Welcome to my arm workouts for beginners! This is the first part of my 3 part series of the ultimate arm workouts.
Each blog post I will share with you some tips on what you need to be doing in your quest for better arms.
As well as the tips and tricks there is also a free arm session you can download. This first post shares a fantastic arm session that can be done once a week in addition to your current training to push your arm development to the next level.
Leave Your Ego At Home
I love going to the gym. I’m sure you do too. I love the ritual of getting my bag ready, ensuring I have everything I need; weightlifting belt, drinks, hand and knee wraps, towel. You get the idea. You might take more or less than I do, but it’s part of the routine that gets me in the zone for training. There’s one thing I never take though, and you shouldn’t take either. It can never do you any good and will cause more problems that it will ever solve. Ego.
Whatever your reason for going to the gym is, whether you’re looking to lose weight, gain muscle or a bit of both. No matter how big your gym bag is, there’s no room for ego in your plans.
You might think it’s a fairly innocent personality trait and it couldn’t affect you, but you’d be wrong. Ego is a progress killer. We all like to look good, that’s why we go to the gym in the first place, but the only person you need to compete against is the ‘you’ from the session before.
Comparing yourself to the other people in the gym is a massive obstacle. When you take ego along as your gym buddy, it’s not going to help you. It’s not going to spot you, it’s only going to spot comparison and there’s no place for it. Your focus needs to be on you and what you’re trying to achieve; nothing and no-one else matters. Don’t be distracted or try to defend your own image or persona. Your time should only be spent on your own goals. It will do you no good at all to let ego in.
In many ways it’s natural to observe others in the gym. I do it myself. I find it’s a great way of picking up new techniques and it motivates me to see others who are as passionate about health and fitness as I am. If you’re single, then there are no shortage of good-looking men and women who you can impress, but there’s a difference between bravado and ego.
Ego will be what makes you think you can lift more than you can, or will attempt to do so with a technique that is poorly executed.
Ego is going to get you injured sooner or later.
Ego is the bug in your ear telling you not to push yourself for fear of looking foolish or weak.
Ego is going to keep you in a rut and not push you on to strive for gains you would otherwise achieve.
In extreme cases, ego can even stop you lifting at all. In my career, I’ve seen ego stop people in their tracks and not lift anything, worried that they’ll be judged by others in the gym or by the guy on the next bench lifting more. It’s nonsense.
Don’t worry about other people. Ego is going to cost you far more than it’s going to give you. Ultimately, no-one really cares about how much you can lift, so there’s no need to worry about them. Save all your focus on what you’re doing and leave ego at home.
