The Mental and Physical

Motivation for the gym is often tough to muster up. Everyday weight lifters go in and destroy their bodies in order to come out even stronger the next day. That challenge is being placed upon the people of this training program. Sure, they are seeing their bodies change and their numbers increase, but the toll it takes on them and their daily life is significant. It is hard to balance a sport, job, and school. Sadly, the trainees must endure this new reality. Attendance has been dwindling because of busy schedules. Honestly, I feel responsible for their perpetual tiredness and guilt from the gym.

But one thing goes without show. Their determination still stands. And it continuously inspires me to keep up with their progress.

Let’s transfer into the scientific portion of my project. Muscle tears occur every single time a body part is trained. These tears occur all along a muscle (ex. The trapezius) and causes a soreness within that area. This occurrence is normal, but not a token of hard work in the gym. My BASIS faculty advisor shared some important insight with me. Strength training focuses around the three lifts or any lifts that you desire. In order to increase numbers, you must focus on those lifts and splice out any unnecessary workouts that could hinder your progress. For example, I recently cut out arms and shoulders within the project. Initially, I added this day into the schedule with hopes that these would supplement any imbalances with duplicate muscles. In turn, this would aid the lifts. However, I learned that those workouts were not necessary. In order to strengthen the bench, for example, you must keep pressing on the bench. If your arms cannot keep up with your chest during the bench, you must stay at that weight and wait for your arms to catch up.