No One Cares

           A while back, I was at the gym doing my thing and a newbie gym goer asked me for advice on how to perform an exercise. (He wanted me to show him how to do a Dumbbell Shoulder Press and then I also showed him the Dumbbell Arnold Press variation as an alternative.) He was a young kid, probably in high school, who was there at the Wellness Center with his mother.

           Now, first of all, the kid was there which means he had taken a greater step than half the people that want to get in shape. Just showing up is half the battle. So he was asking me how to perform a shoulder press and I gave him a brief tutorial. He picked up 25-pound dumbbells and began to attempt a press. His arms were shaky and his form was poor. So I switched him out to 15-pound dumbbells. I was adamant about proper form being the right building block. You perfect your form and then the weight will come. Here were some of the inherent flaws.

           1) Never Lift to Impress. I am starting to get comfortable in my own skin and I like how my arms are developing. I have not (nor will I ever) refer to my arms as a “gun show” but I do feel that they are coming along. Here is a 150-pound kid who probably has minimal lifting experience. He was humble enough to come and ask for help. [If you don’t ask, you will never learn!] But I think he didn’t want to appear as a “girlie man” so he lifted a weight that was far too heavy. You could tell because of the way his arms were shaking and his horrible form. I am telling you people, poor form gets you hurt!

           By dropping the weight, he was better able to control the weight and focus on his form instead of focusing on solely lifting the weight. So when you see that pretty girl in the yoga pants, don’t go lifting weight that you cannot lift thinking you will impress her. It won’t end well.

           2) Worry About You. While there are always going to be lunkheads gym-ratting about, I would say that 90% of the gym goers are not paying attention to how much weight you are lifting. If you are executing to the maximum of your ability and executing flawless form, that is much more impressive than lifting an astonishing amount of weight while blowing a gasket and cheating to get your reps. No one is paying attention to how much iron you are pumping so never feel bad about regressing with weight to achieve better form.

           3) Muscle Memory. Any time that I incorporate a new exercise into my routine, I just anticipate being sore the next day. It is incredibly important to attack your muscles from multiple angles by using different techniques. So if you have never performed an Arnold Press, you first have to teach your body, “Okay, Body, this is the exercise I want to perform.” It may take several sessions for your body to start putting 2 and 2 together. But once it understands what you are attempting, your muscles will “remember” what you are trying to achieve. And once that happens, you can then start progressing with strength gains.

 

           So now if we start putting all three of the elements together, you will start to see a recurring theme. It is not you versus other lifters in the gym. The only person you have to better than is the person you were yesterday. Do not concern yourself with what other people are lifting or how much weight they are doing because serious (or should I say considerate) lifters are not paying attention to what you are doing. They are focused too much on their own program and their own concerns.

           Now, by all means, I am not telling you to use this as an excuse not to push hard. Sometimes we do need a spark to reach the maximum of our potential and break through barriers. But if you are listening to your body and going to the maximum of your ability, everything is going to be fine. Just do you. Just worry about you.

           And if “haters” are gonna hate, just remember what the 21^st century philosopher Childish Gambino once said, “Don’t be mad ‘cause I’m doing me better than you doing you.”