7 Rules to Get Jacked in the Gym

7 Rules to get Jacked in the Gym

1. Show up to the Gym with a Plan 2. Bring Intensity to Every Workout 3. Progressively Overload your Lifts 4. Track Your Weight and Reps 5. Maintain Proper Technique 6. Don't Get Caught up in Vanity Metrics 7. Be Consistent, Be Patient

Show up to the Gym with a Plan

You cannot show up to the gym and wing it. Every single time you show up at the gym, you should know ahead of time which workout you are doing and which muscles you are targeting that day. Take a couple minutes to review your workout before you arrive at the gym or for 2 minutes at the beginning of your workout.

Bring Intensity to Every Workout

You have to bring the heat to every workout. You're already there, why not maximize your time and work your ass off. Don't text people. Certainly don't take any calls. Don't talk to anyone at the gym during your workouts. Focus on the task at hand, which is to get friggin' diesel.

The last few reps of every single set you do should be a struggle. If they are not, you are not working hard enough.

Progressive Overload

If you are not progressively overloading over time, you are not getting stronger. And getting stronger is the entire point of lifting weights. Because getting stronger and shedding body fat is what will get you the physique of a Greek God.

Progressive overload means that you are increasing your weight or reps over time within the same exercises. If 6 weeks has passed and you are bench pressing the same exact weight at the same number of reps, you are not progressing. However, if you show up consistently with a high level of intensity, this will not happen, unless you do not track your weight AND reps.

Track your Weight AND Reps

This is an absolute non-negotiable. And I will admit until recently I was guilty of not doing a good enough job here. I would track my weight, but not my reps. My thought process was, "I'm always pushing myself to exhaustion so why would I need to track my reps." It's a reasonable line of thinking, but it's dead wrong. Your mind plays tricks on you. It makes you think you're at exhaustion because you got to an "acceptable" rep # (like 6-7) and then you relax a bit. It's the way the human brain works. You are not above it. The only way to avoid is to track your reps and then try to beat it next time. Also as you get stronger, it will become more difficult to up the weight, so your rep count will become the primary barometer of progress.

The way you track this can be super simple - I've used a Google Doc or the Notes app of my phone before. Trainerize is a great app as well.

Maintain Proper Technique

This is a super important one that is easy to forget while focusing on intensity and progressive overload. You will make much more progress by knocking out 9-10 reps at a lower weight with perfect form than 5-6 reps at a higher weight with crap form. If you can't get at least 7-8 reps while maintaining good form, you need to decrease the weight until you can. Again - if you are struggling during the last few reps, you are stimulating muscle growth regardless of how much weight you are putting up.

Don't Get Caught up in Vanity Metrics

I've been so guilty of this one, getting better lately. By vanity metrics I mean being concerned with putting up more weight than the diesel dude to your left who seems to be effortlessly knocking out unlimited reps with the 90 pound dumbbells. Do not focus on what other people are doing in the gym (or in life in general). It's a recipe for permanent dissatisfaction. Focus on being the best version of yourself every day. You are only in competition with yourself. And if you are getting better every day, you are winning. And heads up - that diesel dude is probably on steroids anyway.

Be Consistent, Be Patient

Repeating the basics over and over again for a long period of time is what leads to transformational results. You have to show up week after week after week. One week on, one week off won't cut it. Skipping your lifts because you're "busy" is the type of mindset that will leave you stuck exactly where you are.

And you have to be patient. Any program or pill that promises a quick fix should be a massive red flag. It's either a scam or unsustainable or both. Losing meaningful amount of body fat in a healthy way takes months. Building muscle? You need to think in YEARS. It takes forever.

Wrap Up

To summarize, implementing these strategies while lifting weights is how you can make significant gains without dedicating a crazy amount of time to your workouts every week. You only need to lift weights 3-4x per week for 60-90 minutes per session to make significant progress over time. And it will take time. But is a 6 month period really that long? The time is going to pass anyway. You may as well get diesel.

Stay well this week, Hal the Health Coach