Alright, let’s be honest, we all have those days where it’s tough to get up and go to the gym. You can think of a thousand reasons not to do it, and of course it’s so easy to rationalize that skipping just one day won’t hurt anything.
Don’t get me wrong, you’re body needs plenty of rest for recovery, but plenty of rest can quickly turn into laziness if you let it go too far.
So let’s talk about the other side of things. There are also a million reasons for you to get into the gym. Everything in your life… literally everything can be improved by your workouts, either directly or indirectly. Yep, it’s all connected.
1. Confidence: Some studies have shown that heavy, compound lifts activate the endocrine system and release anabolic hormones into your body such as testosterone. This makes you feel strong and confident. It takes the fear out of you and makes you feel like a real man… no, actually, it does make you into (more…)
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Continue reading about Dating, Your Job, & Sex… Workouts Make it All Better
If you’ve ever had to work out alone, you’ve been there.
“Can I handle one more set on the bench press? Can I do one more rep, or will I get caught under the bar?”
You might know what your limits are pretty well, but it’s better safe than sorry. Sometimes you muscles just give out a little sooner than you thought they would.
Getting stuck on a heavy set without a spotter can be a disaster. It’s never happened to me because I have a phobia of it, and I will never do a heavy set of bench presses without a spotter.
But I’ve seen it before. I’ve had to run across the gym to save some poor kid who was lifting a weight he wasn’t ready for alone. Having a trainer partner at your side is best, but it isn’t for everybody.
Why you should have a workout partner:
- Spotter: You have a built in spotter every time you come to the gym. No need to worry about getting stuck below (more…)
Image Credit: Zepfanman
What would you think if I were to tell you that there was a way for you to love working out?
I know what you might be thinking. You might be remembering how terrible it feels when you try to run while you are gasping for breath, or how tough it can be to keep pushing when your muscles are screaming for mercy.
Who in their right mind would ever love this???
Everybody who gets into the right frame of mind can learn to love their workouts.
It’s only a matter of time, but you can get there. The secret to loving your workouts is to realize first and foremost that love is a verb. It is something that you do. As you do the actions of loving something, the feeling of love will eventually follow.
Let me share with you an excerpt from Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
At one seminar where I was speaking on the concept of proactivity, a man came up and said, “Stephen, I like what you are saying. But every situation is so different. Look at my marriage. I’m really worried. My wife and I just don’t have the same feelings for each other we used to have. I guess I just don’t love her anymore and she doesn’t love me. What can I do?”
“The feeling isn’t there anymore?” I asked.
Image Credit: Aturkus
Some people will try to tell you that anger is an unhealthy thing… they are lying.
The truth is that anger can lead to an unhealthy thing if it makes you do something unhealthy. Really, think about it for a moment. How could anger possibly be something unhealthy? Isn’t anger a natural human emotion that every person feels at some point or another in life?
Your natural emotions are never an unhealthy thing. But what you do with them… now that’s another story.
Yin, Yang, and Your Workout
The Chinese are full of good stuff that’s thousands of years old. Take the yin and yang for example. You may have seen the symbol many times in your life, but do you know what it means in your life?
The yin and yang represent two forces. They are two things that are really opposites, but the two opposites fit together in the world we live in. The two forces have to live in harmony with each other. Without this simple harmony comes disorder.
The same thing is true in your own life. Hey, let’s admit it, bad stuff is going to happen no matter what you try to do about it. You’ll never be able to avoid all the jerks in life or people that cut you off while you’re driving. It’s just not possible. (more…)
Trying to figure out the perfect routine can be tough. It’s especially tough when you consider the fact that there’s no such thing as a perfect routine.
Instead, you’re going to have to assess your personal needs and decide which muscles to work on which days. A number of factors will go into this decision, such as:
- What your current training level is, i.e. beginner, intermediate, or advanced
- What type of routine motivates you to work out in the gym
- Which muscle groups are lagging or will require special attention
- What type of routine your training partner is on
- How your body is responding to the workouts you have in place
There are many ways you can divide up your muscle groups to achieve the best workout for you. There are so many combinations, in fact, that I couldn’t possibly cover them all here. Instead, I’m going to point out a few principles that can be used as guidelines to help you choose the routine that’s best suited for you. (more…)
I could hardly believe what I was reading.
I sat in absolute bewilderment as I read an article in a recent muscle magazine. It explained in detail why you should lift your hips as high as possible off the bench (called bridging) when you bench press.
Was the author seriously recommending this type of thing to people who are trying to improve their workouts? I could hardly believe that any widely distributed magazine would publish this sort of “advice”.
Of course, I don’t think that the muscle magazines are very good reading for most people out there. They focus on what the pros are doing for their workouts instead of telling the readers what will help them the most. I’ll drop by once a month or so and read them just to see what’s out there (and only because I blog about this).
But there it was, right in the magazine. The author was praising the advantages of arching your back as high as possible and shooting your hips into the air on the bench press.
His argument was that arching your back and lifting the hips gives you more power for your bench. More power lets you lift heavier weights, and lifting heavier weights means you’re building strength and muscle.
So how could that be wrong? (more…)
Continue reading about You Gotta Be Kidding Me- Bridging on the Bench Press
I love the term “resistance progression”.
I mean, really, think about it. Without any resistance, there would be no progression. Whether it’s in the weight room or in our own lives, facing resistance is how we make progress.
And at the very core of this term lies a simple message: if we continue to do things the way we have always done them before, we’ll always continue to see the same results we’ve seen before. New results come with new actions.
Without deviation, progress is not possible
-Frank Zappa
In order to continue our weight lifting progress, we must find ways to increase the resistance placed on our muscles. As promised, here are 10 ways to achieve resistance progression: (more…)
Continue reading about 10 Ways to Achieve Resistance Progression
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