Transcription
What we should do in the gym, how much we should do, how often we should do it, how intensely we should do it has been covered in so many YouTube videos and articles. But the application of this info can still be unclear for many.
When we wind up injured, dealing with chronic pain, burnt out mentally or physically, or just flatout tired, some of us reach for an external boost rather than face the issue head on. I want to stop and say this video is not necessarily aimed at elite level competitive athletes. So, please tune out if that's you.
When a young man or a middle-aged man for that matter starts to face some opposition in the gym, lack of progress, regression, aches, pains, distraction, confusion. It's easy to get sucked into the allure of steroids, namely testosterone, because it has been so normalized on social media. And for one main reason, falling into the trap of steroid use can be harmful to a new impressionable gymgoer who finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. He just wants to improve himself and he feels like he's run out of options.
But this struggle is important. He might not see it, but this moment is where wisdom is born. It's an opportunity to practice patience, learn how to critically think about his training, and to look himself in the mirror instead of trying to improve sleep quality, make better diet decisions, learn about training principles, rate of adaptation, realistic expectations, manage stress outside of the gym, minimize distractions. He chooses to cloud his judgment with drugs.
In my opinion, making the decision to use steroids for recreational use, you just want bigger muscles, lower body fat, more weight on the bar, and a thicker beard, dampens the need to make training and lifestyle adjustments. Programming, training, diet, recovery all matter far less now that you have this external boost. So, you miss out on learning a lot of these important lessons.
Furthermore, this quick boost is only temporary. One day, you'll need to stop using it. And when you do, you're going to realize that you've dug yourself into a deep hole that you have to climb back out of, you'll be right back at square one needing to learn for yourself how to navigate training.
Answer this. If you could have your ideal strength and physique tomorrow morning when you wake up, but you have to buy and inject something into your body every week, possible side effects include increased risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, enlarged prostate, sleep apnea, and a shutdown of your natural testosterone production. Or you can have your ideal strength and physique, but you have to be consistent with your training and diet every week for the next 10 years. No extra money, no injections, and no increase of the chances of those side effects. In fact, most likely you'll be lowering those health risks that all men naturally face. Which do you choose?
As a personal trainer, I meet a lot of people who are a bit vulnerable. They might feel weak, lazy, fat, out of shape, stuck in life, lacking confidence, and ready for change. Signing up for personal training is an initial morale boost because they finally reached out for help. They finally get some answers. But when things slow down and they aren't seeing the changes they expected or they might not be where they thought they would be, they get a bit discouraged.
Some have asked me about supplements. Some have asked me about supplements you can't buy at GNC. And it would be so easy for me to use my position of authority to sell them something they have no business taking. But I don't because they need to navigate this struggle naturally.
My reason for making this video was actually not entirely about steroid use. I just decided to open with that and got a bit carried away as I was jotting down my thoughts. The truth is only a small percentage of you watching this actually use steroids. Maybe another small percentage who are thinking about it. But I did want to talk about something that the majority of my audience has plenty of experience with. Caffeine and painkillers.
Caffeine abuse in strength circles needs to be talked about. Is it as serious as steroid use? No. Is it a pressing issue in the world that needs more attention? Absolutely not. But maybe you need to hear this. If you need to suck down two Red Bull energy drinks just to get through a workout, just to get into the gym, just to get through your day, just to hold your attention for an hour, you might need some recalibration, some cleansing.
If you can't imagine, if you can't even stand the thought of doing a workout without guzzling down 400 milligrams of caffeine first, you might need to make some adjustments. Think about it. When was the last time you went to train without any caffeine? If you are chronically tired, low energy, low motivation, and you still don't sleep well, you might be stuck in this vicious trap of feeling exhausted, taking caffeine, getting through your workout, feeling exhausted, taking caffeine to get through your workout, and on and on.
And on top of this, the caffeine that you're ingesting later in the day might be disrupting your sleep quality, which is what helps you feel more rested and recovered. I hear people cracking open cans at 5:00 p.m. during their evening workouts. You might feel worn out and tired and your workout plan says you have six sets of squats today. How many of those sets would you do if you didn't have any caffeine? If your answer is four, maybe just three sets, maybe that's how many sets of squats you should be doing. If you answered zero, you might have a problem.
You got some motivation and told yourself you're going to follow a five-day per week lifting program. So, you take 800 milligrams of caffeine per day in order to keep up. How many days per week would you follow without caffeine? Maybe you would just follow three hard days per week because that's more doable and that's what you can actually follow through with. I'm not trying to encourage anyone to work out less. This video ain't for the general population. It's for a small population of people who abuse caffeine just so that they can overreach in the gym and do way more than they probably should be doing.
Chronic aches and pains, sore knees, stiff back, pissed-off elbows. Some of this stuff is inevitable and it's part of life, especially if you plan on living a physically active life. But the constant presence of these issues is not normal. I talk with clients and gym members who say, "Man, you know, I'm beat up. I'm sore. I'm tired, but I just chugged a Bang, just popped an ibuprofen, and packed a Zen, so let's do this." And I think I wish we could make some training decisions with clarity and address reality rather than you clouding your judgment with caffeine and painkillers just so you can complete this program like it's some sort of video game that you have to beat.
Ask yourself, am I doing too much? You know, I saw this YouTuber who does five sets all at RPE. Should I do the same? This guy trains hard five days per week, so I should too, right? Maybe you should stop forcing five days of weightlifting per week, maybe you just need three hard days. Or if you really want to continue training 5 days a week, maybe you need to do a better job of adjusting the intensities. Maybe use caffeine sparingly. Use it only for big important days, not on lighter, more routine days. Maybe you don't need five hard sets today. Maybe just two top sets is enough. Maybe you shouldn't be taking ibuprofen to mask your knee pain every time you squat. Maybe you should adjust your squat training.
Sometimes facing training decisions head-on, sober, if you will, naked as the day you were born, figuratively, not literally, is the best approach. No steroids, no stimulants, no painkillers. This is nutty clarity, and it just might help you find some equilibrium if you're feeling run down all the time.
In closing, I'm not preaching a straightedge lifestyle. Caffeine is not bad. Medications do not need to be avoided at all cost. There's nothing wrong with having your morning coffee and then going to work out. There's nothing wrong with drinking an energy drink to help you get through your hectic day-to-day routine. But caffeine and painkiller abuse is a problem that might be clouding your judgment when you make training decisions. And it might be masking the hints that your body is trying to give you. Thanks for watching and always remember, train on time.