Have you ever met someone who said they workout on a daily basis and that statement took you by surprise? It’s hard to believe because they don’t have much to show. Truth is, they might be cheating on their workouts. There are so many people that go to the gym and nothing changes for them and they have nothing to show for it. Perhaps they are rushing in just to get it done and lack proper form or do the same exercises day after day. Exercise is just another one of your relationships. You either love or hate it and the time and investment you put into it, will show.
Focus on Your Achievements
Competition is a normal drive in the human mindset. We want to be just like someone else and be able to do what others do. Oftentimes this means taking shortcuts just to get there. When you cheat on your form just to lift the heavier weight or get through the exercise quicker, you don’t do yourself a favor. It is common to see this in the fitness world. People are constantly contorting their body weights to lift that heavy weight. A modern weight method such as Zwift weight doping, puts in a lower weight on Zwift than they do in real life. But this all stems from the fact that we focus on others. The reality is that if we want to get stronger or better at something, we need to focus on what we can achieve. The gym can be intimidating because we see that other people can lift heavier or run farther. Either block out what you see at the gym or create a work space at home so you’re not focused on the wrong thing at the gym.
Focusing on Form
Form is the first thing a fitness trainer teaches you. It is crucial to think about your form and maintain a strict range of movement. Whatever exercise you do, it’s essential to focus on how you do it verses how fast you do it. Form is the most important aspect to focus on when working out. Everything else will fall into place. But for instance, if you only make it into a half squat but you’re lifting twice as heavy, you’re not doing yourself a favor. It’s better to do the full range of squat and lower your weight. But in our minds, we think that we just need to get this part out of the way, and then we can start lifting huge amounts quickly.
Whatever exercise you are doing, it’s important to focus on how you do it, rather than how fast you do it. There are many exercises that rely on momentum, but if you are trying to get strong, form is the thing you should focus on. While it’s not particularly exciting, it benefits everybody to learn a little bit of biomechanics and how the muscles actually work. When we start to recognize what we should do to strengthen our muscles and build strength, we might get rid of 90% of the exercises we’ve been doing. This is why people talk about the benefits of compound exercises rather than isolation ones.
Once you get this concept down, you’ll be surprised at the results you’ll get. It’s not worth cheating yourself. No one benefits. Not only does no one realize your progress, but you aren’t seeing the results you want to. Stop cheating yourself and take your time at the gym.
