Hey guys, sorry for the hiatus from posts, but we are back and there is a lot of ideas boiling about.

One short note: I have been trying to explain in post after post about the proper way to lift using the muscle and avoiding the joint and tendon and, at the same time, only using the

Going to the gym barefoot with no shirt on…..workout goals AF

hands as a means to grip the weight. Today I finally realized the right way to say what I have been telling you all along. With a lift, lets say bicep curl, you hold the weight. Do NOT lift to the top of the lift. Contract your bicep. If you are holding the weight tight enough and you contract hard enough you will notice the weight starts moving. The problem is with the term “lifting.” DO NOT LIFT WEIGHT. Engage the muscle, in this case a contraction of the bicep, until the weight moves. This, of course, means lighter weights. It also means greater hypertrophy. I have struggled so long to explain how to do this and this morning while actually doing it I finally realized how to explain it. Even with a deadlift. Set up your lift and engage those muscles. The weight will move. Do not lift the weight.

Ok, on to today’s topic.

I have been thinking about why we go to the gym. Hell, why do we go anywhere. Well, some people (I believe most people) go to the gym to achieve some sort of goal. Want to lose weight? Go to the gym. Want to gain strength? Go to the gym. Want to build muscle, increase mobility, meet people who are into fitness, use free towels….whatever….go to the gym. This is absolutely fine.  In fact, it is right.

However, here at Team WB Fitness we are far from the average. I realized something while I was at the gym yesterday. While it is true that I have goals I am trying to achieve while at the gym, it is not the reason I am going. The reason I was at the gym was because I wanted to be at the gym. While there I set a goal, sure. But the goal wasn’t my purpose.

The gym is not a means to an ends for me. The gym is the ends in itself. Like the old cocaine commercials, i go to the gym so i can get more fit so i can work harder at the gym so i can get more fit so i can work harder at the gym…

Whether you are there simply to achieve a goal and get out or you are there because that is where you want to be (and this may change from visit to visit) you should recognize, each time

Take some time to think about why you are here

you walk through the doors, what your reason for being there is. Kai Greene says he likes to walk 10 minutes on the stair master or on a treadmill before starting his workout. He does it at a very slow and leisurely pace. He says that this is not cardio. This is 10 minutes for him to meditate on what he is doing in the gym — both which workouts and which stations and what order but also personally why he is there. I know these workouts are long (especially these fucking phase 3 guys — Tuesday is a fucking killer isn’t it?) but if you can sneak a few minutes, even 1 minute, just to slowly walk the treadmill and get your mind in the game you should.