When you sit down on a weight bench or climb onto one of the resistance machines in the gym, do you start cranking out your reps immediately or do you take time to really focus and set yourself up for success?

One of the disciplines that I try to reinforce in each of my clients is the principle of “Get Ready. Get Set. GO!”

This has come from watching (mostly) guys plop down on a bench, 50# dumbbells in hand, lever them up awkwardly and then start banging out their reps. No care if the spine is straight… No sense that the feet are pulled back and imbalanced… No awareness that the pelvis is mis-aligned… No clue that the shoulder ligaments are being strained.

Do This:

Take a few extra moments to “Get Ready”… which means adjusting the seat level, securing the bar, loading the right amount of resistance. Then, “Get Set”… aligning your spine (including your neck!), relaxing your shoulders, tightening your core, setting your base of support, ensuring that your body position is symmetrical.

Then… GO!

That’s what makes it count. Safe. Effective. Efficient.

Doug

In the gym, it is most common to find a close-grip, triangle-shaped handle attached to the cable of a Seated Row station.

Big power lifters like to do cable rows using this handle since they can use a lot more weight – not because of the power of the back –  but because the chest and shoulder complex is also involved by the inward position of the arms.

When you do the Seated Row with a close-grip though, observe how the handle can only be pulled as far as your abdomen.

Note that you’re not getting a complete contraction of your lats and traps, because you leave off the final 2 to 3 inches of your full range of motion.

Do This:

If you’d like a better alternative, and better result, use a slightly wider-grip row.

Just detach the narrow grip handle and connect a wider bar, or 2 long-strap handles, or even the long tricep pull rope (upturned for grip) to the cable.

Some seated row stations even have a dual cable/handle configuration to use – all the better for this great rowing exercise.

Be prepared to lower your weight!

Believe me – what you may sacrifice in load (because of the back isolation), you’ll more than make up for with the greater range of motion — with much greater involvement of your middle trapezius and rhomboids (mid-back), in conjunction with your lats.

And that is exactly what you want to be targeting in order to create that nice V-back shape, to promote better posture, and to improve functional movement.

Try it and see.

Doug

During an average week, I spend at least 30 hours in a gym.

Of course, most of those hours are spent working to assist clients achieve their personal fitness goals. The other hours are those that I spend staying true to my own.

On any given day I see a number of regular gym goers, as well as a few infrequent visitors. And on occasion, I see a gym patron who really knows what they’re doing.

Whoa!  Did I say “on occasion”??

Yes, I did.

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It’s tax season here in Canada – which means taking stock of financial matters and setting strategies for the future.

During this annual ritual, we don’t think much of the time that it takes – lots of it – to meticulously collect and code receipts, to assemble T-slips, to organize deductions and to be sure to put all the right numbers in all the right boxes - just in case we receive that randomized Revenue Canada notice: “Your personal tax file has been selected for Audit“.

Now, go stand in front of the mirror and imagine receiving a similar message, this one from Health Canada, informing you:  ”Your personal FITNESS file has been selected for Audit“!

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Simple, smart inclusions to each day in your busy life:

1. Engage in some sort of exercise
2. Eat vegetables and fruits
3. Eat breakfast
4. Get a restful night’s sleep
5. Drink plenty of water
6. Control stress in your life
7. Maintain a supportive social outlet of friends and family
8. Take a multi-vitamin
9. Brush your teeth and floss
10. Get outside

I fail at #4 and #6 most often.
I excel at #2, #3 and #10.
I make my living with #1.
I appreciate #7 the most.

How about you?

Anyone who has trained with me, or has watched me train, or has watched me work out on my own, will notice that I make notes, I keep records and I follow a planned workout program on each visit to the gym.

“1-2-3-done.” Move on. “1-2-3-done.” Move on. “1-2-3-done.”… and so on.

In contrast, you may notice that others move randomly from machine to machine, or bench to bench, seeming to “make it up” on the fly.

A dumbbell press here. A lateral raise there. And squat?… “er, maybe next time”!

“You just can’t get there from here…”

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Consider this statement that I recently read on a colleague’s blog:

“Once you accept how HARD it is to lose fat and /or gain muscle, then it becomes Easy.”

Whaaaat?!!

Read it again. And think it through – do you understand what it means?

Compare it to saving for your next big vacation… once you understand and accept how much discipline it takes to save that money, then it becomes easier to do. When it’s important for you to achieve… it just seems to”gets done”.

So, it’s the same with your fitness goal… once you accept that it’s HARD to achieve it, then your realize what you must do – and it becomes easier.

How?

1. Plan, shop, and prepare in advance how you’re going to eat for the week… I spend time each Sunday doing exactly that – and I actually look forward to doing it. Menus. Cooking. Storing. A 2 hour investment of time.
2. Do at least three high-intensity workouts per week… prioritized based on your fitness goal – muscle mass and /or fat loss.
3. Keep yourself active on off days and avoid sitting in front of the TV or computer for at least 30 minutes less a day… in our house, it’s “All Screens Off” no later than 9 pm, at which time we usually go for a short “family walk”, or you could gently stretch those muscles you worked out.
4. Develop strategies to avoid bad night-time eating habits… keep some crunchy fruit or vegetables handy to settle cravings. If you’re on a “muscle-up” program, try protein powder mixed into plain yogurt with some nuts. Just lay off those empty carbs… (which I see that our cupboards have filled up with over the winter!)
5. Set strategies to overcome every sabotage behaviour that gets in the way of your success each week… notes, scheduling, whatever.

Now, it’s almost 9pm – time to abide by my own rule.

Doug