“
You want to hit the gym with me?"
Ellie wrinkled her button nose. "Gym? Me?"
I eyed her skinny self. "You mean you're naturally that gorgeous?"
She laughed, flushing a little. "I have good genes."
"Yeah, well I have to work-out to fit into mine.
”
”
Samantha Young (On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street, #1))
“
Huge biceps are an unattractive-uneducated-underpaid man's last attempt to be seen as worthy of dating, or, sleeping with.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Before you worry about the beauty of your body, worry about the health of your body.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
“
Your brain is involved in everything you do.
Your brain controls everything you do, feel, and think. When you look in the
mirror, you can thank your brain for what you see. Ultimately, it is your brain that
determines whether your belly bulges over your belt buckle or your waistline is trim and
toned. Your brain plays the central role in whether your skin looks fresh and dewy or is
etched with wrinkles. Whether you wake up feeling energetic or groggy depends on your
brain. When you head to the kitchen to make breakfast, it is your brain that determines
whether you go for the leftover pizza or the low-fat yogurt and fruit. Your brain controls
whether you hit the gym or sit at the computer to check your Facebook page. If you feel
the need to light up a cigarette or drink a couple cups of java, that's also your brain's
doing.ACTION STEP Remember that your brain is involved in everything you do, every
decision you make, every bite of food you take, every cigarette you smoke, every
worrisome thought you have, every workout you skip, every alcoholic beverage you
drink, and more.
”
”
Daniel G. Amen (Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted)
“
Want to exercise more? Choose a cue, such as going to the gym as soon as you wake up, and a reward, such as a smoothie after each workout. Then think about that smoothie, or about the endorphin rush you’ll feel. Allow yourself to anticipate the reward. Eventually, that craving will make it easier to push through the gym doors every day.
”
”
Charles Duhigg (The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business)
“
Some people who have been working out regularly for months or even years are still out of shape because the number of cheat days they have in a week exceeds six.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Life is one big gym where we need to constantly workout to stay fit for this world. And indeed love here is the treadmill.
”
”
Munia Khan
“
Some men’s chests are more buttlike than some women’s butts.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like the one at the gym where you open and close your inner thighs in front of everyone, exposing both your insecurities and your genitals. Because that is what writing is all about.
”
”
Colin Nissan
“
Oh, I just wasted two hundred dollars on a gym membership, which I didn’t use…even once. My shorts are getting shorter. Lately I’ve been looking like a slut—unintentionally of course.
”
”
Danielle Esplin (Give It Back)
“
More often than not, expecting to lose weight without first losing the diet that made the weight loss necessary is like expecting a pig to be spotless after hosing it down while it was still rolling in mud.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Not only a man without hand is handicapped but also a man without health.
”
”
Amit Kalantri
“
Whenever God thinks of you, he has your best interests in mind; he has plans to take you further, deeper, and higher than you ever dreamed. This process begins when you seek God and spend time with him. Look for every opportunity to know God. Consider your daily schedule. What does it include? A workout at the gym? A trip to the post office? A lunch hour? A commute? Look for ways to include God in your activities. Invite God to accompany you by talking together. Look for moments- even if it's only ten or twenty seconds- to steal away with him. God will reward your efforts as you reshape your inner life to be focused around him. As you seek God, you will find yourself abiding in him." -Hungry for God
”
”
Margaret Feinberg (Hungry for God: Hearing God's Voice in the Ordinary and the Everyday)
“
It wasn't hard going to the gym, as long as he went as soon as he woke up, before he had time to think about not going. Those morning workouts made him feel like he was starting his day like a pinball, with a giant shot of momentum. The feeling sometimes didn’t wear off until six or seven at night (when it was usually overtaken by the feeling that he was just bouncing haplessly from one situation to the next without any real purpose or direction).
”
”
Rainbow Rowell (Attachments)
“
We’re cracking the code on how to keep people at the gym,” Lazarus told me. “People want to visit places that satisfy their social needs. Getting people to exercise in groups makes it more likely they’ll stick with a workout. You can change the health of the nation this way.
”
”
Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business)
“
What is required if a bodybuilder hopes to realize the most from his workouts and become a champion? The answer: an attitude befitting a hero, one full of fury—an attitude I call siege mentality. Once he enters the gym, all else is forgotten and he is transformed into a valiant warrior with girded loins, ready to do battle with the weights.
”
”
Mike Mentzer (High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way)
“
To any woman out there who is fed up with trying the same thing over and over, I offer this suggestion. Instead of getting back on the treadmill “one more time,” try this. Alter your diet so that you eat no grain-based carbohydrate: no flour, no sugar, no bread, no pasta, and no high-fructose corn syrup. Then go to the gym and perform a workout of leg press, pull down, chest press, row and overhead press. Lift slowly and smoothly but with as much effort as possible. Go to complete fatigue, or as close to it as you can tolerate. Work out once, or at most, twice a week. Make sure your workouts last no longer than 20 minutes. Then sit back and watch what happens. —Doug McGuff, MD
”
”
Jonathan Bailor (The Calorie Myth: How to Eat More, Exercise Less, Lose Weight, and Live Better)
“
Those who seek, certainly get, the inspiration that they want, for their dreams.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Get your whats and whys straight; leave hows to the coach.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Gym is a sacred place which makes your life feel worth existing by putting effort of care into the home of your soul called body!
”
”
Munia Khan
“
She grinned. “You don’t have to go to the gym, do you? Carrying around that ego is enough of a workout.”
“It keeps me in shape.
”
”
Susan Mallery
“
Stay healthy so that you can use your wealth to buy pleasures and not painkillers.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
“
Your Children will See What You're All About by What you Live rather than What you Say.
”
”
Med Reda (Start Doing: gym notebook: log your workout motivate yourself)
“
The only bad exercise is the one you skipped.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
“
Habits are built on consistency, and you build consistency by showing up again and again. It’s not about the actual workout, how many shirts you hang up, or what you do after you turn off Netflix; the point is, you went to the gym, made it to the bedroom for tidying, and turned off the TV. If you just keep showing up, it will feel far more natural and effortless to do more—get into the workout, fold the rest of the laundry, or prep your lunch for the next day. Chase consistency.
”
”
Melissa Urban (The Book of Boundaries: Set the Limits That Will Set You Free)
“
If you show up at the gym five days in a row—even if it’s just for two minutes—you are casting votes for your new identity. You’re not worried about getting in shape. You’re focused on becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. You’re taking the smallest action that confirms the type of person you want to be.
”
”
James Clear (Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones)
“
For example, once a month I might actually skip going to the gym one day and instead read about new workout routines, buy a new fitness app, or study a new fitness method to optimize my gym time. This is what I mean by the discovery process. You step back from what you’re doing and seek to discover new ways to do it better.
”
”
Vishen Lakhiani (The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed On Your Own Terms)
“
Furthermore, it’s not always about what happens during the workout. It’s about being the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. It’s easy to train when you feel good, but it’s crucial to show up when you don’t feel like it—even if you do less than you hope. Going to the gym for five minutes may not improve your performance, but it reaffirms your identity.
”
”
James Clear (Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones)
“
Keep in mind the rewards ahead.
Workouts provide awesome internal rewards; after a long dance practice or gym workout I always have more energy and a clearer mind, and I’m able to focus on things I need to get done. But we all know it’s hard to remember that great feeling when you’re headed off to the gym, dreading the work ahead. Conjuring that ecstatic state of mind you know you’ll find later can be a tremendous motivator. If you prefer external rewards, motivate yourself with baby steps every day to hit a bigger long-term goal--one with a luxurious reward as your prize. Once you’ve reached it, allow yourself to follow through with whatever reward it was that motivated you, whether it’s a great glass of wine or a Sunday movie marathon.
”
”
Derek Hough (Taking the Lead: Lessons from a Life in Motion)
“
Two rows of five showers faced each other, so you could get a good look at as many as three different guys. For instance, today he saw three different guys all diligently scrubbing their penises into various states of erection. The one in the middle wore a thick metal cock ring, which shocked Martin. He did think you should at least pretend you came to the gym to workout.
”
”
Marshall Thornton (My Favorite Uncle)
“
Strategies like this work for another reason, too: they reinforce the identity you want to build. If you show up at the gym five days in a row—even if it’s just for two minutes—you are casting votes for your new identity. You’re not worried about getting in shape. You’re focused on becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. You’re taking the smallest action that confirms the type of person you want to be.
”
”
James Clear (Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones)
“
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain - John J. Ratey, MD, with Eric Hagerman Exercise Every Day: 32 Tactics for Building the Exercise Habit (Even if you hate working out) - S.J. Scott No Gym Needed - Quick & Simple Workouts for Gals on the Go: Get a Toned Body in 30 Minutes or Less - Lise Cartwright Weight Loss Motivation Hacks: 7 Psychological Tricks That Keep You Motivated to Lose Weight - Derek Doepker Books
”
”
Sarah Lentz (The Hypothyroid Writer: Seven daily habits that will heal your brain, feed your creative genius, and help you write like never before)
“
On my way, I was learning, was the product of Barack’s eternal optimism, an indication of his eagerness to be home that did nothing to signify when he would actually arrive. Almost home was not a geo-locator but rather a state of mind. Sometimes he was on his way but needed to stop in to have one last forty-five-minute conversation with a colleague before he got into the car. Other times, he was almost home but forgot to mention that he was first going to fit in a quick workout at the gym.
”
”
Michelle Obama (Becoming)
“
Make exercising fun.
The same old routine at the gym can be a drag. It’s good to mix it up. In addition to dancing I also enjoy hiking and swimming. And when you work out, do it someplace you find inspiring: a hike that brings you to a gorgeous view or a workout in the sand with the surf in your sight, even a small grassy spot in your backyard or a serene, uncluttered corner of your apartment. Recreational team sports also add variety to the mix: they put the focus on the fun of the game rather than the pain of the effort.
”
”
Derek Hough (Taking the Lead: Lessons from a Life in Motion)
“
Recovery" is everything you do outside the gym to take care of yourself: eating, sleeping, stretching, managing stress. Another oversight of the "workout"-based type of exercise is that it does not teach us to care at all about this stuff. If you're like me, you might have even been conditioned to believe, for instance, that eating a nice big meal after a workout would be "wasting the workout." In reality, the *opposite* is true: if you don't eat enough, you are only setting yourself up for an unfair and unnecessary amount of soreness. And this is true of all recovery dimensions: if you don't sleep, or if you don't manage your stress, you will be miserable trying to build muscle.
”
”
Casey Johnston (Liftoff: Couch to Barbell)
“
Without the momentum of a stern discipline, motivation is mostly a momentary, flighty emotion. For it works best under the supervision of discipline, but can serve as not only an ally but also an enemy: because in anything that requires your self-discipline - whether going to church, going to classes, going to workouts, going through trainings, completing jobs, reading books, living well, eating healthily, studying, practicing something - the more times you skip, the more relaxed and motivated you'll become about skipping; and the next thing you know you've quit your fight altogether (or, put in short, the more you skip, the more you'll skip until you've quit). Maybe then you'll see that motivation bears its fruits when watered by discipline, but it spoils when not.
”
”
Criss Jami
“
Daily life makes us all susceptible to accumulating stress, mostly due to the non-stop demands and pressures of juggling work, home and personal responsibilities. This stress revs up the nervous system, causing the brain to flood the body with hormones that trigger overreacting, irrational thinking, and even insomnia. After years of unavoidable exposure to the stress reaction with no defense, the nervous system can become severely deteriorated, leaving us defenseless against mental or physical illness and disease.iv As it happens, meditation has been proven as one of the greatest counter-stress solutions.v When practiced daily, meditation can help to restore balance and re-supply much-needed rest to your physiology. Common side effects of daily meditation are increased energy and feelings of contentedness and inner happiness.vi
”
”
Light Watkins (The Inner Gym: A 30-Day Workout For Strengthening Happiness)
“
How to stick with it.
Inertia is a real thing. Momentum will build. When you do something often enough it becomes a ritual, like going to church or brushing your teeth. You will eventually recondition your body to crave working out and eating the right foods. The circuitry can be rewired. There’s the trigger, the process, and the reward. The key is to get it to the point where it’s such a habit, you want to do it. Let’s take a real-life example that all of us have faced: we haven’t been to the gym in a while, we feel sluggish, and we don’t want to go. The idea of lacing up the sneakers and hitting the gym feels like torture. The trick is to remind yourself that at the end of that workout, your mind actually feel pleasure. It feels good. Sometimes we get brainwashed into thinking that Gym = Pain, Candy = Pleasure when really it’s the opposite: without fail, our bodies feel better after they’ve been in motion.
”
”
Derek Hough (Taking the Lead: Lessons from a Life in Motion)
“
Exercising an unfit muscle causes soreness, which is followed by improved muscle function and increased resistance of that muscle to become sore. In that sense, soreness after exercise is good (as long as it lasts less than a week and doesn’t come back). Sore joints, on the other hand, are collateral damage (see above). Most people think that if they do an intense workout (say 90 minutes of circuit training in a gym) that they should lose weight. And indeed, if you weigh before and right after such a workout, the scale goes down because of sweating and water weight loss. However, if it makes you sore for the next few days don’t be surprised to see the scale go up. That’s because muscle soreness indicates that your muscles are temporarily inflamed, and inflammation causes fluid retention and swelling in that muscle. Once again, don’t let the scale make you crazy. Once the soreness is gone, the swelling is gone, and the scale comes back down where it’s supposed to be.
”
”
Jeff S. Volek (The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide to Making the Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable and Enjoyable)
“
I saw her as soon as I pulled into the parking lot. This beautiful woman with a gigantic smile on her face was just about bouncing up and down despite the orthopedic boot she had on her foot as she waved me into a parking space. I felt like I’d been hit in the gut. She took my breath away. She was dressed in workout clothes, her long brown hair softly framing her face, and she just glowed. I composed myself and got out of the car. She was standing with Paul Orr, the radio host I was there to meet. Local press had become fairly routine for me at this point, so I hadn’t really given it much thought when I agreed to be a guest on the afternoon drive-time show for WZZK. But I had no idea I’d meet her.
Paul reached out his hand and introduced himself. And without waiting to be introduced she whipped out her hand and said, “Hi! I’m Jamie Boyd!” And right away she was talking a mile a minute. She was so chipper I couldn’t help but smile. I was like that little dog in Looney Toons who is always following the big bulldog around shouting, “What are we going to do today, Spike?” She was adorable. She started firing off questions, one of which really caught my attention.
“So you were in the Army? What was your MOS?” she asked.
Now, MOS is a military term most civilians have never heard. It stands for Military Occupational Specialty. It’s basically military code for “job.” So instead of just asking me what my job was in the Army, she knew enough to specifically ask me what my MOS was. I was impressed.
“Eleven Bravo. Were you in?” I replied.
“Nope! But I’ve thought about it. I still think one day I will join the Army.”
We followed Paul inside and as he set things up and got ready for his show, Jamie and I talked nonstop. She, too, was really into fitness. She was dressed and ready for the gym and told me she was about to leave to get in a quick workout before her shift on-air.
“Yeah, I have the shift after Paul Orr. The seven-to-midnight show. I call it the Jammin’ with Jamie Show. People call in and I’ll ask them if they’re cryin’, laughin’, lovin’, or leavin’.”
I couldn’t believe how into this girl I was, and we’d only been talking for twenty minutes. I was also dressed in gym clothes, because I’d been to the gym earlier. She looked down and saw the rubber bracelet around my wrist.
“Is that an ‘I Am Second’ bracelet? I have one of those!” she said as she held up her wrist with the band that means, “I am second after Jesus.”
“No, this is my own bracelet with my motto, ‘Train like a Machine,’ on it. Just my little self-motivator. I have some in my car. I’d love to give you one.”
“Well, actually, I am about to leave. I have to go work out before my shift,” she reminded me.
“You can have this one. Take it off my wrist. This one will be worth more someday because I’ve been sweating in it,” I joked.
She laughed and took it off my wrist. We kept chatting and she told me she had wanted to do an obstacle course race for a long time. Then Paul interrupted our conversation and gently reminded Jamie he had a show to do. He and I needed to start our interview. She laughed some more and smiled her way out the door.
”
”
Noah Galloway (Living with No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier)
“
In 2000, for instance, two statisticians were hired by the YMCA—one of the nation’s largest nonprofit organizations—to use the powers of data-driven fortune-telling to make the world a healthier place. The YMCA has more than 2,600 branches in the United States, most of them gyms and community centers. About a decade ago, the organization’s leaders began worrying about how to stay competitive. They asked a social scientist and a mathematician—Bill Lazarus and Dean Abbott—for help. The two men gathered data from more than 150,000 YMCA member satisfaction surveys that had been collected over the years and started looking for patterns. At that point, the accepted wisdom among YMCA executives was that people wanted fancy exercise equipment and sparkling, modern facilities. The YMCA had spent millions of dollars building weight rooms and yoga studios. When the surveys were analyzed, however, it turned out that while a facility’s attractiveness and the availability of workout machines might have caused people to join in the first place, what got them to stay was something else. Retention, the data said, was driven by emotional factors, such as whether employees knew members’ names or said hello when they walked in. People, it turns out, often go to the gym looking for a human connection, not a treadmill. If a member made a friend at the YMCA, they were much more likely to show up for workout sessions. In other words, people who join the YMCA have certain social habits. If the YMCA satisfied them, members were happy. So if the YMCA wanted to encourage people to exercise, it needed to take advantage of patterns that already existed, and teach employees to remember visitors’ names.
”
”
Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business)
“
Time management also involves energy management. Sometimes the rationalization for procrastination is wrapped up in the form of the statement “I’m not up to this,” which reflects the fact you feel tired, stressed, or some other uncomfortable state. Consequently, you conclude that you do not have the requisite energy for a task, which is likely combined with a distorted justification for putting it off (e.g., “I have to be at my best or else I will be unable to do it.”).
Similar to reframing time, it is helpful to respond to the “I’m not up to this” reaction by reframing energy. Thinking through the actual behavioral and energy requirements of a job challenges the initial and often distorted reasoning with a more realistic view. Remember, you only need “enough” energy to start the task. Consequently, being “too tired” to unload the dishwasher or put in a load of laundry can be reframed to see these tasks as requiring only a low level of energy and focus.
This sort of reframing can be used to address automatic thoughts about energy on tasks that require a little more get-up-and-go. For example, it is common for people to be on the fence about exercising because of the thought “I’m too tired to exercise.” That assumption can be redirected to consider the energy required for the smaller steps involved in the “exercise script” that serve as the “launch sequence” for getting to the gym (e.g., “Are you too tired to stand up and get your workout clothes? Carry them to the car?” etc.). You can also ask yourself if you have ever seen people at the gym who are slumped over the exercise machines because they ran out of energy from trying to exert themselves when “too tired.” Instead, you can draw on past experience that you will end up feeling better and more energized after exercise; in fact, you will sleep better, be more rested, and have the positive outcome of keeping up with your exercise plan. If nothing else, going through this process rather than giving into the impulse to avoid makes it more likely that you will make a reasoned decision rather than an impulsive one about the task.
A separate energy management issue relevant to keeping plans going is your ability to maintain energy (and thereby your effort) over longer courses of time. Managing ADHD is an endurance sport. It is said that good soccer players find their rest on the field in order to be able to play the full 90 minutes of a game. Similarly, you will have to manage your pace and exertion throughout the day. That is, the choreography of different tasks and obligations in your Daily Planner affects your energy. It is important to engage in self-care throughout your day, including adequate sleep, time for meals, and downtime and recreational activities in order to recharge your battery. Even when sequencing tasks at work, you can follow up a difficult task, such as working on a report, with more administrative tasks, such as responding to e-mails or phone calls that do not require as much mental energy or at least represent a shift to a different mode. Similarly, at home you may take care of various chores earlier in the evening and spend the remaining time relaxing.
A useful reminder is that there are ways to make some chores more tolerable, if not enjoyable, by linking them with preferred activities for which you have more motivation. Folding laundry while watching television, or doing yard work or household chores while listening to music on an iPod are examples of coupling obligations with pleasurable activities. Moreover, these pleasant experiences combined with task completion will likely be rewarding and energizing.
”
”
J. Russell Ramsay (The Adult ADHD Tool Kit)
“
THE CODE OF A GOOD TRAINING PARTNER I will show up on time for every workout, and if I can’t avoid missing one, I’ll let my partner know as soon as I know. I will come to the gym to train—not to chat. When we’re in the gym, we focus on our workouts, we’re always ready to spot each other, and we get our work done efficiently. I will train hard to set a good example for my partner. I will push my partner to do more than she thinks she can. It’s my job to motivate her to do more weight and more reps than she believes possible. I will be supportive of my partner and will compliment her on her gains. I won’t let my partner get out of a workout easily. I will reject any excuses that are short of an actual emergency or commitment that can’t be rescheduled, and I will insist that she comes and trains. In the case where there’s a valid excuse, I’ll offer to train at a different time so we can get our workout in (if at all possible).
”
”
Michael Matthews (Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body)
“
Today, the “mental workout” has gained great currency in the popular imagination. Brain gyms and memory boot camps are a growing fad, and brain training software was a $265 million industry in 2008, no doubt in part because of research that shows that older people who keep their minds active with crossword puzzles and chess can stave off Alzheimer’s and progressive dementia, but mostly because of the Baby Boomer generation’s intense insecurity about losing their marbles.
”
”
Anonymous
“
Regardless of how busy you are, it’s important to set aside a few hours for exercise. If you don’t give yourself that luxury, you will fall into the trap of being too tired to work out. This lack of energy is actually caused by lack of exercise. It’s a perpetual cycle that many people fall into, but the only way to get out of it is to start moving. You may feel that adding a few workouts to your schedule is selfish because you’re leaving your kids at home or in the gym childcare center. Your laundry might go unfolded, or your dishes may stay dirty for an extra hour that evening. Maybe on workout nights, you serve leftovers rather than a meal from scratch. I promise this is not a big deal to anyone but you. Going to the gym is not selfish. Taking that extra time during your week to nurture your body improves your quality of life. There is a huge difference between exercise obsession and healthy exercise. Three hours per week is a far cry from obsession. To be healthy, you should exercise at least three hours per week.
”
”
Bret Contreras (Strong Curves: A Woman's Guide to Building a Better Butt and Body)
“
Second, your willpower to achieve your goal has limits. Think of it as a battery pack that runs down at the end of the day. This means you should preemptively avoid temptations and distractions, and make it as easy as possible for you to work on your goal. For a weight loss goal, this would mean making it easy to eat healthy and workout by packing your lunch, and always having clean gym clothes, and avoiding buying snacks altogether.
”
”
Peter Hollins (Learn Like Einstein: Memorize More, Read Faster, Focus Better, and Master Anything With Ease… Become An Expert in Record Time (Accelerated Learning) (Learning how to Learn Book 12))
“
If talking about the bureaucracy takes the place of talking about sports, getting involved with the bureaucracy takes the place of exercise. Every French man and woman is engaged in a constant entanglement with one ministry of another, and I have come to realize that these entanglements are what take the place of going to a gym where people actually work out. Three or four days a week you're given something to do that is time-consuming, takes you out of yourself, is mildly painful, forces you into close proximity with strangers, and ends, usually, with a surprising rush of exhilaration: 'Hey, I did it.' Every French ministry is, like a Nautilus machine, thoughtfully designed to provide maximum possible resistance to your efforts, only to give way just at the moment of total mental failure. Parisians emerge from the government buildings on the île de la Cité feeling just the way New Yorkers do after a good workout: aching and exhausted and on top of the world.
”
”
Adam Gopnik (Paris to the Moon)
“
Some people like to make workout tapes and take them to the gym, but I can’t fathom why. Any music I hear in a gym is ruined forever.
”
”
Rob Sheffield (Love is a Mix Tape)
“
Working out with a bad partner sucks. It drains your energy and motivation and can even cause you to lose enthusiasm for working out altogether. On the other hand, working out with a good partner can go far in keeping you on track and making progress. He helps keep you accountable and wanting to show up every day, and having a spot on certain exercises helps push you for another rep and encourages you to move up in weight as you should. These things can make a big difference as time goes on. Those workouts, additional reps, and progressions in weight that wouldn’t have happened if you were solo add up to real gains. So, I recommend that you find someone to work out with before you start, and the two of you should agree to the following code. 1. I will show up on time for every workout, and if I can’t avoid missing one, I’ll let my partner know as soon as I know. 2. I won’t let my partner get out of a workout easily. I will reject any excuses that are short of an actual emergency or commitment that can’t be rescheduled, and I will insist that he comes and trains.
In the case where there’s a valid excuse, if at all possible, I’ll offer to train at a different time so we can get our workout in. 3. I will come to the gym to train—not to chat. When we’re in the gym, we focus on our workouts, we’re always ready to spot each other, and we get our work done efficiently. 4. I will train hard to set a good example for my partner. 5. I will push my partner to do more than he thinks he can. It’s my job to motivate him to do more weight and more reps than he believes possible. 6. I will be supportive of my partner and will compliment him on his gains.
”
”
Michael Matthews (Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body)
“
We used to go to the gym, but when it became clear that neither of us could do jumping jacks or jump rope without peeing a little, we thought it best to move our workouts to a more private location.
”
”
Jennifer Van Wyk (From the Ground Up)
“
But for those of you who might be on the fence when it comes to the idea of working to learn something new, I offer this word of encouragement: Life is much like going to the gym. The most painful part is deciding to go. Once you get past that, it’s easy. There have been many days I have dreaded going to the gym, but once I am there and in motion, it is a pleasure. After the workout is over, I am always glad I talked myself into going.
”
”
Robert T. Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad)
“
The gym is my level playing field, as in, it keeps me level so I can play the game of life without destroying myself and everyone around me. It’s my place to wage war and I am at war- both with myself and with humanity. It’s my place to make things right, to remain a hero, to fight my inner villain. I was a villain as I climbed up the stair mill to begin my workout. I tore Mr. Hyde’s throat out with my teeth to remain Dr. Jekyll. Good would only come by killing evil. Killing evil is what I do while I am at the gym.
”
”
Amber Garibay
“
Charlie smiled. ‘Actually, right now I feel like venting; maybe seeing how loud I can make the speakers in the gym and doing a workout of some kind. Does the hotel have music?’
‘Um, pass?’
‘You haven’t tried? Dude! Sort the shit. Hey, Valles?’ ‘Hello.’
‘Play Queen.’
‘Disambiguation. One: Play the Queen: Act like a queen:
female monarch. Subjects needed. Two: Play the Queen: Act like a queen: a person with excessive emotional outbursts. Setting demanded. Three: Play music related to “Queen”: Playqueen: New Zealander electropop group. 2040s. Four. Play music related to...’
‘British rock band. 1980s.’
‘Album, or track?’
‘I Want to Break Free.
”
”
Trevor Barton (Balance of Estubria (Brobots, #3))
“
10 Best Weight Loss Exercises
The best exercises to lose weight in the gym are aerobics, for example:
1. Hiit Training
The hit workout burns about 400 calories per hour and consists of a set of high intensity workouts that eliminate localized fat in just 30 minutes per day in a faster and fun way. The exercises are performed intensively to raise your heart rate a lot and so it is more suitable for those who already practice some kind of physical activity, although there are beginner hit exercises, but they consist of a series of exercises 'easier'.
2. Cross fit Training
Cross fit training is also quite intense and burns about 700 calories per hour, however, this type of workout is quite different from the bodybuilding workout that people are more accustomed to seeing in gyms. Different weights are used, ropes, tires and often the exercises are performed, outside the gym, outdoors.
3. Dance Classes
Dancing is a great way to strengthen muscles and burn some calories, 1 hour of ballroom dancing burns approximately 300 calories, and the person still increases flexibility and has fun, having a greater contact with other students. In this type of activity besides cardio respiratory benefits, and to lose weight, it is still possible to promote socialization. The university is a very lively type of dance, where you can burn about 400 calories per hour, in a fun way. In the buzz you can burn up to 800 kcal per hour.
5. Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a type of intense martial art, where you can burn about 700 calories per hour. The workouts are very intense and also strengthen the muscles, as well as help increase self-esteem and self-defense.
6. Spinning
The spinning classes are done in different intensities, but always on top of a bicycle, in a classroom with at least 5 bikes. The classes are very intense and promote the burning of about 600 calories per hour, and still strengthens the legs very much, being great to burn the fat of the legs and strengthen the thighs.
7. Swimming
A swimming lesson can burn up to 400 calories per hour as long as the student does not slow down and keeps moving. Although the strokes are not too strong to reach the other side of the pool faster, it takes a constant effort, with few stops. When the goal is to lose weight, one should not only reach the other side of the pool, it is necessary to maintain a constant and strong rhythm, that is, one can cross the swimming pool crawl and turn back, for example, as a form of 'rest' .
8. Hydrogeology
Water aerobics is also great for slimming, but to burn about 500 calories per hour you should always keep moving, enough to keep your breath away. As the water relaxes the tendency is to slow down, but if you want to lose weight, the ideal is to be in a group with this same purpose, because doing exercises at a pace for the elderly to stay healthy may not be enough to burn fat.
9. Race
The workouts are excellent to burn fat, being possible to burn about 600 to 700 calories per hour, provided that a good pace is respected, without pauses, and with an effort able to leave the person breathless, unable to talk during the race . You can start at a slower pace, on the treadmill or outdoors, but each week you must increase the intensity to achieve better goals. Here's how to start running to lose weight.
10. Body pump
Body pump classes are a great way to burn fat because it burns about 500 calories per hour. This is a class made with weights and step, which strengthens the muscles, working the main muscle groups.
These are some examples of exercises that help you to lose weight fast, but that should be performed under professional guidance, to be performed correctly and to avoid injuries to muscles and joints.
”
”
shahida tabassum
“
The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily.” This is why the “bad” workouts are often the most important ones. Sluggish days and bad workouts maintain the compound gains you accrued from previous good days. Simply doing something—ten squats, five sprints, a push-up, anything really—is huge. Don’t put up a zero. Don’t let losses eat into your compounding. Furthermore, it’s not always about what happens during the workout. It’s about being the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. It’s easy to train when you feel good, but it’s crucial to show up when you don’t feel like it—even if you do less than you hope. Going to the gym for five minutes may not improve your performance, but it reaffirms your identity. The all-or-nothing cycle of behavior change is just one pitfall that can derail your habits. Another potential danger—especially if you are using a habit tracker—is measuring the wrong thing.
”
”
James Clear (Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones)
“
A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.” ~Anthony Trollope
”
”
Michael Smith (Strength Training Over 40: The Only Weight Training Workout Book You Will Need to Maintain or Build Your Strength, Muscle Mass, Energy, Overall Fitness ... Without Living in the Gym (Fitness Books))
“
We sometimes have to exercise to want to exercise.
”
”
@Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Check into Whatever Task You’re about to Perform: Before you begin a hard day at work, a workout, or even have a family dinner with the in-laws, check in. Ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. Are you working hard to take care of your family? Checking in will help you be more aware of your emotions and can make even the most challenging or mundane things more fulfilling. I am about to ________________________________. I am going to do this because ___________________________________. For example, I would write, “I am about to go to the gym. I going to the gym because I feel amazing afterwards. The hour or so of work in the gym makes the rest of my life feel amazing. I have more energy, vitality, and an overall sense of wellbeing.” If I were about to do something unpleasant, such as visit family who hold different beliefs, I may say, “I am going to visit my family. They are kind-hearted people who have always been there for me. Whatever annoyances I face are small in comparison to the largeness of their hearts.
”
”
Mike Cernovich (Gorilla Mindset)
“
Her cheeks are hot pink. “I’m not really.” “Perfect. Every inch.” “I could probably stand to go to the gym more.” “Fuck the gym. I’ll be your workout. As many days of the week as you want. I’ll be the best workout you’ve ever had.
”
”
Helena Hunting (Pucked Off (Pucked, #5))
“
WEEK 1: MONDAY: 3 X 20 seconds of each exercise: - Squats - Plank - Jumping Jacks * Rest 10 seconds between exercises and 30 seconds between sets.
”
”
John Mayo (Healthy Habits: Fit in 5, No Gym Needed- Five Weeks of Daily Weight Loss Workouts That Will Melt Belly Fat, Boost Your Productivity and Revitalize Your Mind!)
“
It’s a perspective on story that may also shed light on why you and I and everyone else spend a couple of hours each day concocting tales that we rarely remember and more rarely share. By day I mean night, and the tales are those we produce during REM sleep. Well over a century since Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, there is still no consensus on why we dream. I read Freud’s book for a junior-year high school class called Hygiene (yes, that’s really what it was called), a somewhat bizarre requirement taught by the school’s gym teachers and sports coaches that focused on first aid and common standards of cleanliness. Lacking material to fill an entire semester, the class was padded by mandatory student presentations on topics deemed loosely relevant. I chose sleep and dreams and probably took it all too seriously, reading Freud and spending after-school hours combing through research literature. The wow moment for me, and for the class too, was the work of Michel Jouvet, who in the late 1950s explored the dream world of cats.32 By impairing part of the cat brain (the locus coeruleus, if you like that sort of thing), Jouvet removed a neural block that ordinarily prevents dream thoughts from stimulating bodily action, resulting in sleeping cats who crouched and arched and hissed and pawed, presumably reacting to imaginary predators and prey. If you didn’t know the animals were asleep, you might think they were practicing a feline kata. More recently, studies on rats using more refined neurological probes have shown that their brain patterns when dreaming so closely match those recorded when awake and learning a new maze that researchers can track the progress of the dreaming rat mind as it retraces its earlier steps.33 When cats and rats dream it surely seems they’re rehearsing behaviors relevant to survival.
Our common ancestor with cats and rodents lived some seventy or eighty million years ago, so extrapolating a speculative conclusion across species separated by tens of thousands of millennia comes with ample warning labels. But one can imagine that our language-infused minds may produce dreams for a similar purpose: to provide cognitive and emotional workouts that enhance knowledge and exercise intuition—nocturnal sessions on the flight simulator of story. Perhaps that is why in a typical life span we each spend a solid seven years with eyes closed, body mostly paralyzed, consuming our self-authored tales.34
Intrinsically, though, storytelling is not a solitary medium. Storytelling is our most powerful means for inhabiting other minds. And as a deeply social species, the ability to momentarily move into the mind of another may have been essential to our survival and our dominance. This offers a related design rationale for coding story into the human behavioral repertoire—for identifying, that is, the adaptive utility of our storytelling instinct.
”
”
Brian Greene (Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe)
“
Respectable people clean their workout equipment, making sure to put everything back where it belongs, while people like me never enter the gym to begin with.
”
”
Lauren Asher (Throttled (Dirty Air, #1))
“
Imagine you’re invited to a celebratory dinner. The chef’s talent is legendary, and the invitation says that this particular dinner is going to be a feast of monumental proportions. Bring your appetite, you’re told—come hungry. How would you do it? You might try to eat less over the course of the day—maybe even skip lunch, or breakfast and lunch. You might go to the gym for a particularly vigorous workout, or go for a longer run or swim than usual, to work up an appetite. You might even decide to walk to the dinner, rather than drive, for the same reason. Now let’s think about this for a moment. The instructions that we’re constantly being given to lose weight—eat less (decrease the calories we take in) and exercise more (increase the calories we expend)—are the very same things we’ll do if our purpose is to make ourselves hungry, to build up an appetite, to eat more.
”
”
Gary Taubes (Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It)
“
What do you want to set? Excuses or examples?
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Know the basics of anything that you want to master.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Unplanned trips are good for fun, not for the professional goals.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Warm-up, beat the beat, be it gym, be it life.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
In the gym and in life, consistency is the bridge between goals and achievements.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Break it to build it; be it muscle, be it road to dreams.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
What cardio is to bodybuilding, positive thoughts are to a healthy mind.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Embrace the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Let the failure not be the destination but a milestone of the journey to success.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
A coach and a torch, have the same purpose.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Whatever you do, ensure you create, invent, or innovate, something new.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Fitness is not just about weight or mass but strength, endurance, and flexibility.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Transformation begins when you step outside of your comfort zone.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma
“
Like fueling muscles, from breakdown to synthesis to recovery, nourish mind.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Shortcuts are good, but only for computers, not life.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
The body is like a bus and the driver is mind.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Competition is about being better than someone else; fitness, being better-self.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Upgrade yourself to a newer you, for life renders people and things outdated.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
The pain felt today becomes strength of tomorrow.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Diet and mutual funds are the same; give the best long-term returns, when balanced or diversified; except for market risks.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Rather than work-life balance, it should be life-work; for priorities’ sake.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Sprinkle the salt of ethics and pepper of morals for delicious experiences in the unfair world.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Rest to refuel for better focus.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Focus on solutions, not obstacles; focus on actions, not results.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
On the track keep a track of the track so as not to be off the track.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Take a break, resume refreshed.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
The journey is transformation, the destination, a halt.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
A person without patience, sooner or later, becomes a patient.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Creativity is to monotonous life what choke is to engine.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Chuck the luck. Work smarter than harder, for success doesn’t happen just by chance.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Life is uncertain, commemorate.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Reprioritise tasks; prioritise opportunity, hence prioritunity.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Dreams be as important as oxygen; be that dedicated.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Not perfection, but progress and persistence, is what life all about.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Humility is the jewel in the crown of achievements.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)
“
Success, is built rep by rep, set by set, both in bodybuilding and life.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma
“
3 P’s of bodybuilding: Persistence, Perseverance and Practice.
”
”
Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma (Rep By Rep)