Procrastination = You’re just scared

Chances are you’ve heard of people knowing what to do but not doing it.

I’ve heard plenty of folk complain about not having enough time and too much to do.

This often isn’t really true.

Time is all we have and there’s plenty of it.

What people lack is courage.

Instead of taking action and doing what they know NEEDS to be done they will faff about with minor distractions that give them the excuse to avoid facing the fact they’re scared of doing that which they know needs to be done.

I can’t say all the reasons for the compounded fear.

Everyone will have their own specific nuance to that based on their life experience.

What I do know is this; most have the fear of the worst outcome if they did do what was required.

As an example, say someone is overweight and knows they need to lose a decent chunk of their excess body fat for health reasons.

A few common fears they have:

• Negative judgement
• No support from friends (instead they’ll face shame/ridicule)
• Losing their current identity
• The potential for failing and looking stupid
• Criticism for changing because now they’ve made others feel bad

We allow our limiting and fear based beliefs to get in our way.

Here’s a question to ask yourself:

What are your afraid will happen if you do what you’re avoiding?

Answer that and you’ll be able to pick apart the belief that limits you.

Do this and you can move forwards in life.

Be warned though, it won’t be pleasant because having to admit the only real barrier (typically) in our lives is our own mind/perception is a tough medicine to swallow.

However if you can take it like a champ your life will change for the better.

Enjoy,
Ross

Are you average in your press?

The overhead press has fascinated me for years 

Long before men would ask one another:

“How much can you bench?”

They used to ask:
“How much can you press?”

Or a least that’s the general notion, and I don’t actually know if it’s 100% true or not, but I’d like to think there’s a high probability it was the case.

Pressing things overhead isn’t a strong movement/lift for me personally and it took a solid effort across about a year to hit a strict bodyweight press.

And when I say strict that is by modern standards 

The form requirements that used to be used in pressing comps back in the 50’s and before would have probably said there was too much lean back.

Pressing was dropped in weightlifting comps for this reason

Around the 1970’s if memory serves. 

Well, that and people learned how ot cheat more load up so it couldn’t be called ‘strict pressing’ anymore, which was a shame. 

Bench press was also involved in the fall of the press as the staple test of upper body strength 

If you’re wondering what the ‘standards’ are for the press these days, you’ll find a good guide there: 

https://strengthlevel.com/strength…/shoulder-press/kg

You’ll also find a lot of other interesting strength guidelines using this site and provided you’re honest with your data you’ll find where you rank in the grand scheme of things. 

This was written on the press page, so a quick copy/paste.

“What is the average Shoulder Press?  The average Shoulder Press weight for a male lifter is 64 kg (1RM). This makes you Intermediate on Strength Level and is a very impressive lift.”

I’m sure some will look at 64kg and think it’s not too heavy.

And in the instance of total weight it’s not, however the data on this site is across a fairly large pool of folk – Our community Shoulder Press standards are based on 4,350,082 lifts by Strength Level users.

So the average gentleman these days doesn’t possess great overhead pressing strength it seems 

For ladies this was their note – “What is the average Shoulder Press?  The average Shoulder Press weight for a female lifter is 34 kg (1RM). This makes you Intermediate on Strength Level and is a very impressive lift.”

Again this is an average.

True enough some will press more and that’s what we call an exception, not the average.

Some people really don’t like the idea of being average

And many reject the idea (or possible fact) they’re below average, that really hits the psyche hard 

True enough we will have highs & lows with our strength levels.

However a solid overall base of strength is something useful to have and I’d say if you can be ‘average’ within regards the ranges given for people who actually lift you’re doing well in life. 

Why?

Because more people don’t lift at all, so what is average within the realms of trained lifters is several levels above that within regards to ‘everyone else’.

Now I know the idea of comparison isn’t liked in 2024 

However it’s a useful tool for setting your own self driven standards from a training perspective.

After all, what would you rather be 

Average among lifters or average amount non-lifters

I’d be interested to know your current pressing numbers 

On my end I’ve only got a 60kg press currently, and I know this because I did it recently to see how my left shoulder felt now the tear is more healed (haven’t tried heavier).

Nothing impressive and a good 15-20kg or so under bodyweight currently, so that might be a small target for me this year now 

As always, it’s be good to know your thoughts on the above so please do leave them below.

Bodyweight basics – free programs

Push ups, pull ups, squats, lunges and various other classic bodyweight exercises have stood the test of time.

While not as advanced as what some calisthenics practitioners progress to, they’re still valuable.

The issues many face is using their bodyweight with purpose.

When it comes to setting goals for the classic bodyweight movements these arbitrary numbers may give you some guidance and get you on the path that helps you avoid becoming decrepit sooner than you need to.

If you’re looking for an unbroken set (max reps) then these are good targets:

25 Pull ups*
50 Push ups
100 Squats

*You could substitute this for inverted rows and if you do I’d match the push up goal for these.

It’s arguable that the squats are the easiest one to hit, so you could choose to hit those with a weighted vest however then you’d be moving away from just bodyweight work due to the added resistance.

One question though is how to work towards such targets.

There’s a lot of answers however I’ll give you a some options for them.

For pull ups this is my recommendation – H/L/M set up for 3 days training per week.

The majority of the training would be within the M realm, with L/H days to push the stimulus or aid in recover.

You’ll need to test you max pull ups with good form first, then use the below for around 3-5 weeks before retesting your max effort set and repeating the process.

Day 1 – H – 80-90% efforts, if you max pull ups is 10 then you’re doing sets of 8-9reps.
Day 2 -L – 30-40% efforts, based on the above example that’s 3-4reps per set.
Day 3 – M – 50-70% efforts, so 5-7reps per set.

Your aim would be to perform as many good sets of strict pull ups each session and make a note of the total volume accumulated, this can be done with the push ups &/or squats or the session can be just pull ups.

I’d suggest 45min is the session time limit if you’re doing one thing, and up to 60min if you super set.

Here is what 5 weeks of training may look like (15 sessions):

H,L,M,M,M,H,M,L,M,L,H,L,M,L,Re-test max out set

This will work well for the push ups and squats too, but here’s a couple of methods for them.

Push Ups – ‘grease the groove hourly’

Like the above you’d be using your max effort attempt as a base, say you’ve got 30 push ups with strict form, you’d do a % of that number every hour you’re awake, here is how the weeks are set up.

This can be a 1, 2 or 3 week set up.

On Monday the first hour you’re up you’ll test your max reps, then do 50% of those each hour for the rest of the day.

Week 1 –
Monday – 50% of max
Tuesday – 30%
Wednesday – 80%
Thursday – 40%
Friday – 70%
Saturday – 50%
Sunday – 20%

You can then repeat this exact week with a new retest Monday if you choose, but if you want to keep working with your old max effort number for another week or two, here is what you can do.

Week 2 – increase the % of what you’ve done by 5%, so 50% becomes 55% , 80 is now 85% etc.

As above, if you want to then retest Monday for new numbers then feel free, however those that want to go for another week you can use the advice below.

Week 3 – increase by 10% from week 1, so 50% becomes 60%, 80 is now 90% and so on.

On the Sunday of week 3 take this day off and retest the max on the Monday of week 4.

Chances are you’ll hit a new max with the above simply due to becoming better at push ups from a neurological standpoint, and eventually the added volume will help you in building some lean mass too.

This could work very well with the pull ups and squats as well.

So you’ve got two options that can be used, you might as well have a third one.

I’d advice this for anyone that is short on time and needs their sessions to be very focused.

Intervals or OTM (on the minute) work

Grab a timer and set it for anywhere form 30-60min (15-30 working rounds).

You’ll simply be doing 1min on, 1min off and in that minute your aim is to get as many good reps as possible out with squats if you go for the interval option.

For those that like the idea of the OTM work my suggestion here would be to hit anywhere from 60-80% of your max reps for each movement and this would have a minimum time of 30min, example:

Max PLU – 10, Max PRU 30, Max Squat 60

Min 1 – 8 pull ups
Min 2 – 24 press ups
Min 3 – 48 squats

You might be able to see the issue with squats, as the number creeps higher to 100 you need more reps in a set which is where the first two methods might be more better for you.

Either way this is just a little something to get those who are stuck not training, unstuck and training.

Hopefully you’ll then be inspired to adopt training as a regular part of your life.

Enjoy,
Ross

Are you ageing into denial or delusion?

How do you move the goal post when you can’t do what you once did

Since sitting with a more reflective mind of late 

I’ve come to notice a couple of things. 

First is that we are very sensitive to the image of who we used to be, and will do just about anything to keep the idea of it alive as one as we can.

Second is once we know it’s not possible we move the goal post and create some rather impressive literature surrounding our new found priorities 

The truth would be shorter and less auspicious

I’ve seen this particular gem multiple times recently from gents:

“I don’t care how much I lift anymore. It’s about moving better.”

And I’m sure that’s mostly true, however the first part is either denial or a straight up lie. 

Lads, we do care how much we lift because not one man that trains who I’ve met feels good about being physically weak.

Unfortunately we will lose strength as we age, that’s life

And instead of admit it we skirt around the issue.

I’ll happily say it based on my own training – it sucks being weaker and it’s not something one likes, but it’s reality. 

While there are still strength standards within my own head that will be sustained as long as possible.

180kg DL, 140KG SQ, 100kg Bench, 60kg Press, 40kg Weighted Chin

These too will fade into the abyss one day, however today is not that day.

Eventually though it’ll all be gone unless I put all of my focus on this very small element of fitness and neglect mobility, flexibility and also a large chunk of life.

While once upon time that might have been something I did, in the grand scheme of things it’s not that important once we open our eyes.

Yes moving better, improving health, longevity and shifting away from just grinding out reps for reps sake to get a s big & as strong as possible is wise

Although there will be a slight longing for what was. 

At least in the sense that we got attached to what it gave us. 

Ladies have a similar shift in perspective due to the ravages of time and end up taking about their focus now being health, how their body feels etc 

Fact is we all do it, and it’s okay.

However I’ve come to realise that being totally honest with ourselves as to WHY we’ve shifted our focus is far mroe beneficial than denial or delusion.

As we get older we can’t do what we did, so setting up new targets to aim at is sensible. 

It won’t be easy as we’ll still cling to the idea of what was tightly

So I suppose that begs the question, why hold on?

Why are you holding on to the thought/idea of what was?

Might be something worth digging into if you haven’t already.

Nothing lasts for ever, so we enjoy it while it’s present and once it’s gone we can still have a love of what it was at the time so long as we don’t try to convince ourselves we’re still living in a moment that has long since passed. 

I’m curious, what can’t you do any more that you still struggle to accept because it was linked to good times or your identity?

Ross

If you plays sports, train like an athlete not a body builder

Yesterday I was talking with one of our fighters down the gym about S&C 

Typically they have the C covered in spades.

But a lot lack the S component within their training for these reasons:

• I don’t want to get too big, I” get slow.
• I don’t need to lift as it won’t help me fight better.
• No high level guys lift like that, why would I?

Generally the fear of looking like a body builder creeps in

As we all know it’s super easy to end up at 250lbs+,stage lean and bound with muscles on top of muscles, so their fear is understandable. 

In my almost infinite wisdom I offered some perspective.

Firstly a lot of what was thought was myth and strength training didn’t mean body building, although they’re similar in perception to most their reality is very different. 

Here is an example I gave for how he might program pressing:

A1 – Close Grip Press x4-6
A2 – Close Grip Press (50% weight reduction) x3-6*
3-4 sets – 120-180 seconds rest between sets 

*The first press would be a controlled negative with the concentric being done as fast as possible (ideally less than 1.2m/s) the second set would be performed by pulling the bar down as fast as possible, stopping it just off the chest then driving it up as fast as possible (rep total time of less than 1.5s ideally) so that force/velocity can be maximised.

It was also mentioned that explosive press ups could be used. 

This is a form of contrast training and could also be done in reverse, so explosive movement followed by heavier one, although it’d result in a slight different outcome. 

Above is more focused on speed-strength, basically moving loads at an average of 1m/s (up to 1.3, or lower if possible) 

I’ve often found people in amateur sports fear lifting.

It goes to show how they’re still very stuck in the past within regards to their training methods because the majority of higher level folk understand the benefits of strength

And of course the don’t neglect mobility either because what is strength if you can’t use it.

Now don’t get me wrong, you still need a lot of focus on your sport itself so that you learn how to express the strength you have in the right way.

Although from a super simple standpoint these 6 lifts will help most sports (in my experience):

• Deadlift 
• Snatch 
• Press 
• Split Squat 
• Front Squats 
• Pull Ups (or rope climbs)

But that’s a conversation of its own to have. 

The bottom line is this, strength training isn’t body building.

If you’re someone who has a sport of two you partake in, how does your training help, or maybe even hinder performance?

And do you know why 

Do leave your thoughts below.

Ego holds you back almost every time

Based on the overall style of answers yesterday it seems that which is often avoided/not trained enough is….

Anything that causes the ego discomfort 🤣

It’s understandable.

No one wants their peers to seem them in anything other than the light they THINK they ought to be seen in so that it allows the glue of the ego to hold together the unsteady pieces of the persona.

It’s quite funny really 🦋

Often there’s a lot of talk about how people don’t care for the thoughts, opinions of judgement of others and yet our actions tell a very different story.

Not to mention how much energy we put into cementing the thought of what the surmise things ought to be.

I’m sure you’ve projected such a thought on to people🧠

I certainly have and have also had thoughts placed on me too.

My classic one (gym wise) – you’d do better to be leaner🧐

The one pushed on me – You’d do better to be bigger 💪

As you can imagine my mind was attaching expectations/outcomes on those who in my eyes were carrying more fat than they needed, which to me made their size irrelevant because it was just the result of excess fat.

And truth be told this thought still lingers needlessly.

Seriously, at this stage it even pisses me off when it crops up 🤣

It’s like – ‘You again!? Jeez will you just give it a rest already.’

The mentally destructive desire to just be right for the sake of being right (or that’s how this madness justifies itself) really is a pointless endeavour that just serves to alienate more people than it does convince them that your intentions and wishes for them are positive.

Honestly I see very little point in such a thing now.

Yet it still persists in pestering me like a mosquito 🦟

It is funny though when you really think about it.

Why is being right so important to us as a species?

Logically we can look to evolution, experience, society and so on, but beyond that it begs the questions…

Why do YOU want to be right?

Have a ponder on that and please do share your answer because I only know the madness within this space between my ears and would greatly appreciate a deeper perspective and insight from the space between your ears ☺️

And one more thing, give we will avoid what causes the metaphorical sphincter of the ego tighten up.

What are you avoiding in your training you KNOW isn’t wise for no other reason than you don’t want to look or be perceived a certain way for doing it 👀

Be honest.

On my end it’s dialling back on the weights and upping the bodyweight/mobility/movement/flexibility work🤸‍♂️

Why?

Ego & fear.

Specifically the loss of what was (even though it wasn’t much) and also that there’s a lot of individuals that would love nothing more than to see my with less than I have regarding muscle, strength, leanness etc.

All so they could take swipes and pot shots 😂

Why would I care – now that’s a question I’ve really wrestled with answering.

It boils down to people taking great joy in being able to look down in me (yep, something as minor as that) because of being subject to that a lot in early life I made a bargain with myself at some point to not let that happen again because of how it felt.

I dug even deeper than that and really found an answer that wasn’t really that nice, even the thought of writing it now turns my stomach, but it was… is this…

“Don’t look down on me you piece of shit because I’m better than you and I’ll prove it.”

🤮🤮🤮

Yea, I know. Writing that comes with a lot of shame because it’s a shameful thing to say because it was nothing more than the lingering hurt from being a kid that got the shit kicked out of him several times by people that were older, bigger, stronger and nastier.

So the result was to get stronger, more capable and vicious so that if such threats cropped up again they’d be met with immeidate action🤦

Honestly it was the attitude of a child.

Pointless, șelf destructive and sad.

Hence dealing with that shit was necessary because it just wasn’t useful in the slightest and only served to keep alive lingering ghosts and a point to prove that didn’t even need proving in the first place 😂

F**k sake, one is truly a fool.

However that’s life, and just is. Although once aware of such a thing we can choose to deal with it and move on, which isn’t too smooth a journey, but it is worth it in the end.

Well, that really did turn into a ramble.

As always, please do leave your thoughts below.

Are you too scared to change?

While this can easily apply across the entire spectrum of life, we’ll stick with fitness today.

In my experience these are some of the common reasons changes is resisted in fitness:

• What progress has been made will be lost
• Ones identity has become tied to a specific training method
• Starting something new means you’ll suck for quite some time
• General FOMO

I’ve known a lot of people to stick rigidly to the same method of training for decades.

Don’t get me wrong, this can indeed produce a lot of results and we can train however we choose.

What starts to become a problem is that too much of a good thing can eventually have it cause us more harm than anything else, which leads to frustration and the terrible action of adding more to what we’re doing as opposed to changing it.

Usually when you’ve heard of people overdoing it in the gym with ‘something new’ there’s more to it.

It wasn’t just doing something new that caused them an issue.

The real culprit was doing something new on top of what they were already doing because of the fear in not doing what they’ve always done.

But in saying this there’s two sides of the fitness coin:

• You need consistency to get better
• You need variability to get better

Such a dichotomy has many people left scratching their head, asking – “So which is it?”

Both is the correct answer.

You need both consistency and variability within your training for the most optimal outcomes to be achieved, although the specifics on what exactly it is you have variability in (methods, movements, etc) is up for deep discussion, however it’s still needed regardless.

It’s worth sitting down and asking yourself what scares you about change.

Being able to answer this can reveal a lot about yourself.

In the end it’s going to be something you’ll have to embrace either by choice of consequence.

Personally I’d rather the change happens on my terms, that’s just me though.

Enjoy,
Ross

What are you scared of in fitness?

Is it failure or would you say there’s a little more to it that you’re just a little too scared to shine a light on.

There’s nothing wrong with being scared.

Fear is a natural human emotion, although it’s one of those energies that can be troublesome to manage.

Here’s three questions to help you uncover the path you may need to take that will result in you not being so frightened moving forwards:

• What’s legitimately the worst thing that can happen?
• How would this make you feel?
• Why is feeling like that something you want to avoid at all costs?

Delving into these can reveal some truths about yourself and what you believe.

And more importantly how what you believe ties you down and why you use fear to reinforce that belief so that you can keep yourself self from the unknown (which is rarely as nefarious as you imagine it to me).

Enjoy,
Ross