Nursing an injury with a bunch of correctives can get dangerous quickly. Don’t give your injuries too much power. Always look for a way to continue training in a way that is close to how you want to train!

Eat-Nap-Lift

Don’t Listen to Your Body So Much That You Start To Lose Your Mind

The number of times I say “grind” in this episode makes the title fitting. It took me 2 separate clips to get my thoughts out to answer a question I received a while back, essentially asking how quickly you could expect to add X amount of weight to a particular lift.

GRIND

It’s only natural to pace yourself when lifting, but doing this may actually work to your detriment. Every rep of a set should demand all of your focus, and all of your effort. Only after your first rep do you prepare for rep #2. Using this approach will make for more efficient lifting. Yes, it goes against what feels natural. Yes, you have to train yourself to lift this way.

Don’t Ration Out Your Effort

I’m Sorry, I Have Failed

I don’t approach a max-out session in the same way I approach the process of working up to a single. A true max-out session can be great and important, especially if you follow a percentage-based training program, but I prefer working to a high single for most trainees because this can be done at a higher frequency, and I find it to be safer. Maxing-out is rugged - lift a weight, add weight, lift again (and continue until you either fail or die). Working up to a single requires more strategy - you don’t want to actually fail (or die), you want to work up to a little before that point, and then move on. I explain the differences in how I view a max-out session vs. a “work up to a single” session in this episode.

Maxing-Out vs. Working to a Top Single

Confidence is having a deep understanding of your strengths and abilities, then it is not getting too high when people praise you and not getting too low when people criticize you. You shouldn’t feel confident or not feel confident based on feedback from others.

Confidence

People who lift weights want you to lift weights too! Your level of strength and your capabilities don’t matter. They are pumped to have new and more people into what they’re into.

The Thing You Don’t Know About People Who Lift Weights

When you feel like your progress has stalled, work on making sub-maximal weights feel more routine.

More Routine = Progress

If you’re trying to kick a bad habit, you have to stay busy.

Boredom Can Lead To Disater

Decide what you’re after, then decide to what level you need to be committed.

Prioritize Being All In

The goal is to keep adding weight to the bar. If you’re uneasy about making a 20 or 10lb jump for your next attempt, and would rather make just a 5lb jump - using 2.5lb plates, you’re giving the weight too much respect. You’re not confident enough in your strength.

No Respect For The Weights

Get stronger, have fun, everything else will follow!

Nothing Is More Fun Than Getting Stronger

I recently wrote an article going over the typical procedure I like to follow for a max-out session. I have some follow-up thoughts on the topic for this episode. Here is the link to the article: https://www.drewmurphystrength.com/stuff/testingyour1repmax

Thoughts on Maxing-Out

Reducing the load of an exercise will allow you to train the exercise with higher frequency. You cannot load a front squat as heavy as you can a back squat, but the lighter weight needed for a front squat will still give you a good training stimulus. A heavy front squat will not tax your body quite like a heavy back squat will.

Squat Frequency: Front Squats vs. Back Squats

Explore, Don’t Follow The Roadmap

Let's talk about three great things: eating, napping, and lifting!

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Eat-Nap-Lift

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