Going to the Gym, hmm....is it good for me???

Weight-training for the health conscious
There is a lot of research on how to train with weights. Two years back, going to the gym was just about lifting weights for 12 reps, doing 2 sets and do this every day or every other day is all that i thought was required. Infact, to me the gym was just a means to be fit. I am sure that most people, i mean the 75% of people today go the gym for this particular motive. This is all they know about the word gym. Treadmill for 20 minutes, do a few machine exercices, do a few free weights if machines are not present for that body part, and then get out of the gym.

There is nothing wrong in following this routine, but sooner or later you get bored, you feel this is a very monotonous task and then you quit for a few months only to realise that body fat percentage increases, the tone lost and the loss of cardiovascular effecieny. These factors are motivation enough to bring you back to the gym, BUT for how long, probably another few months and then it fizzles out again. Now to make it clear, i was also part of the same crowd. I have started and fizzled out of the gym almost so many times, i can't even keep an account of.

A better Approach
How this changed for me? How did i see training as different from the rest of the folk?
Today i can say this, i have been going to the gym for almost 2 years, and i have not stopped. I might go out of station, or might have a flu, that is only reason for not visiting the weight room. You can say, i am lucky, yes i thank my fortunes, i found the right coach, the right guidance and a gym that allowed me to follow a philosophy that the sissy, high-tech machine loaded with plastic weights don't allow.
First and foremost, my Caoch Mr. Latheef, gave a new insight at looking at weightroom as a SPORT. Consider Fitness as a Sport and always try to excel, always try to improve in what you are doing today. This was great turnaround from the general idea, and i loved it.
This is a mindset that i have now- When i enter a weightroom, i know, i have to improve on my last workout, my body has to, and this a Big HAS TO be more effecient than it was at my previous workout. When you incorporate this mindset, your attention will be atomactically diverted from the aesthetic sense of things. The Six pack, the 30 inch waist, the broad shoulders, and the big biceps. All these become secondary, and it is good that it is secondary, because this kind of mentality is temporary and doesn't have any long term benefits.

There are a lot of people who come to the gym, a greater percentage of them novice, who fall in the large sect of mis-informed people who do more wrong than good and as a result have to quit because of other health issues. I am very sad and this particular phenomenon. Most of my friends have little idea about what exercise is, most of them are so un-informed that any fad, any exciting shortcut to fitness is readily accepted by them, only to realise that going to the gym was not a very good idea. Lot of us say this, "Probably this is not for us, bodybuilding is not something my body can adjust to, probably walking, jogging, swimming are better ways to stay fit". I hold the gym owners responsible for this, they have given a very bad name to exercise. I don't understand why, considering that it is a means of occupation, they have to show a little more dedication, a little more effort in helping people getting fit, but they seem to do just the opposite, they drive people away in just a couple of months.

Just to get on the record, i have been this way for years. Weight training was never my sport, i always went to it, when i felt i needed a better physique, big biceps, a six pack, or a well chiselled chest. Don't get me wrong, i still have the same interests, the same longing to have a well developed masculine body, and i am still no where close to it, but today i have greater knowledge, and i know it is possible, that too doing it the right way. There are a lot of ways to do it, but doing it the right way gives my greater pleasure and the challenge to go everyday to the gym. It is a great feeling Believe me!!!

PS:- I will try to explain more in the coming posts. I look forward to have your comments.