Where you at?

You may have a personal trainer kickin' your butt every day...or you might workout to your own routine at the gym...or you may use a home fitness program or workout at home with the equipment and videos you have. Whichever your method, how do you know where you are? The reason I ask is that whenever I'm at the gym or talk to people about their program, I don't see or hear about people writing down their results. For example, maybe you do 3 sets of 5 reps of bench press, or 2 sets of 25 leg lifts, etc. Well then, are you doing the same reps at the same weight every week? Do you even know?

It is important to record your progress so you know where you are, but also so you can challenge yourself the next time you perform the lift or workout. Furthermore, try not to limit your self by defining your number of reps. 3 sets of 5 is good, but try saying 3 sets of 5-10 reps. This way, perform the lift as many times as you can until you can't lift it by yourself in each set. You will find that you will most likely do something like 8, 6, 4, or something like that. not only did you do 3 more reps, you worked until exhaustion, which will give you more results and improve your endurance. Also, writing this down you know that next time you will push to do more reps or increase your weight to improve. Always push yourself to do more. Sometimes you will get there; sometimes you won't. Either way, there is no doubt you are working harder.

Don't be afraid to try new things or workout with someone that has a different routine. Collaborate on your different styles, and you will definitely learn something new. Last Friday, I got the opportunity to workout with Rafael Cavour, a membership advisor at Equinox in downtown Chicago. Rafael is a triathlete, a former Marine, and if you look at him you know he is a fitness beast. Personally, I have been focusing on cardiovascular endurance and plyometric interval training to condition myself and get leaner. So, I asked Rafael if he would lead me through some upper-body strength training and I would design a cardio interval workout to finish up with. Well, he took me through 3 supersets focusing on chest and back, which included some workouts and techniques that were new, and I loved it. My pecs were sore for like 3 days! Also, when I took him through the interval training, he was pretty winded after the warmup, and it helped me realize that he wasn't used to my training either. I know we both learned from this, and I know I will use some of the things Rafael showed me in the near and distant future because they were valuable techniques and tips that I learned.

So bottom line is...record your progress and challenge yourself, always look for new tips and techniques to integrate into your fitness routine, and teach other people what you know because it might help them, too! Thanks for reading today, keep BRINGIN' IT in your workouts, and please share feedback or ask me questions! Have a great day!