Free-Tip Tuesday XLIV: What Gets Measured Gets Managed

Piggybacking off of last week's tip, 'Make it Better', the only way you can be certain you are - is to measure your progress. Progress in training. Progress with nutritional choices. Or simply progress in adherence to the plan you have set out for either.

So how do you go about this?

In terms of training, keep a training journal or log tracking your strength increases and volume on each of your exercises. We have so much going on in our lives we don't need anything else we have to remember right? Make it simple and write it down. It's hard to know where you are going if you don't know where you came from, not to mention the sense of accomplishment when you glance down and see how strong you have become over time!

Free-Tip Tuesday Volume XLVIII: Make It Better

Far too often, myself included, we get caught up in searching for 'perfect'. The perfect diet. The perfect workout. Etc. While this is admirable on one level, it also often produces paralysis by analysis and frustration on another.

Sometimes....we just need to 'make it better.'

Free-Tip Tuesday Volume XLVII: PLAY

How many of us can remember how easy it was to keep a healthy weight when we were kids? While many things have changed since then, one of the big ones is that we no longer PLAY. This week's tip provides a number of ways to reintroduce this simple, but highly effective practice back into you life no matter your situation.

Free-Tip Tuesday Volume XLVI: Nutrition On a Budget (Time)

Just as it is with training, 'lack of time' is often cited as a major barrier as to why people are unable to prepare their own meals and end up eating out so often where they are no longer under control of what they are putting in their bodies. Here are a few ways to make 'time' much less of an issue:

Free-Tip Tuesday Volume XLV: Training On a Budget (Time)

Not having enough time is a common excuse many use as to why they can't 'workout'. Here a few strategies to deal with this supposed barrier....

Free-Tip Tuesday Volume XLIV: Do The Opposite (In the kitchen)

Over 2/3's of the population is considered overweight or obese. Approximately 26 MILLION adults and CHILDREN currently have diabetes. By 2030, these numbers are expected to DOUBLE. Clearly, the methods being used to counteract these epidemics aren't working. If you want to experience true success, do the OPPOSITE of what the majority ...is doing.

Free-Tip Tuesday Volme XLIII: Do the Opposite

Free-Tip Tuesday Volume XLIII: Do The Opposite (In the Gym)

Over 2/3's of the population is considered overweight or obese. Approximately 26 MILLION adults and CHILDREN currently have diabetes. By 2030, these numbers are expected to DOUBLE. Clearly, the methods being used to counteract these epidemics aren't working. If you want to experience true success, do the OPPOSITE of what the majority is ...doing.

IF the majority of people spend all their time plodding along on treadmills, ellipticals, and other forms of 'cardio', try hill sprints, use battling ropes, or kettlebell swing intervals.

IF the majority completely shuns strength/resistance training, focus on getting strong in the four major movement patterns - hip-hinge, squat, upper-body push, upper-body pull.

IF the majority relies on Nautilus and weight stack machines isolating body-parts, utilize your own bodyweight, free-weights, and kettlebells to get strong in compound movements that challenge the entire body instead.

IF the majority does the same workouts, with the same weights, in the same order everyday, track your training to ensure you are making progressions in weight, reps, frequency, or some other variable.

IF the majority wonder around aimlessly performing exercises incorrectly and unsafely, obtain coaching from a QUALIFIED professional to prevent injury and ensure you get the most of your time investment.

When it comes to what you do in the gym, this is one case where the majority DOESN'T rule!

What other habits in the gym do the majority have that we would be best to avoid?