Only Idiots “Push Through The Pain"

How do so many active people not yet know the difference between pain and discomfort—even  Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City?

An example of DISCOMFORT is when you’re performing biceps curls and the lactic acid buildup in your biceps as you intensely eke out the last two reps causes an unpleasant intense burning sensation deep within the biceps muscles. That isn’t pain—that’s discomfort. PAIN would be a sharp sensation in your biceps or elbow or shoulder that causes you to yelp and immediately drop the weight.

Dr. Metzl is dead wrong when he absurdly states in the Huffington Post article, “My general take is that if it doesn’t hurt a little bit, you’re not getting [more fit].”

No fitness activity should ever “hurt.”  Discomfort? Yes. Pain and hurt? No.

Pain is your body telling you to stop. Pain is your body’s way of saying “Your form is bad, you’re doing it wrong” whether you are jogging, crossfitting, weightlifting, swimming—whatever.

If I feel a twinge as I work out, I either stop performing the guilty exercise or I take a minute to figure out how I can change something, such as the angle or arc of movement, the amount of weight, the speed with which I am performing the exercise, etc. Often pain is caused by not warming up and/or stretching properly pre-workout. Do all you can to avoid pain. “Working through the pain” can lead to a nagging injury that will may well call a halt to your favorite chosen physical activity—and even permanent damage.

“Working through the pain” is the reason why many of the top names from the 1980s are not even recognizable today as even having been bodybuilders.

Trolls Say, "If You Look Better Than Me It's Because You're Cheating"

Richard Sullivan @ age 51

Judging by the many discussions we are exposed to on TV, online and in person, it’s obvious most people seem not to have heard of dictionary.com. People argue heatedly over issues that no one stops to first define. They are applying their own definition to the same word their opponent is using but defining in his own way. People first need to come to an agreement on a definition before wasting hot air arguing any given topic.

One such word is “cheating,” as it is used pertaining to the fitness and bodybuilding world. Every YouTube video featuring someone who has excelled physically is followed by the predictable comments of woebegone underachievers and failures who scream “Steroids!!” as their go-to justification for not personally measuring up to the personality being featured. And they always state this in the form of an accusation, as in claiming that someone utilizing steroids is bad for “cheating.”

Cheating? Cheating who exactly? By definition (there’s that word again) people not in competition can’t “cheat”: it takes two or more for someone to “cheat.” The screamers are therefore revealing they consider themselves to be embroiled in some fantasy competition with a “competitor” who is completely unaware of them, and moreover that they’re losing to him. This alone is creepy.

Taken to its craziest extent, someone who envies fit bodies but doesn’t work out at all can claim that those who do work out are cheating. Or those who do not consume protein drinks or supplements can claim that those who do so are cheating. Or that those who eat crap can claim those who eat nutritionally are cheating. The fraternal twin of “cheating” is “unfair advantage,” as in their fantasy competitor’s superior genetics, more free time, more money, younger age, lack of injuries, access to mentors, and all the other excuses so well rehearsed by those who do not achieve.

When solitary individuals are working hard to be the best that they can be, there’s no such thing as cheating—except in the minds of those losers who through their own lack of effort and persistence do not compare or measure up, and therefore need someone to blame.

Food Cravings Are Psychological

As I write this I am at the lowest level on my personal food craving scale, meaning I have no cravings at the present time. It's a relief. I learned long ago not to keep favorite snacks in the house, which works for me as I will never get in my car and run to the store to satisfy a craving, whereas many people will do eactly that, to their detriment.

During a food craving period I will temporarily “regret” not having picked up that bag of Snickers minis or ice cream when I was in the store. Long term, however, I’m always very happy I did not. I food shop after the gym, in my gym clothes, when my pride in my fitness, how I look and feel, is at its highest point, which allows me to not even go down the snack aisle at the supermarket. I bring a protein shake to the gym in a thermos and drink it in the car on the way to the market so I will not be unduly hungry. Food shopping when you’re hungry, as most people know, means making impulsive, unwise and unproductive food decisions based on cravings.

Making a shopping list and sticking to it is the only way to shop healthfully. Going to the supermarket with no list and no plan leads to many an impulsive and unwise purchase which will derail your nutrition and weight goals.

When a craving gets in your head and won’t let go, this is not due to actual hunger or the body’s need for some ingredient in the food that’s being craved, but rather it’s just another dysfunctional thing we have to recognize, analyze, and excise.

I realize my food cravings are a product of some lack, some upset or anxiety. The current lack of cravings signifies a peaceful settled calm. Luckily I do not have an addictive personality, but when I’ve experienced a food craving that lasts for days, or even weeks, I get a glimpse of what addictive personalities must be dealing with on a regular basis.

The ability to connect a food craving with some current upset or some lack in one’s life will help defuse this mindless desire to binge. Nobody has the physical need for a pan of brownies, but rather the shot of the feel-good dopamine that the brownies provide. It’s a tough problem to deal with when you’re in the middle of it, but understanding ourselves, the what and the why and the how, is really the key to a happier, more fit life.

Don’t Resist Resistance Bands

Eric Janicki's chest workout utilizes resistance bands.

In an earlier post I highly recommended resistance bands after having shunned them for years. My previous flawed thinking had been that they must surely be less effective than weights even though I had never seriously put them to the test.

After more than a year now of use two or three times a week I can confidently state that resistance bands build REAL muscle as effectively as dumbbells and barbells—because resistance is resistance, no matter the tool chosen.

Lots of people make little nor no progress at the gym despite all the machines and weights available to them because of poor form, lack of intensity and a lack of desire to LEARN how to best and most effectively use the gym equipment. Few people bother to do research outside the gym, and thus keep on doing what isn’t working and becoming frustrated with their lack of progress.

The same is true of resistance bands, or any fitness regime for that matter. After watching dozens of videos on youtube, many featuring bodybuilders using resistance bands, I’ve realized how few of these instructors actually know how to put resistance bands to their most effective use. I watch as they go through a lackadaisical resistance band routine and realize they don’t know what they’re talking about as their routine does not mimic in intensity or effective form their barbell/dumbbell/machine workouts in their other videos.

Resistance bands are unique in that they allow for practical correction mid-rep due to their physical properties of expansion as opposed to the dead weight of a dumbbell. Employing a dumbbell, for instance, there is usually a position within the rep where there is little resistance, little stress on the muscle, as opposed to the same movement performed with a resistance band in which there is unrelenting resistance throughout the entire movement.

Resistance bands also permit a “smoother ride” throughout the movement and better control than a barbell or dumbbell. I have found that it defeats the purpose of the resistance band to strictly employ the exact movement for the dumbbell or barbell version of the same exercise. Resistance bands are unique in that they allow for mid-rep corrections and adjustments that if made using a dumbbell might cause injury. Just like when you first began weight training, it took you a while to accustom yourself and learn how best to engage the weight or machine to maximum usefulness. The same goes for resistance bands.

Give resistance bands a try, and a chance to show their effectiveness. Your fitness routine is a part of your lifestyle and you should always be open to trying new ideas. That’s how progress is made in the creation of new muscle.

Building Muscle In Your 70s And Beyond

Bob Delmonteque at age 84: Read his story HERE.

Who are these know-it-all anonymous jerks who proclaim with unquestionable authority that older people, both men AND women, cannot build muscle? Worse, how stupid are those who read this shit, then further broadcast and disseminate it without even doing any research of their own? 

The examination and questioning of people’s motives is something not done nearly enough in life, as I have experienced personally with friends and family who also accept and regurgitate the opinions of others on various subjects without question. “I read it someplace” is not a validation. This is where the term “sheeple” or, people who mindlessly follow like so many sheep, originates.

Hearing some self-appointed “authority” in his 20s or 30s spring up in the media to lecture older people about what they can and cannot accomplish is the height of hubris. Much of what we see in the media is not original, but rather the parroting and regurgitation of some other media story found elsewhere, neither tested nor challenged. A great example is the infamous New York Times feature from 2016 in which contestants on the TV show Biggest Loser were said to have regained all their weight due to waging a winless war against their own body. The premise was ludicrous and received widespread attention elsewhere in the media. Nowhere I have looked did I find anyone refuting this nonsense, but rather just spreading the nonsense far and wide, such as did ABC’s Good Morning America.

YES, you can build muscle even into your late 90s as proven by a study conducted by Miriam Nelson of Tufts University. In this study, gym-quality leg machines were brought into a home for the aged.Ten residents volunteered, men and women, between the ages of 88 and 96. Not only did all participants gain lean muscle mass and strength, but one who previously required a cane was able to throw it away and walk unaided, while another participant previously dependent on a walker was able to graduate to using a cane.

The motives of these naysayers are curious. What do they have to gain by spreading lies and disproved claims, especially since they too will be old one day? If you’re getting up there in age and relying on old wive’s tales and trolls’ nonsense as your excuse to reject the value of an ongoing fitness routine, the Biggest Loser is you. 

Take a gander at the NYTimes video that accompanied this loopy "Biggest Loser" feature:

Proper Form. What’s That?

Are you going to the trouble, preparation and expense of getting yourself to the gym, then sabotaging your workouts by ignoring proper form?

Proper form makes all the difference between progress and, well, plateauing, meaning, no progress. Proper form is not a mystery, yet many are clueless on this.

Numerous times I have seen someone working out next to a person who is admirably fit, and doing the exact same exercise—for instance, a guy doing biceps curls who has a terrific set of arms. Yet the person next to him doing the same exercise seems totally unaware that he might learn something from Mr. Big Arms. He is so checked out that it doesn’t seem he even realizes he is performing the same exercise as Mr. Big Arms, much less he might watch, imitate and learn.

My point is most people using bad form have no idea. It doesn’t even occur to them they are using bad form. It doesn’t occur to them that the guys with the awesome bodies are doing something they are not, and therefore they might pay attention to these achievers and learn by example.

If you haven’t made progress within the last month, you need to change it up. When you use proper form you’ll see a big difference, not in the following month, but that very same day at the end of your workout by achieving a good pump. If your arms don’t look noticeably improved immediately following your arm workout, it’s because your form is poor.

Thanks to YouTube and its thousands of workout videos, there is no longer any excuse for poor form, yet poor form remains endemic in gyms and home workouts. Instead of looking for a “new” exercise due to frustration over lack of progress, know that every classic exercise works wonders if performed with proper form.

Diabetes: I’m Calling Bullshit On Trump’s “Excellent Health" Diagnosis.

The avalanche of lies told by Trump’s toadies and sycophants continues unabated as evidenced in the bogus stats released with regards to Trump’s recent “physical.”

The fact is, this "doctor" neglected to mention that Trump has heart disease,  a detail later disclosed after the fact, or that he has diabetes or at the very least, pre-diabetes.

We don't believe bogus cognitive test results since we all have ears that hear the daily rambling disconnect. An old man who is confused, grotesquely obese, who eats mountains of garbage and deplores and denigrates physical exercise is in SHITTY condition, physical and otherwise. 

Don’t Let A Number Get In Your Way

Weight - The same person can have a weight number of 160 lbs. and be flabby with minimal lean muscle mass, or he can weigh 160 lbs. and be jacked and hard. The actual number means nothing. Forget the scale; embrace the mirror. “Quantity vs. Quality”: For bodybuilders who are aiming for a certain weight number (quantity) rather than quality physique, the number means nothing. The mirror will reveal the truth.

Age - People use the age number to excuse themselves from engaging in physical activity. Others use age to dismiss older people in the fitness industry having decades of experience to draw upon for their knowledge and advice.

Measurements - Those who are working toward 21 inch arms may find their size is won without any regard for esthetics: there exist men with beautiful, sculpted, multi-faceted 21 inch arms, and men with bloated, smooth, fat, shapeless 21 inch arms. Once more: the mirror.

Length of Workout - I respect Jeff Cavaliere’s YouTube advice, except for his claim you should spend no more than 40 minutes (!!) working out. There are multiple reasons for longer workouts, ranging from sheer enjoyment, stress relief and self satisfaction, to only having two days to spare for a gym workout each week—and more. Only you can decide the optimal number of minutes or hours spent in the gym.

Reps and Sets - The classic “3 sets of 10 reps” is not set in stone. Aiming for 10 sets can mean utilizing shitty form for the last 4 or 5 reps just to race toward completing that number. As a trainer I tell clients that I’d rather they do one rep with optimal weight and perfect form than 10 sloppy reps. Once you master that one perfect rep, you can then aim for two, then three. Within months you’ll be up to 8, or 10, or 12 perfect reps—that number is up to you. And your results will zoom. Once you’re in the groove, your body will tell you that day’s number. It may be more, or may be less, than the number from the previous workout. 

What Does A “Challenging” Workout Feel Like?

Age 36: Only after embracing the discomfort of a challenging workout

did the results begin to come my way.

In my early 30s I hit a wall at the gym. When I pushed myself to my then-limit, I felt really uncomfortable physically, dizzy and hot. I wanted to look a certain way but to do so I knew I had to break through that barrier of discomfort.

I convinced a competitive bodybuilder at my gym—who had already shed 3 other workout partners because they could not cope with his work ethic—to take me on. I was determined to reach my goal and by choosing this guy I knew it would be a matter of “sink or swim.” He took me on, I gritted my teeth, and I broke though.

Whenever I hit the wall previously, I stopped. But when I hit the wall with this guy, I had to keep going, and amazingly, once I pushed past that initial discomfort and overheating, I felt cool and powerful. I realized I had built my own barrier, and then for years afterward refused to break through it. 

Discomfort comes with the territory.

If you are not making progress in your workout, not seeing the results you think you deserve to see, there are most likely multiple reasons for this. First off, keep your smartphone in your locker. If, after performing your set, you can immediately pick up your phone and begin scrolling, then your set was absolute shit. 

As you perform your set your mind must be completely focused on the target muscle. Your chosen weight should be such that doing 10 reps provides an unpleasant challenge, and as you near rep number eight you should feel depleted of strength, light-headed and fighting for oxygen. After that set, your mind as well as your body should be entirely preoccupied with recovering—so much so that your hands should be trembling, enough to make picking up your phone and scrolling the last thing you want to do at that moment. Then you want to rest no more than one minute, and repeat.

On leg day if you don’t feel light-headed during and after EVERY set, you’re doing it all wrong. Smaller muscle groups, such as biceps, will not have the same dizzying effect as legs, but DEPLETED is exactly how you should feel after completing a properly executed set for any given bodypart.

The only way you will make progress is by challenging yourself, by adopting stricter form, upping your weight, and increasing the number of reps to get you within your DISCOMFORT zone. 

Don’t Ruin All Your Hard Work With Poor Posture

Posture…what a pain, right? But actually it’s the easiest part of looking the way you’ve always wanted. Posture takes attention and practice—24/7 practice.

There’s an older guy at my gym who is in his 50s who has an awesome physique, the kind of body any guy would be proud to have. He’s has an abundance of esthetically distributed natural muscle on his 6-foot-plus frame, but the problem is that his poor posture ruins the overall effect.

You will notice that any guy’s physique that you admire and would like to emulate is always displayed with great posture at its foundation. Probably you never considered this before in trying to figure out why some guys look so much better than others even though their physiques are basically similar.

It makes no sense to hide what you’ve accomplished, yet it’s not uncommon to see guys fully covered head to toe in sweats when it’s clear they have a fine physique underneath. But so much more common are those men and women who walk around slouching, round shouldered, belly out, literally undoing their basic intent to look good. If you’re spending hours each week in the gym or working out, it makes no sense to allow lazy posture to cancel out all your hard won gains.

There are endless resources on the net that will teach you how to stand and sit to best advantage. 

Eating For Results vs. Eating For Fun

Ross Edgley

There is a middle ground between eating whatever you’re in the mood for, because it tastes good, and eating for specific results. Taking the time to make a master list of your favorite foods that are also nutritionally compatible with your fitness goals, and then using this list as your food shopping list, kills two birds with one stone.

When most people get hungry they grab the nearest tasty satisfying thing and gobble it down with no regard for “macros”: fat, carbohydrate, protein and vitamin content. Those who have set a goal, to lose weight, gain weight, pack on muscle, increase endurance and fitness, etc., need to educate themselves about nutrition in order to best achieve their goal. The internet is crammed with this kind of information for those serious about learning and improving.

Planning ahead instead of winging it is the way to success. For example I always take a thermos with a cold protein shake with me to the gym for consumption afterwards. After the gym you might find yourself so hungry that you’ll falter and visit a fast food drive-thru just to ease that discomfort — unless you bring food with you. If you are building muscle and minimize fat gain it’s essential that you eat specifically for that purpose, and the only way to achieve this is by consciously planning your meals rather than playing it by ear.