How to Maximize your GainzZz in the Gym

Note: the following post has been adapted from our New Athlete Welcome Packet where we walk our members through the basics of our gym, culture, and purpose!

One of our primary aims at the gym is put together a clear path for each and every client to accomplish their goal(s). This takes time and requires a lot of listening and note taking. It also requires quite a lot of effort and trust on the part of the athlete. Despite the difficult in actually accomplishing a thing, we’re able to do it frequently here. Today we’re going to share our top 4 talking points with new athletes when they join the gym. These talking points are usually discussed during their consultation and first several sessions here on the platform. Additionally, these topics are revisited every so often (quarterly for example) to make sure we’re still on the right track.

Talking Point #1: Be Consistent

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Chris hitting squats w/ “big plates” for the first time.

Show up and work the plan as written. You’ll have good days and bad days; it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of accomplishment. In fact, putting in the “bad days” are often where progress is made. The old adage, “if it were easy, everyone would do it” really does apply. Our coaches will work with YOU to set up a schedule that is sustainable for YOU but its up to YOU to show up and do the work. We know you can and we’re excited to help you get it done!

Programming at our gym is progressive. Each time you come in, we ask you to do a bit more (sets, reps, weight, etc.), therefore it’s vital you’ve been completing your scheduled sessions. We cannot make progress without previous work completed and showing up haphazardly is not the type of previous work we’re talking about. In general, if your plan calls for 3 sessions x week, you’re expected to get in 3 sessions x week, most weeks. Sure, kids will get sick, work will require overtime, and life will happen. The coaches will help you adjust your training schedule to accommodate these things. Don’t just stop showing up because things got hard or you got “too busy”. We’ll put together a schedule based on what you CAN do but YOU must place some VALUE on your progress.

Talking Point #2: Working Hard

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Thad overcoming a long history of back pain with regular training!

You’ll need to put in a good effort every time you step foot in the gym. This doesn’t mean you’re expected to perform optimally every time you step in the gym, only that you put in a good effort. You’ve got to want to squat more weight, press more reps, push the sled faster, and flip the tire more times. Of course, the coaches will help you in this department but it’s your story so you’ve got to write it. There will be times to back off and “coast” a bit and the coaches will help you make these decisions but most of the time, training requires HARD work.

Talking Point #3: Being Patient

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Gary benching 275 for a single.

It’s common for people to come in and want to set the world on fire. This enthusiasm is great but we must remember that this is a long game and consistency is king. In the beginning you’ll be making (conservative) progress each session and those small victories are incredibly important in pushing you further. We’ll help you stay the course by putting together a list of long- and short-term goals, we’ll even review them periodically to make sure you’re staying the course. Occasionally, we redirect clients when the course changes. The point is, you’ll be able to see your progress from week to week and know that you’re moving ever so closer to your short- and long-term goals. There is no need to rush this process or to be overly concerned with running some fancy new program you read about on the internet. Trust in your coach and the process and you’ll make more progress than 99% of the people going to gyms all over the world.

Talking Point #4: Using Proper Equipment

In addition to showing up, working hard, and being patient, you’ll eventually want to use all the tools at your disposal. At Brentwood Barbell, we recommend 2 types of equipment for all our lifters.

Olympic WL Shoes – we recommend that all our athletes use “lifters” with

  • Firm Soles
  • Raised Heel
  • Metatarsal Strap

Weight Lifting Belt

We recommend that all our athletes use a belt to maximize their stability and trunk stiffness during lifting. Trunk stiffness has been associated with improved lifting performance, it’s also entirely reasonable that having a tighter back would lead to less potential injury risk when lifting. While the data on this isn’t conclusive, we feel that belts greatly help our athletes perform better. Here are 3 belts we recommend:

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Isla wants to know what you’re waiting for”

There you have it, our top 4 recommendations when new athletes join our gym. Keep in mind, many of our “lifters” are new to the barbell and haven’t heard many of these things before but it’s also helpful to hear some of these things every once in a while even if you’ve been at it for a bit. If you’d like to learn more about getting started with barbell strength training we’d love to help you. We’ll start the process with a simple: “how may we help you”?

For more information on scheduling a no-obligation consultation, click here!

Good luck with your training friends!

The Brentwood Barbell Team