Don't Leave Your Brains in the Locker

Something that shocks people all the time is just how much thinking is required to make progress in the gym.  Sure you need muscles to move those weights around, but if you don't bring your brain along, you're mostly wasting time.  Here are some ways you can engage your brain muscle to help strengthen your other muscles.

Have a Plan.  

When you arrive at the gym for a workout, you should already know what you’re going to do.  You could be really obsessive like me, and write down every exercise, set, and rep you plan to do for the week on Sunday night.  Or you could have a looser plan, like “I’ll start with bench press, do some cable flyes, triceps extensions, and dips, then I’ll see if I’m up to any more than that.”  But you should have a plan of some kind.  The more specific, the better.

There are a tiny number of people in the world who can do all of this by instinct.  But a large proportion of people who think they can go by instinct, actually can’t. 

Do Good-Quality Reps 98% of the Time.

Every day I see folks who could improve their form to get better results.  But unless someone specifically asks me, I mind my own business.  In many gyms that’s just the unwritten rule.  If you feel like you are working hard but just spinning your wheels, force yourself to take a good, hard look at your form on every single exercise.  Watch some videos online.  And use your brain to visualize each step of the movement before you begin.

Maybe ask someone who seems knowledgeable and sane for form advice on a particular exercise.  Using bad form can put you at risk of injury, but even if that weren’t an issue, bad form would also be a concern because it tends to rob you of the progress you should be making.

The number one example of this that I’ve seen lately at my gym is guys (it’s always guys) using too much weight on the bicep curl.  They’ll grab a bar that’s 20 to 40 pounds too heavy, then on each rep, do this peculiar throwing motion with their whole body to get the bar to go up.  Sure, they are moving a lot of weight, but they’re not going to impress any experienced lifters.  And their biceps are getting very little stimulation, meaning they’re wasting their valuable gym time doing something that’s not going to help them progress.

A better way would be to go lighter on the weight and hold it while standing tall with their elbows close to their sides.  They should move the bar by only bending their elbows; every other part of the body should pretty much remain still, except at the top of the rep, when it’s okay to bring the upper arms slightly upward.  The biceps are responsible for bending the elbow, and to a lesser extent for raising the angle of the upper arm.  Actively moving the torso forward or backward, or bending the legs during the rep, are signs that you’re likely using bad form.

There is a legitimate function for “cheat” reps, where you break form at the end of a set to get that last little bit of effort out.  But the vast majority of people cheat more than they should.

Build Your Mind-Muscle Connection.

The greater your ability to intensely contract and relax a muscle, the better your “mind-muscle connection” is with that muscle.  Try this next time you’re on the leg extension machine.  At the top of the rep, when you have extended your ankles all the way up, squeeze the muscles on top of your thighs as hard as you can.  You may even see them bulge.  You’re using your mind-muscle connection with your quad muscles.

It’s this connection that lets muscle guys make their pecs dance.  It’s also this connection that helps your muscles get more out of your exercises.  When you do biceps curls, squeeze your muscle really hard when the weight is at the “top” of the rep (after you’ve lifted it all the way up).  Try it with triceps cable pushdowns (the “top” of the rep will seem like the bottom because of the direction of movement) and various weight machines.

Get Good, Credible Information from Sources Other Than This One.

Read, read, read.  Just make sure you are reading good-quality material and not crap.  I strongly recommend the articles on these websites:

www.t-nation.com My favorite.  The look of this site is a bit hard-core, but the information is top-quality, and they have a really good mix of articles aimed at all different experience levels.  Their writers aren’t afraid to give you a little tough love, and sometimes that’s exactly what we all need.

www.bodybuilding.com A great site, even for people who don’t think of themselves as bodybuilders.  Straightforward and professional writing about weight training, nutrition, cardio, and lots of other stuff.

www.livestrong.com A site that has a more approachable feel, especially for beginners.  Still lots of excellent advice and information.

www.muscleandstrength.com Also a bit more hard-core in appearance, this site is still a gold mine of good information for all experience levels.

These sites all do a good job of taking beginners seriously, and of treating women as athletes and not eye candy.  There are many other sites out there that also do a good job; I’ve just listed my personal favorites.

I suggest you avoid forums, message boards, and comment sections, even the ones featured on the websites above.  Or at least take them with a huge grain of salt.  Professional writers need to make sure the information they present is of good quality, or their reputations will take a hit.  Some random guy answering some other random guy’s question may provide excellent advice, or may be touting some truly terrible ideas.  Also, keep in mind these sites have to pay the bills, and that means ads, including ads for bogus products and services.


Don't stop progressing!  Learn stuff, then lift stuff, then write stuff down!
The Friendly Lifter