Entries from November 2007 ↓

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t want to go to the gym, I hate looking at myself in all the mirrors” or, “I hate the gym and all the losers checking themselves out in the mirror.” I have, plenty of times. Both of these can certainly be valid concerns, and are without doubt held by a lot of people. You may feel uncomfortable looking in the mirror at the gym, or perhaps you’re a little overweight & it makes you feel self conscious. Fair enough. I can let that slide as we’re all human and by nature we avoid things that make us uncomfortable.

However, what I won’t let slide is the gym’s that are popping up promoting the fact they’re mirror free. I believe this shows two things… One- The owner’s know how to listen to people’s fears. No worries, that’s ok. But more importantly, it shows a lack of care, expertise, and a lack of brains. A lack of care because mirrors are not there for huge muscle bound guys and girls to show off and act like clowns or indulge their ego. And a lack of expertise because they should be well aware of that fact.

What are mirrors there for then? Despite your hatred of gym mirrors, they are useful, and they should be required pieces of equipment because it increases gym safety by allowing gym-goers to practice better form. Not to mention bodybuilders are actually sports people too. Mirrors are required to perfect poses they use in competition, and despite their professionalism body builders also need mirrors to perfect their form and remain uninjured.

There’s no troubles if your gym contains machines only… the machine will dictate what form you use, but if your gym has free weights (as good gyms do), you need mirrors where you can monitor your form, and reduce your risk of injury.

To get over your fear of mirrors, I can suggest a few things:

• Just face it. Fear has been called “False Evidence Appearing Real”. Get out in front of that mirror, amongst the big guys (if there are any), and just get on with it. Facing your fear is the best and perhaps only way to conquer it. You might even find out that they’re not all a bunch of idiot meat heads after all (but some inevitably will be- welcome to humanity).
• Go gym shopping for a few months. Most gyms will offer you a week or two of free membership so you can try it out before committing. Use this to your advantage and find a gym that isn’t full of massive steroid pumping guys and make it your home. The only problem with this idea is that “meat heads” as we stereotypically call them, seek out well equipped gyms, therefore we can pretty accurately assume something is wrong with the gym if there’s no “meat heads” in sight.
• You may be able to avoid the meat head and bicep ogling population by choosing different times of day. Experiment.
• If you’re a female, and you’re more concerned about being the only gal amongst a bunch of testosterone jacked guys with no other eye candy in sight, join a female only gym, or hunt for a gym with a female gym-going population. They do exist. Or see option 1. Face your fear.
• The last & worst option is- don’t work out at a gym with mirrors. Just do like everyone else does and do steady state cardio for an hour, and then wonder why your weight fluctuates so much and you don’t permanently keep it off. See what I’m ranting about, here.

I hope you enjoyed today’s soap box. And I hope you find it useful. Remember, while I like to say everything you do should be based in having a bit of fun, avoiding the mirror may sabotage you in more ways than one.

If you haven’t yet entered for my favorite competition in the world, “Ruckus Nation“, by HopeLab, you better hop to it! The deadline for entry is only 5 short days away as I write this… but that still gives you until the 20th of November to think up something amazing. Remember, if you come up with that one great idea… you might just make $75,000 in 5 days, and help a ton of kids lose a ton of weight. And that would make anyone feel great, right?

Put on your thinking caps- I’m sure you can come up with something great if you expend a little brain power. I can even help you out on that hard part (the thinking) with an article I wrote, here. It can give you a head start on coming up with an idea, or it might even give you the edge to win a prize! Check it out, and all the best.

Oh, and before I forget, you can help out HopeLab and the Ruckus Nation competition organizers by becoming a judge if you don’t have your own idea. Your input might just help select the greatest weight loss aid for our kids we’ve seen in our lifetimes… that’ll make you feel pretty good I imagine! Enter as a judge, right here. I already have!

If you’re one of the many, many people out there that struggle to remember how to perform particular exercises, or how to execute common weight training movements, then check out the fantastic and free website from The Training Station Inc.

You’ll find over one-hundred animated figures that quickly give you a no-nonsense and surprisingly accurate idea of how to perform a range of exercises. For example, the dumbbell pullover animation correctly shows that you need to keep the dumbbell level with your head, and keep your elbows bent.

Clearly, if you still aren’t sure on what you should be doing after watching these animations, ask your personal trainer… If you’ve found a good one that is! If you haven’t, maybe you should see my previous article on the subject.

Otherwise, check out arguably the best book available on performing exercises with perfect form: Strength Training Anatomy, by Frederick Delavier. It’ll show you exactly how to perform the core movement to avoid injury, as well as exactly what muscles you’re activating. If you’d also like to incorporate variation into your movements to shock, confuse & abuse your body into losing fat or gaining muscle, Fred’s book will show you how.

I’ve used this book for years and can personally attest to how valuable it can be when it comes to designing your own programs, or rechecking that the technique you’ve settled into is in fact the correct, safe technique!

Are you letting your ill-founded notions of progress get in your way at the gym? Have you started your exercise program or gym-going schedule only three or four months ago, but already becoming frustrated with your lack of progress? Cut yourself some slack, your frustration & apparent lack of progress might be the only thing getting in your way.

A quick lesson on fat. If you’re into exercise to lose fat & look good, hear this: The unsightly fat that hangs around beneath your skin (called subcutaneous fat) is not the only fat you’ll find (or lose via exercise) in your body. Did you know you have reserves of fat inside your body too? You also have intramuscular fat, and visceral fat. Intramuscular fat is the fat found in your muscles (think fat marbling in a cut of steak), and visceral fat is fat found around your organs.

Why the lesson on fat? Well, I just want you to realize that fat won’t just drop off your body from exactly where it’ll make you look best in your new dress, or make your gut look good in your new suit. In fact, fat can be very stubborn when it comes to coming off the “problem areas”, such as the stomach for men, and the hips and bum for the girls. Thanks very much, DNA!

So after all this bad news, what have I got for you? Just some very basic and I believe, effective advice. Forget about the scales, just keep learning about safe and effective ways to exercise and eat healthily, and above all, make your program fun and a long term lifestyle choice. Your fat will eventually come off. Its just a matter of persistence, and when your exercise is fun, that persistence will be all the more easy to maintain.

90% of success is persistence. The other 10% is learning how to use the exercise time your persistence brings you.