3379: Never Have a Bad Workout Again by Dave Bonollo with Bach Performance on Consistent Workouts

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[00:00:49] Let's get right to today's article as we optimize your life. Never Have a Bad Workout Again by Dave Bonollo with BachPerformance.com. Here's why workouts are like s**t and how my ladder of workout awesomeness will ensure you never have a bad workout again.

[00:01:13] How many times have you had bad s**t? If you consider the alternative of not having s**t, even bad s**t is still pretty dang good. Now let me ask you, how many times have you had a bad workout? Odds are this number is considerably higher. I'd argue it's more frustrating than not getting any. Don't lie. You've considered quitting the gym after plateauing for a while. I know I have.

[00:01:37] Then I go on Instagram and I see someone crushing a personal record. It's almost like everyone in the world besides me is crushing it every day. What's a bad gym session? Before prescribing the cure, let's first diagnose the disease. What exactly is a bad gym session? Did you miss a personal record? Was your energy non-existent?

[00:02:00] Were you sucking wind more than usual? Each of these things can put a damper on a pretty sweet gym session. Put them together and you might as well pack it up and consider the day a waste. The truth is, you can't kill it every day in the gym. Some days are just going to suck. Acceptance of this fact is the first step. The next step is to define what a good workout is. Hitting a personal record? Lifting more than last time? Never-ending energy?

[00:02:30] If these were the only criteria for a good workout, I'd only have two or three awesome workouts a month. That wouldn't have been enough to keep me working out hard for more than 10 years. An awesome workout and a bad workout, like everything else, are based on perception and perspective. These days, I have only awesome workouts. I don't hit a personal record every day, and that includes when I was recovering from back surgery, hoisting a whopping 25 pounds.

[00:03:00] I chose to look at my workouts like... Even a bad workout is better than no workout. Personal record or bust? Using personal records is the obvious go-to for progress checking. It's pretty bad when you push yourself further than you've ever gone before. It's also one of the hardest to achieve. It's like trying to score an 80-yard touchdown every carry. You need to lay down some 2-3 yard gains to set up that 80-yarder.

[00:03:28] When you start working out, racking up personal records is easy. I mean, it's easy since your previous personal record was what? Zero? Don't get me wrong. Focusing on personal records is a good way to stay motivated in the beginning. But it shouldn't be the basis of an awesome workout once you've been lifting for a while. If you can hit a personal record once or twice a month, then you're trending in the right direction. And that doesn't have to be a 1-rep personal record.

[00:03:56] It could be a 5-rep or a 10-rep personal record. Any progress is good progress. And getting frustrated with your progress at the gym doesn't do anyone any good. Reframe how you judge the awesomeness of your workout. Perception is everything. If you have a crappy outlook, then everything will be crappy. If you look at your workouts in a different light, then workouts and s***s belong in the same category of awesomeness, as they should.

[00:04:24] In fact, Arnold Schwarzenegger famously made this comparison in the documentary Pumping Iron. Here is how to reframe your perception. The Ladder of Workout Awesomeness explained. If setting personal records and lifting more than last time are your only criteria for a good workout, I wish you the best. But you're going to be one unhappy person. It all comes down to measuring progress. Did you get better than last time?

[00:04:52] I introduce you to the Ladder of Workout Awesomeness. Cue the trumpets. The Ladder of Workout Awesomeness is... Personal record. You've accomplished something you've never done, like a 405-pound deadlift. Weight. You increased the amount of weight lifted. Volume. You increased the number of reps. Frequency. You worked out more often, such as moving from three workouts to four workouts a week.

[00:05:23] Form. You stopped rounding your back on deadlifts. Score. Did you show up? Consistency is the most important factor for transforming your physique. The Ladder of Workout Awesomeness explained. This ladder works like every other ladder on the planet. You start at the bottom. Did you show up? If you did, you had a good workout. This means you didn't die last night. This is huge.

[00:05:50] Most people can't muster enough motivation to get to the gym. But you did. Now, I know you might be thinking, that's like giving everyone a ribbon for participating. But keep in mind that most people don't participate in the first place. They're too busy thinking of excuses and rationalizing not going to the gym. You didn't do that. That's a huge win in itself. Form. You can never go wrong when focusing on form.

[00:06:17] It's the most important thing keeping you out of the emergency room. Good form takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. Even if you could do a power clean in your sleep, a little practice now and then will help you when you need it most. If you can make progress with your form, you'll be doing your future self a huge service. Frequency. After having good form, did you make it to the gym more this week than last week? Did you do two back workouts in one week?

[00:06:46] That's progress. I bet you weren't crushing two back workouts in a week a few months ago. Volume. Are you doing four sets of 10 reps now? But weren't you using that same weight when you were doing three sets of 10 repetitions last week? Adding an extra set or hammering out a few more reps than you did last week is all progress. Revel in it. Weight. A numerical representation of progress that we showcase on social media.

[00:07:15] Adding more weight to the bar is tough to do. It doesn't matter if it's 2 pounds or 50 pounds. Progress is progress. If you do this, congrats bruh. You're in the upper echelon of awesome gym sessions. Personal record. Let the euphoria of the personal record wash over you as you post this on social media. Remember, it's not bragging if it's true. You have reached the pinnacle of gym achievements.

[00:07:41] If you can lift more than you ever have in any lift, celebrate that. The takeaway. Excitement mounts as you go up the ladder. Personal records may get all the Instagram likes, but don't forget about the factors that lead to your success. First, you need to show up. Then, you may need to train more often, use more volume, and add weight to the bar before going for personal records. Once you ingrain these habits,

[00:08:10] you'll be well on your way to never having bad workouts again. You just listened to the post titled, Never Have a Bad Workout Again, by Dave Bonolo with BachPerformance.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. If you've been optimizing your diet, your protein intake, your sleep, you're already ahead of most people. But here's one thing most of us completely miss. The quality of the water we're drinking every single day.

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[00:10:36] for Indeed sponsored jobs. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. I loved that today's author Dave talked about the importance of just showing up. When it comes to staying consistent with your goals, showing up may make all the difference. And if and when you show up, you deserve a pat on the back just for that. And in fact, I would tell my patients this all the time. On more than one occasion, I would have a patient show up to my office

[00:11:05] and they would barely be able to make eye contact with me. They wouldn't even be able to look me in the eye. This usually was a sign that they didn't follow through on the goals we had set the last time we met. And they were feeling badly about the fact that they quote unquote cheated on their mail plan or got lazy again. But I would dismiss these kinds of statements and remind them that they still showed up. They didn't cancel their appointment. They are there sitting in front of me,

[00:11:34] which means it's still a win. Think about all the steps this patient had to take to just sit in that chair in front of me. They had to wake up and not ignore the alarm clock, get dressed, fight the urge to cancel their appointment or just be a no-show, make time in their day, to fight traffic, to get to my office, then drive over using precious gasoline and adding wear and tear to their car, sit in the waiting room while fighting the urge to just want to turn around

[00:12:04] and go back home, and then finally face me and admit that they didn't meet the goals we had set. Showing up then is not easy. It's not easy at all. So, give yourself credit when you show up. Please, don't downplay this fact. Alright, that wraps up today's episode. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being a subscriber and sharing the show with someone. I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you back here tomorrow

[00:12:34] for another Q&A episode and where your optimal life awaits. Thanks for listening. Take care.