Split Personality?

We finished our last set of our leg workout.

As I turned around from the water fountain, he looked at me and said, "sled?"

It was time. He had his game face on.

This guy seemed to always train like a madman.

There was no tomorrow. Today is the day. Give it all you got.

We were both exhausted already but then we pushed into another level with sled pushes.

Have you trained with guys like that? Or is that you? Maybe that's you every once in awhile. You let the animal out.

I've had phases where I've gone all out, every session. Then there were times I just went in and did the work.

Then there's those days you just turn it up a notch.

What's the best way?

Where I'm at in my fitness/strength training journey I believe it's best to train hard but live to fight another day. I enjoy a little soreness but I don't want it interfere with my next two or three days of workouts.

I enjoy training every day. Even if it's just a 30 minute session. You can do 3 sessions per week and make progress. Even 2 or 4 days. I just crave something physical daily. It makes my days better. More complete.

So what's your fitness personality? How does it affect your workouts and your recovery from training?

Sometimes you're in the gym and you just have to hit it hard. You need that push. That burn. The strain and struggle.

The fight with the iron. To see what you are made of. How far you can go..

Then there are those days you just need to show up and put in work. It's not going through the motions just doing the minimum and watching tv while coasting along. But it's not giving every single ounce of your energy either.

There's a time and a place for many fitness personalities. Choose wisely.

You Got Hurt Again?

I remember thinking I needed to catch up to the bigger guys at the gym as fast as I could. I didn't want them seeing me benching the light dumbbells for too long.

So I got injured lifting too heavy.

The injury healed up and soon after I could bench again with no pain I did it again.

With dumbbells on an incline.

A lot of coaches out there will tell you to use dumbbells if you have 'bad shoulders' and that the incline is often easier on the shoulders also.

But even if that is true, you can still mess your shoulders up if you lift improperly.

And what do I mean by improperly?

I mean lifting in a way that is not suited for your body. It will wreck your joints. Maybe not that day. Maybe not that month.. but eventually.

So you can do things 'right' according to others on the internet or a trainer/coach but only you are inside your body. Only you can feel the movement, the range of motion, the resistance, the stress, the pump, the stretch and the strength of the muscles and joints.

Don't be afraid to try different ranges of motion. Mix in various exercises. Try all kinds. If you find a handful that work for you and you don't desire more variety then go with that.

It's empowering to know that your strength and fitness plan is really up to you. There is no right or wrong, no matter what anyone says.

The Right Fitness Plan for You

With so much information out there, how do you know what fitness plan you should follow?

Before I answer the question let me just make it clear what I want to do with this blog. Since this is my first blog post on this new blog (I had hundreds on my old blog) I want to start out by letting you know that I like to keep things simple. I'm all about results. For myself, for my clients and for you, the reader.

With that being said, back to the question.

The best fitness plan and the best diet plan is the one you will follow. The one you will do. Where you will be consistent, make progress and it's something you can stick to long-term.

Now I could go many directions with this point but like I said, I want to make this simple. Let's talk results.

1- Be realistic. How many days can you see yourself committing to the gym? Be honest with yourself. Same for your diet plan. Can you see yourself sticking to whatever diet you choose for 80% or more of the time?

2. Find something you enjoy. If you hate to run then don't try to run yourself into shape. Or if you can't stomach going into a commercial gym then find a way to work out in your garage or find a small studio with a trainer to help you out.

3. Experiment. Try different programs. Give a program some time to work before changing it up all the time but if you dread going to the gym and don't look forward to your workouts at all then you may need to find something else. There's no hard rule that says you have to lift a certain way or only do certain exercises.  Find your own way!

That's it for now. 

In this age of technology and social media there's enough to read and videos to watch. We have short attention spans. How much info can we even hold in our minds?  So I will keep these short and to the point with the hopes that it will help someone. If you have more questions, feel free to email me.

I usually reply within a day with my honest opinion.