Have You Been Working Out Part 3

Alright, so I introduced you to the people you are going to meet at the gym and the ways to fit in...now that you are there and in the habit of working out, there are four people that you need to stay away from if you want to stay focused. It is natural to slowly lose motivation to get down there in the first place, your life gets busy or you have other interests that seem more enjoyable than working out. Sometimes it's your bratty ass kids, your significant other or your job...all factors. The distractions facing you once you get there are almost as numerous.

Luckily, if you know how to make your workouts more disciplined and you can steer clear of these four people, you can fight back and stay on course to achieve your fitness goals. At least I hope you can.

No.4 - The Hot Chick (or maybe not)

 

This is a rule that will only apply to some of you (obviously), whereas others should make a beeline in her direction right away. Why the contradictory advice? Let me explain.

If seeing a hot chick in the gym sends your dopamine through the roof and you can barely control your procreative zeal then she is best avoided unless you want to injure yourself attempting some ludicrous personal best on the bench press. Been there done that.

On the other hand, if you can control yourself a bit better and use the (my iGoogle word of the day) pulchritudinous sight to inspire you to display your peacock feathers by training harder, stricter, and in an altogether more controlled fashion, then by all means make that beeline for the gym hottie!

Ladies, the same goes for you...just substitute girl for guy...you all have dopamine too

No.3 - Gadget Man

Every gym has one of these losers. His waist is synched in by the latest Valeo belt, he has heavy duty lifting gloves imported from Canada, a bench press suit from the States, hand chalk, a do rag, and Otomix trainers.

And he puts all these on just to do 3 sets of 10 on the leg extension and has only been using the gym for 3 months. He would have started a year ago but he didn’t think it would be worthwhile until he had all his gear ready.

Such people miss the point entirely and will suck you into their world of excuses if you let them. Whilst having the latest gadgets and gizmos can be good thing (I ensure that I've used all of them between Fitness First and Rainer Junge) they are no substitute for hard work and are only “icing on the cake” extras. Waiting until things are “perfect” is just plain silly as every week you delay is a week lost when you could have been making progress towards your goals. Get your sh*t together people...and by sh*t I don't mean accessories.

No.2 - Show Offs

Ladies, forgive me for referring to men here again but it sounds better on paper...definitely goes both ways though. When the pretty girl walks past we can’t help but subtly flex something or put an extra 20kg on the bar. However some characters are far worse than others. Please don’t get sucked into the poundage game with the moron who lives on the bench press, bounces the bar off his chest as if his sternum was a trampoline, and lifts his a$s so high up the bench it looks like he is being pleasured by the Invisible Woman.

Good lifting form is always paramount and "you are not in the gym to impress your mates" (Mike Magee voice) -- most of you are there to get the best results possible so that when you leave the gym you impress potential mates. There is a difference. Think about it.

No.1 - People Who Are At The Gym To Make Friends

If your training takes more than an hour, you are socializing more than you are working out. In between sets keep your head down, your mind focused, and take note that "cortisol levels rise and testosterone levels drop off a cliff if you try to push a weight training session much past the hour mark."

There will always be a bunch of guys who treat the gym as an extension of a boys club -- usually they are old timers at the gym who haven’t improved their physiques since the Berlin wall has been down. Do what I do to counteract these time vampires -- look grumpy and intense, and wear an iPod even if you don’t necessarily happen to be listening to any music!

Do What You Do      Hallelujah Hollaback       ...blackhercules21...