This Is How I Lift. Part 1

I have put on almost 20 pounds this year and I am quickly heading towards the 200 pound mark. Whenever I bump into someone I have not seen in a while I get the same general reaction.

“Wow, you’ve put on a lot of weight!” Quickly followed by, “How did you do it?”

Instead of repeating myself, I thought I would document here how I actually train.

For the most part, my weight gain has been fairly clean. I wasn’t the leanest fellow when I started putting on muscle and I am still not the most leanest. I have been floating just over the 15% bodyfat level for the last 4 or 5 years. This is my easily achievable maintenance level. I have my mid-morning mocha and go out for drinks a couple nights each week.

First and foremost, I heed the Pareto Principle. Eighty percent of my results come from 20% of the effort I expend. I am ruthless with my application of Pareto. I hit the gym 3 days a week and sometimes less than that. I aim to step out of the gym 40 minutes after the exact second my foot steps into the gym.

Get in. Get ugly. Get out.

We are all busy. I’m busy. You’re busy. There is no point dicking around. I turn off the cell phone. I don’t talk to anyone. I don’t look at anyone. I turn off any TV that is near the bench I’m working out at. I single-task and that single task is kicking ass.

I see people talking on their cell phone or lounging and chatting. I see people on the iso-lateral waste-of-time curls machine and this pisses me off. However, being pissed off is good. Your brain is telling you that you are losing focus.

In the best case, I work out first thing in the morning. Sometimes life happens and I’ll go into the gym after work. Sometimes life really happens and I slot in the workout the next day. For the most part, time is irrelevant too me. Delaying workouts is perfectly acceptable as long as I am doing the most important thing at that particular moment.

I wake up, hit the alarm clock, and then hit the stopwatch. I want to step out of the apartment within 30 minutes.

I throw on my clothes, brush, and quickly wash my face while I wait for the tea kettle to boil over. I have a bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder along with a cup of green tea. I may also have a banana.

No shower. No deodorant

I work out at the World Gym in Yaletown. It is one of the better gyms in the city. It has tons of free weights, dumbbells, and benches. There are two power racks and one of them has a platform suitable for deadlifts. It’s Yaletown, so the platform is always available because none of the pretty-boys are going to use it. It’s Yaletown, so there are way too many gorgeous women. Hence, I have the No Shower, No Deodorant rule. I can flirt with them later. It’s not like they are going to magically disappear.

When I step into the gym, I hit the stopwatch again. I want to stick to my plan and it is amazing how much more focused one becomes when they are being timed. I already have a playlist setup on my iPod so I stuff the headphones in my ear. Whenever the track changes, it is my cue telling me to get on with the next set.

Along with my water bottle and towel, I keep a training journal. I have workouts jotted down all the way back to 1994 when I first started lifting weights in my parents’ basement. I use a Five Star Fat Lil’ Notebook. It is a little 5.5″ by 3.5″ notebook. I took a pen and fastened it to the notebook using a twist tie.

Next time, I’ll outline my actual workout.