Workouts

It always unnerves me to go to work and watch many of the people in the weight room work out. It seems that most of these guys (there are occasionally girls, though they tend to stick to the machine weight room, whereas my job only brings me to the free weight room at times; no one monitors the machine weight room consistently. I tend to find many of my employers' policies rather inane at times, but that's neither here not there) are not doing their research before engaging in these workouts, but only doing what a friend or an article in a muscle magazine told them. This leads to improper form and useless performance of an exercise, and will prove a hindrance.

Granted, part of the reason I disagree with how most of them do things may be simply that our goals are different: most of them want to gain weight (though I honestly cannot figure out why) and look "jacked," while I simply want to stay strong and in shape (and about the same size, since I'm cheap and don't want to buy new clothes!)

But I cannot stress how important it is to know as much as you can about an exercise before performing it. Consult a coach, personal trainer, or other person who is knowledgeable about exercise, both its gains and risks. They can tell you the proper way to perform it, as well as if it will help you achieve the results you desire. I will say one thing: if the lift makes you look silly (such as holding a weight in each hand and twisting your torso so that you swing the weights around) then you probably should avoid it.

And as far as protein supplements go....I stay away from them, as nothing beats what the body was designed to use as nourishment: a balanced meal. But that's not as important to me as proper performance of lifts.

Now is when I would generally rant the day away about other wonderful habits of the typical Rec Center patron, but I will leave that for another time.