Lifting with Tony

Here are some small tips to get the most out of your consistent workouts!

1. Make a ritual around lifting. No, it doesn’t have to be anything insane like getting the Soul Stone from Vormir or saying grace before you reach in for the chicken. BUT simple things(notice how you might have a gym playlist or how things just don’t seem right when you forget your headphones) are great for getting the mind ready. Wearing a certain type of clothing, having a set spot(ya know.. like a gym), and a brief stretching or priming routine are all great things to incorporate to help dial in your focus.

2. Plan your lifting ahead of time. We’ve all been there. We know it’s time to go lift, but we don’t have a plan. What do we do when we walk in without a plan? If it’s a big gym, we’ll do whatever happens to be free when we’re ready for the next exercise. A better move would be to figure out a program that works with your schedule and have that ready to go before you walk in the gym so you can be ready knowing what you’re about to tackle.

3. Journal your lifting. The best way to know where you’re going is to know where you’ve been. The easiest way to know that when you’ve been doing numerous different exercises? A journal. Pen and paper is a great combo. You have just use the notes app on your phone or even a dedicated workout logging app. The point is having some way to objectively track what you’ve been doing will help you make sure you’re not staying stuck in what’s comfortable because you’ve been using the same weights for 3 months.

4. Visualize the lift. This is especially true if it’s not a new-to-you exercise and the weight is going to be a great challenge. When you know what it feels like to be in the middle of a squat, lunge, or tricep extension, imagine yourself working through that with the upcoming weight. Feel yourself going through the full motion from picking up the weight, performing the reps, and setting it back down. This won’t work if you’re used to deadlifting 200 pounds with some good work and you painfully want to get 500, mind you. Used reasonably, this can be a great mental spike.

Here are five ideas surrounding exercise that still seem to hold true despite evidence to the contrary.

1. The post workout, anabolic window. The idea here is that you have a small window of time(normally an hour) after you finish your workout. If you don’t supply your body with nutrition(usually a mix of protein and carbs), you’ll have effectively wasted your workout because there’s nothing for your body to use to rebuild itself. There isn’t any research supporting this idea. More realistically, if you’re training later in the day, the meals you’ve already eaten would be providing protein that your body can use to start rebuilding muscle.

2. If you lift heavy, you’ll get bulky. This one boils down largely to food intake. You can only get physically larger if you’re consuming extra calories. Lifting heavy will get you stronger, and to an extent build some muscle BUT only if the calories are there. And also, heavy is a completely relative term that means different amounts to different people.

3. Ah, yes. Soreness. DOMS(delayed onset muscle soreness) as it’s known in some circles. Seemingly a goal in others. Really, you don’t have to be sore in order to have an effective workout. You definitely don’t have to be so sore, the thought of getting off a toilet is enough to traumatize you. A little bit of soreness is ok, but if you can’t get off the couch without announcing how cripplingly sore you are to everyone in earshot, you most likely overdid it.

4. Sweating. Feels great! Especially when a breeze hits you while the shirt is still soaked. Much like the point above, it’s not a requirement for a quality workout. Some exercises and styles will absolutely get your skin dumping liquid. Others won’t. It doesn’t mean one is more effective than the other.

5. Ah, cardio. Some people exclusively hang here. Others avoid it. Other still mix the two… and they’re getting the best of both worlds. Here’s the deal: cardio exercise makes your heart stronger, period. Last I checked, the heart plays quite a key role in keeping us going. You do NOT have to go all out with cardio. A good walk is just fine, too.