A gym is like a jungle; everyone does their own thing. If there are 200 members, there will be 200 routines and 200 ways of seeing and doing things. However, there are a number of elements you should keep in mind, and regardless of your training routine or diet, these tips will help you, or at least that’s my intention.
1. Cardio after training
Cardiovascular exercise is a tool we use depending on our goals. There are basically two types of cardiovascular exercise: high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and low-intensity interval training (LISS) , but there are many ways to do it (swimming, running, cycling, weight circuits, elliptical training, rowing machine, etc.). We should know that cardiovascular exercise is different from the workout we do at the gym. It’s completely unrelated.
The main purpose of weight training is to build muscle mass, but the purpose of cardiovascular exercise is to help us burn more calories and therefore help us lose fat.
If you have 2 different objectives, we cannot include them in the same bag, they are 2 types of training, so my recommendation is to do them at 2 different times within the same day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) or on different days (one day weight training and another day cardiovascular training) so that they do not influence each other.
However, since we can’t always do this, if you’re going to combine both workouts, make sure to include weight training BEFORE cardio . The reason is that to lift weights, you need to be fresh and have your glycogen stores full, and this won’t happen if you do cardio first. Furthermore, doing cardio after training has another advantage: since you’ve previously trained with weights, your muscle glycogen will have been partially or completely depleted, so when you do cardio, your body will use its fat stores more easily.
2. Progression is everything
Every time you go to the gym, your workout should be better than the last. You should keep moving forward. If your workouts aren’t improving, you should do something about it—maybe change your routine, your exercises, your sets… Keep in mind that muscles grow because they adapt to a new environment. If the environment is always the same (you always use the same weight for the same reps), they won’t have any reason to grow.
You can progress in different ways. One of the most obvious is the weight you use. If you move more weight in each workout, you’re on the right track. If you maintain the same weight from one workout to the next but are performing more repetitions, you’re also progressing. And finally, if you use the same weight and perform the same repetitions but take less rest time between sets, you’re also progressing.
These are the three most basic forms of progression. So, remember, never stop progressing.
3. Prioritize compound exercises
It’s well known that compound movements have the ability to add more muscle mass to your physique, so you should prioritize these types of exercises.
When I talk about compound movements, I’m not referring exclusively to the three powerlifting movements (squat, deadlift, and bench press), which are great exercises, but they are simply that: exercises. You shouldn’t limit yourself to just those three movements. There are many exercises that involve several muscle groups at once, such as pull-ups, shoulder presses, rows, farmer’s walks, squat variations, and more.
Use these exercises as the foundation for your training . There’s a place for accessory or isolation exercises, and you should add them as well, but they should never be the core of your training.
4. Work the muscle, don’t move the weight
If your goal is to have an aesthetically pleasing body , then who cares how much weight you lift? Your job when you walk into the gym is to stimulate the muscle or muscles you need to train that day. There’s no point in loading the bar with as much weight as possible and asking a partner to help you from the first rep. That’s not how it works; you have to learn to contract the muscle with every rep.
This is quite difficult at first, but with practice, you’ll learn to feel the muscle when it’s working and it will be much easier to train it.
Over the months and years of training, your strength will increase , you will be able to move more and more weight (see tip 2) but this requires a process, a process that becomes slower as you gain experience in the gym.
You need to be strong, but the strength must be exerted by the right muscles in each exercise.
5. Always warm up
Warming up is a fundamental part of training. You have to prepare your muscles for the work they’ll do later.
Warming up isn’t just about improving performance; it’s about health. A good warm-up will help you prevent injuries and improve your focus during your subsequent workout.
6. Repetition range adapted to objectives
You have to be consistent with your goals. If your goal is to develop your body or a specific body part, you can’t just be doing sets of 2 and 3 reps. You’re not a powerlifter, so don’t train like one.
It’s possible to increase hypertrophy by training with very low reps, but it’s not optimal. Remember, your body doesn’t want to build muscle mass, so you must focus all your efforts on that goal if you want to achieve it. Wanting to be big, strong, and defined at the same time isn’t enough.
Find your goal and focus on the steps you need to take to achieve it, don’t try to chase two birds at once.
In my opinion, no one looking for aesthetics should ever do less than 4-5 reps under any circumstances, and should especially focus on the 6-15 rep range, even more for some muscles and at some times.
7. Hydrate yourself
70% of your muscles are water so DRINK LOTS OF WATER.
Water is essential for survival, so imagine how important it is while you’re putting your body through tremendous stress, like weight training.
Drinking water helps your body perform its vital functions while lubricating your joints. NEVER forget water during a workout.
Note carefully, I said WATER. Don’t use “sports” energy drinks, which are nothing more than sugary concoctions your body has to process. These drinks may have their place in other sports or activities where the effort is longer, but you don’t need that sugar in a gym workout. Stick to water.
8. The phone is out
We live in the information age. We all have a smartphone and are glued to it. It can’t stop ringing for five minutes straight. We receive calendar alerts, WhatsApp messages, Facebook notifications, new Twitter followers, Instagram likes… Sometimes we even get calls!
We’re so dependent on our phones that if we go 15 minutes without receiving any notifications, we think our phone is broken.
These distractions are very dangerous for the gym. If you’re going to dedicate an hour a day to changing your body, make it an hour, but an hour without interruptions . Turn off your phone or put it on “do not disturb” mode or any other mode that allows you to train without distractions. If you’re training, you’re training.
9. Unilateral work
We often focus on exercises where both sides of our body work equally, usually when using barbells.
By doing this, we’re generating more force and we can move more weight, but as you’ve read before, weight isn’t always the key.
You may have one side of your body that isn’t as developed as the opposite side. If you’re right-handed, for example, your right side may be overdeveloped compared to your left, and when you do these types of exercises, your strong side (right) is working harder and will therefore continue to get stronger, increasing this imbalance.
Unilateral training is a good way to correct and prevent these imbalances. Having one part of your body work independently of the other makes both work more efficiently and also helps other stabilizing muscles become more involved, since it’s harder to stabilize the weight when it’s only on one side of your body.
A great way to do unilateral training is to use dumbbells, resistance bands, or even machines . Make sure to include unilateral training in your routine.
10. Adapt to the gym equipment
In today’s world, mobility is a given. We’re very dynamic, we travel, and we move all over the world. This means that, due to personal circumstances, you may have to train at several different gyms throughout your training years.
I know what I’m talking about. In my time training, I’ve probably trained in a dozen gyms. And believe me, they were all different.
Every gym lacks something; every gym is different, and therefore, the equipment is different. This isn’t a bad thing, but you have to learn to live with it.
Every gym you go to should have basic equipment (dumbbells, barbells, weight plates, a bench press, a squat rack, pulleys, a pull-up bar, and various machines), but no two gyms will have the same equipment, and that doesn’t mean you’re going to miss out on a workout.
