I just got back from the gym soaking wet, wobbly, exhausted, beat up, and exhilarated. That was a damn good 45 minutes. I’ve come to realize a few things after spending years working out and watching 95% of the population “working out.”
You need to practice how you want to play. You know why somebody has a heart attack? Because their heart isn’t strong enough to handle the rigorous activity that that it’s being put through, whether it be stress or activity related. Your heart is a muscle you should be training every day. If you never move your heart out of its comfort zone (never increasing your heart rate considerably, training it to come back down quickly), then the first time it deals with an increased rate could be in those high-stress situations and bring on that heart attack. Suck. However, if you are working on a daily basis to exercise your heart, then you’ll be in a much better position to handle situations of high stress – your heart will say “hey, I’ve been here before. Ain’t no thang. (this is assuming that your heart speaks Ebonics).” I’m not saying you need to go from a couch potato to training like an Olympic sprinter, but you need to challenge yourself every single day to step a little bit more outside of your comfort zone. Push a little farther, a little faster, a little stronger each time (Cue Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”).
If you are looking to build muscle size and strength, walking into a gym and doing a few lazy sets on a bench press and leg press will not get you results. Your gains in size and strength will come with the last few reps of an exercise, when your muscles are shaking and you’re struggling to lift the weight for the last time. You’ll get the best results when you’re sweating like crazy and your muscles are on the verge of failure. It’s that last rep that you didn’t think you could do, that you’re struggling with, that will produce the results….which is just one more reason why you should be working somebody yelling encouragement and spotting you.
If you’re not sweating, you’re probably not working hard enough.
If you’re going to devote between 45 minutes and an hour in the gym, why not make that time as productive as possible? The amount of time won’t change; either way it’s 45 minutes away from your house, your family, your kids, whatever. Why not pack as much stuff into those 45 minutes as possible? The way I see it, you’d be an idiot not to bust your ass in there. Gerard Butler (who plays King Leonidas in 300) told Men’s Health: “You know that every bead of sweat falling off your head, every weight you’ve pumped — the history of that is all in your eyes. That was a great thing, to put on that cape and put on that helmet, and not have to think, shit, I should have trained more. Instead, I was standing there feeling like a lion.”
That’s how I want to feel every single time I get out of that gym, because I know there’s nothing more I could have done. Wasted opportunity, wasted talent, and wasted time are three things I can’t stand. Give it your all every single day, and you will be a better person because of it. You’ll get better results, have more confidence, feel more productive, have more energy, and probably live much longer too. All good things!
-Steve
