EGO LIFTING at gyms today

Was at the gym yesterday… observing people around me between my sets as I always do. Morons everywhere grunting and screaming, heaving weights they can barely carry. They never fail to amaze me. And this prompts today’s post.

Which is more important to you? Impressing the oversized bulls and hot petite girls in workout attire (sigh…. ) at the gym for 45 minutes a day with the amount of weight you can load up on the bar… Or impressing your friends and colleagues the other 15 hours of the day with a body you can really show off?

I’m sure we all share the same answer. But reality is that most people at the gym are only concerned with ‘how much they can lift’.. often ignoring the effectiveness of a particular exercise. To do it right, you basically need to make sure you’re using a weight that’s only enough to allow you to reach muscular failure at your target reps.

For example, the ideal number of repetitions for:
Muscle Growth = 8 - 12 reps
Strength = 4 - 6 reps
Endurance = >12 reps

Which means, for lets say Muscle Growth - no matter how much effort you put in and how loud you scream your head off, you must NOT be able to lift that weight more than 12 times. If you can, that means its too light and you need to increase the weight. It’s not just selecting a weight that’s ‘not too heavy’ for you and completing 12 reps. That’s the kind of baseless advice instructors at Fitness First would make you believe la.. but thats a whole other story on its own.

When you ‘Ego Lift’, you end up loading too much weight on the bar, and this forces you to cheat by depending on other muscles to do the work your “target” muscles can’t. Weight that your muscles can’t handle. You tend to rock back and forth or involve other muscles just to get that weight moving… which defeats the whole purpose. This can be dangerous if you’re going really heavy. Emphasis should always be placed on form, and not the weight, no matter what the exercise.

On the other hand, all those people who just dont try hard enough and lift really light weights just for the sake of ‘doing’ the exercise are no better. If you lift weights that you could keep on going till the cows come home, thats pointless as well. You’re better off sitting at home handling your TV remote. Even for women, who just want to keep fit and look good - you still need to challenge your body so that it can respond to your workouts. Once again, this is a piece of knowledge I have yet to see any Fitness First instructor impart to anyone. Even if they did, I doubt they understand the concept of 8-12 reps meaning 12 reps is the limit.

Massive egos abound at just about every gym you’ll find. It’s gotten worse lately at the ‘designer gyms’ you find nowdays like Fitness First, Sweat Club, Celebrity Fitness, etc since there are more interesting people there that Ego Lifters can impress.

By using the exercise’s full range of motion and focusing on the muscles designed for the movement, you’re sure to stimulate deep growth that will pay off well after you’ve left the gym.

Remember, you’re trying to build a muscle group, not break records… or anything else for that matter. So leave the ego at the entrance of the gym, and let the muscles do the lifting… not your ego.

*if this post offends anyone… I didnt mean to. :)

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