It's All About the Environment

I'm sure in looking at the title of this post, a few of my friends reading this are hoping for an erudite post on greenhouse gases, carbon footprints and the magic of Al Gore's haircut... but I'm terribly sorry to disappoint. This is all about your gym/training/fitness environment and the power it has on your results.

I've come across several good pieces (all from pretty different points of view) and each with a common theme - if you associate yourself with positive influences and people, you're going to get better results. Is this high level nuclear physics? Hardly, but I've found that these kinds of statements are of the kind of thing people nod their heads in agreement to, but then do nothing to put into practice (and I can be just as guilty as anyone else in this regard, fo' shizzle). I found three little nuggets of goodness on the idea of environment and what it can do for (or against) you:

MSNBC has a piece about how gym friendships create a positive peer pressure environment which keeps people working out. It's like a nice little support group to keep you on the right track. However, I personally prefer the next 2 pieces since they are much less fluffy and get into the meat of the discussion a little more.

First, Jason Ferruggia (a pretty cool guy I had the chance to meet and buy a beer for once) wrote a piece called "The Company You Keep" over at EliteFTS. What I love about this piece is that it is like the MSNBC piece, but really magnified to show you how the people you choose to work out with (whether as a workout partner or just the people who surround you in your training location of choice) impact your progress like few other things. I can personally vouch for this because when I've been at the "chrome and fern" style gyms (see photo), it's just not the same for my training.

How driven do you feel to do better and get stronger if you are surrounded by people who put in zero to no effort? Who look like they are killing time or using the gym as purely a social environment as opposed to improving themselves? I contrast that against situations where I was with people who, for example, were stronger than I was... and suddenly... even in the course of a single workout, I was stronger too and lifting weight I never previously did. It's not magic at all, but it just seeing these other people and what is possible, things can suddenly become possible for you too. While you may not want to train to become huge or deadlift 700 lbs, I think there is a lot to be taken from Jason's article.

The last piece is by Chris Shugart over at T-Nation and this one is from the other side of the
motivation spectrum: toxic people. You hopefully recognize these people around you and how they can slowly, subtly kill off your positive attitude and motivation through cutting little comments that can erode your will over time. Again, you may realize there are negative people out there and can identify them a lot of the time... but what happens when they are not Betty Busybody from the office and instead... they are your spouse? Parents? Best friends? Do you recognize the insidious little game being played right in front of you by someone you love and trust?

Give each of these articles a shot since they have 3 different approaches to the common theme of what you surround yourself with will undoubtedly affect your success.

How The Heck Do I Do That: Exercise Resources

While I am by no means the authority on exercise, I have been training for these past 17 some odd years and have picked up a few things along the way. Some of these lessons came from those who are experts, some I developed on my own and some... well... let's just say they came as the result of some rather painful experiences (like the time I was playing around on a leg press, push the sled so hard it left my feet with 90 lbs on it, stopped paying attention and had the sled come crashing down on my knee caps).

A really common question I get is, "I have absolutely no idea how to do X", whether X is a particular exercise or maybe even an entire bodypart. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, may the light shine upon ye, oh seeker of rock hard glutes and all that happy nonsense that makes life worth living (because, ya know... where would we be as a human race without glutes you could bounce a quarter off of?)

Here are some of my favorites that should help along:

EliteFTS.com
Let's get one thing really clear about these guys - they are about as hard core as you will find when it comes to training. Period. They primarily focus on powerlifting, strongman and such, but their site (and products) are absolute the best. You can find their exercise index here and if you look at the left-hand menu, you will see it broken down into various exercise types. The only downer is they are not in video form, but on the major plus side, their descriptions of how to perform the movements are spot on.

ExRx
This is one of the more common sites I've seen referenced across fitness and training forums to actually show someone what a particular exercise should look like. They use animated GIFs as a form of video and while they are a little small and grainy, they do get the job done.

University of Wisconsin La Crosse Strength and Conditioning Center
This is an excellent index of exercises and all of them have videos. While I find this list uber-kick ass, it might be slightly less useful for someone looking for (as an example) more typical arm exercises. Many of these exercises are geared towards athletes... but in all honesty, the general population would be better served with more people training and using these same movements as opposed to doing inner and outer thigh machines...which I am convinced were made by dudes interested in trying to check out women in short shorts and sell it as exercise.

Useless... unless you actually enjoy ogling and elevator eyes.

I will add more to this list later if I can, but I have also found some excellent exercise videos on YouTube. Now, here is a ginormous caveat on using YouTube for examples of proper exercise form: the site is full of people doing some of the dumbest nonsense with the most craptastic form on the planet. I see some of these videos of people straining with bad form and too much weight and wonder if that's what orthopedic surgeons and chiropractors use for porn. However, the EliteFTS guys have some great stuff and it's also pretty funny (especially if you aren't easily offended).

I will leave you with this video, though. This is possibly some of the best form for a barbell squat you will ever see... and the fact she takes a nice sniff of ammonia before doing the lift? 100% diesel. She could easily kick the ass of half the guys in my gym. I love it, so enjoy.

Turkey Day - Pre-Meal Prep

Well, here's my first shot at doing a vlog (or video blog). Just a quick demonstration on how I decided to take my own advice to prep for some serious turkey-time later in the day. FYI - When you attempt this kind of activity, it is inevitable that at least half the time, someone will stop and ask you if you need some help (which is kind of nice, when you think about it).