The best gym tips you will ever get!

 My career is not about counting reps for people, being an accountability boot camp leader for lazy exercisers, or making people jump around like mindless monkeys.

I truly want to be the guy that is known for giving really great advice, insightful knowledge, producing comedic memorable analogies, and allowing people to understand enough about the human body- physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to have a worthwhile human experience on earth.

Seeing results that can last a lifetime are the success stories I wish to help produce, and they are the only ones that get put up on our advertising case studies.

I am going to give you a list today of the best tips I think will stir you to check your current systems, beliefs, deficits, and promote a few more habits in the gym you may wish to consider.

#1

Get posture pictures taken!

This is so valuable, I cannot state it enough. If you have sub-optimal posture, then you will always be chasing pain, imbalances, and compensations. 

Getting analysis from qualified coaches is essential. Finding what your tendency is even at a basic level is worth it's weight in gold.

Having what I call Pink Panther, or Donald Duck posture is an easy way to determine certain muscles that weaken and tighten. Tell me what trainer you have had that even assesses this?. How do you really know what to stretch, or strengthen appropriately if you have not even looked at the body??

There are obviously a lot more things that need assessing, but this is always my go to starter.

#2

Follow the stability before strength rule.

If you cannot stabilise your spine, squatting and deadlift patterns are very difficult to do safely.

If you have sub-optimal shoulder girdle stability, pullups, pushups, dips and any upper body loaded movements are at risk of injury.

You cannot fire a canon from a canoe! (Thanks Charles Poliquin, Paul Chek)

 

Stability can be trained on unstable surfaces like swiss balls. Isolation exercises can activate appropriate stabilisers before they are integrated into functional compound movements. 

Maintaining a fun component always helps. I use Swiss balls, Bodyblades, bands, wobble boards, slide boards, bodyweight challenge positions, stick wrestling, rings, kettle bells, club bells.

If I feel someone has the ability to activate core stability, shoulder and hip stability, foot and hand stability and a head that could handle a tackle from a front row prop, then high level strength training is an extremely fun productive process. I hear all the time from athletes that can't progress strength on certain lifts. It is usually a structural imbalance, or a non mirror muscle issue.

If you are not willing to go through the stability phase of gym training (and it is painful. It requires more reps than you are usually willing to do) then stay away from heavy lifting.

#3

Free weights always win

You have to earn the right to use machines. 

The best bodies are built using variations of free weight resistance training. 

Dumbbells', barbells, kettlebells, cables, medicine balls, clubbells, bags, rocks, tyres and bodyweight.

This is the 80% rule. You can add machines to supplement for variety and fun. I really enjoy assisted dip and pullup machines for joint position training and adding volume. I also get a bit of feedback from all the free weight stability and strength training. I feel really strong on machines if my training is at least 80% free weights with lots of variety and well periodised.

#4

Variety and Variation is important

A gym program should be changed regularly. Anywhere between 3-6 weeks. If you are doing programs for longer than that you are maintaining and potentially creating pattern overload, not progressing.

Some people are wired like cats, made for more coordinated movement, higher level strength and have nervous systems that adapt and respond very fast. 

Others are made more for endurance, enjoying lower intensities and simpler movements like sloths.

This can be the difference between 3 to 6 weeks of program renewal. The Cats will try new workouts weekly if you let them and the Sloths would quite happily continue their program for 12 months if you did not coach them to understand the laws of adaptation and progressive overload.

Repetitions are the mother of all variables. Prescribing 2-4 repetitions on squats for the sloth will potentially end in disaster. Giving 20+ repetitions on a Pilates protocol better have some good explaining to the cats strength plan!

The repetitions will govern the rest periods, the sets and the tempo will follow according to the goals.

The body may require higher repetitions to access more postural muscle fibres for a workplace movement. Do you notice that people have trouble even sleeping without getting injured these days. Try standing on one leg for 2minutes. Barefoot and balanced. This is surprisingly difficult. How is your stationary bike and pec deck helping you go tramping this weekend?

How about last time you lifted suitcases after a long plane flight or helped lift furniture. This is high intensity for most people. Low repetition lifting in the gym must be programmed carefully. 

If I don't change a gym program regularly enough it takes too long to progress very necessary skills for life. 

#5

 Most complex to least complex

This can't be talked about enough to new young trainers. It is astounding how many shitty programs there are designed in the gym.

Put the most intense, most complicated, biggest priority exercises at the start of a program!

Leave the bloody ab crunches till the end!

Keep the workout under 1 hour. Most people don't require long workouts.

Put the hardest exercise routines on days where you have the most energy and a willingness to pay more attention.

If your workout looks like it came from a bodybuilder and that is not your goal, then talk to coaches that have qualifications in program design (Not all do by the way)

#6

Get good at RAW

Before you play with belts, chalk, straps, wraps, lifting shoes, you should consider going raw.

Add mobility strength to the feet. Roll them, add multi directional movement from the ground to hops, jumping and landing drills.

Do loads of gripping exercises. Hand grippers, pipe hangs, loaded carries, fat grips, throwing and catching drills. 

Get good at bodyweight movement. Rolling, multi hip angled movements, yoga, dance, wrestling.

Learn how to walk. Yes you heard me, it is amazingly dysfunctional these days. Poor cross patterning, and too much sitting has added the needs for more gym programmed crawl, and opposite arm and leg pattern improvements. 

#7

Learn how to breathe

If you want to perform well, you better unlock the diaphragm. Deep breathing and opening movements to activate a workout are worth learning. Breathing is linked to how you move, allowing the spine to lengthen, rotate and to access full ranges through all major joints in the body. 

The diaphragm also works with the deep abdominals, pelvis floor, and the deep spinal muscles to produce stability and a working platform for force production.

Guess how you start recovery, post exercise stress?. That's right, calm breathing techniques. I call it nose , low and slow. 

#8

Fall in love

If you don't love the gym process, the habit, the analysis, the requirements to get better, the need for resilience, and the big picture, then you are doing it all wrong!

Real runners run because they love it. Yoga students are in it for life. 

When you feel and function really well from moving with more strength, less injuries, and a vision of a lifelong passion for functional fitness, you will love the gym for a lifetime. 

You may give up on the burpees and planks and decide to get coached with better movement skills.

#9

Keep a record

People that succeed long term keep records of progress, variables, questions, learnt skills and ideas.

I turn my students into knowledgeable exercisers. Enabling failure by just dictating, and yelling or counting is weak. 

You are not always going to have a coach by your side, so make sure to ask lots of questions and take notes.

Write out your workouts, plan the whole week, record weights, record feelings, record progress.

Every workout should elicit a 1-3% improvement at least. That does add up with consistency.

#10

Know your gym type

This gets people into the failure loop if not discussed early on.

If you are the person that thrives on being around lots of people and draws energy from groups, then classes are for you. Or busy times of the day in the gym.

Don't get caught on your own if your gym skill level is low and you like being around people.

Some people like only working with instructors. These people tend to be less like cats and more likely have lower self motivation with exercise. Work out a way to afford regular coaching sessions.

There are also the gym haters that just like being outside. I always discuss the options for some home mobility and strength exercises and the benefit of catching up with the personal coach semi regularly.

Some people work well with a training partner and love a competitive battle of a workout with a similar type creature.

There are those that self soothe and really enjoy workouts on their own with headphones on and have the skill factors to follow well designed programs once set up.

To be successful long term, you need to profile yourself honestly and accurately.

Show this list to your gym buddies. They all need to see it. 

Show it to people that think the gym is just for loud music, 20 year old fitness bunnies and getting in shape for summer. 

Send them to me and I'll show them that the gym is for all humans in the modern era that require constant strengthening teaching and inspiration.

Tony Small

Health Coach

SmallWONDERS Gym