Become Lean Without Aerobics

One of the longest and hardest fought arguments in fitness is between those who believe that aerobic exercise is necessary for fat-loss and those who believe it is not.

The primary reason why this argument rages on is because both sides bring some heavy ammo in substantiating and defending their belief. When it’s time to go to battle, these two sides trade blows like a couple of heavyweights fighting for the championship. Just when you think one has the upper hand the other one comes back with an unexpected uppercut to send em’ stumbling backwards.

I have tested both theories at various times throughout my bodybuilding career as well as tested them with clients. There is so much research and empirical evidence for both arguments that one simply has to learn for him or herself. While I tend to lean more towards the “no-aerobics” camp there are specific circumstances under which I believe aerobics are appropriate and would encourage them.

Let me give you an example.

In my first year as a competitive bodybuilder I was utilizing a method of weight training called Super Slow™. This particular method of training adamantly opposed the performance of aerobic exercise not just for fat-loss but as a form of exercise altogether.

Through diet and resistance training alone I was able to achieve the “bodybuilder” look I had been after since I first started weight training nine years earlier (I was 13 when I first began weight training). The following year I continued to steer clear of aerobics and simply worked on improving my diet…I looked even better. For the next go-around I decided I would diet exactly the same but add some moderate to high intensity aerobics. Once again, I improved.

For the next few years I would continue the implementation of aerobic exercise during my contest prep, despite my aversion to it. I’m the type who will do things I despise if I know that in the end I’ll get what I want. All I wanted was to get leaner and more muscular each and every year so if that meant getting on that treadmill or elliptical I was all in.

However in 2010 I was put in a position where because of my heavy workload and other obligations I had to be very stingy with my time. This time around I would need to make some adjustments and the first thing I did was revisit my diet to see how I could improve it based on my current knowledge. Next, I decided to hold off as long as I possibly could with performing aerobic exercise. I figured I would use it only as a last resort when I needed to get that last bit of body-fat off and for now put my time and energy towards other important things outside of bodybuilding.

After the first month I was consistently losing body-fat week to week through better nutrition alone. Upon finishing month two, I was within 5 lbs. of where I projected myself to be on contest day (2 months away). Having eight weeks to lose the last 5 lbs (the hardest to lose) I decided to continue on without aerobic exercise and would only add it as a last resort if I hit a plateau.

With four weeks until the contest I was ahead of where I projected myself to be at this point. What a great feeling it was being “stage ready” with just a few short weeks remaining and not having performed a single minute of aerobic exercise! By the time I hit the stage I was 3 lbs below my projected weight and was easily the leanest and most muscular I had ever been.

Just as proof that this was not a fluke or a gender issue (yes, men do lose weight more easily). My girlfriend took the same approach with her diet and lost 29 lbs. in those four months without performing aerobic exercise and competed in her first Figure competition.

So as you see I’ve taken both paths to achieving personal bests. And whether yo need aerobic exercise or not is a function of many different factors. Just so that you don’t walk away with only my personal experience on the issue let me leave you with why I believe at times aerobic exercise was needed versus not needed. Please keep in mind that these are MY reasons and may not be applicable to everyone.

NEEDED WHEN:
•Diet was inadequate and proper adjustments were not made as my body/metabolism changed.
•Too few weekly weight training sessions (2-3/week), not enough to keep metabolism elevated.
•Work schedule was lighter and I was not expending as much energy throughout the day.
•Did not give myself enough time to diet.

NOT NEEDED WHEN:
•Diet was meeting personal requirements and proper adjustments were made as body/metabolism change.
•Performing 3-4 weekly high intensity weight training sessions.
•Heavy workload with long hours.
•Lower stress levels as a result being in a “better place” personally.
•My significant other was also training and dieting for competition so I had a great support system at home.

A ‘Fast and Furious’ Workout – Part 2

In Part I we discussed the importance of training intensity which we defined as the
possible percentage of momentary muscular strength and volitional effort exerted during any given point of an exercise.

We also established that the only way to be sure that a muscle receives adequate stimulation from an exercise so that it may develop and grow stronger is by performing that exercise with maximum intensity, i.e., 100 percent of your effort. This means working the muscles to momentary muscular failure, the point at which despite your greatest physical and mental effort you cannot move the weight for another repetition.

Now you might say, “Wait! I never see anyone else at the gym doing this.” And my answer to you would be you’re right; which is why all those people still look the same despite working out for an hour and a half, four to six times a week.

Meanwhile I’ve personally conducted, observed and implemented the workout (and other variations of it) I am about to outline here—which will take approximately thirty-minutes to complete and performed three times a week at most—resulting in 30-60 percent increases in strength, 4-10 lbs. of fat-loss and 2-5 lbs. increases in lean muscle in just 4-6 weeks. Compared to the majority of gym goers and exercise enthusiasts it’s half the amount of exercise and time spent in the gym with double the results. It’s also a fraction of the wear and tear on the body.

At this point you are probably wondering how it’s possible to work out for such a short amount of time and so few days a week and achieve such significant results. Unfortunately when I give you the answer you’re still going to be wondering because it seems implausible.

The “secret” is: when you exercise with maximum intensity by taking your set to momentary muscular failure you have provided your muscles with a more than sufficient stimulus to develop and grow stronger making it unnecessary to perform another set of that particular exercise.

I suggest you read it again to let it really sink in.

What I’m suggesting which to most would seem far-fetched and somehow against accepted practice, is that you perform only one set for each exercise. Sure you can do a 1-2 warm-up sets at the start of your workout to get mentally and physically prepared but it is fruitless and a complete waste of time and effort to perform warm-up sets and sets with sub-maximal effort for each and every exercise like most people do.

The proof is in the research which has demonstrated time and time again that there is no significant difference in muscle development or strength when performing one set of an exercise compared to three or more. So why perform the extra sets? The only reason why most people do is because that’s what everyone else does…it’s the “pack mentality.” Sadly this is also the reason why so many trainees with 10 or more years of exercise experience under their belt have so many injuries and find it difficult to recover from workout to workout. They are overusing their joints and tendons and overstimulating their muscular, nervous, endocrine and immune systems.

I could go into much more detail but at this point you are probably saying to yourself, “Just get to the workout Mike so I can start getting buffed!” If you want more details so you can truly understand the best exercise practices for you as an individual I suggest reading my PURE PHYSIQUE: How to MAXIMIZE Fat-loss and Muscular Development or Prescribed Exercise, which can be found at www.ExerciseCertification.com

The F.A.F. Workout: Provided is an A and B workout which you will alternate from one training day to the next. If you perform 3 workouts a week, one of the workouts will be performed twice and the next week it will switch and the other will be performed twice.

Key Points: It is not enough to simply suggest you perform your exercises slowly as is typical of these types of articles (a major pet peeve of mine). We need to get specific. So next for each exercise I’ve provided you with the approximate cadence you should be using for that exercise. For example if you see 5/5, that means you take 5 seconds to lift the weight and 5 seconds to lower it. A cadence of 3/1/4 would indicate that you take 3 seconds to lift the weight, pause for one second and lower it in 4 seconds.

Following cadence is the approximate rep range you should be working within. The objective is to REACH FAILURE within this rep range. Your goal is NOT to complete all the reps because if you can then you were not working with maximum
intensity and/or did not use enough weight. (Note: Don’t be afraid to train heavy ladies it will not result in you getting “too big” or “bulky” without steroids or other bodybuilding drugs.)

After you have reached failure it’s on to the next exercise. If for some reason you cannot reach failure on your first try stay right where you are, rest for only 10-15 seconds and then attempt the exercise again for as many repetitions as you can in good form until you do reach failure.

Note: When this workout is performed correctly and with little rest between exercises your total workout time should be 25-35 minutes.

Workout A

Exercise / Cadence / Reps (women) / Reps (men)

1. Leg Press / (4/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

2. Hip Abductor / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

3. Hip Extensions / (4/1/5) / 10-12 / 6-8

4. Leg Extensions / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

5. Sissy Squats / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

6. Lat Pulldowns / (4/1/5) / 8-10 / 6-8

7. Straight Arm Pulldowns / (4/1/5) / 8-10 / 6-8

8. Pec Deck / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

9. Shoulder Press / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

10. Triceps Extension / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

11. Dumbbell Curl / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

12. Abdominals / (2/1/2) / as many to failure
(choose from)
•Crunch machine
•Reverse crunch
•Hanging crunches

Workout B

Exercise / Cadence / Reps (women) / Reps (men)

1. Chest Press / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

2. Seated Row / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

3. Narrow Grip Pulldowns / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

4. Lateral Raises / (3/1/3) / 10-12 / 8-10

5. Front Raises / (3/1/3) / 10-12 / 8-10

6. Hercules Curls / (3/1/3) / 10-12 / 8-10

7. Bench Dips / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

8. Overhead Rope Extensions /(3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

9. Leg Curls / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 8-10

10. Walking Lunges / (slowly) / just short of failure

11. Hip Adductor / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 8-10 (optional)

12. Calf Raises / (2/1/2) / 15-20 / 10-15

A ‘Fast and Furious’ Workout – Part 1

There are two things everyone who exercises wishes for. Their first wish is that results came easier. “There should be a pill for this.” is what I hear from clients nearly every day. Wish number two (which could just as easily be number one) is that results came faster or with less time investment.

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is results—really noticeable results—will never come easy. There is always a price to pay and when it comes to losing fat, building muscle and getting fit and effort is that price. The good news is results can be seen faster and with very little time investment!

I have for you a ‘Fast and Furious’ workout that when performed just three times a week is guaranteed to build muscle and boost your metabolism so you can develop a lean, toned physique.

What makes this routine work? Intensity of effort.

How important of an ingredient is intensity? Imagine trying to bake cupcakes without eggs…that’s how important! Yet rarely does anyone train with a level of intensity that is sufficient in signaling to the body to become stronger or more fit beyond its current state or condition.

Intensity is defined as the possible percentage of momentary muscular strength and volitional effort exerted. In other words it is the amount of strain your muscles are under at any given moment during an exercise. Intensity is considered to be at its max (100%) when you have reached the point of momentary muscular failure. This is when the muscles are so fatigued that they can no longer generate enough force to move the weight being lifted despite you putting forth all your mental and physical effort. When you train with this level of intensity it becomes unnecessary and counterproductive to perform a large amount of exercise. This is why the fast and furious workout works so well and is incredibly efficient despite what you might view as being very little exercise.

If there is just one thing you take away from this article and nothing else I hope it is this:

It does not matter how many reps, sets, workouts or time you spend in the gym, without applying maximum intensity of effort you may as well resign yourself to never progressing beyond your current physical condition.

Intensity is the cornerstone of not only the routine I will outline in Part II but it is the engine that will drive your results regardless of all other factors. In Part II I’ll provide you with the specifics of the training program so you can be on your way to getting significant results, fast.

How to Perform Your Exercise for Ultimate Success

Every fitness magazines, blog and book promises that their training method or program that will lead to, Faster Fat-loss, Bigger Biceps, A Flat Stomach, Toned Arms in 10 Days, Sculpted Legs, Better Sex and a host of other desired, over-exaggerated and embellished benefits of exercise.

It’s amusing to read the some of the reasons given by the author as to why and how their program will succeed where others have failed, especially when the program has no scientific backing or logical basis. But heaven help us if there is some celebrity or athlete who endorses the program! Then the program must be legit!

Without fail these routines typically…fail. Aside from the most obvious reason that no routine or specific formula can address or make up for the various intrinsic and extrinsic factors of all individuals, the second common reason why they fail is because they never address how the exercises should be performed. This “oversight” is most common with weight training or any type of resistance training programs. Specifically, they give no detailed instruction on repetition performance other than a few generic recommendations like, “Lift the weight under control. Don’t cheat.” or “Move slowly.”

It is impossible to provide anyone with a training routine or to follow a routine that is certain to produce the desired result unless you are assured that the exercises will be performed properly or in the manner intended. Although the repetition is the most fundamental element of weight training it is also the most overlooked, under-appreciated, and misapplied. This should come as no surprise. Consider how many of us have stepped into a gym for the first time and carefully thought out exactly how we will perform our very first repetition. It would not be a long shot to say none of us, unless the first visit was with a very mindful and detail oriented personal trainer. Unfortunately many bad habits are established within those first few months or years of training which for many will never be reversed.

Whether new to exercise or a seasoned veteran, it serves one well to be very clear about the purpose each repetition serves. It should not be as simple as moving the weight from point A to point B—that’s a simpletons approach. In the simplest way I can explain, the purpose of each repetition is to maximize muscular tension and place the greatest amount of strain on muscles possible while minimizing the strain placed on the joints and tendons. This is best accomplished by moving at a tempo slow enough to keep momentum from becoming a contributing factor in the completion of each repetition and being able to feel the muscles at each point of the range of motion.

Fast repetitions (i.e. 0.5-2 seconds to lift the weight, 0.5-2 seconds to lower it) utilize momentum to carry out a better part of each repetition whereas repetitions performed slowly (i.e. 4-6 seconds to lift the weight, 4-6 seconds to lower it) must rely on the force generated by the muscles in order to complete each rep. Moving slow makes performing the exercise harder and as we know, the harder or more demanding an exercise is the greater the likelihood of it stimulating an improvement in you physical condition or development.

Effective weight training begins and ends with the repetition. It is the foundation from which every set of every workout is built, and will be a determining factor in any programs success. Address the rep and everything else will begin to fall into place.

How to Create Your Workout Program

I won’t beat around the bush, tease you for a handfull of paragraphs and keep you hanging around waiting with bated breath for the answer to the question everyone wants to know, how do I create a workout program? I’ll tell you upfront.

The very best way to create a workout program is from the bottom up.

This means starting with a small amount of high-quality exercise then, slowly adding more after you have measured the results of the work you’ve already done. Some might find this to be tedious and too slow of a method for discovering what is ideal. However the time spent during this process is well worth it over the long-run as you gain a better sense and understanding of what you need to do to realize future success. The most difficult aspect of this process for those with limited exercise experience or who never received proper exercise instruction (i.e. 98 percent of those who work out on their own) will be determining whether the exercise being performed is truly high in quality (see last blog entry: How to Perform Your Exercise).

Immediate success does not come except by chance. And even then continued success will be hard to come by because you will be unaware or get a false sense of the cause for your immediate success. If you are someone with two or more years of training under your belt reflect for a moment on all the different training programs you’ve tried that have been unsuccessful in delivering the results promised. Most of them were likely routines plucked right out of a magazine or book designed by someone who knows nothing about you yet still prescribed specific rep ranges, number of sets or workout splits to perform each week.

What every one of these “canned” exercise programs or workouts has in common is that they each have you performing arbitrary amounts of exercise, after which, you still have no idea why or how the program did or did not work. As with all “canned” routines your outcome is a roll of the dice.

If over that same span of years you had endeavored to work from the bottom up as opposed to searching for the “magic workout” and jumping from one set of training criteria to a completely different set, you would today have a better understanding of what works best for you. Your chances for continual progress would be much improved because you could now predict with some certainty what will transpire if you chose to take your training in one direction versus another based upon the information you gathered and your understanding of past experience. Instead you are probably just as confused today as you were back when you first started, about what to do and how to do it.

We live in a society that wants immediate results. Just watch some of the fitness infomercials or read the ads in fitness magazines and you’ll notice a common thread. Each product promises to deliver results fast. Rarely do they live up to their hype. Although the “bottom up” approach may not be as enticing, it assures you of a better understanding of what works best for you and how you can make informed decisions in the future to make or maintain your progress.

While everyone else will be plodding through their workouts hoping to stumble upon something that works, you will already be in possession of your key to success…information.

It’s All My Parents’ Fault

You can blame my parents, they made me like this. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving…thanks Mom, thanks Dad! I surely would not be the merciless, unsympathetic, disciplinarian personal trainer I am today if it weren’t for them.

All kidding aside my parents are a very big part of the reason I made fitness my career. At an early age the pushed me towards athletics and for whatever strange reason I actually enjoyed exercising. More specifically, I enjoyed strength exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, rope climbing, etc.

When I learned that all the guys big muscles lifted weights I was intrigued. I was also 8 years old and my parents were not about to let me lift weights because it could “stunt my growth” (more on this myth later). However like most kids, once you tell them they can’t do something it drives their desire to do it to even greater heights. So I proceeded to beg, plead and bug them to let me lift weights.

They wouldn’t concede. But they did promise that once I turned thirteen I could start lifting.

The common belief then, and even today, is that weight training in adolescents will damage their growth plates. Contrary to this widely held belief there has never been a single research study or any documented proof of this occurring, especially in an controlled exercise environment with proper supervision.

I don’t know what other 13-year-olds got for their birthday in 1990 but for me it was a universal weight machine. Almost instantly a third of my parents basement was transformed into “Mike’s Gym.” An obsession begins.

Today we know far more about the benefits of strength training for adolescents yet we here little and see even less. Despite research and empirical evidence showing that adolescents can build strength, increase musculature, improve endurance and conditioning, manage their body fat, and strengthen their bones and joints, few youth strength training programs exist. This month at my private personal training studio (the grown up version of Mike’s Gym) my staff and I are rolling out our new youth program pure physique junior.

It’s our hope that one day the kids who make their way through PURE PHYSIQUE can look back and thank their parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and coaches for getting them involved in strength training at an early and influential age. Who knows, they might just go on to become a fitness professional!

Winning The Fitness Game

At PURE PHYSIQUE our annual Fitness Challenge is in full effect. Whether you’re a member of ours competing in the contest or you workout on your own competing against yourself, how you go about “winning” is exactly the same.

I know that not everyone will actually follow through on my advice which is why I don’t hesitate to spell it out for anyone who wants to know. Those that do employ the strategies I’m about to layout will certainly hold a huge advantage over those that don’t. In fact 8 out of the last 10 place winners of our contests have applied these strategies and I’ve used them myself and with those I’ve coached for bodybuilding and figure contests to achieve their all-time best condition and earn top placing.

The best approach is often times the simplest. For some reason we try to make things harder or more complex than they need to be. Perhaps it’s because the simple approach requires us to do things that are tedious or calls for more sweat equity and attention to detail. It’s just not fun!

Winners don’t concern themselves with “fun” they concern themselves with winning. As it relates to your fitness pursuits winning is not necessarily tied to making the top three in this, or any contest. Winning is taking yourself from where you currently are to where you want to be or at least making significant strides in that direction. So even if you don’t make the top three, or even the top ten for that matter, but lose the 5 lbs that you’ve struggled with for the last four
months then you won.

The strategy that time and time again works without fail is tracking your food intake. I’m not just talking about writing down what you eat, but actually weighing and measuring your food so you know precisely how many grams of carbs, proteins, fats and calories you are consuming. It doesn’t matter that you eat healthy, don’t have treats, or don’t drink alcohol. At the end of the day it takes going just 1 calorie over what your body actually needs for you to store that extra calorie as fat. I know most of you are probably going more than just one calorie over which is why it’s that much more important to start tracking. When you know specifically how much you’re taking in it becomes much easier to determine how much needs to come out in order to start burning body-fat.

Reinforcing this point’ last year’s winner of The PP Fitness Challenge, as well as my girlfriend and myself in preparation for our last bodybuilding and figure competition, performed no cardio. All of us achieved our all-time best condition by tracking our caloric and macronutrient intake and consistently performing 2-4 weight training sessions each week.

Next, you can’t miss workouts. If you need to move to a different time, a different day, fine, but you can’t miss. There is a certain degree of consistency that is necessary in order to keep your metabolism working at its highest rate and your strength and muscle development at its peak.

Lastly, you must approach each workout being 100% focused and work to your greatest capability. There cannot be any holding back, no whining, no complaining, NO EXCUSES, just hard work all the time.

There is certainly nothing sexy about the above strategies but they are tried and true. I will not attempt to fool you into thinking that any of them will be easy to apply because they won’t be. But I will tell you this…if you make a truly valiant effort and apply all of these strategies you will find yourself achieving success beyond your wildest dreams

Before Your Workout, Eat Like This

Nutrition plays a big role in your ability to engage in an intense and productive workout. How and what you eat in the hours leading up to your workout can determine whether or not your energy, focus, and performance is at its peak.

Here are some simple guidelines to eating right before your workout:
•Eat 1-2 hours before your workout. Eating too close to your workout could cause you to feel sick or feel sluggish while having your last meal too far in advance could leave you with few nutrients to fuel the workout.

•Consume a moderate amount of low-glycemic carbohydrates and protein as well as a very small amount of fat. (If you are currently eating low-carb then at least 25-30% of your days carbohydrates should be consumed during this meal).

•Examples of low-glycemic carbohydrates that will provide a slow release of glycogen (sugar) to the muscle during your intense workout are brown rice, sweet potatoes, sprouted grain bread, rice cakes, oatmeal, and fruit.

•Good sources of protein include egg whites, chicken breast, turkey, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and protein shakes.

•Good sources of fat include almonds, nuts, natural peanut butter, or almond butter. However your carbohydrate and protein foods may contain enough fat making the addition of these fats unnecessary.

•Be sure to drink 16-32 oz. of water so that you are well hydrated. Being the slightest bit dehydrated will result in you feeling fatigued, lethargic, and your muscles (which are 70-75% water) functioning below par.

FOCUS VS. CONCENTRATION

By Daniel W. Nolin

Focus is everything.” This was the opening sentence from one of six-time Mr. Olympia winner Dorian Yates’ articles. From the context from which he was speaking, he was correct. A trainee’s level of focus is one of the deciding factors in how far he will go in his exercise career. But what is focus? How is it used? Is focus the correct terminology to use for this mental state? These are questions that will be addressed in this article.

Aside from genetics and drug use, it is the ability to concentrate, not necessarily the ability to focus, which is a key factor that separates the professionals from the average trainee. Perhaps this is an exciting prospect for many trainees since their dreams were shattered upon the discovery that they either did not have the genetics to become a competitive bodybuilder (or athlete) or did not want to abuse anabolic steroids to get to that level. Granted, although the proper use of concentration will not compensate for poor genetics, it may help a trainee take his or her physique to a level never dreamed before.

WHAT IS FOCUS?

Being in focus is not the same thing as concentrating, although people use the terms ‘focus’ and ‘concentration’ interchangeably. And if an individual is talking casually there is nothing wrong with doing so. However, from a philosophical perspective the two are different, albeit, they do work best when used together. And so, let’s see what each one is and how a trainee can derive optimal benefits from both.

First, take a look at the concept of focus, a much more fundamental concept than concentration. To be in focus is to be in tune with reality. A focused individual is concerned with facts and not feelings, fantasy, or other peoples’ opinions.

Focus is such a fundamental aspect of volition that there is no step-by-step process by which one initiates focus. It is simply a volitional switch that can be turned on or left off. Focus must be maintained on a moment-by-moment basis. A trainee literally must reaffirm his focus every two seconds at minimum. The more consistently the choice to focus is made, the easier it becomes. Many individuals think that once a strong focus is established they can ‘coast’ for a while without negative consequences, but this is not true; either an individual is in focus or is not. What may seem like a comfortable coast is actually the beginning of a descent that will end up in a pit of chaos. Focus is what gives an individual control over his life, and there can be no substitutes.

It is also not true that there are different levels of focus. Either a trainee is in full focus or he is not; there is no middle ground. It may seem as if there are levels of focus since most individuals are not in focus consistently on a moment-by-moment basis. The measurement that should be considered is not the level of focus, but the consistency of time spent in focus. Meaning that if throughout the course of one minute an individual is in focus for thirty of the sixty seconds then that individual may reflect on that minute and feel that he was only half in focus. The actual truth was that at any given moment he was either in full focus or not.

Being in focus at the gym does not guarantee a good workout. What being in focus will guarantee is that a trainee will be fully aware that he is at the gym, and this means that while he is in focus his mind will not wonder into fantasy. It will not drift to other menial concerns or other people’s awareness of him. His mind will only be concerned with himself, where he is, what he is doing, and why he is doing it.

HOW TO APPLY FOCUS

Remember that focus is a much more general concept than term than concentration. It would be incorrect to tell a trainee to stay ‘focused’ on his workout, as that would be too specific and the term that should be used for such a statement would be concentration. Being in focus means being in touch with reality in general. When in focus an individual’s mind is aware of where he is, who he is, and why he is there.

To reiterate, being in focus does not mean an individual is focused on the specifics of a task at hand. It means that his mind is ‘in touch’ with reality. And so, when a trainee is in focus while he is at the gym his mind is clear, alert, and ready for action; he is fully aware of the equipment around him. With every piece of exercise equipment he looks at a flood of information that instantly is available to him. Being in a daze and not being cognizant of his surroundings as various thoughts float in and out of his awareness would be the opposite of being in focus.

The best method a trainee can use to get focused is for him to ask (what may seem like trivial questions): “Where am I? What piece of equipment am I going to use? Why this equipment instead of another?” He should ask of himself orientating questions that will make him more aware of his physical surroundings. A sure fire way to know that he is not in focus is if he is distant or even seems separated from the objects around himself. A trainee who is at the gym, yet seems distant from his physical surroundings is most likely not in focus.

Being in touch with concrete objects around one’s self is vital for sustaining focus. However, physical objects are not the total of reality: an individual’s consciousness is just as much a part of reality as the steel dumbbells in front of him. It is just as important for a trainee to orientate his mind to his own consciousness as it is orientate his mind to his surroundings. This means a trainee must be fully aware of what is going on in his head, or ‘consciously conscious, so that he will be able to guide it in the proper direction.

WHAT IS CONCENTRATION?

Concentration is the act of isolating one’s attention on a specific object, task, or aspect of consciousness. Anyone who has done any type of meaningful work in his or her life has had some experience with concentration.

An individual does not have to be in focus in order to concentrate, and vise versa. This means that an individual can concentrate on an object or act without being focused on reality, such as when he is engaged in a training routine that he knows to be irrational and unproductive, but is doing it very well.

Unlike focus, concentration is not merely a choice of ‘on’ or ‘off.’ There are varying degrees of concentration, even though there are no means of measuring these degrees at present. Currently, you can give your full and undivided attention to what is being read, or your concentration may be divided, the latter of which may be more appropriate if there is something in the oven, there are children playing nearby, etc.

HOW TO APPLY CONCENTRATION

Remember that concentration is the isolation of your awareness to something specific, in contrast with focus that is a much more fundamental concept. However when most people use the term focus it is actually concentration to which they are referring. Even though it may be misnamed, the concept of concentration is much more widely used in today’s culture.

What concentration means in practice at the gym is that an individual’s awareness is riveted on himself and his workout. It means that his attention does not wonder about to other concerns or events going on in the gym. If a group of people beside him is listening to a joke one of them is telling, he is not diverted by it.

Unlike focus, which is either ‘on’ or ‘off,’ there are different levels of concentration. At present there is no objective way to measure different levels concentration. However, it is observable through introspection, in that one can heighten or lower the intensity of concentration at any moment.

FURTHER UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOCUS AND CONCENTRATION

The idea that focus and concentration do not pertain to the same mental state may be so new to some that further differentiation may be warranted. The best way to see the difference between the two concepts is to isolate each from the other. The following are examples of being in focus without concentrating and concentrating without being in focus. An individual can be at the gym in full focus, but yet not concentrate on his workout. The clearest example would be a trainee fully aware of where he is and why, but having a nagging problem from his work day, at the peripheral of his mind that will not go away. Or perhaps a more common example is a trainee being in focus but not concentrating on anything in particular; simply moving from exercise to exercise, in focus, but doing so out of habit and routine.

Concentrating on a workout while being unfocused is a more common phenomenon. It can be done by concentrating on the particulars of a given exercise while not focusing on the routine as a whole. A trainee may be in full concentration when it comes to the concentric, eccentric, tension time, etc., but will ignore other factors that he knows to be important, such as regulating the volume and frequency.

THE PERFECT BALANCE

By now it should be apparent that to live a long productive fitness lifestyle there needs to be a harmony between focus and concentration. A trainee should be fully aware of himself, his surroundings, and why he is at the gym. As well, he should keep his mind isolated on each individual exercise and not have his mind wondering to other issues during the middle of a set.

The ideas discussed in this article are not new; they are discussed in philosophy classrooms around the globe. But perhaps they are new to the reader of this article. It should be obvious that the basic concepts discussed herein can be applied to almost any human endeavor, yet it is arguable that the amount of focus and concentration needed to be a successful trainee is higher than that of many other goals. Using rational high intensity training principles in exercise is one of the most physically excruciating activities that can be done. Yet learning how to harness the benefits that a properly focused and concentrated mind can provide is an invaluable ability that can help a trainee reach his or her fitness goals.