the steroid issue has tainted the whole weight lifting world to some degree, and quite unfairly. I’ll save that diatribe for another day.
When most people think of the term “bodybuilding”, they think of hugely muscular men whose entire exercise routine rests on lifting weights in isolation movements. It’s a shame that the term bodybuilding has been pigeon-holed into a single class of exercise. I love the term “body building” because that’s what all exercise is – building your body.
Of course, bodybuilders and strength trainers are themselves a snobbish lot. Both groups tend to dismiss runners with such phrases as (more…)
Continue reading about Bodybuilding Snobs vs. Strength Training Snobs vs. Running Snobs
Today we’re going to talk about chin-ups and pull-ups. They’re usually one of the most frustrating exercises for new lifters.
Everyone would love to be able to hop up to a chin-up bar and bang out 15 reps right?
But can you do it? Are you actively working towards doing it?
They are a great barometer of overall fitness (though no single movement is proof of anything).
The average person can only do one or two bodyweight chin-ups (grip with your palms towards you).
Even most lifters can only do 3 or 4 reps.
And there are sadly many people who can’t even do a single rep.
Stats are generally worse for pull-ups (grip with palm facing away from you).
Because they are difficult, most people resort to the pull-down machine. While the pull-down machine isn’t bad per se, it gives people an excuse to never get strong enough to do 10 or 15 reps of bodyweight chins.
But for you, since you are reading this, that’s all going to change!
Effective Techniques For Doing More Pull-ups and Chin-ups
Here’s what I recommend, in sequence. Once you can do what is prescribed, move to the next one. Don’t try to do all these in one workout – you’ve burn out and not see progress.
- Simple Hangs
- Hang for at least 60 seconds. Do 4 sets per workout.
- Half Hangs
- Again just hang, but this time your arms are bent at 90 degrees.
Continue reading about How To Increase Your Pullups and Chinups
This is a revised and updated version of an article I wrote a while back for Caleb.
Many of you are new to bodybuilding/weight lifting.
Some of you have been working hard and diligently for months or years.
But all of you will reach a level where you aren’t progressing the way you once were. We call this a “plateau”.
To get past it, often you don’t need to do anything special. If you are following a respected program, stick with it and you’ll likely work through the plateau naturally.
But sometimes you still get stuck.
When you’re stuck, and not seeing the results you want, you get annoyed. You get discouraged. And so your workouts become slightly less intense.
And that just starts the death spiral of a self-fulfilling prophecy where you actually halt progress or regress.
There are many ways around this but today let’s talk about the Set/Pause/Resume approach.
It’s brain-dead simple. Though you’ll likely never hear this from the trainers who appear on Oprah because they can’t market this – it’s too simple!
How To Do Set/Pause/Resume
- Do your set, with maximum intensity, just like normal. Remember, maximum intensity can mean slightly different things to different people depending on their fitness (more…)
Continue reading about Set/Pause/Resume – To Get An Extra Rep Or 2 Using New Fibers
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