Men, strong! Man, big! Man lift biiig weights! says the caveman. For the longest time I would go to the gym and think because I am a man I need to lift the big weights at the end of the rack as much as could. I would lift those big weights every session and only lead to a poor 3-4 rep sets and with a partner they ended up being forced. For many males there egos hamper them and deter them from attaining their true goals. The moment you set your ego aside is the time real gains come into play.
I workout at couple different places and see familiar faces routinely at the gyms. In the morning I usually see the same people and the same groups there. For the past 3 months I have taken notice of a few different guys. One of the guys I see motivates me, I don’t know him, he is built well, strong and works out hard. Another guy motivates me in a different way. He wears a tank top, walks with AIR lats, not very big, cut or anything noticeable. He walks about, like he is IT, does not nod or say hi, just struts around with nothing to show. On the flip side the former is built great, says or nods hello to everyone, build like a bodybuilder and has a quiet yet radiating confidence about him.
The bodybuilder guy has made clear changes since I have been watching him. He is getting quite a bit more lean and his exercises have increased in repetitions. The other guy has been lifting the same amount of weight for the same amount of repetitions since I have paid any attention to him.
The two guys who motivate me do for very different reasons. The big built fella walks in and has a presence and goes to work. I know he is strong, I know he works hard on his body and it shows. The other guy has made slight if any changes. Every time I see him he is doing dumb bell bench press or walking around and works hard for a few reps.
When guys first start out going to the gym they have it in their mind they have to be strong and lift a lot of weight. Most of the guys I know are looking to get those big weights up even if it is a forced rep. Most guys stay away from the 12-20 rep range because they are not able to push around a lot of weight. They will go four to six reps with as much weight as they can get and take a large rest time. This is great for gathering strength and I too will use this method to change it up a little or when I plateau, however making big strides in your lifestyle is not what this low rep set is made for.
For the most part men want to be in good shape, have a good amount of muscle, but lean and mean. Weights is a great place to start. Some guys will start and try to start running or some high intensity cardio. This is a great way to fail quickly. Personally I hate to run, so I play racquetball, quick bursts here and there and it is a total body workout. When I wake up I hit the weights, although I vary my training regimen every two or three week, I try to stay in the 10-15 rep range with at least four sets. In the past I wanted the big weight and even today I will hit that mode for a few weeks but no more than three weeks.
My goal is to make sure I sweat and get my muscles endured. It is so much more impressive when I see someone put 270lb bench 12 times rather than 315lb once. Your muscles love to be broken down and through proper nutrition and recovery, themuscles will react ten fold. Your goal should be to go into the gym and break your muscles down and for the next couple days your should feel a little sore. Remember your first workout with weight when you were super sore, you gave your body a shock and now your muscles have to rebuild and be ready for the workout. (Its like a building being blown up and rebuilt every time except a little better every single time.)
All that said, lose the ego. Take your time, the hardest part of this whole thing is patience. Once you become patient and realize this is not just a piece or time period of your life, you will gain yourself a lifestyle.
