Phobos Fitness - I Don't Have A Lifting Program Right Now (Explanation Inside)

in life •  7 years ago  (edited)

Have you ever been to the gym and people have an entire book with their workouts in it?  It all looks very structured and they are constantly marking down and then referencing where they should be and how much they lifted weeks and even months ago.  So you might wonder why I can look like I do without having a program written down.  

The fact of the matter is I lifted for years where I had a very defined plan and had an entire binder full of what lifts I was supposed to be doing for how many sets and how many reps.  All my stuff was focused on athletic performance.  Over years of training you learn how long it takes your body to build to a certain strength.  You also learn what diet works best for being lean.  Overtime it becomes second nature just like anything else.  For instance there are some really good programmers here on Steemit.  It becomes natural for them to look at code and type code out like they are writing an e-mail.  Coding like that seems impossible to the majority of the population.  The same goes for fitness.  

I'm here to tell you that it is possible for everyone to improve their health by exercising.  It is a lot about getting over the hump for people.  It would be like sitting down and trying to learn C++ when you have never coded before.  It would be extremely difficult to understand the concepts.  Most would give up and determine it to be too hard.  This same exact thing is true about working out.  People go in and lift and get extremely sore and figure it is too hard and just give up.  The reality is when you get past that initial soreness you are able to feel better by working out.  People who workout regularly can't stand to not workout for more than a few days.  They will usually tell you that if they don't workout for a week they feel like crap.  It totally rewires your body to fight aging.  

The fact that I don't have to work very hard to lift more than my body weight isn't purely genetics.  It is more about the fact that I know how to perform the movement and I have done that same lift for a similar weight somewhat recently.  Usually within the last month depending on the lift.  When it comes to squats most people are in a way back to square one pretty quick.  If I haven't done squats for over two months I have to start out again with doing 135 lbs.  My hamstrings grab and there is no way I can play basketball for several days after that.  But that is something I have learned overtime.  You don't want to overdue it.  Getting to peak strength levels is a lot of work and it gets exponentially harder as you get stronger.  It isn't a linear progression.  

I hope this helps people understand the mindset more and that with time it gets easier in a lot of ways to workout and maintain desired strength levels.  

I will let you in on a little secret though.  In a lot of ways I don't like the time spent working out.  I really only like the benefits of working out.  The thing is that in a lot of aspects you can't get around performing the movements.  You can't have someone else lift for you and receive the benefits.  Personally I would much rather play basketball than lift weights but I know that lifting weights will make me better at basketball.  

Lifting is a base level activity for athletics.  In the Track and Field world you lift to get strong to throw medicine balls far and you throw medicine balls far to be able to throw implements far.  Or throw yourself long, high, or far if we are talking about the jumps.  

The plan for future Phobos Fitness posts are breaking down diet and workouts.  

I'm @brianphobos and I'm Your New Coach!  Ask Me Anything!  

Thank you for reading my post and please consider following me @brianphobos

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Good post Brian. Keep inspiring and reaching!

Thanks Sebastian!

Nice one Brian and some nice info. Thanks!

Thanks for reading David!

They will usually tell you that if they don't workout for a week they feel like crap. It totally rewires your body to fight aging.

I can totally relate!! If I can't practice any sports during more than 3 days I start fluttering and feeling annoyed about everything.
Exercise seems to have a direct correlation with mental strength and balance. It calms us down.

From my point of view that's the most beneficial side-effect of all (besides the anti-aging concept which is also highly appreciated :-)).

Great article! Resteemed.

Thank you for reading the post and resteeming it! I'm following you. I had seen your content before and thought I was following you but now I am officially!

Nice, thanks for the follow :-)

No problem!

Hi Brian, thanks a lot for your report!
I really can agree what you wrote. I am a personal trainer here in Berlin. I always try to bring my clients beyond their comfort zone! 1 year ago I started to do crossfit my self. We do a lot of lifting and I am surprised how much I can do so far. So keep up you good work and I am happy to read more from you! Warm regards Junia

Thank you for reading the post Junia and your comment as well!

FOLLOWED AND UPVOTED! I always lift for strength which brought me to an utterly ripped Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter competing at a fighting weight of 148-150lbs (154lbs with Gi) and able to bench 315lbs four times, squat over 400lbs and curl close to my weight, all free weights. Eating super clean and doing cardio many times a week along with training twice a day for BJJ three days a week and gym three days a week. Egg protein like you wouldn't believe and some but not many supplements. That was oh, 7 years ago and now I am 180lbs down from 205lbs, eating terrible, no gym membership but just bought a road bike with my goal to get to a cut 175lbs and able to go back and get my black belt (College and kids cut that out). Always lifted for strength and never size like most guys at my gym. Focused on flexibility and cardio to master my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in addition to conditioning to get the leanest meanest former (still) US Marine I can be. Hope to get some good tips that wont be so restrictive like writing down each workout. I am more of a chest/tri, back/bi, legs/abs kind of lifter. Alternative with BJJ training days and do early morning cardio in the form of long road bike rides or mountain bike trails and even some swimming when the weather is good (live in NY). Great arm development btw. I would like to work on my back more and of course core and focus on getting my body fat down so I can see those abs I have once again. Great post!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

As if my reply wasn't long enough I came from a Cross Country Runner (High School County Champion, College Record Holder 5-mile), Basketball PG and Lacrosse Attackman then dropped out after 9/11 to enlist in the US Marine Corps. I can take the pain!

Have you ever done a Body Pump class?