Wassup guys,

Today I have to get this off my chest because I don't want any of you guys to be like some of the guys I've seen at my gym.

You know the guys I'm talking about.

The guys who look brand spanking new to gym, barely look like they work out, and they're the ones who go and grab more weight than you do for an exercise.

I've seen this a number of times at the gym so far, and now that the weather is getting better, I'm starting to see these "guys" more and more often.

And after what happened to me yesterday I said "Enough is Enough".

So here's the story:

Yesterday, I was working on my "Pull" exercises as part of this strength training program I'm on, when this guy I've never seen before in the gym asks me to spot him.

(Note: I have been going to the gym the same time everyday for the past YEAR AND A HALF. Which means, if I haven't seen you there at that time before.... you haven't been going to the gym)

So of course I spot him on his exercise, which was Incline Dumb Bell Presses.

Problem #1: When I went over to give this guy a hand, I saw he was about to do this exercise with 70lbs Dumbbells.

Now I've been on a strength training program for the past 9 weeks or so and I "just" graduated to doing Incline DB Presses with 80 lbs Dumbbells. And this guy who looks like he barely works out, is about to do this with 70 lbs. That's a problem!

Problem #2: He asked me to help him lift the weight off his chest on the VERY FIRST REP.

Ok, it's one thing to give someone a "lift", like helping them unrack the Barbell if they're doing Bench Presses. and then it's something completely different to have someone lift the weight off your chest because the weight is too heavy for you to do so under you own power.

Problem #3: He was only going "half way" down.

I imagine you guys can picture how this exercise is done. It's pretty simple, you bring the weight down to your chest and you push up.

Since the weight was too heavy for the guy he was only able to go halfway down (if that) if he would have gone any further than there would have been an accident on our hands.

Problem #4: I gave him some advice and he didn't take it.

As helpful as I am, I'm somewhat reluctant to give advice to those who did not ask for it. Because in all honesty, most guys don't want to hear it.

They just want to do what they "think" they saw in a magazine one time and they'll be fine. But I saw that if this guy continues doing what he's doing, he's not only going to waste his time, he's seriously going to hurt himself or someone else (by picking a weight he can't fully control)

So, after his set I told him, "I think you're using too much weight for this exercise. You need to be able to go down all the way and feel a good stretch at the bottom" He looks at me and says "Ok, I think I'll try 60lbs next time".

First off, I think 60lbs would still be to heavy for this guy and second, he didn't even drop the weight he went back and did his 70lbs "whatevers" because those definitely wasn't Incline DB Presses he was doing.

Once I saw that he didn't take my advice, I told myself "That's the last time I spot that guy". And it's not to be mean or anything, hey it's a free country, if he wants to train improperly and waste his time at the gym so be it. But I refuse to let him waste my time as well.

Lesson of Today's Story:

3 Ways to Tell If You're Using Too Much Weight

1. If You Need Help Getting It Up

- If you need help lifting the weight from the starting position (i.e. off your chest) for the very first rep, then you're using too much weight.

2. If You're Struggling To Get AT LEAST 6 Reps On A Given Weight

- Remember, if you're goal is to build muscle then you should be doing 6 - 10 reps "roughly" each set. If you can't do AT LEAST 6 reps then you're using too much weight

3. If You Can't Keep Proper Form Using A Given Weight

- FORM IS EVERYTHING, if you can't keep proper form then you're wasting your time and you seriously put yourself at risk of getting injured on certain exercises.

Later on me and Jimmy will be posting some videos on how to do exercises with "proper form" so you guys know how to do these exercises with proper form and technique.

This is a REALLY IMPORTANT lesson you need to learn so I'm gonna take a page out of Jimmy's Workout commandments:

Work out your body, NOT YOUR EGO!

- This means PERFECT YOUR FORM FIRST, ADD WEIGHT LATER. I’d rather have perfect form and lift moderate weight on an exercise than lift a ludicrous amount of weight with terrible form.

I'll admit it, I was on of these guys myself. And it's EXACTLY what Jimmy said, I was working out my Ego rather than my body. In my eyes I didn't want to look like a "weakling" in the gym.

I had to learn some of my lessons the hard way, but it ultimately took getting advice from guys who had success building muscle and transforming their bodies to turn everything around for me. (Similar to what I'm doing with you guys right now).

So if you're one of these guys (or think) you're one of these guys who are using too much weight in the gym..... STOP IT!!!

You're only hurting yourself and killing your results in the long run.

Ok, I'm through venting, thanks for listening guys.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson / rant.

Rich

P.S. -Let me hear what you think! Leave me a comment below if you agree, disagree or know of guys who are using too much weight in the gym.

Hey guys,

As you may or may not have noticed, I've made some DRASTIC cosmetic changes to the blog. I know, I know, it’s wayyyy overdue. But I’m glad with the results.

Aside from the cleaner look and feel there’s also a few features I’ve added that’ll make this blog THE SPOT to go to for muscle building advice.

New Feature #1... Your Comments

The first feature is this little WordPress widget called Comment Reply Notification. You don’t need to know what it is but here’s how it’s gonna help you.

Remember, my goal for this blog is to help you become BIGGER, STRONGER and more CONFIDENT through the body transformation process.

And the only way I can ensure that I’m helping you to the fullest is for us to interact. So at the end of every post, I’ll open the discussion for comments, questions, feedback etc. This is where you can ask a question about something you don’t quite get, add something you’d like to share, and so on.

This is the place to go to ask VERY SIMPLE questions. (If you’d like us to tell you EXACTLY what you’re doing wrong and help give you a game plan then fill out your What Am I Doing Wrong Questionnaire.)

My goal is to respond to EVERY COMMENT that I get on my blog. Because I know the more interaction you get with people who have gone through what you’re going through and have gotten results, like Jimmy and myself, the closer you’ll be to reaching your goals.

But what’s cool about that widget thingy is that it will email you once me, Jimmy or any of your fellow subscribers and readers reply to your comment as well.

So you’ll be instantly notified when someone responds to your comment.

(By the way, if you left me a comment on my recent posts then you'll see that I've replied to your comments and questions and you should've received an email from the widget thingy - let me know if you didn't because this is pretty important)

New Feature #2... Facebook and Tweets

The second new feature I’ve added was Facebook and Twitter buttons to every post. This is cool and it’ll help you out tremendously because this’ll help me gauge what information you guys want more of.

This goes hand in hand with the amount of comments a particular article gets as well. If we see more and more people interacting with a certain type of article or a certain subject that’s how we’ll know what to focus more on.

For example if we see that our Diet & Nutrition posts are getting alot of Facebook likes and “Tweets” (I can’t believe I’m a grown man using the word Tweets... very weird feeling), then me and Jimmy will start to focus in on more Diet and Nutrition related Tips.

So if you like a particular article, or post and you have a Facebook or Twitter account don’t be afraid to hit the Like and Tweet buttons to let us know that you like it. Plus if you feel that the information we shared will help someone you know, that will be a great way to spread the word and help someone else out, (which is what this entire blog is about)

My "Revealing" Update

Here's my "Revealing" update I've been telling you about. And it has to do with my new About page.

On this page I reveal my TRUE intentions for this blog and where I want to see it headed in the future, I also reveal some NEVER BEFORE SEEN pics of my 1st (40lbs in 4 Months) Transformation.

Yes, I finally managed to dig these photos out of my hard drive and post them up (after getting tons of requests to see these pics)

Warning: Part of the reason it took so long for me to post these pics is because, I really did start slacking off toward the end of my bulking phase and my waist line paid the price. (I basically stopped doing cardio, ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted)

Even though I was bulking and the goal was to build muscle and add some fat the end result was that I did gain ALOT of SIZE and MUSCLE but I gained WAY more fat than I should’ve. Which is why I decided to do things right this second time around.

Click here to read my REVEALING About Page and My SHOCKING Transformation Pics

Lastly, I also have an

IMPORTANT Big Announcement....

to make later in the week that will require you to take action on IMMEDIATELY if you want to continue receiving emails from me, yes it's that BIG (that's what she said - sorry been watching the Office alot lately 🙂 ).

Stay tuned for that announcement because it’s EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

Train hard

Rich

P.S. - Let me know what you think of the new design and the new features and if there’s any other features you’d like to see added by leaving a comment below. Til next time guys.

Archives for March 2011

Are You Lifting Too Much Weight In The Gym?