1)Lift better, not more- The main difference between why my clients and I get results, is because of my one main rule; lift better than everyone else, not more. So many people are going to the gym with the intentions that more weight means more muscle, and this just isn't the case. The main thing to focus on is the muscle and what is happening to it. When you lift a lot of weight with sloppy technique the muscle is often aided by other muscles close by because the load outweighs the muscle's capabilities. This means that you are in essence using different muscles who's origin and insertion (where they attach to bone) may even be over joints and this can make for injuries. For example, if you use too much weight when curling, your body will aid it by using the shoulder muscles. The perfect weight (often much lighter than you would think, Kai Greene often does curls with only 30-35lbs so he can feel the muscles tension) and the right slow speed will ensure the most force and tension is on the muscle you want and therefore you will get better growth gains. Fun fact; you actually build more muscle and strength when moving slower and fighting gravity, so don't just push the bar up on exercises like bench press, also take 5 seconds and control it on the way down! Technique is SO IMPORTANT. In addition, please guys, if you do not know the proper technique or you are new, please don't teach other people. Ask questions, watch online videos, talk to those you look up to, but please please don't give poor advice. Today at the gym I had to correct someone on how they were teaching their overweight friend how to do a back exercise. He was telling him the wrong tips and this was leading to an enormous amount of tension and torsion on the lumbar spine and could have led to serious injuries. I, as well as them, appreciate you wanting to help, but you can potentially do more harm than good. That is why personal trainers have so much liability insurance, things can go wrong, so let us or someone who knows the mechanics of the body help teach cues.
2) Eat to train, don't train to eat- Every healthy body comes from the right diet. Food is essential to attaining the proper body, and should not ever be overlooked. For some of you that are working out everyday you need to step back and not only reevaluate your workout, but also your diet. Do NOT say to yourself, "I worked out today I earned this cookie or cheesecake." Putting on weight is not simply calories in vs calories burned. If it were that simple all of us would be enormous because it takes around 60 flights of stairs to work off half an oreo! So eat the right types of foods, in some cultures those who are malnourished are even overweight because the 600 calories they eat a day are bad calories. (An awesome example out of the book Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes). For any further diet tips email me.
3) Don't rush it! You didn't put the weight on overnight so don't think you can take it off overnight. Don't quit before it's gone, stick with it and work smart and hard not just hard.
4) Too much or the wrong type of cardio- This is one of my pet peeves for women and overweight males. Running 10km everyday, will only make you better at running 10km. Doing the same cardio everyday leads to adaptation and you will end up burning minimal calories. I know some soccer players who run all the time, and they still are overweight, why? Because their body has adapted to the workout. In fact cardio often times burns less calories than circuit training and is in my mind a poor cure to getting rid of that extra weight. When doing cardio you want to have your muscles activated, if it feels easy, guess what, it is. The best cardio options in my mind (for steady state cardio) would be any ellipticals, steppers, or walking on an incline. With the stepper and incline, you are gaining muscle while you burn calories and this helps to burn more overall calories. When looking at the elliptical I really like it because it mimics the act of running without the impact and strain on your joints. I feel it is the best and healthiest cardio machine at most gyms, as it gives you the benefits without the injury. That being said I always recommend interval training when doing cardio. This is when you manipulate the intensities and time so your body is constantly switching energy systems. For example, hoping on the elliptical and doing 1 minute at 100% followed by 1 minute easy for 10 sets. Remember that you burn stored fats mostly when your HR max is around 70% and carbs around 80-85%. When looking at interval training you will actually burn more total calories as you will burn carbs and stored fat. If you are doing cardio on weight days I recommend doing it after and keep it steady, if it is an off day or a decent amount of time since your last workout (morning to night for ex.) I recommend interval training (unless it was a tough leg day).
5) Too many sets and reps- I see this all the time and this leads into over training. The ideal per body part (if you are doing focuses such as chest DAY or back DAY) is around 5 exercises of 3 sets. I often use 4 sets on my first exercise and 3 on the following ones. By working out with too many sets you over strain the muscle and hinder a lot of the hypertrophy gains (muscle size). I know this first hand because I did it as a young lifter, and when toning down my workouts put on a lot more gains. Remember guys, more isn't always better and will actually put you behind schedule. For the last 3 years, I have only done 3 triceps exercises a workout with the sets and reps being, 4x 8-12, 3 x 8-12, and 3 x 8-12. You can see my results below (yes it is a selfy at the gym and yes you can make fun of me but I use pictures to track progress and gains so I know what routines and supplements work for me). So stop doing so many sets and grow! If you are on testosterone boosters, BCAAs and or steroids, you can manipulate these numbers as your recovery times are different, but I will assume many of you are not.
Hope that helps guys !
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