Johnaberdeen's Blog

If there's one thing I really like doing, it's researching and talking about fitness and working out.  As you guys might know from my recent posts, I do like to work out and stay in decent shape.  I've become pretty knowledgeable about fitness, weight lifting and cardiovascular fitness because of my ongoing curiosity and circle of friends.  Because of this, I've been able to implement all kinds of different types of training into my workout,

Next week, I will be starting my "cutting phase", which is pretty much losing all of the excess fat from the winter.  I put a lot of mass on over the winter because of heavy lifting and eating a lot of protein, and I would like to slim down for the spring and summer.  Much like all information with fitness, I get a lot of contradicting evidence and advice about cardio workouts.

I've always enjoyed interval training.  I never spend more than 15 minutes on one machine in the gym.  I was taught this years ago by a friend who said that if you were on one machine a lot your body would get used to it.  I was also told by someone that your workout should never exceed an hour unless you are strapping your CamelBak on and going on a distance bike ride.  Also, I was instructed to do the bulk of my cardio in the morning on an empty stomach.

All of these recommendations are valid in their own way, and I can see myself putting my Under Armour clothing on and doing as instructed.  However, I wanted to see what all of you thought out there.  Is it best to only go 15 minutes on one machine to keep the body guessing?  Is it optimal to be in the gym for an hour maximum?  Should you do your cardio in the morning on an empty stomach?  Let me know where you stand.

One thing I've learned throughout my years as a soccer player, martial artist and a fitness-minded person is the importance of grip strength. Grip strength is pretty underestimated for most fitness and sports beginners, but it can be pivotal. Grip strength and hand strength is very useful in not only athletic contest and weight lifting, but day to day life in general.

While I do think using Under Armour gloves and hand chalk is good for some applications, I see it far too much. Lifting dumbbells, barbells, easy bars and kettle bells with your bare hand develops strength, hand calluses and hand dexterity. Every time I see a kid in the gym doing bench press or bicep curls with gloves on, it makes me cringe. It also made me shake my head a little bit when I saw Arizona Cardinals' quarterback Kurt Warner play in the Super Bowl with gloves on.

Like I said earlier, I have no problem with wearing gloves for certain occasions.  I own a pair of Under Armour gloves and wear them whenever I am running or doing springs in cold weather.  Being an ex-soccer goalkeeper, I've grown accustomed to a good pair of gloves.  However, you should keep the gloves out of the gym.  Yes, your hands might hurt after your set of shrugs or push ups, but the more they hurt the more they can take.  Never underestimate grip strength and hand toughness.

It isn't often that I see something at the gym that I haven't seen before.  I've seen guys doing squats standing on Swiss balls.  I've seen girls putting on makeup on the elliptical machine.  I've seen people eating chicken in the weight room.  However, I saw something this weekend that I truly have never seen before.

When I was doing my cardiovascular exercise, I saw a young kid about 20 or 21 years old running hard on a treadmill with a CamelBack hydration system on.  For those who don't know, a CamelBak hydration system is a hands free hydration apparatus.  It looks like a small backpack with a tube coming out of it that you put in your mouth.  The way it works is that you put water, Gatorade or whatever you want in the plastic bladder in the backpack and keep the tube in your mouth to drink from.

I have used one of these when I was on a hiking trip a few years ago, and it was terrific.  I couldn't help but think that this kid was very smart for taking advantage of CamelBack hydration systems .  He was going extremely hard, and looked like he needed the constant hydration.  If you are accustomed to the treadmill, you know how hard it can be to run hard while trying to reach for your water bottle.

However, this gentleman seemed to be the laughing stock of the gym for some reason.  Everyone in the cardio section of the gym, from 18 year old girls to 30 year old body builders, were snickering at him for wearing "a backpack" on the treadmill.  What I thought was genius seemed foolish to virtually everyone there.  This kind of upset me a bit...it would be nice if everyone who went to the gym worked as hard as this guy.  

I have a bit of an issue with modern gym etiquette.  Allow me to make this point first.  If you are the kind of person who cares about matching your wardrobe or wearing expensive, brand name clothing to the gym, you need to think about your priorities.  The gym is not a fashion show, the gym is not a place to pick up women.  The gym is a place where you can take an hour out of your day and work on becoming stronger and healthier. 

Besides that, there are a few other things that aren't acceptable at the gym.  It isn't acceptable to do your hair or put on makeup before you go to the gym.  If you aren't sweating enough to ruin the hairdo or the makeup, you aren't working hard enough.  It is not acceptable to read or talk on your cell phone while at the gym, either.  At the top of this list, it isn't acceptable to work out without a shirt on.  I know that you're very muscular, but please keep your shirt on.

I see people make these mistakes every time I go to the gym, yet these people still pick apart others.  I used to go to a gym frequented by several construction workers who would wear jeans, t shirts and work boots when lifting.  People always make remarks about them, even though they were putting hard work in.  In addition, for some reason wearing Under Armour clothing has gotten a bad name for gym wear.  Under Armour clothing was invented for athletic use, why would it be a faux pas at the gym?

To make a long point shorter, go to the gym to take care of your body.  It isn't the bar, it isn't a fashion show, it isn't a place to socialize or show off.