I am by no means calling myself an expert or a leading authority on the subject of exercise. I am a firm believer though, if you do something long enough and with enough commitment you can eventually come close to being somewhat of an authority. Throughout these years I have experienced many ups and downs. I have learned what types of things to do and much more importantly, what types of things to NOT do. Weight lifting has been one of my passions for the last eight years. In a few short weeks I am taking this passion and pursuing underwear modeling. In order to get my body in the kind of shape which is required I have had to obsess, study, research, sacrifice, and recommit myself like never before. After much debate and thought I have basically determined the key to successful exercise, whether it is weight lifting or cardio, is much like anything else, it is all about your attitude. If you can enter the session with the right mindset and apply this same mindset throughout, you will like the results you see.
Attitude is all about the following…
-Goals
-Motivation
-Being realistic
-Mindset
Goals:
Goals are a great part of life. They can drive us, guide us and help us reach a certain point in a specific amount of time. With exercise you need long as well as short term goals. What goals you set for yourself are exactly that, for yourself. Choose specific things you would like to accomplish for you. It is important to establish goals and to have something in the distance to strive for. This can be reaching a certain body weight, being able to lift a certain amount on a machine or maybe running a set distance. It really doesn’t matter what the goal is. If you have a direction in which you are aiming for it helps bring everything else together. My advice to you is to not focus on a “timely goal.” What I mean is do not head into the gym saying “I’m only going to work out for an hour.” Rather choose a certain amount of sets you want to finish, or an amount of miles you want to run, and leave when those miles or sets are completed. If you just focus on an overall time you may not get in as much real work. The best method is to combine the two. (I want to run five miles in 35 minutes. This way you have a goal, and you want to accomplish it in a certain amount of time. Now if you do not get it done in 35 minutes, do not stop, simply keep going until you are done.) Often when we set a certain amount of time as our only goal, we focus on that time and not the actual exercise. Try to set time out to exercise when time constraint is not a factor, that way you won’t be obliged to hurry your exercise which usually leads to a loss of form and energy.
Motivation
Motivation is one of the biggest parts of exercise which I think often people don’t think about in ways they could. The most obvious factor which everyone realizes when they exercise is the utilization of music. It is no coincidence when you enter any gym you will see 8/10 people listening to music. Music is a great motivator. It can help drive us, take our mind off of the exercise, and can relax us as well. My advice to you is to find that one song, that one song where when you hear it you feel like you can do anything. Find that song that specifically speaks to you and motivates you like none other. It does not matter what genre the music is. If you like running to Backstreet Boys, then by all means run to “Quit playing games with my heart.” My personal song is ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem. When I hear this song it drives me like nothing I have ever experienced. Put your song or songs on repeat during the toughest part of your workout and you will be amazed at the results.
Of course we all know about music, and many of us already use it during exercise. I have recently developed my own method of motivation which I call “storing.” Ignoring the fact this is a horrible name, it is better to focus on how easy and effective this method is. I have been doing this for about seven months now and it has helped me through countless sessions in the weight room. You simply store up all the recent negative things that happen to you and then when you are struggling during exercise you simply think about these things and use the anger as a driving force. When I get made fun of, do poorly in school, get a speeding ticket, get in a fight with a friend or family member, I store these feelings away and then use them during exercise. It allows you to use your negative feelings as an advantage. I am sure this sounds stupid but I promise you it works. Store the negative things away and when you are most struggling during exercise, pull them out and think about them. It will help you finish reps as well as forget, and forgive (and no, I could not be any cheesier).
Being realistic
One of the biggest mistakes people make when they exercise is to expect results which are unrealistic. Changing your body and improving your health takes time, effort, and hard work. If you take short cuts to achieve success in exercise, it will be that much easier to lose that very same success. Example: If I work for a year to reach a certain strength level naturally, but my friend takes pills and reaches that same strength in four months, who do you think will be the one to lose his progress first? It’s going to be the one who took the pills. The longer you work at something, the longer it will be until you lose that strength, or body type, etc. You have put more hours and time into achieving that progress so naturally it is going to take more time for you to lose it (assuming you both quit exercising). You have to be honest with yourself and realize you are not going to have a six pack after two weeks of working out. You are not going to be in marathon shape after a month of running. You are not going to see your arms get bigger after one session in the gym, no matter how long you stay there. These goals take time and lots of hard work. Be willing to apply that hard work and time and no one can take those accomplishments from you.
Mindset
When you enter the gym or head out for a run you should be focused on whatever it is you are doing. If you truly want to see results and get bigger, faster, gain more endurance, etc, then you should be wholeheartedly committed to your task. My own personal piece of advice is do not bring your phone to the gym. It will only distract you and keep you unfocused. I use to bring my phone all the time, and much like everyone else I see, I would text and get distracted. This usually ends up in longer unwanted gym time, or jus cutting parts of your exercise out. (This does not apply for cardio workouts. With cardio, it is obviously easy to work out and use a phone). Once you begin your exercise you should be able to accomplish four things by the time you are finished (again these are all just my opinion).
1.) Work yourself hard enough to sweat, no matter what temperature you are in.
2.) At some point in the exercise you should hate what you are doing.
3.) Don’t leave any regrets on the table.
4.) You should feel great at the end of every exercise.
1.)If you are able to work hard enough every time you exercise to sweat, even in cold environments, you are doing something right, (obviously the more you sweat, remember to drink water, and lots of it).
2.) I found that during exercise at some point (at a certain point in your workout, not for the entire duration) I should be working so hard and giving my full energy that I absolutely hate what I am doing. I am wishing for it to be over and done with for the day. I am not saying kill yourself in the weight room and lift unsafely. I am simply saying to give your full effort and push yourself. The great thing about this negative feeling is it will pass as you get further into your workout. If you can achieve this feeling, you are truly pushing yourself. Weight lifting is not meant to be fun, if it was every person in the world would be fit and look like a bodybuilder. (Running or cardio would be a possible exception. You can run long distances and truly enjoy what you are doing)
3.) You should never end a session or even a single set in the gym if you feel like you didn’t use the correct form or didn’t lift the bar far enough, etc. If you just completed your 5th set but you know you half-assed the effort, go back and redo the set. Never leave any regrets behind when you know you could have done better. You will only be hurting yourself in the end by not giving your full.
4.) We lift to become healthier, to lose weight, to fulfill a New Year’s resolution, to prepare for beach season, or to impress a girl or boy. We lift because it makes us feel better and can help improve our self-esteem or self-image. When you get done exercising you should feel great about yourself. Walk away knowing you pushed yourself and just remember getting to the gym is half the battle.
If you can accomplish these four things each time you exercise you will truly begin to see results and reach your goals, I can promise you that. It will take time and lots of hard work but you will eventually get there.
Weight Loss
Everyone who has ever wanted to lose weight wants to lose it as soon and as quick as possible. The body simply was not meant to go up and down in weight. This isn’t to say it cannot be done, it just isn’t healthy. Now we all know the main goal of weight loss is to look and feel better, but also to make the dropped pounds last. Anyone can lose weight; it is much more difficult to keep the weight off however. This is the main reason I personally have never been a fan of a diet. Dieting and a diet are two different things in my mind. Dieting means you watch your calories, sodium, fat, cholesterol, etc. Participating in a diet means you are using such programs as Jenny Craig, Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc. There is nothing wrong with these methods and they do work. In order for them to work though you have to keep using them or the pounds are going to come back. No one really wants to stay on a diet for long extended periods of time. If you cut down on your daily calories, eat fast food less, watch your alcoholic drinks from time to time you will see the pounds drop. If you add in exercise you will see an even greater impact and one that doesn’t force you to change your lifestyle as much as a diet does. Just as the above example the faster you lose weight, the quicker the weight is going to come back. Weight loss is not meant to be easy, fun, or a quick process. Keep at it and you will see results, slowly but surely. Weight loss is obviously harder for some people versus others and maybe these methods will not work for you, but giving them a try cannot hurt either.
