162/6 Rule

How much do you think you should be spending in the gym? I live by a rule where I don't spend any more than 6 hours in the gym in one week. The six muscle groups that I work out are chest, tricep, back, bicep, shoulders, and legs. I work out six muscle groups so I spend one hour or less a week on each muscle group. Sometimes when I am just doing cardio for the week I spend even less time in the gym, maybe only 2 or 3 hours a week for cardio. I try to get to the gym six days a week, for one hour a day, and work out one muscle group a day. Sometimes if I get too busy with school and work I go three days a week and do two muscle groups a day. A lot of people are always busy but it is always possible to find some time to make it to the gym. Even as little as a half hour for two or three days a week is much better than no time at all. If I go the gym for six hours a week then the other 162 hours are used for resting, eating, and planning for future workouts.

Protein

The only supplements I use are muscle milk and whey protein. There are thousands of supplements available for use but a lot of them contain substances that boost testosterone levels which make those supplements unnatural. I believe protein is the only real supplement that is a necessity for everyone participating in weightifting. Protein gives your body all of the essential amino acids the body needs. All proteins contain four calories per gram. If trying to gain muscle mass it is a good idea to take 1.5 or more grams of protein for every pound of bodyweight. Some sources of protein are meats, eggs, legumes, and dairy products. Rotating the sources of where you get your protein from is important; change your meals every couple of days. When protein is being absorbed it is broken down into 20 amino acids, 9 of which are essential amino acids. Essential amino acids can only be obtained by foods and supplements, while the non-essential amino acids can be created from your own body. Obtaining all of the amino acids is important because they all do different things.

Inconveniences At The Gym

There are so many things that people do at the gym that are annoying, distracting, and just an inconvenience. People constantly talk on their cell phones and have to speak loud enough so the whole world can hear their conversation. Cell phones should always be put on silent or vibrate when at the gym. People wearing $300 jeans, sandals, or any other clothes that do not belong in the gym is wrong. Not putting your weights away like dumbbells or barbells is disrespectful. Every gym has people that really believe they know what their talking about and must pass their advice on to others. These people are just bad advice givers which are very annoying. Some kids try to lift massive amounts of weight with the worst form that the exercise does nothing for them, except cause injury or pain. Taking up benches, racks, or machines for more than an hour is definitely unnecessary. It is disgusting when people sweat profusely on a machine or bench and do not even bother to wipe it down with paper towels. When lifting heavy weights and grunting so loud everyone in the gym can hear you is uncalled for. These people can be a huge inconvenience for the normal people that just want to go to the gym and have a nice workout.

How I Got Into Weight Training

I grew up in a big football town in Lacey New Jersey. We had won several championships in pop warner and high school. Everyday after school my friends and I would play football, go to football practice, and then have play madden on playstation. When football season was over we still played everyday after school. One day when I was in 7th grade during the offseason I got grounded for a month for something and was not allowed to go outside. I started lifting weights on a very old bench. The only two excercises I really knew how to do were bench press and curls. I didn't really like curling so I mainly stuck with bench press and I loved it. I liked lifting so much I practically did it everyday. The older I got the more I liked it because I was always training with different people. Training with different people is great because you learn every variation of every excercise. When I got into high school I joined a powerlifting team which competed in many competitions. Powerlifting was a great sport because it really improved my strength skills in other sports like football and wrestling.