7 Gym Lessons

Posted Jan 29, 2010 by nia shanks. This entry is filed under weight loss, strength training, fat loss, and nutrition.

photo by lost2society via flickr

Check Out These Seven Gym Lessons That You Can Apply to Your Training and Nutrition

1) Everyone has heard the popular slogan “no pain, no gain!” Well, I am not a believer in that phrase if someone is experiencing physical pain, and I'm not talking about stopping a set just because your muscles are burning. If a certain movement or exercise causes physical pain, stop!

Physical pain is not necessary for success, and in fact is very counterproductive. However, there are times when the phrase “no strain, no gain” can be applied. For instance, if you are trying to increase your strength, then there are going to be times when you’re going to have to strain to push (or pull) a heavy weight.

Another phrase I prefer: “no brain, no gain”. Don’t just train hard, but please, train smart. Doing stupid stuff in the gym will just get you injured.

2) Have a reason for everything you do in the gym. So many people just go through the motions at the gym, and bounce mindlessly from one exercise to the next. Have a plan of action and stick to it.

3) Focus on one primary goal at a time. Most people want to be leaner, stronger, faster, and more muscular all at the same time. Well, you will get much better results if you focus on one goal at once. For instance, if you want to lose the extra fat, then focus your efforts on a fat loss program for a while. After that, if you want to get stronger, then have a plan specifically for that and stick to it.

4) You don’t have to puke or crawl out of the gym exhausted after every workout. Unfortunately too many people judge the effectiveness of their workout by how fatigued and exhausted they are after the workout and how badly they hurt the next day. The show Biggest Loser has only increased this false mentality.

This is just wrong. Yes, some days you may feel completely drained after a training session, but this shouldn’t be the norm, and it should not be the goal for every workout. You shouldn’t drive yourself into the ground every time you train. This can lead to injury, and definitely burn out.

Today I had a great training session, and when I was done I had a lot of energy and felt great. Does that mean I didn’t train hard enough? Absolutely not.

Just focus on your performance in the gym, and do better than your previous workout. Do not try to push yourself until it’s physically impossible to do any more.

5) Do a proper warm-up. If you just walk into the gym, load up the bar and start training, you're not only setting yourself up for injury, but you're not going to perform at your best.

Here's a fast and effective warm-up you can do before a lower body workout: jump rope for 2-3 minutes and then perform the following mobility drills for 8-10 reps each: butt kicks, high knees, spiderman crawls, reverse lunges with overhead reach, lateral lunges, bird dogs, and hip extensions.

6) Try a shake for breakfast. This isn’t a “gym lesson”, but I’m including it in this post anyway. And no I am not talking about some store bought shake, or even a protein shake. This one is much healthier and is full of antioxidants, fiber, and other wonderful stuff. Just throw some fruit, nuts and/or nut butters, and spinach or kale into a blender and enjoy.

Here’s what I had this morning and it was awesome:

• Mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries)
• One banana
• Some natural peanut butter
• Some raw almonds
• A lot of cinnamon
• Two big handfuls of kale
• Two big handfuls of spinach

I just blended all that until smooth. Healthy, yummy goodness at its finest! And don’t worry, you don’t even taste the kale or spinach. I love these shakes because it’s a quick and easy way to get in a lot of fruits and veggies, and it actually tastes great. Definitely give it a try.

7) Never, ever do this:

What would you add to this list?