What You Should Not Do When Losing Weight

Let’s take an alternative view at losing weight and identify three key (yet common) things that you should not do when losing weight.  This could save you a lot of time, effort and disappointment in your weight loss endeavours!

Weight Loss Don’t #1: Do Not Starve Yourself When Losing Weight

You may be familiar with the concept of calories in versus calories out. In a nutshell, to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit. However, taking this to the extreme by starving yourself can have some major side effects.

When I refer to “starving” yourself, I mean creating such a significant calorie deficit that you become lethargic, malnourished, moody and generally unhappy. You don’t necessarily need to eat “nothing” to starve yourself.

Starving yourself can lead to a significant amount of muscle loss, decreasing your basal metabolic rate (your BMR, or the number of calories you expend naturally each day). This will lead to a slowing of your metabolism.

Further, you can run into an array of medical problems by taking such an unhealthy approach to weight loss. Food allergies are just the beginning – you may develop toxic chemical imbalances, a serious eating disorder or become hospitalised.

Weight Loss Don’t #2: Do Not Follow a Fad Diet

A fad diet is often a form of starvation. Two common fad diets come in the form of a protein shake diet (that significantly reduces carbohydrates – an important nutrient) or a fad detox diet (that may reduce your intake of a whole range of nutrients).

Apart from the health concerns associated with the vast majority of fad diets, their long-term sustainability is very poor. Of course, if you undertake a diet, it is unlikely that you will want to adhere to it for 5, 10, 20 or 50 years. So, what happens once you come off the fad diet?

In theory, it seems easy to follow a fad diet, lose 10kg and then maintain the lower weight. But in practice this is nearly always not the case. The reason is because your body adapts to the lifestyle to which you subject it to. A fad diet (or, a temporary fix), will result in a significant calorie deficit and thus your body will change due to the calorie limitations. Stop the fad diet and resume eating “normal” foods and your body will adapt to this new environment that you subject it to.

Upon the conclusion of your fad diet, if you were to eat in a highly controlled manner and exercise regularly, you could keep that weight off. By why does this rarely happen? The reason is because during the fad diet, you do not learn how to develop new lifestyle habits. Instead, you learn how to use excessive amounts of willpower to follow an unrealistic and unsustainable approach to weight loss.

If you were just to follow the “maintenance plan” (ie. the healthy eating and exercise) in the first place, you would lose weight anyway. This is because again, your body adapts to the environment you subject it to.

And of course, this is not to mention the high incidence of binge food eating that occurs as a result of fad dieting. When you starve your body of essential nutrients (eg. good quality carbohydrates and fats), you will work up some HUGE cravings for them!

Weight Loss Don’t #3: Do Not Focus on Losing Weight as Quickly as Possible

This is the hardest part of weight loss. Nowadays, we all want everything yesterday! We are extremely impatient by nature and ultimately focus on the short-term rather than the long-term.

If you have been experiencing some yo-yo dieting in your lifetime, this is most likely heavily influenced by a focus on the short-term rather than the long-term.

Let’s assume that your weight has been fluctuating for the past five years and you’re approximately the same weight as five years ago, yet you want to lose 15kg. Five years ago, if you said to yourself, “I am going to lose 6kg a year”, that would seem pretty reasonable, wouldn’t it? It’s 0.5kg a month, which is an eighth of a kilogram a week. You could easily accomplish this by doing exactly what you are doing now, but by adding in a walk (or two) a week. Alternatively, you could cut out a few glasses of wine indefinitely, or choose to reduce the number of take-away meals you have each week.

Taking this approach, you would have accomplished your 15kg weight loss goal two and a half years ago (probably much sooner).

Conversely, assuming you have taken the short-term approach, you may wish to lose 15kg in 7.5 weeks. This may be influenced by some of the marketing that floats around this industry, making such a phenomenal degree of weight loss seem realistic to the average person. Well, 15kg in 7.5 weeks isn’t realistic for most of us (and nor is this sustainable!).

So, that would equate to 2kg a week. This will take some SERIOUS lifestyle renovating to sustain this degree of weight loss. You may have to:

1. Exercise 6 days a week, possibly twice a day at high intensities
2. Significantly reduce what you are eating
3. Move around as much as possible

This is an extremely unhealthy approach to weight loss mind you – 2kg of weight loss per week can increase the risk of various health complications.

But assuming that you did attempt a drastic lifestyle change, how long could you keep this up? Sure, you may be motivated in weeks 1 and 2…but come week 4 it is going to be really draining. It may even get to the point where you are so completely exhausted that you decide to throw in the towel and treat yourself to a bucket of ice-cream (or three).

If this has happened to you in the past, don’t fret – this happens to many, many people who yearn for a skinnier body. It all comes down to correct mindset and smart approaches to achieving your goal. So if you have failed in the past, there certainly is hope!

Hopefully here I have demonstrated the effect of short-term versus long-term thinking. A year or two may seem like a very long time, but this is exactly how you have to think if you want to take control of your body once and for all.

You may wish to read further on this topic that I have written about comprehensively. Here are two links to get you started:

Yo-Yo Dieting

How to Lose Weight

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How to Reduce Stress Naturally

Stress is a growing problem in our society. With longer days at work and more things to worry about, stress can begin to take over your life. So, let’s discuss some ways to reduce stress naturally.

Quality and Length of Sleep

I once read an article on stress that referenced a study quoting the fact that a century ago, we used to sleep on average 10 hours a night. Nowadays, many of us barely manage 6 hours of quality sleep! I personally have a number of personal training clients who are up all hours of the night working their butts off (sometimes to 2 or 3pm!). No wonder life is so stressful if there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done!

It is recommended to obtain 7-8 hours of high quality sleep each night. In doing so, you will significantly reduce the impact that stress has on your life. Sleep should be one of the most important aspects to your life, for without sleep, you run into many problems including:

• Increased stress levels!
• Lack of concentration, productivity and general brain function
• Inhibiting recovery from exercise
• Increasing the frequency and degree of food cravings
• Creating chemical imbalances that affect mood, fluid retention, metabolic pathways etc.
• Placing stress on your cardiovascular system and increasing the risk of various diseases
• Just burning out!

When you consider that sleep is often sacrificed to get work accomplished, yet lack of sleep will significantly inhibit your ability to focus and produce good quality, efficient work, sacrificing sleep isn’t always the most appropriate action to take. Yes, there are certainly times when this cannot be avoided, but as soon as sleep deprivation becomes habitual, something seriously needs to be changed (if not for your work output, for your general health!).

Sleep is a key ingredient to recharging your batteries and reducing stress naturally.

Quality Nutrition

A healthy dietary intake is essential for the normal functioning of the human body. Food provides your body with the nutrients required to maintain a healthy chemical balance. Of course, a well balanced diet affects your stress levels.

Food greatly affects your brain function. Whilst all nutrients are important (including water, proteins, minerals etc.), here are three very important nutrients for correct brain function:

• Carbohydrates
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids
• Vitamin B’s (particularly B6 and B12)

Carbohydrates are the only source of energy that your brain can utilise to function, so it is imperative that you obtain a healthy intake of carbohydrate throughout your day. Aim to consume plenty of low-GI carbohydrate sources. This can be sourced from many whole-grains, fruits and dairy products.

There is a reason why fish has been termed “brain food”, it’s because of the high prevalence of omega-3 fatty acids. Both omega-3 fats and vitamin B6/B12 have profound benefits on correct brain functioning. It is imperative therefore that you ensure that your diet is sufficient in these nutrients. Aim to consume plenty of fish regularly, alongside a variety of vegetables for optimal micronutrient supply.

Exercise

Exercise can be so therapeutic to reduce stress naturally. During your workout, exercise is a great way to “pause” all your thoughts and just focus on yourself. Turning off your brain for a half hour can be greatly beneficial to give you that much needed mental break.

One very profound benefit of exercise is the endorphin secretion that happens upon the conclusion of your workout. That “high” that you feel following a vigorous workout is actually the result of chemical compounds released from your brain. These endorphins are greatly beneficial in reducing stress naturally.

Try exercising first thing in the morning before you go to work and see what effect an intense exercise session has on your day.

Mental Rest

No one can focus indefinitely – we all need a mental break aside from sleep and exercise. Here are some general guidelines extracted from Brian Tracy’s “21 Ways to Double Your Productivity”:

• Take at least 1 full day off per week
• Take at least 2 full weeks off per year as a holiday

Give yourself some much needed downtime and this will come back to reward you immensely.

I do hope that these general tips assist you in reducing stress naturally. Of course, there are many lifestyle factors to consider, but these four aspects can certainly have a profound effect upon stress.

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Drinking a Protein Shake After a Cardio Workout

If you’ve been wondering whether you should drink a protein shake after your cardio workout, then you’re not alone. This has got to be one of the most common supplementation questions out there! After all, a protein shake is there to build muscle, right? And cardio isn’t effective for muscle growth…right?

Well actually, no, these assumptions are actually quite incorrect. This could lead to the presumption that a protein shake is not necessary following a cardio workout. (You may wish to read an article I published entitled “Cardio & Bodybuilding – Good for Muscle Growth?“)

Another misconception is that because cardio is highly effective for weight loss, a protein shake could limit the “fat burning effect” by increasing the number of calories you consume.

Let’s take a step back and look at what cardio is – a form of exercise. Exercise is a means of placing physical stress on your body. You “stress” your body in order to force it to adapt to the stimulus.

In the case of an intense cardio workout, you are forcing your fitness level to increase once the cardio session has concluded. Your body will improve its fitness so it can handle this physical stress more effectively, in case it is subject to this form of exercise again in the near future. This “overcompensation” is how you train your body to become the shape that you wish it to be.

Considering that the major physiological changes happen after your intense workout has concluded (fat loss, fitness enhancement, muscle development etc.), it is therefore important to provide your body with the essential nutrients to facilitate these changes. Just like a house builder requires  materials to build a house (bricks, wood, concrete etc.), your body requires nutrients to maximise the many changes that take place upon the conclusion of your workout.

Following the conclusion of your intense workout, your body is dire need of nutrients. It’s like a sponge and will soak up nutrients to assist in the recovery process. A protein shake is a unique tool that can provide your body with some fact acting nutrients to support this recuperation process. Two key ingredients include:

• Fast-absorbing, high quality proteins (eg. Whey Protein Isolate, as found in many quality protein powders)
• High GI carbohydrates (eg. Dextrose)

Other supplements such as vitamin c/e (antioxidants), l-glutamine (immune support), free-form BCAA’s (branched chain amino acids) may also be of use in your protein shake after an intense cardio workout.

So in summary, following an intense cardio workout, you should drink a protein shake comprised of effective supplements – for nearly all goals. Not supplementing may very well inhibit your recovery, thus reducing your results. Further, you will also place your body at a heightened risk of becoming run down with a lowered immune response.

A low-intensity cardio workout however is another story. If you are performing a low-intensity session, then a protein shake may not be necessary. This is because the degree of “stress” placed on your body from exercise is minimal.

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Nerds Listen Up! Getting in Shape & Joining the Gym Advice

Are you what others refer to as a “nerd”? Or, in more politically correct terms, do you have a passion for less socially desirable activities such as maths, science or computers? And, have you always wanted to get in good shape, but felt intimidated by other, more socially adept people in the gym?

If the answer is yes, I can certainly relate to your situation. Whilst I am quite the health and fitness enthusiast, I have been (and still am) quite a bit of a “nerd”. Here are some of my high school qualifiers:

• I hated physical education with a passion and didn’t particularly look forward to sport
• I was never part of the “cool group”
• I played handball right up until year 12 during lunch breaks
• I was quite intimidated by girls
• In year 12, I would spend many of my free periods studying in the library away from friends in preparations for my HSC
• My year 12 subjects included Maths Extension 2 (ie. 4 unit maths), Physics, Chemistry and English Advanced (although I would have picked Biology or Computer Science if English wasn’t mandatory)
• I passed on many social outings to study for my HSC

Yes, I was a nerd. And the reason why I say that I still am is because I still have a strong passion for business, science and maths, I have a strong thirst for knowledge, I love documentaries and I’ve practically coded this entire website in PHP. In fact, a major reason why I began this personal training business is because this industry  really lacks in the number of nerds available to service it. Science is just so important in health and fitness!

Why am I telling you this? Well, I have been a fitness enthusiast ever since I stepped foot in a gym. But the fact is that the gym is a really intimidating place – especially for many people who fall into this politically incorrect category of being a “nerd”.

In high school, the stereotype dictates that only the “cool” people go into the gym – their great looking bodies compliment their near imperfect faces. Meanwhile, nerds are stereotypically supposed to have glasses, have a bad case of acne, be overweight, have very low self-esteem and never even think about being active…let alone join a gym!

Think about the humiliation a nerd would have to endure if they stepped foot into a gym where the seemingly “cool” people go to train. This is a thought that ran through my mind numerous times in high school when I did initially contemplate going into the gym and getting in shape. I thought I’d be laughed at and utterly humiliated because I was so grossly out of shape. Just imagine how tiny I would feel with these larger than life, buff and good looking guys staring at me thinking “what on Earth is he doing in a gym?!”.

Does that sound familiar at all? Well if it does, you’re not alone – there are many people who refuse to step foot into a gym because of this fear. But the truth of the matter is that if this were true, the whole industry would go bust, as the majority of gym patrons are actually out of shape and  seeking to lose weight. A typically gym is not full of buff guys that are going to laugh at you (that’s just a stereotype and something that you see in the movies).

If you do fall into this category and really yearn to do something about your physique once and for all, then you owe it to yourself to take control of your body. You will only even have one body, and the social stigma of a gym being a “cool peoples retreat” is a load of hogwash. The sooner you can wake up to that reality, the better.

I do understand that taking the plunge and actually stepping foot in a gym can be a huge step if you do feel a strong sense of intimidation. If this is too much for you to handle, take one step at a time so you can minimise the heightening of your anxiety levels.

The first thing that I would suggest is for you to do some reading of your own. If you actually have a feel for what you’re doing, it won’t seem that big a deal. I would strongly recommend reading through a number of articles freely available on this website (covering an array of topics including muscle gain, weight loss, nutrition, mindset, confidence levels etc).

I would also strongly recommend reading my weight loss book, “How to Transform the Average Joe in 12 Weeks”. If you can relate to this particular article, I’m very confident that you would get a lot of value from my personal experiences when I undertook a 12 week challenge. There is also a comprehensive “how-to” guide included in the book to get you started toward accomplishing your goals.

After you have a sense of what needs to be done, try speaking to a professional. There is nothing more discouraging than trying to accomplish your goals based on your general reading and failing. If you have a professional to sit down with you and discuss a viable approach in detail, then you’ll have every chance at being successful. We of course offer highly professional personal training services.

Once you’ve got an idea of what you’re doing, you have a plan and you are also armed with professional advice, that’s when joining a gym will just become “another step” in you accomplishing your goals. You’ll find that you will be a lot more confident knowing that you’ve done your homework and are aligned for success.

I do hope that you have obtained some value from this article, especially if you do classify yourself as a “nerd”. A gym can be a great tool to utilise in achieving your health and fitness goals that is there for all people, including yourself.

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Pedometers & Shaker Bottles Now Available to Buy in Store!

I am very happy to announce that we have two brand new products available in our store today:

• Pedometers
• Shaker Bottles

Both of these accessories are extremely useful for anyone who is conscious of their health, fitness, well being and body shape. So, I thought I’d give a bit of a blurb on each of these products.

Pedometers

Pedometers are an amazing tool that can be used extensively to monitor your daily activity. Something that I strongly suggest for my weight loss clients is to move around as much as possible to increase their calorie expenditure. A number of clients have expressed to me that they would love to get their hands on a straight forward pedometer so they could actually measure their steps throughout the day – hence why we have gone out and stocked our own exclusive range of pedometers!

When you are heading towards a weight loss goal, I do believe that you treat your exercise and nutrition as objectively as possible. A key component in doing this is to keep a record of exactly what you do and then review it regularly. You can then see how your nutrition/activities affect your rate of weight loss and modify then as necessary.

Obviously it is far more accurate to say “I have walked 10,000 steps today”, rather than “I walked around a bit today”. You could continue this for a week and aim to increase the number of steps to 11,000 per day. Without a pedometer, you are left to guess your daily levels of activity. This subjective approach to weight loss can be highly detrimental to your results because you don’t know “exactly” what you have done. Nor can you measure your activities accurately.

Another big advantage of pedometers is that by acquiring one, you will be a lot more conscious of how active you are. Using this tool regularly will boost your motivation and accountability levels because you cannot kid yourself out of “x” number of steps.

We are selling our pedometers for a very reasonable $7 each, which is an amazing price for such an accurate piece of equipment. If you are interested in buying one, please follow this link to find out more information about our pedometer.

Shaker Bottles

Shaker bottles have got to be one of the most convenient inventions for fitness enthusiasts. If you take a protein shake, it can be a nightmare stirring it in a glass (it will go gluggy), or putting it in your drink bottle (and spill powder everywhere!). So, today, we have introduced our own range of shaker bottles!

A shaker bottle is a shaker bottle right? Well, for the most part, yes. But I did test an extensive range of shaker bottles to ensure that these are leak free. I have had some bad experiences with shaker bottles in the past where you end up losing half your protein drink!

Anyway, our shaker bottles are available for only $4.70 – the best price I could find in Australia actually (and typically sell for 2-3 times this price). If you’re looking for good quality shaker bottles, grab them in our store. Click on the following link to check out our shaker bottle.

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Dealing with Unsupportive People when Losing Weight

A question that I encounter often from clients is “How do I deal with unsupportive people when I am trying to lose weight?” It is a very common issue, so if you around people who do not support your health and fitness goals, you are definitely not alone!

Being a personal trainer, I am fortunate enough to interact with a variety of clients who vary in their:

• Gender
• Age
• Goals
• Exercise Experience
• Body Shape
• Mindset
• Personality
• Marital Status
• Determination
• Motivation
• …and of course practically every other aspect to a person

Interestingly, people from all the above categories struggle with this issue of unsupportive people. This ranges from people who are just starting out, to others who have been training for years and are in excellent shape.

Trust me, this problem does not go away. This is something that I have personally been subject to for years due to my passion for health and fitness. Whilst eventually people may accept your choices, there will always be the people who would love to see you fail (often because they aren’t happy in their own skin!).

Here are a few very common examples of unsupportive people:

1. People at work trying to force you to eat something that you really don’t want to eat
2. Family members telling you that you are too skinny
3. Friends who practically shove a beer in your face when you would rather remain sober and focused on your own personal goals

It may be subtle, or it may be “laugh-in-your-face” (yes, I once had someone laugh in my face prior to my BodyBlitz competition many years ago). Either way, it’s a fact of life for most of us.

Speaking from personal experience, I do the following:

Distance yourself from these people. Whilst not always possible, do you really want to be around people who don’t have your best interests at heart? Furthermore, pessimistic people don’t really help you accomplish success in your life, so why would you want to spend your time hearing about how poorly you are doing?

Don’t let it get to you. If you want to accomplish something that is perfectly healthy, then go for it. This is your goal, not theirs. Why sacrifice your judgement for someone else’s?

In saying this, I do emphasise that this is a “healthy” goal. If you are chasing after something that is unhealthy, then someone else may very well be a voice of reason and this may be misconstrued as being “unsupportive”.

Have a conversation with the important people in your life and explain to them the reasons as to why you are doing this. Maybe they don’t understand just how important your goals are to you. Or maybe they don’t understand how their thoughts are being projected onto you.

Accept that people love to criticise others. Don’t let it get to you – accept the fact that many other people will try “level” with others to make themselves feel better. Some people are so insecure with themselves that they try to take down others around them to give themselves a bit of a boost. This is no reflection on you.

Use this to fuel your fire. If someone says that you “cannot” accomplish something, use it to your advantage to motivate yourself to accomplish that goal. This is actually a really powerful technique in turning negative energy into positive energy.

I’d love to hear your comments on this topic if you have any experiences or advice for others. This is such a common scenario for many people seeking to improve themselves and I’m sure we would all benefit by sharing ideas.

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How to Build Muscle Fast

I entitled this article “how to build muscle fast” for one primary reason – to target someone who has searched this up and landed on this particular page. So, if you’re seeking to quickly gain massive amounts of muscle mass, this page is for you!

I’m going to make some assumptions to premise the context of this article. I am assuming that you:

• Have been weight lifting for less than a year (or not at all)
• Have seen minimal results from training (if you have been training)
• Have a relatively basic knowledge of how to build muscle (let alone quickly)
• Want big results quite quickly

So, here’s a “getting started guide”. Below I have created a list of important points that you must consider when seeking to build muscle fast.

Muscle growth occurs when you are resting. There is a big misconception that muscle development occurs when you are lifting weights – not so. Weight lifting only stimulates the muscle building process. Once you have finished your workout, the body is hard at work to develop muscle tissue.

More exercise is not necessarily better. Building further upon the fact that muscle development occurs when you are rested, you can therefore be doing more harm than good by exercising too often. Too much exercise can inhibit recovery and thus cease muscle growth. This also includes training the same muscles too often – exercising the same muscle group multiple times per week can significantly hamper muscle growth.

Effective nutrition is vital. The food you consume provides your body with the necessary nutrients to build muscle. Just like a builder requires the appropriate materials to build a house, your body requires the appropriate nutrients to develop muscle. You need to ensure that you obtain sufficient calories and nutrients through a well rounded, whole-food based diet (and of course supplements can assist).

Protein is NOT muscle and muscle is NOT protein. Some companies will play on the notion that muscle has a high amino acid (protein constituent) and you must therefore supplement with excessive amounts of protein. This is certainly not the case as your body can only utilise a finite amount of protein in a given time. Furthermore, carbohydrates and fats are vital to build muscle – they are no less important than proteins in the muscle building process.

Cardio can actually aid muscle development. If performed correctly, cardiovascular exercise can actually help you to build muscle fast. However, you need to be smart in your training approach. (After reading this article, check out my comprehensive article “Cardio & Bodybuilding – Good for Muscle Growth?“)

Intensity is important. The intensity of your weight training sessions is imperative to muscle development. You are lifting weights to stimulate your body to develop muscle when it is recovering from your training session. You therefore have to provide enough stimulus (or overload) to effect this change. A high intensity workout effectively tells your muscles “hey, I am too weak for this weight and I am really struggling!”. Your body therefore adapts to this new environment by developing muscle to handle the load more effectively next time.

More weight is not necessarily more effective. Don’t go and sacrifice form to lift the heaviest possible weight to build muscle quickly. This is an injury waiting to happen (not to mention you will take the load off the targeted muscles anyway). Good exercise technique is important for obtaining maximum muscle building results.

If you are unsure as to how to execute exercises effectively and safely, consider hiring a fitness professional, such as a personal trainer.

Develop a full-body weight training routine. By a full-body weight training routine, I am not referring to a single workout where you perform all bodyparts. Rather, you need to develop a programme where you target your entire body without skipping a particular muscle group (even if you are performing a multi-day split). It is a big mistake to ignore an entire group of muscles, as this will create an imbalance and can hamper your rate of muscle development (not to mention creating an unwanted muscular imbalance increasing the risk of injury and just looking unnatural).

Supplements can be highly effective if used correctly. Stick to the basics and opt for scientifically justified supplements such as:

• Protein Powder
• Dextrose (post-workout)
• Glutamine
• Creatine

We sell a range of high quality supplements in our store. Don’t go and spend $100 a week on supplements that promise the world and deliver minimal results.

Get your mindset in check – muscle growth occurs slowly. This is probably one of the most important points. Do not expect to look like the hulk in 6 weeks time. Whilst muscle development begins quickly in the first couple of months, it does slow down considerably. Unless you are gifted with great muscle building genes, you will need to apply yourself over a number of years, consistently, to achieve phenomenal results. The main reason why many people never realise their muscle building goals is because they expect to build muscle fast and are greatly disappointed when a few weeks down the track they have only seen minimal changes.

Educate yourself. You’ve obviously taken the first step by reviewing this relatively superficial introductory guide. There is a plethora of information to be learnt in regards to your training and nutrition if you want to build muscle fast. I very strongly recommend that you browse around this website and learn as much as you can about building muscle. You need to know exactly what you’re doing – muscle development does not occur by chance.

All the best and I truly hope that this article has set you off in the right direction toward your muscle building goals!

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Socialising at the Gym – Am I Being Too Social at the Gym?

A typical commercial gym is a very social place. Many people go there to spend time with friends while working effectively toward their health and fitness goals. But exactly how social should you be at the gym? Is there a limit?

I am of the “to each his/her own” opinion. Really, if you use the gym primarily as a social mechanism, then so be it. It’s a great place to spend time with friends (albeit an expensive social facility compared to the park!).

The true problem arises when you go into the gym in the attempt to achieve a particular goal, yet end up talking to others as a priority over your workout. Whilst not everyone is like this, I do know a number of people who admit they fall into this category. Whilst they are very social and friendly, a 30 minute workout can end up taking 2 hours. They compromise their own personal goals for general chit-chat.

Let me emphasise one point. If you enjoy the gym because it is social and wouldn’t train there otherwise, then socialising isn’t an issue. It’s only a problem if you think it’s a problem and you feel that you should be investing more effort into yourself.

If you find that you end up doing more socialising than training, and yet you actually want to focus on your training results, then you’ve got to do something about it. For the majority of people, walking into a gym and performing a low-intensity workout whilst chatting away is a very effective way to increase the chance of failure – failure to lose weight, tone up, build muscle, improve your fitness etc. You have to be dedicated to your training in order to see amazing results – a half-hearted approach just won’t cut it.

Now that’s the reality of the situation. If you’re following an effective approach to your goal, you will get out what you put in. The body is a function of the inputs that you subject it to and ultimately judges your efforts.

So if you do want to be less social and focus more on “you”, then here are a few tips:

1. Use an MP3 player – this is like a sign saying “DO NOT DISTURB”
2. Chat after your workout is complete, in between sets or when you are stretching
3. Explain to your friends that you wish to take your training more seriously
4. Set a stopwatch for fixed rest times in between sets so you don’t get caught up in conversation
5. Exercise so intensely that you are physically unable to hold a conversation!
6. Set goals for yourself to achieve so you can focus intensely on your training
7. Hire a personal trainer to enhance the seriousness of your workout
8. Train with others who have like-minded goals and also want to take their training seriously
9. Don’t carry your mobile phone with you during your workout
10. Keep a training log so you can focus on your results
11. Establish a structured training routine so you have “x” amount of time dedicated to training so many times per week

Really, there is nothing wrong with being social in the gym, nor is there anything wrong with not being social in the gym. It all comes down to why you go to the gym and what you get out of the gymnasium experience.

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How to Spot a Bench Press Safely & Effectively

It is quite often that someone in a gym will ask someone else to give them a spot on a bench press. When training by myself, I will often ask someone else who has some training experience to give me a spot. Plus, I am always happy to return the favour. But exactly how do you spot a bench press?

Over the years, I have been spotted by a variety of different people, all with different spotting techniques. You have some people who stand on the ground, others who stand on the platform. So me prefer one hand, others prefer two hands. Some lift the bar up for you, others don’t touch the bar at all. So…what is the best way?

This topic is certainly up for debate, but I certainly do have a preferred way for someone to spot me, so I’ll share below:

Positioning Yourself Behind the Bench Press

There are a number of positions that you can acquire when spotting someone on a bench press. Personally, I find that the safest and most effective method of spotting someone is to assume a deadlift position on the platform (if there is one) with your hands about shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight at all times and as the person lowers the bar, you are able to bend at the knees, just as you would in a deadlift motion.

I once (yes, only once) had someone who tried to spot me using just one hand. At the time I was using a 87.5kg bar with a full range of motion (touching the chest). I must admit, I wasn’t overly comfortable with his technique, but he was quite strong so I can’t too concerned.

Anyway, we hit a snag when I hit failure on my chest. I could barely move the bar up and he couldn’t get his hand underneath the bar. Fortunately, I was able to nudge the bar up a few cm so he could get his hand under and then we could lift the bar back up together (very slowly mind you!).

Now this entire situation would have been avoided if he assumed a deadlift position. My chest would not have been in the way and he would have been able to assist in lifting the barbell to a greater degree.

Lifting Up the Bar off the Bench Press Rack

The first phase in actually  spotting on a bench press is actually getting the bar into position. Personally, I prefer someone to assist me in getting the bar into position so excess energy isn’t wasted before the actual set begins. Of course, this will vary from individual to individual.

If you are lifting the bar up, be sure not to only take a fraction of the weight off and release it slowly. I once had someone practically drop an 80kg bar on me and I have no idea how I didn’t sustain a shoulder injury (or worse). Be slow and gentle so the lifter can adjust to the weight without sustaining a serious injury.

Spotting the Actual Bench Press Set

Each weight lifter will have their own preferential style for being spotted on a bench press. I have a pet hate when people keep their hands on the bar and take the weight off to help me lift the bar up (AKA assisted reps). In effect, this is just lowering the weight that I am lifting…so I might as well just drop 10-20 kg! Furthermore, less stability on my part is required because the spotter is assisting in keeping the bar stable.

Personally, I just love it when a spotter is there ready to get the bar back up into position when I reach complete muscular failure and can barely get the bar off my chest.

That’s just me. Some people like a spotter to be holding onto the bar for a sense of security. They key is to ask the person who is lifting the weight how they wish to be spotted and then honouring that request.

Some other Bench Press Spotting Tips

For eccentric training, a spotter will be required to assist on the concentric (up) phase. In this case, you will need to assist greatly for every rep, but then release the weight to the lifter for each eccentric phase. It is an idea to keep your hands under the bar (or even touching) just in case the weight lifter loses control on the downward motion.

Two people spotting from either end of the bar can be beneficial if the weight lifter is lifting an excess amount of weight. But do ensure that you have good communication skills. I once found myself in a scenario where one person lifted the bar and the other wasn’t…we nearly had a bit of an accident.

And finally, just ask the person you are spotting how they wish to be assisted. Some people request or expect more assistance than others. Other people (like me), just want a spotter there as security so they don’t get stuck. Be flexible and adaptive in your spotting approach because people train a vast number of ways.

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Should You Include the Weight of the Bar When Lifting Weights?

This may seem really trivial, but should you include the weight of the bar when you are lifting weights? This could be the barbell weight, or even the weight of the dumbbell bar when using adjustable dumbbells.

I was inspired to blog on this topic after following a somewhat heated discussion on another website. It really amazed me how passionate some people are on this topic. Whilst the majority of people agreed that it was most beneficial to count the weight of the bar, there were a number of individuals who were against the concept.

Personally, I’m with the majority on this one. I do not see the point in not counting the weight of the bar. After all, you are lifting the weight of the bar plus all the weights on the bar.

Having said that, let’s start of with why the bar weight may not be all that important.

For the typicaly weight lifter, the mass you lift is a relative thing. In my opinion, you should generally be concerned about how many more (or less) kilograms you are lifting, rather than the total amount of weight being lifted.

One reason why many people focus on the “absolute” weight being lifted is to compare their strength to another person, or to a set of norms. This may be useful for competitive reasons, or just general curiosity. However for the typical weight trainer, there is always going to be someone stronger than you, so too much emphasis on comparison can be quite demotivating (and take the focus of the most important aspect to your training – YOU). After all, you are an individual and you should be primarily focused on your progression over time.

So based on this above point of discussion, it really doesn’t matter if you do or do not include the bar weight. But what if don’t always train with the same weight lifting equipment? How do you compare the weight being lifted each time? Sure, you can record your results as “bar + x kg”…but if the bar weight is variable then really you don’t have an objective and measurable means of comparison.

The other issue lies in communicating the weight you are lifting to another person, such as a personal trainer. If you say to a fitness professional “I bicep curled 2.5kg on the barbell today”, they are most likely going to ask you the weight of the barbell – for there is a big difference between a 500g bar, an 8kg bar, a 13kg bar or a 20kg Olympic bar.

Plus, it’s much easier to log your results as a total number (eg. 22.5kg) rather than “bar + 2.5kg”.

So in my opinion, I say include the bar – it just makes life easy.

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