1. The other day I showed up at the gym for what was supposed to be a heavy squat workout, but..
…after just a few warm up sets it was abundantly clear my lower back still wasn’t recovered from the previous leg workout.
So I switched to machines and single-leg work for higher reps. Success.
That’s how you “listen to your body.” Calling audibles in terms of exercise to get a training effect while staying healthy. Not crushing a box of Lucky Charms because you had a rough day and “needed the carbs.”
As for go heavy or go home? Talk to me in 20 years.
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2. It’s standard practice for a competitive bodybuilder/physique athlete to remove fruit from their diet, especially towards the end, to maximize fat loss.
But on Twitter that simple advice becomes:
“Don’t eat fruit. It’s loaded with sugar and makes you fat. Bodybuilders never eat fruit. Those guys are ripped.”
Twitter is the worst thing to happen to humanity since Karaoke.
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3. I know some very muscular people who do extended fasts regularly, follow very low carb diets, or eat low calories, but…
…the number that built their muscular foundations eating that way?
ZERO.
Before following someone else’s diet or training plan, consider where you both reside on the “muscular development continuum.”
If you’re at 6 out of 10 (which really means 3 or 4) and they’re at 9 out of 10 or better, it’s best to stick to what ALWAYS works. Like, you know, eating.
You can get really goofy with diet and maintain muscle size. But you gotta build it first, and in terms of diet that means an “all hands on deck” approach. Not one hand tied behind your back.
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4. If you have 50 minutes to train and spend 15 mins doing mobility drills to warm up — you’re doing it wrong.
Just do a couple specific mobility drills and then do progressive warm up sets of the first “big exercise.”
So if the first big lift is Bench Press, 4 x 6-8 with 275 pounds you might go:
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 2
275 x 6-8 (first work set).
Don’t go anywhere NEAR failure.
Limit rest between warm-up sets to just the time it takes to add more weight. The above should take less than 5 minutes.
Make sure your technique is near perfect. I prefer to call warm-up sets “rehearsal sets,” cause thats what you’re doing — rehearsing a very technique-specific skill. In other words don’t treat this work like half-assed jumping jacks.
Use the time saved at the end for a goal-specific 10 minute finisher, such as loaded carries, sled work, or hypertrophy circuits.
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5. Life extension isn’t all pills and needles.
– 30 min walk/day
– lift weights 3x week
– daily sunlight
– sleep 7-9hrs
– test for CPAP
– floss
– reg cancer screen (breast/prostate/skin)
– wear seatbelt
– don’t text & drive
– laughter
– life purpose
– don’t eat yellow snow
What’d I miss?