When it comes to physique transformation, I am a firm believer after years of working with a range of different clients (and in my own journey) that training is where the magic happens.
Yes diet matters, but think of your training as the rock and your diet as the chisel.
Your time at the gym lifting is your opportunity to tell your body to change, adapt and grow. Here are five ways you can ensure you are really maximizing that time this week:
1. Drink water! DO NOT dry scoop your pre workout. One, you’ll make a mess and two, you’ll miss out on the full benefits of those pump/energy ingredients (and caffeine increases overall water intake needs) without good old H2O. Water drives a good pump, a focused lift and helps with energy. 20 ounces before you leave for the gym and sip water throughout your training session. Carry a big 24 ounce bottle with you in your gym bag and keep it in sight so you remember to sip throughout. I’d also suggest a pinch of sea salt to optimally hydrate and ensure a good pump.
2. Use lifting straps. Any pull, row, deadlift or lunge the straps can benefit you. A secure grip is going to ensure you’re in that much better of a position to put tension on the target muscle, and not be flopping the weight around like a butter fingers If your primary goal is muscle growth, you can not have an ego about using straps. The goal is to move as much weight as possible, while maximizing tension on the target muscle. Lifting straps are a tool to help you do that. I like Versa Gripps or Cobra gripps.
3. Try not counting your reps. Do you find you struggle with pushing sets to, or close to failure? While it’s true we don’t need to (nor should we) take all exercises to failure, we should be training close to that point. One thing I like to have clients do when they’re struggling to “go there” is to not count their reps. I have them select a load they know they can do for about 10 reps, set up their camera to film the set so they can count the reps after the fact , get a good song on and don’t stop the set until your muscle can not generate any more force. Focus on the target muscle and the tempo. Every session you’ll unlock new levels.. Every time you “go there” you’ll find a new level to rise to. And that’s the fun of it all. I bet you have more reps in you than you think!
4. Roll the arches of your feet with a lacrosse ball before squats and deadlifts. Your feet are your base of support, having strong foot contacts and being able to maintain a “tripod foot” is important for force output and stability. A tripod foot entails having pressure on the base of the heel, base of the big toe and the base of the pinkie toe , and maintaining that balanced pressure throughout a movement. The arch rolling pre lift is something I’m often suggesting for clients to help prime them to do this in their training sessions.
5. Do cardio AFTER your training session. If you’re lifting and your primary goals are to build muscle and increase strength, that’s where we want to put our focus. A 5-10 minute warm up walk on the treadmill is totally okay to prime your body for your lift, but save any cardio until after you lift or separate it entirely either by the day or by several hours (i.e. morning cardio and lift in the evening). This ensures you have the energy and fuel to devote to progressing with the weights. And if you’re doing cardio for performance we want to train that separately from lifting.
Put these into action and see what benefits you notice to your performance!
If you are ready to elevate your training game and achieve your ideal physique, reach out to us via email at info@fortify-health.com for personalized coaching tailored to your goals.
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