After months of closures, gyms around the country are slowly resuming operations.
There are plenty of people discussing all the ways to protect yourself from COVID-19 when you return to the gym. I’m not going to talk about that today, as those policies will come directly from your gym or local government.
Each person also has their own unique circumstances with work, family, and finances as well as their own personal risk tolerance, all of which could affect their decision about when to return to the gym.
Instead of digging into these issues, I want to discuss another crucial element of staying safe when you go back to the gym. It’s hard to overstate just how important this consideration is to protect yourself.
Be cautious to avoid injuries.
You are not the same trainee that you were back in early March.
If you don’t take your time easing back into full weight room workouts, you are setting yourself up for pain and injuries.
Even if you’ve been crushing your home training, your body is not in specific shape for the gym.
There is a big difference between squatting with a band or kettlebell and squatting with a barbell.
Same idea applies to other exercises. If the only pressing movements you’ve done for three months are various types of pushups, your body is no longer fully adapted for barbell – or even dumbbell – bench pressing.
Now, this doesn’t mean you’re totally out of shape if you’ve been training without access to real weights. I have clients that lost weight, built lean muscle, and are moving better than ever thanks to their quarantine workouts. You may even feel stronger and fitter than you did before the gym closed.
However, the specific stressors placed on your ligaments, tendons, and joints are different with different training tools.
Barbells in particular are not very joint-friendly and a lot less forgiving of form errors. Placing too much load and stress on delicate connective tissues before they’re ready is a great way to hurt yourself.
Getting hurt now only means more time away from the gym. Nobody wants that!
The absolute worst thing you can do when you go back to the gym is try and jump right back in to the exact workouts you were using before quarantine.
What to do instead
Start with shorter workouts. Your work capacity for lifting weights is likely reduced. I recommend 30 minute workouts for at least the first two weeks. You can always fill in extra time with cardio or non-lifting activities.
Prioritize recovery. Get plenty of sleep, eat primarily nutrient-rich foods, drink lots of water, and go for easy walks on your off days. You can also experiment with bodywork, contrast showers, and other recovery tools.
Use less weight. No matter what exercise you perform, start with lighter weights than you think you can handle.
Be cautious about barbell training. I actually recommend avoiding barbells for the first 2-4 weeks. Focus on dumbbells, kettlebells, cables, and machines. Then, once you’re back in the swing of things, you can add barbell movements back into the mix.
Be nice to yourself. You will likely feel pretty weak and out of shape the first time you return to the weight room. Don’t let this get you down. If you stayed active during quarantine, your gym strength and endurance will return pretty rapidly. If you were totally sedentary for the last three months, this process will probably take a little longer.
One last note – expect to be very sore when you first get back into lifting weights. In my experience, people feel the most intense soreness when they return to lifting weights after a long period away or do exercises they haven’t done in a while.
This is another reason to take it easy with lighter loads and shorter workouts until you re-acclimate to the gym.
Do you have questions or concerns about how to safely resume your gym routine? Apply for my online training program and I can provide customized plans, support, and advice to help you navigate this transition.
People usually fall into one of three groups when they come to the gym:
They show up with no plan or only a vague idea of what they want to work on that day. They wander around the gym using whatever equipment is available, hitting their favorite exercises, and copying what they see others doing.
They complete a random workout from an influencer’s plan or app. Although they’re following a prescribed workout, each session doesn’t necessarily build on the others.
They do the same workout(s) they’ve been doing for years, with the exact same exercises, sets, reps, and weights they always use.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing what you want at the gym. Everyone trains for different reasons, and if you’re just trying to move your body and fit some activity into your day then it really doesn’t matter what you do.
However, if you have specific goals you’d like to achieve, such as getting stronger, losing weight, building muscle, or moving with less pain, I strongly recommend you take a different approach.
Changing your body in any meaningful way requires consistency, effort, and building specific skills over time. If you come to the gym with a random plan (or worse, no plan), you’re wasting valuable time and leaving potential progress on the table. And if you always do the same things, your body will eventually stop responding. We must strike a balance between too much new stuff and not enough new stuff to consistently move forward.
I’m a true believer in long-term workout programs built around core movements and progressive overload. If you’re tired of wasting time at the gym or aren’t sure why you’re not seeing results, maybe it’s time to change the way you work out.
The Novelty Trap
Everyone wants to have a good time when they come to the gym. Since it’s often hard to find the motivation to train, it makes sense that we’d like to have fun while we’re there. This becomes a problem, however, when we derive all our enjoyment from novelty or are afraid we’ll get bored if we don’t constantly try new things.
Social media exacerbates our exercise ADD. We scroll through our instagram feeds for inspiration and see all kinds of new and crazy exercises. Our favorite celebrity is doing one thing, a pro athlete we admire is doing another, an old classmate is promoting a new exercise system, and a fitness model we follow is doing something entirely different. It’s tempting to pick and choose a little bit of everything we see. This results in random workouts that may be fun but do very little to advance us toward our goals.
Too much novelty leaves us trapped in learning mode. Each time we go to the gym, we devote tons of time and energy to figuring out how to perform new exercises. If you’ve ever tried to learn a new movement, you know it’s tough to push yourself on your first few tries. This is because your brain is not initially efficient at telling your muscles when and how to move. If we don’t give our nervous system time to adapt, we’re never truly able to drive desired adaptations like fat loss, muscle gain, or increased strength. We need time and practice to be able to push our bodies to improve.
You know what I think is entertaining? Getting results. Repeating workouts (with smart progression over time) will always give you more bang-for-your-buck than reinventing the wheel each time you hit the gym.
But don’t I need to confuse my muscles and keep my body guessing?
The idea that you can trick your body into making progress by constantly switching up your workouts was popularized by workout programs like P90X. Muscle confusion is one of those appealing myths that seems like it could be true but isn’t actually rooted in science.
You need fewer changes than you might think to continue progressing over time. I often have my clients work on the same three or four basic strength exercises for several months. I add variety by changing the number of sets and reps performed each month. When the reps are lower, the client will be lifting heavier weights. If I then bump the reps up again and the client can still lift the heavier weight, we’ll know we are making good progress. Even a slight change in sets and reps can also totally change the demands and feel of an exercise. I’m happy because my client is improving through repeated practice, and my client is happy because they feel engaged in the training process.
Another benefit to keeping your workouts simple is that you’ll have exercises and training techniques in reserve for when progress slows or you want a total change of pace. If you’re constantly performing every exercise you know, you’ll be stuck when you hit an inevitable plateau. There’s nothing for you to change and no new direction you can go. You’re more likely to injure yourself and less likely to get really good at anything.
Finally, understand that underneath all the flashy instagram workouts or new products they’re promoting, every person with a great body is performing (or did perform for many years) primarily boring workouts filled with basic exercises that everybody knows. This is true for bodybuilders, pro athletes, crossfitters, and fitness models. I guarantee that 80-90% of their time at the gym is spent doing simple things you probably already know how to do. You just don’t see this stuff online because it’s not as sexy and it doesn’t sell new workout programs.
Want better results? Get back to basics and push yourself.
Only a few things truly matter at the gym if you want to build a lean, strong, and healthy body. You will always be leaving results on the table if you ignore these principles in favor of exotic exercises, flashy workout techniques, and too much novelty.
When in doubt, simplify. You can get a lot of mileage out of seemingly basic exercises like goblet squats, dumbbell Romanian deadlifts, pushups, rows, and farmer carries.
You need to train with intensity if you want to see results. Your workouts should push your physical and mental limits while still allowing you to recover. Challenge yourself with heavy loads, more sets, less rest, or intensity techniques.
Repeating workouts several times helps you find your groove and generate more intensity. In my experience, the sweet spot of most programs occurs in the third or fourth week. This is when people feel most comfortable with the exercises and can lift the most weight or perform the most sets.
Focus on progressive overload. Over time, you should see your gym performance improve. This could mean lifting more weight, doing more sets and/or reps, taking less rest, using better form, being more explosive, or progressing to more challenging exercise variations (eg progressing from a kettlebell deadlift to a trap bar deadlift). If you’re not getting better in measurable ways over the long term, you need to take an honest look at your workouts and/or your effort.
If you’re serious about your results, you need to commit to a long-term workout program. I write four-month training blocks for most of my clients. I’ve found this is an ideal amount of time to build essential skills and see noticeable progress toward a goal. Even if you don’t follow a three or four month program, I strongly recommend repeating one set of workouts for four to six weeks before switching things up.
Finally, trust the process and be consistent. Getting stronger, losing weight, building muscle, or rehabbing an injury all take time, focus, and hard work. If you keep showing up and appreciate all the little moments along the way, you’ll have a much better chance to achieve lasting success.
Have I convinced you that your workouts need an upgrade? Here are two ways to move forward:
Sign up for online coaching. I design 100% customized, structured, long-term workout plans based on your unique needs. I also offer nutrition and lifestyle coaching and accountability check-ins to support you with your goals.
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When I was new to strength training, I used to constantly chase one rep maxes. I was enjoying the beginner gains phase of my lifting career by adding weight to the bar almost every single workout. This was one reason I fell in love with powerlifting early on: it was exciting and empowering to see such rapid improvement.
However, as any experienced lifter knows, I wasn’t able to sustain this rate of progress forever. It started to take longer and longer to set new PRs. My workouts became more grueling and I had to work harder to eke out smaller gains. Eventually, my progress seemed to stall altogether. I hit my first training plateau.
It seems many of my friends and readers are experiencing similar frustrations, because I’ve been getting a lot of questions about plateaus. After working with hundreds of clients over the years, I have learned that when progress stalls at the gym, people are usually making at least one of these mistakes:
Chasing too many conflicting goals at once.
Always performing the exact same number of reps.
Never switching exercises.
Only focusing on barbell lifts and neglecting assistance/accessory/supplemental exercises.
Not following a structured training program.
I’m going to share my top strategies and solutions to overcome all five of these roadblocks below. Addressing just one of these in your own training can make a significant difference for your results, making your training much more enjoyable.
Get clear about your goals
When asked about their goals, many people say they want to get stronger on their big lifts, and lose weight and build muscle, all while training for a 10k race. This kind of shotgun approach to training is a recipe for lackluster results and frustration. For best results, pick one goal to focus on at a time.
Although the bulk of my training centers around certain core principles, I always tweak programs depending on individual client goals.I want all my clients to build strength, but the client who is training for a powerlifting meet needs more specificity and intensity than the client who just wants to feel better on a daily basis. I believe everyone should perform some cardio, but clients who want to lose weight may need more than clients whose priority is to build muscle.
It’s important to have a clear focus so we know what’s important right now and what can wait. We can’t do all the things all the time at the gym. Instead, choose one major goal for every 3-4 months of training. In addition, I rarely recommend clients chase the same goals all the time because this also leads to plateaus, frustration, boredom, and burnout. Instead, most people should shift gears at least a few times per year.
If you’re not sure what to focus on, try picking your goals based on the season. Winter and spring are great times to focus on fat loss as you get ready for the summer. When the weather is nice, cut back on gym time so you have more freedom to be active and spend time outdoors. In the last third of the year, prioritize building strength and muscle to capitalize on the extra holiday calories you’ll be consuming. Structuring your training in this way can help you make steadier progress over the long term.
Sometimes it’s your diet, not training, that’s causing the plateau. If your primary goal is to lose fat, your results are heavily affected by long-term diet adherence. You can’t out train your diet if you’re consuming more calories than you need. On the flip side, some people don’t eat enough to support their goals. If you want to get big and strong, you need to eat lots of high quality foods to support intense training. Consuming a high quality protein source and some carbs around your workout time can make a world of difference for your performance at the gym.
Train in different rep ranges
Almost every time I talk to a new client who’s been stuck in a rut, they’ve been doing the same number of reps for a long time. Whether you use 5×5, 3×10, or are constantly trying to hit 1 or 2 rep maxes, you won’t make progress indefinitely. Eventually, you need to make a change to introduce some novel stimulus to your training.
What that change looks like depends on what you’ve been doing. If your training looks like mine once did – lots of heavy, low rep sets – try building strength in higher rep ranges. If you’re doing a lot of higher rep sets, try reducing the reps and moving heavier weights. I like to change reps every 4-6 weeks to avoid excessive fatigue or plateaus. However, some people (mostly newer trainees) can get away with longer periods of time.
When I write programs for my clients, I select reps based on an alternating linear periodization model I learned from the coaches at Strength Faction. Here’s how this works:
Let’s say my client is about to start a four-month block of training. In month one, we start by performing six reps on their big lifts to lay a solid foundation. The next month we drop the reps down to three. My client should be lifting significantly heavier weights on the same exercises. In the third month, the reps jump back up to five. If my client can move the same or heavier weights for the additional reps, we’ll know they’re making progress. Finally, I reduce the reps to two in the final month. This is where all the hard work my client has put in over the last three months really pays off. Performing only two reps gives them the chance to set new PRs and move some serious weight.
I’ve found this to be the best approach to ensure consistent long term progress for the vast majority of my clients. You get stronger, your training stays interesting, and you are less likely to get injured or stuck in plateaus.
Switch exercises
No one can make steady progress on the same exercise forever. If you aren’t seeing strength gains, or if an exercise is leaving you excessively sore or tired, it may be time to cycle it out of your workouts for a while.
Don’t perform every exercise you know each time you go to the gym. I see this most commonly when people are trying to build muscle. For example, their chest day includes flat bench, incline bench, decline bench, flyes, and pushups in a single workout. What happens when their progress at the gym slows or they stop building muscle? They have no fresh exercises left to substitute. It’s better to leave a few exercises out of your regular rotation so you can cycle in new things when you hit a plateau.
What if your goal is to build strength on specific exercises? Won’t taking a break from these exercises hurt your progress?
When I was first getting into powerlifting, I spent over a year following the Westside Barbell method. Most of the Westside training focuses on exercises that are similar to, but not exactly the same as, the big three powerlifts. Building strength with these alternative exercises can help improve technique, improve your weak spots, and make you a more well-rounded lifter who is less prone to injuries.
Instead of just doing the same big lifts all the time, try building strength with these same-but-different options:
Instead of back squatting, try…
Barbell front squat
Barbell zercher squat
Safety bar squat
Box squat (could be back, front, zercher, or safety bar)
Heavy dumbbell or kettlebell squats
Heavy single leg movements like step ups, split squats, and lunges
Instead of bench pressing, try…
2 or 3 board press
Barbell incline bench
Barbell floor press
Close grip barbell bench press
Heavy dumbbell pressing variations
Instead of deadlifting, try…
Switching stance (sumo vs. conventional deadlift)
Rack pulls from different heights
Block pulls from different heights
Trap bar deadlift
Heavy kettlebell deadlifts
Don’t neglect other exercises
Once you’ve been lifting for a while, it’s difficult to get stronger or build muscle using only the big barbell lifts. If you want to avoid injuries and see steadier progress, include plenty of dumbbell, kettlebell, cable, bodyweight, and even machine exercises. I group these other exercises together and call them “assistance training”, because while they aren’t the main focus of your workout, they support you as you work to achieve your goals.
On numerous occasions, I’ve met with new clients who want to build strength but who aren’t doing much in the way of assistance training. They’ve spent a lot of time practicing with the barbell but they can’t perform a quality RDL, lunge, row, or dumbbell press. It’s amazing how much progress they make just by introducing a handful of targeted assistance exercises to their workouts.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of my favorite assistance exercises to help you get stronger on the three powerlifts.
If you want to build a stronger barbell squat, try…
Dumbbell and kettlebell squats
Single leg exercises like step ups, split squats, lunges, single-leg squats
Glute bridges and hip thrusts using a variety of implements
Leg curls
Core exercises like dead bugs, planks, and other anti-core movements
If you want to build a stronger barbell bench, try…
I’ve included a ton of information about goal setting, program design, exercise selection, and training philosophy in this blog. If you feel overwhelmed, or simply want to ensure you’re doing the things you need to do to keep making progress, you are best off following a structured training program. Hiring an in-person coach or an online trainer is the best way to get a program uniquely tailored to your goals, likes and dislikes, and resources. When you work directly with a coach, they can also tweak your program as you go if you aren’t seeing the results you want.
Getting in shape is a long game. Practicing patience, regularly re-assessing, and taking a big-picture approach to your training can keep workouts fun and help you push past the inevitable training plateaus.
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about exercise selection.
How many times should I repeat my workouts before switching exercises?
Do I need to change things frequently to confuse my muscles?
When I do make changes, how do I know what to do?
I have strong thoughts on this topic based on my years of experience training clients and observing my own growth in the weight room. Let me set the record straight for anyone who’s confused.
Why I don’t like to switch exercises all the time
Think about your first experience with a challenging exercise, like a deadlift. Did you walk into the gym and nail it right away? Of course not. It probably took you many weeks just to figure out how to perform the exercise correctly. As you refined your technique, you felt more confident and gradually added weight. Building a truly impressive deadlift takes years to accomplish.
Learning new exercises requires time, energy, and patience. You won’t be able to push yourself very hard when you’re learning. This is why my clients repeat the same workouts many times before I change their exercises. It’s a myth that your muscles need constant variation to “keep them guessing.” If you’re constantly switching things up, you’ll never actually put in the work necessary to improve.
You need to build proficiency in an exercise before you can truly reap its benefits. Most of the initial progress we make when learning something new at the gym comes from nervous system adaptation. First, our brains must figure out what body parts to move in what order. Only then can we start to recruit more of our muscle tissue to move heavier loads with better speed and control. You need to reach this second stage to see noticeable gains in strength, size, and performance.
Another way to think about this comes from the super smart guys at Strength Faction. They believe exercise proficiency helps you effectively express your training intentions. For example, let’s say you want to get stronger using squats. If you can’t squat well, you’ll never be able to handle heavy enough loads to build strength. The same goes for other goals such as increasing power. Jumping for power development does you little good if you don’t know how to land safely.
Repetition leads to mastery. The more we practice an exercise, the better we get. The better we get, the more energy we can devote to pushing our physical and mental limits. This is where the magic of progress happens.
You need lots of practice to get strong and proficient with complex movements, such as barbell deadlifts.
When should I switch exercises?
For best results, you should follow a long-term, structured workout program. I typically write programs lasting three to four months. Each program focuses on a big-picture goal like fat loss, building muscle, returning from an injury, or training for a race.
Within this larger framework, my clients’ workouts change every four to six weeks. This is the sweet spot to get the most out of each exercise. However, some people can repeat the same workouts for eight weeks and still see progress. This is especially common with newer trainees who aren’t as experienced with strength training.
Before switching exercises, ask yourself these questions:
Am I still making progress with this exercise? If so, I recommend leaving the exercise in your program until progress stalls. Remember progress comes in many forms: adding weight, performing more sets or reps, taking less rest, using better form, etc.
How is my recovery? If you’re feeling great during and between workouts, you still have room to push yourself and grow with your current plan. If you’re feeling excessively sore and tired or you start dreading your workouts, it’s probably time to switch gears.
Is my primary goal fat loss? If you want to lose weight, you don’t want to become too efficient in the gym. I still recommend prioritizing strength work, but you can introduce a bit more variety with your assistance and conditioning exercises in the latter parts of your workouts. If your primary goals are building strength or muscle, you’re better off spending more time with the same set of exercises.
Here are few things to keep in mind when selecting exercises or making changes:
Understand why every exercise is included in your workouts. I never change exercises purely for the sake of novelty; every change is intended to to help my clients get another step closer to their goals. This ensures they get the most bang for their buck with limited time in the gym.
Don’t change everything at once. I often keep the main strength exercises consistent throughout a client’s program. Try changing the set and rep schemes instead of the exercise itself. For example, we may do sets of five rep squats one month and sets of three rep squats the next month.
Look for small changes. Often, you only need a small tweak to see renewed progress. Here are some ideas for changing your current exercises:
Use a different variation of the same exercise. Perform a front squat instead of a back squat or a dumbbell floor press instead of a dumbbell bench press.
Use a different implement. Use a kettlebell squat instead of a barbell squat or a cable row instead of a dumbbell row.
Change the tempo. Use slow eccentrics, fast concentrics, and isometric pauses.
Change the range of motion. This works well for barbell exercises like bench press and deadlifts.
Use conditioning to scratch your itch for variety. Conditioning is a fancy word for high intensity interval training, or getting your heart rate up. Most of my clients do some conditioning at the end of their workouts. This is a perfect time to have some fun with gym toys like medicine balls, sleds, battle ropes, and cardio equipment. For most people it’s less important what tools they use for conditioning than how their heart rate is affected.
Use conditioning finishers to add more variety to your workouts.
Focus on the basics.
I strongly believe you will see better results – no matter what your goal – if you focus on mastering a small handful of compound movements in the gym. All of my clients squat, hinge, press, pull, and carry. Nobody knows how to do these things perfectly right off the bat, so we spend lots of time learning, practicing, and perfecting different variations of these fundamental skills. Over time, my clients build confidence and a strong foundation which allow them to push past their limits and crush their goals.
If you look at the workout programs of the biggest, fastest, strongest, and leanest people, you will see these same basic movements. The biggest difference between them and you is they’ve been training for longer and may have more resources at their disposal.
Don’t be fooled by fit people who post flashy training tools and crazy exercises on social media. Most likely they are spending the bulk of their training time away from the camera focusing on the same compound movements you do. The basics may not be sexy or sell supplements and gadgets, but it’s what works.
Looking for a workout program to take the guesswork out of all of this? Check out Full45. It’s a three month, twice-weekly training program you can complete using the equipment at a basic gym like Planet Fitness. Full45 is the perfect program to get you started on your strength training journey or to help you bust through a plateau.
It’s that time again: time to pull out the planners and chart a course for the new year.
For many people, setting New Year’s resolutions is an enjoyable process. It can be exhilarating to think of all the big things you plan to achieve. There is a sense of hope and possibility around this time that can difficult to recreate later in the year.
For others, this time of year is full of anxiety, disappointment, and even shame. Maybe you didn’t accomplish everything you wanted to over the past year. Perhaps you’re reminded of a resolution you’ve repeatedly set and failed to keep. You may feel so overwhelmed by your immediate challenges that it’s difficult to take a step back and think about the bigger picture.
Here’s some good news: failing to achieve goals doesn’t mean you are a failure. Setting goals isn’t necessarily something you’re good at right out of the gate; it is a skill you need to be practice and develop. Regardless of your past results, you can use certain strategies to set more realistic and meaningful New Year’s resolutions this time around.
All of these are worthy goals. Unfortunately, we ultimately don’t have much control over whether we achieve them because we cannot control exact numbers or outcomes.
What we can control are our actions and behaviors. That’s why I often work with clients to turn their outcome goals into habit goals.
A habit goal focuses on the actions you take to support your desired outcome. Accomplishing a habit goal is totally within your control because you are the one who decides whether you’ll take positive action every day.
Let’s look at the first goal listed above – wanting to lose 70lbs – and break it down into habit goals. What does it take to lose 70lbs? What habits do I need to develop to make this goal a reality?
Consistently eat fewer calories than you consume (ultimately this is most important)
Exercise regularly, preferably mixing strength training and cardio
These are the “big rocks” you need to move to lose a large amount of weight. But these are still too vague to make much of a difference in your daily life. So the next step is to break these down into a handful of smaller practices.
Let’s just look at the first bullet point, consistently eating in a caloric deficit. I’ll list the two nutrition practices which made the biggest impact on my journey to lose 70 lbs years ago:
Logging my food every day to gain an awareness of how much food I was eating and make sure I wasn’t consuming too many calories. (Read more: All About Food Logging Parts 1, 2, and 3)
Cooking my own meals at home most of the time so I could control the quantity and quality of my food. (Read more: How I learned to cook and you can too)
Once you’ve broken down your big rocks, your list should consist of things under your direct control. Cooking and logging my food were behaviors I could do every day to move the needle closer to my ultimate weight loss goal.
Instead of focusing on the number of pounds I wanted to lose, I focused on consistently nailing these new habits. Every day I checked those boxes, I could feel good about my choices. Although I couldn’t know exactly how much weight I would lose, I knew I would progress as long as I kept practicing these habits.
Focusing on daily wins creates more long-term success than focusing on numbers and outcomes.
The Power of Daily Practice
The best habit goals are those you can practice every single day. Bonus points for goals like the two I listed above which you do multiple times per day.
It takes practice and patience to build new habits, especially if you’ve been set in your old ways for a long time. The more exposure you have to new positive changes, the more success you will have.
One of the best parts about setting habit goals is learning to love the process of self-improvement. It’s so easy to get hung up on numbers or fall prey to quick fixes when your only goal is to reach a specific outcome. You do whatever it takes to get where you want to go without considering whether your approach is sustainable. Once you reach your goal, it’s easy to fall back into your old ways and ultimately end up back where you started.
On the flip side, practicing habit goals helps you write a new script and make lasting changes. Even if you never reach the exact number or outcome you were hoping for, you will be better off than where you started. You learn what works for you and what doesn’t. You find ways to enjoy training, cooking, and whatever else you’re doing as opposed to just viewing them as means to an end. This is where the magic of lasting change happens.
One of the most powerful habit goals you can set in the new year is to become a more consistent exerciser. Getting in the gym on a regular basis benefits not just your physical health but also your mental health and sense of identity. Now is the best time to figure out how to make exercise a staple of your routine. If you’re struggling, check out my 4C System Course. I created this free 5-day email course to help busy professionals get more consistent with exercise. Sign up using the box below and you’ll receive the first lesson right away.
Have a happy new year and here’s to your good health!
I lost 70 lbs and built strength using traditional barbell exercises like conventional deadlifting, bench pressing, overhead pressing and back squats. I loved this training style and assumed my clients would too.
However, I quickly learned that barbell lifting is not a good fit for many people. I was blessed with good mobility and no past injuries, but many of my clients were not so lucky. Forcing clients to use the barbell led to frustration for everyone. I began to experiment with other ways to load all my primary movements.
Since my first year as a trainer, I’ve become much more conservative about programming barbell exercises. The barbell exercise I program least frequently is the back squat.
Back squatting is touted as the holy grail of lower body training, but it’s not a good fit for most people. You need lots of core strength and good upper back and shoulder mobility to hold a bar on your back; in my experience, few people possess all three of these. This means it’s incredibly easy to slip into bad habits and squat with poor form. Additionally, because you can naturally support more weight on your back, people frequently overdo the weight. This can lead to breakdown of form and injuries, especially in the knees, shoulders, and lower back.
If you can’t back squat, what should you do instead? Front-loaded squats are the solution. Holding a weight in front of you forces you to use your core, back, and other stabilizing muscles just to stay upright as you squat. Keeping your arms in front of you reduces the mobility demands on your upper body, making it easier to use proper form and maintain good posture. Front squats are self-limiting and prevent you from using more weight than you can truly manage. Training intensely with less weight means you’ll get stronger without the excessive wear and tear on your joints.
I’ve listed my four favorite front squat variations below.
Goblet Squat
Goblet squats are the first weighted squat I introduce with all my clients. They are easy to perform and versatile. Even the strongest trainees who have used a barbell for years can benefit from heavy or high rep goblet squatting.
All you need to perform a goblet squat is a single dumbbell or kettlebell. Keep the weight tight against your chest throughout the movement. If you’re holding a kettlebell, try to rip the handle apart in your hands. If you’re holding a dumbbell, try to squish the weight between your hands. These cues will help you maintain upper body and core tension, which will allow you to squat more weight with better form.
Because it doesn’t require much equipment, goblet squatting is a great option for people who frequently travel or train at a bare bones gym. Unfortunately, these gyms can limit stronger trainees if they only have dumbbells up to 50-75 lbs. If you find yourself in this situation and want to make your goblet squats more challenging, try using one of the following intensity techniques:
Add more reps: If you’ve never performed 20 rep sets of squats, you’re in for a treat.
1.5 reps: Squat all the way down, come halfway up, go all the way down, and then come all the way up. That’s one rep.
Eccentric focus squats: Go really slow on the way down and stand up explosively. Start with a three second descent, but feel free to challenge yourself with even longer times.
Pause squats: Add a pause in the bottom of your squat. Start with three seconds and add time to increase the difficulty. Be sure to maintain tension and good posture during the pause.
Double front rack kettlebell squats
Double front rack kettlebell squats are another easily accessible front squat variation. I often use these as a progression for clients who have a good grasp of goblet squats but still aren’t ready for a barbell.They also work well later in the workout as a vehicle for extra volume and endurance work. You’ll need access to multiple pairs of kettlebells of increasing weights to progress this exercise, so it won’t be a good fit for readers who train at standard commercial gyms.
To perform this exercise, rack a kettlebell in each arm. Aim to keep your forearm and wrists vertical like a rocket ship about to launch. Holding weights in the front rack provides a great additional challenge for your core, upper back, and shoulders. Check out this video to learn more about the front rack position.
Zercher squats
Zercher squats require you to hold a barbell in your elbow pits. Zerchers may seem awkward at first, but many of my clients love them and claim they feel great on their joints. I’ve helped numerous clients successfully Zercher squat even when all other barbell squats were painful. If you want to return to barbell squatting after struggling in the past, or if your upper body mobility prevents you from front or back squatting, give Zerchers a try.
To perform Zercher squats, set up a barbell in a power rack just below your elbows. Most people like using a bar pad or towels wrapped around the bar, especially as the weight gets heavier. Place your feet directly under the bar and slide the bar into your elbow pits. Point your knuckles toward the ceiling, make a fist, and keep your arms pulled as tight to your chest as you can. Maintain this position as you unrack the bar, complete your set, and return the bar to the rack.
Barbell front squats
We’ve finally come to my personal favorite squat variation, the barbell front squat. Front squats aren’t for everyone: they still require a good amount of upper body mobility and core strength and can be unpleasant for those with sensitive skin or boney shoulders. If you can’t perform these without pain or discomfort, stick with one of the earlier squat variations.
There are three ways to hold the barbell during front squats. The traditional clean grip setup only works if you have great upper back, shoulder, and wrist mobility. If you’re too tight, try using a crossed-arm setup or lifting straps to help you secure the bar. Check out the video below to see each of these methods in action.
During 2018, I substituted front squatting for all my barbell back squatting. I love that I can challenge myself with heavy loads without straining my shoulders, lower back or knees, like I sometimes did when back squatting. In addition, because I’m holding the bar in front of my body, I have to be much more diligent about moving well and activating the right muscles. Since I made this switch I’ve noticed less shoulder and knee pain, more muscle definition in my legs, and a dramatic improvement in my squat form.
Unless you’re a competitive powerlifter, you don’t have to include barbell back squats in your workouts. If you love back squats and they feel great, keep doing what you’re doing. However, if you can’t seem to use good form or if back squatting leaves you feeling beat up, it’s time to try something new. Work your way through this progression or use a mix of all four front-loaded squat variations. You can build impressive levels of strength, muscle, and endurance in your lower body without ever putting a bar on your back.
And if you really want to take your squat (and deadlift) training to the next level, you need to download your FREE copy of my mini ebook Squat and Deadlift School below.
I share my favorite form tips, troubleshoot common problems, and provide progressions to help you work toward (or supplement) barbell training.
I’m confident both novice and experienced lifters can use the book and accompanying videos to take their training to the next level.
I’m on a mission to help everyone I work with get strong.
Getting strong is not the first goal most people mention when they come to see me. Lots of people want to lose weight and get lean. Others want to increase energy, return to training after rehabbing an injury, get through the day with less pain, or simply develop a consistent exercise routine.
Although I always prioritize the individual client’s goal, the vast majority of their plans are centered around building strength. Over the years, I’ve seen that getting strong helps people achieve just about any health and fitness goal.
If you’re weak, it’s tough to handle the intensity or volume of workouts necessary to noticeably change your body. Getting stronger helps you increase your energy levels because you won’t get so exhausted performing daily tasks. Strong bodies recover faster from injuries and are less likely to experience pain in the future. And getting stronger helps with consistency because it’s fun and empowering to see all of the amazing things your body can do when you start regularly lifting heavy stuff.
You don’t need to put multiple plates on the bar – or even lift bars at all – to experience these benefits. Strength is relative to each person. What’s heavy for my clients in their mid twenties looks very different than what’s heavy for my clients in their sixties. But no matter your age or how long you’ve been working out, everyone can get stronger in their own way.
If you’re not convinced that getting strong matters for you, please read on.
Getting stronger improves every other physical quality.
Are you interested becoming more powerful to help you dominate your rec sports or golf game? Getting stronger helps with this.
Are you a runner or triathlete trying to shave minutes off your best race time? Building physical strength is one of the best ways to do it.
Many new clients want to increase their flexibility. In many cases I find they actually lack strength and neuromuscular control, not range of motion. Once I get them on a well-rounded strength training program, their flexibility almost always increases without any extra stretching or foam rolling.
Talk to any great strength and conditioning coach for young athletes and they’ll tell you they prioritize building strength over just about anything else. This is because getting stronger elevates all other physical qualities including speed, agility, conditioning, power, and mobility and flexibility.
Trying to improve any of these skills with a weak client or athlete is a recipe for lackluster results or potential injury. Strength is the base upon which everything else is built.
Getting stronger has helped my marathon runners set big PRs.
Getting stronger can help you feel better and reduce the risk of future pain and injuries.
These days, it’s rare to meet a new client who doesn’t suffer from some kind of joint or muscle pain. Knee pain, shoulder pain, and low back pain are the most common, but I’ve seen just about every imaginable combination of pain and injuries in the hundreds of clients I’ve worked with over the years.
If a client is dealing with persistent or intense pain, I always refer them out to a physical therapist or physician. But many people just need to improve their movement quality, add in more regular exercise, and build some strength.
I can’t tell you how many clients have dramatically decreased their pain levels just by consistently following a safe, smart, strength-focused training program. The quality of life increase you could experience if you start lifting weights cannot be overstated. You’re also much less likely to injure yourself in the future when you learn how to control your body and counteract hours of sitting or repetitive movements.
Getting stronger makes daily life much easier.
A couple years after I started lifting, I began to notice some surprising changes. I was able to move with ease, control, and confidence no matter what I was doing. As someone who used to always feel slow, clumsy, and weak, this was a huge change in the way I carried myself and showed up in the world. This transformation happened because I was getting stronger and building a new and powerful connection with my body.
I notice my quads and glutes engaging as I bike or climb stairs. I feel my arms, back, and core muscles turn on when I’m carrying grocery bags in from the car. I know which muscles to fire when I’m attempting to safely pick up a heavy box from the floor. After years of strength training and building these mind-muscle connections, I now feel strong doing just about everything. I use the movements I practice in the gym to aid the movements I do in my daily life.
There are so many daily tasks that get easier when you’re strong. Here are just a few common examples:
Lifting a heavy suitcase into an overhead bin on a plane.
Carrying all your groceries in one trip. Bonus points if you have to walk up multiple flights of stairs like I do.
Carrying kids or pets. They can both be quite heavy!
Moving heavy boxes or furniture
Climbing flights of stairs
Being strong feels awesome.
What to do next
You can’t know all of the positive benefits getting strong will have on your life until you try. Here are a few resources I’ve put together to help you get started on your strength training quest:
Squats and deadlifts are two of the best exercises for building strength. If you want to get better at these great lifts, you need to download your free copy of my ebook Squat and Deadlift school.
I share my favorite form tips, troubleshoot common problems, and provide progressions to help you work toward (or supplement) barbell training.
I’m confident both novice and experienced lifters can use the book and accompanying videos to take their training to the next level.
Many people start exercising because they want to change the way they look. And to build the bodies they want, most of these people will eventually need to build some muscle.
In part 1, I explained the essential components to include in your workouts if you want to build muscle. In part 2, I explain how you should eat. I also include a few additional important considerations at the end.
You need to eat a lot.
Hard training is required to stimulate muscle growth, but it’s not going to happen without providing your body with the necessary raw materials. I’ve worked with many naturally skinny people who simply don’t eat as much as they need to if they really want to gain weight.
If you struggle to eat enough, set timers on your phone to remind you when it’s time for meals. If you either don’t get hungry or tend to ignore your hunger, an external stimulus can prompt you to eat.Eating several smaller meals throughout the day can help you get around feeling overly full.
Consider experimenting with liquid meals like shakes and smoothies. It’s much easier to drink your calories than eat them, so these meals won’t leave you feeling quite as full. Start with a shake before and/or after your workouts and add more during the day as needed.
Regular training can also help boost your appetite if you have trouble eating enough food. Many of my clients and friends tell me they were amazed how much hungrier they felt when they committed to a consistent strength training regimen. Focus on hitting the weights hard.
What should I eat?
Calories are king when it comes to building muscle. However, it’s also important to pay attention to what kinds of foods you’re eating. This will help you feel better, train harder, and stay healthy on your quest to build a more muscular body.
Contrary to what you may read on the internet, you will have much more success building muscle if you eat lots of carbs. Carbs are the body’s preferred source of fuel. They help you recover faster and power through the grueling workouts necessary to pack on muscle. Don’t be afraid to eat plenty of carbs every single day, especially around your workout.
Protein is also critical to hypertrophy. Aim to keep protein consumption around 1g/1lb bodyweight. You can get your protein from a wide variety of places; it’s not necessary to eat grilled chicken breast all day every day. White fish, salmon, eggs and egg whites, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, lean steak, ground turkey and chicken, and pork chops are all great protein sources. There are also plenty of vegetarian protein options, such as beans and legumes. Experiment to find which foods agree with you and are most enjoyable.
The rest of your diet should come from healthy fats. I don’t recommend cutting fat consumption to less than 20% of your total calories for health reasons. Some people need to eat more fat to feel and perform their best.
Your diet should center around whole, nutrient-dense foods, but you definitely have room to add in calorically-dense treats, especially if you’re having trouble consuming enough calories. However, chasing hypertrophy isn’t an excuse to just eat junk food all the time. Aim to eat nutritious foods ~80% of the time and save the other ~20% for treats. Tweak this percentage depending on your preferences and results.
Other considerations
Sleep is absolutely crucial. Your body needs sleep both to recover from hard training and to build muscle. You will have much better results if you can commit to sleeping at least 7.5 hours every single night. Sleep time can also be broken up throughout the day. Never underestimate the power of a good nap.
If you’re not already lean, consider losing some fat before you start trying to put on size. A lean body is more likely to store excess calories as muscle than an overweight body. Going on a short diet before you start a gaining phase can ensure you put on weight in the right places and don’t end up with excess unwanted body fat.
Don’t worry about getting “too big.” Building muscle takes a lot of time and effort (and food). It doesn’t happen by accident and you can always switch gears once you’re happy with your results.
Finally, remember that building muscle isn’t just for bodybuilders and fitness models. Anyone who wants more definition in certain body parts or who wants to look more athletic should include hypertrophy among their list of goals. You may even discover that training to build muscle is one of the most fun things you can do in the gym.
I’m a big fan of any kind of training that aims to build you up rather than make you take up less space in the world. If you want to learn more, I’d love to hear from you here or have you join my email list. I send out exclusive weekly content with my list that I don’t share anywhere else.
For a long time, I thought training for aesthetics was a waste of time, an ironic opinion considering the initial reason I started lifting weights was to lose weight. Nevertheless, I was steeped in powerlifting culture and believed that training for strength was the superior goal. I chased 1 rep maxes, took 5 minute breaks in between sets, and laughed at people performing curls and shoulder raises.
I did get strong following this approach, but after a few years of lifting I realized I wasn’t really happy with the way I looked. I lost a lot of weight, but I wanted look more muscular and athletic. Put another way, I wanted to look like I lifted.
In the summer of 2016, I decided I was finally ready to commit to building the body I wanted. I stopped chasing strength and spent a year and a half training exclusively to build muscle. This period was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had in the gym. I got great results and learned a lot about myself. Even though I’ve since returned to heavier lifting, I still incorporate elements of this training style in my workouts.
The difference between training arms and not training arms was quite pronounced.
Building muscle is one of the most enjoyable and empowering things you can do in the gym. Even if you don’t want to look like a professional bodybuilder or fitness model, you can still chase this goal. Many of my clients want to build some more definition in their arms, legs, butt, and back. In order to build the body you really want, you need to add some muscle to your frame.
Today’s post is the first in a two-part series about the essentials of building muscle for beginner and intermediate lifters. Those of you who are already jacked may need more advanced considerations that I won’t cover here. In Part 1, I dig into the why, what, and how of training to build muscle. Next week, I’ll be back with a second part covering nutrition and lifestyle considerations.
Training is essential.
Although you can lose weight using diet alone, hard strength training is 100 percent necessary to build muscle. You have to give your body a reason to build new muscle tissue by consistently pushing your physical limits.
I recommend working up to 4-6 lifting sessions per week. These sessions can range from 30-90 minutes depending on your schedule and ability level. If you have a hard time staying lean, complete some additional cardio and high intensity interval training each week. On the flip side, if you struggle to gain weight, consider reducing cardio to the bare minimum or removing it altogether.
My favorite muscle-building training splits are as follows:
Upper-lower: Two upper body days and two lower body days. I especially like upper push, lower push (squat and single-leg focus), upper pull, and lower push (deadlift, hip hinge, and hamstring focus).
Push-pull-legs: Two upper body days, one lower body day. I’m not a big fan of only training legs once per week, but this can work if you have less time to train.
Modified body part split: This split works well if you want to train more than 4 days per week. Be sure to train your legs at least twice per week no matter how you divide up your training days. I don’t recommend this split to beginners because you won’t be able to generate the right kind of intensity to get the most out of your workouts. Stick with one of the first two splits for your first six months of training.
One of the best ways to challenge your muscles and promote growth is to focus on the mind-muscle connection. If you’re targeting a specific muscle with an exercise, you should feel that muscle working. This is one of the biggest differences between training for strength and training for muscle gain. If you can’t feel the muscle working, adjust your form, slow down the tempo, use a different weight, or pick a different exercise.
Brad Schoenfeld, a premier fitness researcher, writes that there are three main mechanisms to promote muscle growth. The first, mechanical tension, requires you to lift challenging weights for many sets and reps over the course of your training program.
The second, metabolic stress, refers to the burning sensation you feel in your muscles after doing high rep sets, giant sets (combining several exercises for the same muscle without taking a break), intensity techniques, or static holds. You can also create metabolic stress by keeping your rest intervals short.
The final mechanism, muscle damage, happens primarily during the stretching portion of a lift. To take advantage of this, you should occasionally drag out or overload this portion of exercises. You can also create muscle damage using exercises that emphasize the stretching portion of the lift, such as Romanian deadlifts. If you want to maximize your results, make sure your training includes all three mechanisms.
Focus on compound movements like squats, presses, rows, and hinging, but don’t be afraid of isolation exercises. In my experience, most people need plenty of dedicated work for muscles like arms, shoulders, glutes, and calves if they really want them to grow. You won’t need as much time to recover from isolation work, so it can be performed throughout the week at the end of multiple workouts.
Volume, Intensity, and Progressive Overload
I define volume as the total number of sets and reps performed and intensity as the amount of weight you’re lifting. Volume and intensity have an inverse relationship; if your intensity is very high you won’t be able to use as much volume and vice versa.
Play around with higher and lower volumes and intensities to see which gives you better results. Some people can build lots of muscle lifting heavy weights alone. In my experience, however, it’s more common to see better results with higher volume. Most people need lots of exposure throughout the week to see noticeable muscle gains.
Use a variety of set and rep schemes. I program sets ranging from 5 reps to more than 25 reps for clients who want to build muscle. I also love occasionally pushing people to train close to failure. Choose an exercise you know you can perform with good form, and perform as many reps as you possibly can on your last set. When you repeat the workout the next week, try to add a couple more reps to the end of this set.
Push yourself in the gym and aim to progress in some way each time you repeat a workout. This could mean adding weight, reps or sets. You can also challenge yourself by reducing rest time, adding intensity techniques like drop sets and rest-pause sets, or by simply using better form or getting a better mind-muscle connection.
Get your butt in the gym
Now that you know the nuts and bolts of training for muscle growth, it’s time to create a plan. Your homework assignment this week is to find a new program or adjust your current workouts to help you adhere to the principles above. Schedule your workouts for the week and get after it.
Squats and deadlifts are two of the best exercises for building muscle. If you want to get better at these great lifts, you need to download your free copy of my ebook Squat and Deadlift school.
I share my favorite form tips, troubleshoot common problems, and provide progressions to help you work toward (or supplement) barbell training.
I’m confident both novice and experienced lifters can use the book and accompanying videos to take their training to the next level.
