I need to blog this now before I forget.

The new lad at the gym (He’s been training here for a few months now) or my training partner has come to a grinding halt tonight. I got there a little late and he was working with the power lifters doing bench press. They had him doing 130lb and he was uncomfortable with it. Poor form and low reps left him disheartened. ‘He still doesn’t want to upset the other guys and so he lifts what they tell him to do or encourage him to do. He really needs to stand his ground and do what he feels is best for now though’.

The banter was flying at him from all directions tonight which it’s normal for banter to be like this in the gym, but he was already depressed with what he was trying to lift and this added to the negative mindset. His lifting got worse weight wise and and rep wise and then the banter got thrown at him more. It was all silly banter and normal stuff for the new guy. I had it all when I started. My hair cut, my ear ring, rings and so on. It does get annoying, but you battle through it and use it as a test of will power and strength to achieve your goal.

By the time he got to Incline dumbbells he had gone to bits. He wanted to use the 40lb dumbbells to start, but someone was using them. He then tried the 50lb and failed them. This led to more pressure and so on. After trying the 40lb’s and failing them, he went back to basics and repped out the 8kg dumbbells, which again knocked him back. Eventually he tried the 40lb’s again and I helped him get a few good reps out and he left it there.

As he now has nothing to prove and doesn’t need any more stress, he started to think about what he was doing. Moving on to flyes, he chose a suitable weight that he could do with good form and an adequate amount of reps.

By the time he got to bicep curls he had pulled himself together. We split from the other lads and concentrated on his form and weight.

At the end of the session he could leave knowing a few things;

• Subconscious things on your mind can mess you up
• The weather/temperature plays a big part in the gym.
• Diet plays a crucial part to energy and strength in the gym
• When you are at rock bottom, there is only one way to go and that’s up.
• There is always another day.
• Be thankful you aren’t injured.

I told him to go home and note down what went wrong tonight and what he needs to do to fix what happened. He can take a lot away from what happened tonight and how it went. We all have bad workouts and these are where you need to sit down and figure out exactly why you have had a bad night. I have been texting him during typing this and I have now found out that he split up with his girlfriend last week. His mind clearly wasn’t focused on what was important at that time.

If he has the interest that he says he has, he will be doing what I’m doing here now. I’m simply blogging this for my knowledge and how things can affect you on a daily basis and knock you down.

P.s I must add that all the lads in the gym have been together for years, some have been together since 1956. They are all great lads and will help anyone. They are all friends and family outside the gym and even the lad I spoke about is related to one of them. Banter keeps the morale up… sometimes…

The difference between a winner and a loser is the strength to stand up and fight to win!