M4:D56 (D356) Where now?

What's on my mind today?
You've pushed up the intensity of your training, you are consistent and you are eating right, so now where do you go with things? That's the common question from people. They want to know what to do when they are seemingly doing everything right. When I get asked that question I shoot back several questions to help them get their own question answered.

Are you truly working out with maximum intensity?

You've upped the intensity of your workout, but are you still taking some with you off the gym floor? Are you taking your sets to complete failure or are you stopping just short of failure? Are you lifting weights that are heavy enough to spur on changes in your body? If you are not leaving everything on the gym floor, if you are stopping just short of failure and if you are lifting light weights, there's room for even more intensity. You are not lifting with maximum intensity. You need to rethink your workouts and up the intensity even more. Go until you cannot go anymore and then push yourself just a little bit further than that. Most people will stop short of maximum intensity and that's why I always say to go as far as you think you can go and then push further. It will get you through that mental block.

Are you working out according to the plan you created?

You plan to workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Are you waking up on Monday and deciding that this week Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday will be better? Are you moving around the time of your workouts for no good reason? Consistency is about hitting your scheduled workout dates and times. Your body will get into a rhythm if you stick to a set day and time for lifting. How will you know if you are truly giving yourself enough recovery time if you are always changing up the schedule? Stick to your scheduled workouts like they are a requirement and you will see a difference in the intensity of those workouts. You will start to see changes in how you feel as you begin a workout and how you feel when you end a workout. It is amazing.

Are you progressing in your workouts?

We are supposed to be able to either increase weight or repetitions each time we hit an exercise on a new workout. If that stops happening you need to consider that you might be over training. I know it is hard to accept that lifting 2 days a week might be more beneficial than lifting 3 days a week, but I'm here to tell you that it works if your body needs that extra recovery time. You will know when that happens. For me, I couldn't get through the heavy lifts (deadlifts and squats) as well. I'd find myself thinking "Gee, you could've gotten a couple more reps out of that one" and I'd feel bad for it. That's when I realized I was not getting enough recovery time. Maximum intensity will do that to you. You won't recover nearly as fast as you are used to. It is a completely different world when you are lifting with that kind of intensity.

So where to now?

If you are doing ok with my 3 questions above and everything is aligned correctly, it is now time to just keep yourself on task. Make sure you are eating enough of the right foods. Be sure to stick to a consistent lifting program and always work as hard as is humanly possible when you are in the gym. Don't waste a single moment of gym time as it is precious for your transformation efforts. If you have fat to lose, add in some cardio, but don't over do it. Create the habits that will carry you on for the rest of your life.

Find out what I'm doing to my body!
Today I had a nice cardio session. I did my usual intervals where I got my heart rate up to 145 BPM for 2 minutes and then let my body recover back down to 105 BPM. I did this as many times as I could in 30 minutes.