40 Essential Gym Tips Everyone Should Remember

Today, let's explore the subtle aspects of gym workouts that can greatly benefit you in the future.

40 Key Points to Keep in Mind During Gym Sessions

1. A simple gym schedule executed with the highest effort is more effective than a perfect gym schedule executed with only 80% effort.
2. Most people who achieve good results from training under the guidance of a favorite expert do so because it motivates them to train harder. It's not a miraculous training program.
3. Muscle tension - especially tension during muscle fiber elongation - is the primary factor for muscle development.
4. To maintain adequate muscle tension, you must gradually increase the weight to allow the body to adapt and become healthier (read about what Progressive Overload is to understand more).
5. Only increase the weight when the body is ready. If you don't have a good muscle sensation or poor technique, increasing the weight will only make you more prone to injury.
6. Using too much weight, or increasing the weight too much too soon, can reduce the tension on the target muscle because you will require other muscle groups to assist or due to the use of inertia during execution.
7. Younger individuals often do not train diligently enough to make progress.
8. Studies comparing hypertrophy to other training methods do not take variables such as nutrition, recovery ability, stress, genetics, or existing muscle mass into account. Therefore, you should not consider those studies to be entirely accurate. Random selection may favor the experimental group by chance, which may have more subjects with better muscle-building conditions.
9. You cannot build muscle if you are in a caloric deficit; you need a minimum of 300 surplus calories per day to optimize muscle gain.
10. People who frequently post workout videos on social media may not train diligently enough to make progress.
11. People who overthink things may not be diligent enough to make progress in training.
12. People who like to argue on social media may not be diligent enough to make progress in training.
13. People who want to increase muscle mass while also defining muscles may not train diligently enough to see results; they should only aim for one of the two goals.
14. Those who believe they train very diligently and rate their Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) as 8.5 instead of 8 may not have reached an RPE above 6. (See what RPE is)
15. How you eat is not the core, it's just the food.
16. If you train very diligently, taking as many rest days as training days will give you amazing results. It allows you to progress faster and feel better if you train 5-6 days/week.
17. You cannot compensate for your lack of effort in a workout by doing more sets.
18. When you've been training for a while, it's time to focus more on underdeveloped muscles and reduce the frequency of training for more developed muscles.
19. The Keto diet regime has killed muscle development more than any other diet, making people afraid of carbs, which are one of the most anabolic substances humans can eat. It not only provides energy, but also helps muscle growth (mTOR, IGF-1, Insulin) and reduces cortisol - a muscle-inhibiting substance.
20. Only 10% of the protein you eat is used to build muscle; increasing protein from 150g to 300g won't help you build muscle much faster than you think.
21. Protein synthesis increases within 24-35 hours after training. If you create too much muscle damage during that time and the body hasn't had time to repair and replenish protein to create new muscle fibers, your muscle growth will slow down. That's why you shouldn't continuously train the same muscle group in a short period but instead spread out your training schedule to give muscle groups time to rest.
22. Most of the time, your workout schedule is effective, but your development rate may not be as fast as expected. The development ratio may be lower than you think, not because your workout schedule is bad.
23. Many people kill their development by increasing weight too early. You can increase the weight by 0.5 to 2% per week; many athletes even increase weight more slowly. Increasing weight by 2-4kg per week is abnormal and you may soon pay the price for it.
24. Don't exhaust your muscles if you're unsure whether you'll have the motivation to diet after consuming a large amount of calories.
25. If your workout motivation lasts only 30 minutes, just workout for 29 minutes. If it's only enough for 2 sets, just do 2 sets. Training with 100% effort, even for a short time, is still better than training half-heartedly for a long time.
26. Don't exercise without a specific plan, but don't hesitate to adjust your plan to fit your feelings and effectiveness in the gym.
27. Cortisol and adrenaline are related. Cortisol increases the conversion of noradrenaline to adrenaline. That's why you have trouble sleeping when stressed or anxious. Stress increases cortisol, leading to higher adrenaline levels. Adrenaline keeps your brain active, making it difficult for you to rest.
28. Low-carb diets, intermittent fasting, or very low carb intake can make you feel drained because they increase cortisol.
29. Too much adrenaline can lead to exhaustion as your adrenergic receptors become resistant to your own adrenaline.
30. In most cases, 2-4 sets per exercise are appropriate when training at full intensity and focus.
31. Most overweight people eat too much and exercise too little, which is their fault. However, to change, they just need to do the opposite.
32. You can create a calorie deficit in your body by eating less, exercising more, or combining both. However, eating too little will slow down weight loss and increase the risk of regaining weight. Exercising more is a better way to reduce fat.
33. When you want to lose fat, exercise more, but don't exercise more. When you cut calories, your body will recover less after exercising.
34. There is no best or mandatory exercise for everyone. What's best for you depends on your body type, goals, and experience.
35. Your body has a limited capacity to endure and adapt positively to stress during training. If you want to focus on a specific muscle group, reduce the intensity for other muscle groups.
36. If you train to the extreme, you rarely train below par.
37. Even if you don't train for a week (or even two weeks), your muscle mass doesn't decrease, although it may appear smaller, you don't lose muscle.
38. If you train diligently, focus fully, eat properly, rest adequately, and be patient, you will achieve your goals with any workout schedule. What you do at the gym is just a matter of preference and personal enjoyment.
39. The most important factors in a fitness program are: effort, adequate rest, execution, and exercise selection (the most suitable exercises for your body and goals).
40. Advanced or specialized methods may be helpful, but a good trainer does not use these methods often. A good trainer knows many methods but rarely uses them. They only use them when necessary to progress further.

Posted by: Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai

Keywords: 40 essential gym tips everyone should remember