If you want to be strong, healthy and fit, understand that there is no magical routine that will do it for you.
However, if you are consistent with working out, even if you have a subpar training plan, you ’ll get better results than most! So, what follows is five unconventional tips you won’t likely hear about that can help you stay motivated and consistent in your training.
I started out super weak and scrawny. But if I could go from that to being well- known for my strength exploits, such as doing a rack pull with 1025 lbs., juggling flaming kettlebells, and much more. (See some of my best feats here- http://legendarystrength.com/best-of/ ) The number one trait that has got me here is consistency…that and I’ve made use of all five methods I’m about to share with you.
#1 Bodyweight at Home
Probably the number one excuse for lack of any sort of training is time. Trust me, I get it. In the year 2018, the world is moving fast. Nothing has sped this up more than the internet and social media and if you’ve got a family, work, and a social life, it can be tough to fit it all in.
This is especially true if you work out like most people – an hour long work-out, sometimes longer, plus the commute back and forth to the gym. This whole endeavor can take two hours!
If that’s what you’re thinking, I get it. I don’t have time for that either.
But how about ten to fifteen minutes a day, right from your home? Even the busiest of us can make that work. I could give you a five-minute no-equipment workout that most people couldn’t even complete.
You don’t actually need ANY of the fancy equipment they have at a gym. If you learn how to use your body, that can be all the gym you need. Do just a few minutes of bodyweight training at home and you’ll get results.
Here’s just a small sampling of possible exercises:
• Pushups
• Handstands
• Handstand Pushups
• Inverted Rows
• Pull-ups
• Chin-ups
• Bodyweight Squats
• One Leg Squats
• Hanging Leg Raises
• Situps
• Wrestler’s Bridge
• Gymnastic Bridge
• Burpees
And it can get even more advanced from there. Levers, flags, hand balancing, one arm chins, acrobatics, you name it.
You’ll have to learn the keys of progressing with bodyweight training, which means being able to regress and progress each move in difficulty, but if you grasp that you can go as far as you want.
#2 Focus on an Inspiring Goal
We often speak about motivation or the lack of it. But motivation is not a thing. You can’t have a lack of motivation because it doesn’t really exist in the first place. Instead, motivating and demotivating are processes. They are something we’re all doing all the time internally in our thoughts or feelings…whether you are aware of it or not.
When you think of working out, do you think how the typical person thinks? Do you have a sense of dread picturing yourself going to the gym? Do you feel the pain of working out in your mind, before you have even moved a muscle? Do you picture aches in your bones and fatigue setting in? A trainer yelling at you to do one more? Battling the traffic on the way to the gym?
Just writing that out, I’m feeling demotivated. I don’t want to workout, either.
What if instead, you pictured an inspiring goal? You see yourself able to do something you’ve never done before or setting a new PR (personal record). Or seeing yourself being complimented by others for the weight you’ve lost and how good you look.
You get what you focus on. So, keep your mind on something that inspires you. Any time you notice your thoughts and mental processes going to something that demotivates you, let it go and start thinking about something that inspires you.
If you need to, you can always punch in some keywords in Youtube to find some inspiration.
#3 Super Charge Your Energy Until You Feel You HAVE to Workout
When it comes to working out you have to prime the pump. Yes, it takes some energy to do, but then (if you workout right rather than beating yourself into the ground), you’re paid back with far more energy.
Related to that, we’ve heard this countless times with our herbs. They give people so much energy that they feel like they have to work out just to burn some of it off. This often occurs with things like Pine Pollen Tincture, Phoenix Formula or Spartan Formula. Herbs are a great way to help prime that pump.
And even more specific for training is our Hercules Pre-Workout Formula. If you need an additional boost, just take this about ten minutes before you begin. (I personally like to mix it with Beet Juice Powder. It tastes better and has even better effects.)
Doing so, I have more energy. The main thing I notice is that my work capacity has increased. I have more energy to workout longer and do more when I take it. This is very useful, especially if you feel like you’re always operating on fumes.
#4 Keep It Easy
No pain, no gain, right? Wrong. It might surprise you how little effort I put into my training. I’m not working hard. I’m not squeezing out that last rep. I’m not lying in a puddle of sweat (or worse, puke) at the end of a workout.
That’s not how I roll. In fact, I try to do everything as easy as possible. Now that doesn’t mean there isn’t any effort at all. But we’ve all been sold a bill of goods that isn’t completely accurate.
Your body doesn’t really care if you work hard. If you do the right things you will make progress even without 110% effort. As long as you follow the principles of progressive training, you can keep your training relatively easy and still get results.
(This even comes with an added benefit – you’re less likely to hurt yourself, another thing that holds so many people back.)
Remember back to tip number two about an inspiring goal. Well, if you go back to the flip side, plenty of people dread the work that goes into working out. Imagine how much easier it is if you’re looking forward to it, rather than wanting to avoid it?
#5 Practice Don’t Workout
Similar to the last point, I don’t really like the word workout at all. It implies that you’re going to work yourself out. Out of energy. Out of mental focus. Out of everything you got. And we’re all already spending too much time working, right?
Instead, I prefer the term training. Some people ask what am I training for? And although I have competed in a few competitions, the general answer is LIFE. I train to be better at life.
Another word I like is practicing. Practicing your strength. Practicing your conditioning. By treating your workout like a practice you’re going to automatically aim at keeping it easier. You’re also going to explore more and have more fun with it. You’re more likely to engage in aspects of mental training, which frequently gets neglected.
You can read more about the differences between practicing, training, and testing (which most people do every workout!) in this article, Practicing vs. Training vs. Testing.
And on that note, I have a whole lot more information on these subjects on my other website, Legendary Strength.
Implement these five tips and you can completely transform how you approach working out…and thus, your life.
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