It’s amazing to me how many people waste time at the gym.
There’s a Rolling Stones song about having time on your side. And there are a lot of people who treat working out as though they have all the time in the world.
If you’re independently wealthy and can afford to take your time while working out because you don’t need to go to an actual job, great, but most of us are busy people. In fact, I’ve read several surveys about reasons for not working out, and No. 1 on the list always seems to be “lack of time.”
There is merit in being efficient in the gym. First off, it gives you time for other, non-gym stuff in life, and most importantly breeds greater mental intensity. You know that when you’re on a tight schedule, you need to kick some ass, so you do.
Personally, I am never in the gym for more than 60 minutes max and that includes having a shower. It’s interesting to observe people who practically live in the gym, spend several hours “working out” and yet they never seem to improve.
I get that social support is great for fitness motivation, but if you’re constantly chatting, it really distracts you from the task at hand: working out. What’s more, it’s important to time your rest breaks between sets appropriately: short breaks for endurance lifting (+12 reps), medium length breaks for hypertrophy (6-12 reps) and longer breaks for strength focused work (<6 reps). If you’re gabbing away all the time, you may end up taking longer breaks than necessary and doing less overall work in the gym.
For me, today was a leg day – Heavy Squats and hack lifts, thigh extensions, leg curls, calf raises and squat jumps followed with couple of sets of 50 kettlebell swings - very intense and done within 40 minutes. My routine is to get in, work with super intensity and get out. I stay focused and limit any conversation to before and after the workout.
It’s a New Year so the gym was full of people starting their resolutions hoping to regain their health and fitness. As often happens I was asked by someone how I got in shape, that they’d been working out for a year and hadn’t really improved. I told him that it was 80% diet and 20% working out and most of your working out should be hitting the iron, but the working out had to be intense and that you needed to push yourself. I told him to embrace the pain, pain isn’t your enemy; it is your call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and then spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.
I told him there is no quicker way to changing your body than to build muscle and that it was quite simple really:
There’s a Rolling Stones song about having time on your side. And there are a lot of people who treat working out as though they have all the time in the world.
If you’re independently wealthy and can afford to take your time while working out because you don’t need to go to an actual job, great, but most of us are busy people. In fact, I’ve read several surveys about reasons for not working out, and No. 1 on the list always seems to be “lack of time.”
There is merit in being efficient in the gym. First off, it gives you time for other, non-gym stuff in life, and most importantly breeds greater mental intensity. You know that when you’re on a tight schedule, you need to kick some ass, so you do.
Personally, I am never in the gym for more than 60 minutes max and that includes having a shower. It’s interesting to observe people who practically live in the gym, spend several hours “working out” and yet they never seem to improve.
I get that social support is great for fitness motivation, but if you’re constantly chatting, it really distracts you from the task at hand: working out. What’s more, it’s important to time your rest breaks between sets appropriately: short breaks for endurance lifting (+12 reps), medium length breaks for hypertrophy (6-12 reps) and longer breaks for strength focused work (<6 reps). If you’re gabbing away all the time, you may end up taking longer breaks than necessary and doing less overall work in the gym.
For me, today was a leg day – Heavy Squats and hack lifts, thigh extensions, leg curls, calf raises and squat jumps followed with couple of sets of 50 kettlebell swings - very intense and done within 40 minutes. My routine is to get in, work with super intensity and get out. I stay focused and limit any conversation to before and after the workout.
It’s a New Year so the gym was full of people starting their resolutions hoping to regain their health and fitness. As often happens I was asked by someone how I got in shape, that they’d been working out for a year and hadn’t really improved. I told him that it was 80% diet and 20% working out and most of your working out should be hitting the iron, but the working out had to be intense and that you needed to push yourself. I told him to embrace the pain, pain isn’t your enemy; it is your call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and then spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.
I told him there is no quicker way to changing your body than to build muscle and that it was quite simple really:
Here’s why you should commit to making weight training the cornerstone of you fitness program:
Weight Training will make you feel strong and fit – There is a reason this is number 1, it is the most important aspect. A feeling of strength and power will give you confidence you possibly never had. We have all heard the saying a strong body is a strong mind and it is absolutely true. Strength IS confidence.
Weight Training will help to burn more fat – There is a prevailing myth that the only way to burn fat is to do cardio. Nonsense, building solid muscle mass with an adequate diet is the absolute best way to get rid of those love handles. Muscle mass raises your metabolism. Muscle mass burns fat. Build more muscle to burn more fat. If you don’t have muscle mass to begin with cardio may help you lose weight but you will not get the toned look. At best you will look skinny-fat if all you do is cardio. That’s good enough for some, but it’s not good enough for you.
Weight Training will increase your energy – It’s an invigorating feeling getting under a bar and lifting what you never thought you could lift. That energy stays with you. There is no better high than after an intense workout; no chemical substance can match the feeling of calm after a great workout. Enough of the routines, driving to work, needing cup after cup of coffee, only to be exhausted by the time you get home, enough energy to eat pizza and watch tv all night long. Turn off the TV, put down the pizza, and pick up some weights. You will thank yourself later.
Weight Training will teach you discipline and hard work – You must remember, nothing good ever came from something easy. It takes hard work, pain, and sacrifice.
Weight Training will make you healthier – After several months of weight training you will notice you get less colds, flus, and other sicknesses. That is because regular exercise improves sleep patterns.
Better sleep + regular training = stronger immune system.
Your body has become stronger from the inside out. Weight Training will also help bone strength and density, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, depression and a host of other illnesses.
Weight Training will improve poor posture – In the age of the computer, many of us sit for long periods hunched over. This is horrible for our posture. Most people have weak backs, weak abdominals and walk with a hunch. Strengthen your body, especially your back and your abs, and walk upright with a purpose, a drive. Don’t walk hunched over like you’re ready to die at any moment. Life is for the living. Hit the weights.
Weight Training will help you look good naked – A strong body signals the opposite sex that you are healthy and that is sexy.
Weight Training is FUN – After you get through the initial phase of forcing yourself to get to the gym you may realize you actually enjoy being there. There is nothing better than pushing through plateaus and lifting weights heavier than you have ever dreamed. Breaking past your previous limitations is a thrill. It gets to be damned fun.
Weight Training will make you feel strong and fit – There is a reason this is number 1, it is the most important aspect. A feeling of strength and power will give you confidence you possibly never had. We have all heard the saying a strong body is a strong mind and it is absolutely true. Strength IS confidence.
Weight Training will help to burn more fat – There is a prevailing myth that the only way to burn fat is to do cardio. Nonsense, building solid muscle mass with an adequate diet is the absolute best way to get rid of those love handles. Muscle mass raises your metabolism. Muscle mass burns fat. Build more muscle to burn more fat. If you don’t have muscle mass to begin with cardio may help you lose weight but you will not get the toned look. At best you will look skinny-fat if all you do is cardio. That’s good enough for some, but it’s not good enough for you.
Weight Training will increase your energy – It’s an invigorating feeling getting under a bar and lifting what you never thought you could lift. That energy stays with you. There is no better high than after an intense workout; no chemical substance can match the feeling of calm after a great workout. Enough of the routines, driving to work, needing cup after cup of coffee, only to be exhausted by the time you get home, enough energy to eat pizza and watch tv all night long. Turn off the TV, put down the pizza, and pick up some weights. You will thank yourself later.
Weight Training will teach you discipline and hard work – You must remember, nothing good ever came from something easy. It takes hard work, pain, and sacrifice.
Weight Training will make you healthier – After several months of weight training you will notice you get less colds, flus, and other sicknesses. That is because regular exercise improves sleep patterns.
Better sleep + regular training = stronger immune system.
Your body has become stronger from the inside out. Weight Training will also help bone strength and density, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, depression and a host of other illnesses.
Weight Training will improve poor posture – In the age of the computer, many of us sit for long periods hunched over. This is horrible for our posture. Most people have weak backs, weak abdominals and walk with a hunch. Strengthen your body, especially your back and your abs, and walk upright with a purpose, a drive. Don’t walk hunched over like you’re ready to die at any moment. Life is for the living. Hit the weights.
Weight Training will help you look good naked – A strong body signals the opposite sex that you are healthy and that is sexy.
Weight Training is FUN – After you get through the initial phase of forcing yourself to get to the gym you may realize you actually enjoy being there. There is nothing better than pushing through plateaus and lifting weights heavier than you have ever dreamed. Breaking past your previous limitations is a thrill. It gets to be damned fun.
There’s a confidence gained in the gym that people who never train cannot understand. When someone first starts out and can barely bench 45 lbs and ups that to 225 lbs with steady, solid training the feeling of accomplishment is immense, when someone starts out deadlifting 95 lbs and ups that to 405 lbs that’s a huge boost to the ego. That’s something you can be proud of. Even if no one else in the world understands where you came from it doesn’t matter, you have accomplished what you once thought impossible and no one can take that away from you.
Discipline comes along for the ride. If you never had any before, you will after you start training. Weight training requires you eat right. You won’t even want to eat junk food anymore, your body will crave the good foods and you’ll want to eat those good foods. Heavy weight training requires you get good sleep, and you will. Weight training requires you get up off the couch and go to the gym and accomplish something. If you can manage that you will see what all the hype was about.
The real benefits of weight training have nothing to do with reducing body fat or a having a nice build. The real benefits have everything to do with relieving stress, getting out aggression, building confidence, giving you a positive mental attitude, giving you pride and developing discipline, all things which are foundational to Peak Performance and will help ensure a successful year in all aspects of your life.
Discipline comes along for the ride. If you never had any before, you will after you start training. Weight training requires you eat right. You won’t even want to eat junk food anymore, your body will crave the good foods and you’ll want to eat those good foods. Heavy weight training requires you get good sleep, and you will. Weight training requires you get up off the couch and go to the gym and accomplish something. If you can manage that you will see what all the hype was about.
The real benefits of weight training have nothing to do with reducing body fat or a having a nice build. The real benefits have everything to do with relieving stress, getting out aggression, building confidence, giving you a positive mental attitude, giving you pride and developing discipline, all things which are foundational to Peak Performance and will help ensure a successful year in all aspects of your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment