Before I give you my suggestions on how to deal with laziness and tiredness, I’ll tell you my personal experience first. Since I’m a computer programmer, I sit on my ass all day writing code. This is mentally exhaustive to begin with and coupled with the caffeine crash, it really drains you down. When I get home, all I want to do is veg out and not socialize with anyone. Thanks to all this, I really don’t feel like training at all.

So here’s what I do: I think back to my previous training experiences, especially at the end of every workout session. Anyone who remembers their training days will recall the period of relaxation after a good workout. In case you’re wondering, it’s when your hormones (dopamine and serotonin, among others) get released. Don’t you feel happy after pumping some weights? This is what I focus on. This alone gets me motivated to hit the weights again and give it all I got. Once you prepare your mind for it, the rest will flow naturally. Just doing the first exercise alone (e.g. squats) really gets my blood pumping. I am then happy that I did not ditch the scheduled workout for the day.

Now, what if you’re physically tired? This is up to the trainee to figure out and organize their schedule accordingly. If you’re constantly doing physical activities (job-related, sports, etc) it’s best to train on your off days or times where your body isn’t under constant stress. At this point, athletes should talk to their personal trainer/coach for scheduling, and people working physical jobs need to find some time to let their bodies relax before pounding it with some weights.

A forgotten tip, one that I always have to remind myself to do, is taking a quick nap (1.5-3hrs) before your workout to let your mind & body rest a bit. Coming home after a hard day’s work and sleeping for a bit is quite possibly the best thing you can do for yourself. You’ll feel so much more refreshed upon waking up, and a lot more motivated to train.

One last thing I recommend is a cup of coffee or tea before your workout. This is only useful for people who don’t already load their bodies with caffeine throughout the whole day. I find that a cup of tea or a can of Red Bull can really do wonders before exercising, almost magical-like. There are other supplements out there in the wild that are really potent in terms of energy, but I will withhold myself from listing them as getting used to them is a waste of cash and sometimes can be harmful if abused. You’re better off with my above suggestions for now. Happy training!

So, let’s rewind back a year ago and beyond that. I was training at a local gym for 7 years straight, till I finally decided to plunk down the cash and buy a squat rack for the home. After saving up non-stop, my wish finally came true and I was the proud owner of a Powertec squat rack system. Long story short, I bought the rack, Olympic bar, weights and a tree-stand to organize the weights. Notice in this equation that a hyper-extension bench is not present. See, I didn’t have enough saved up for it, so I thought to myself, “whatever, I’ll pick it up in the future when I have the funds.”

I should have bought the hyper-extension bench and dealt with the weights thrown all over the floor instead.

Within a month or two my lower back weakened tremendously, and one day it just decided to crap out on me while squatting. Luckily for me, I managed to put the bar back safely onto the rack, but my lower back never felt the same after that incident. Doing squats, deadlifts or anything heavy just wasn’t pleasant for my back. I had to take some time off as much as I was against it. Fortunately for me, over the course of the summer, I had other ways of staying active and fit, so taking some time off weight training wasn’t that bad.

Fast forward two months ago from today. After letting my lower back heal and watching everything I do with it (picking up things from the floor, moving stuff, sleeping, etc) I felt ready to lift weights again. I started off slow and always made sure to keep my back “straight” (that is, arced). Today, I am back up to 90% of my strength, but I have a lot of trouble doing rows.

The moral of this story? Don’t skimp out on the hyper-extensions. They may not be fun to do, but they’re damn-sure necessary. Your lower back can’t always be indirectly trained on its own and needs some direct work, especially when you deal with higher weights.

I decided to go ahead and purchase the hyper-extension machine as the funds were available. It should be coming in this week. Lesson learned.

Please note this site, its content, opinions and reviews have nothing to do with Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore or The Aasgard Company.

More than two months ago, I learned the above the hard way when I was performing the squats incorrectly and this resulted in me experiencing a slight pain in my hamstrings. For the next month and a half, I had a hard time performing the squats because of this pain. Until I realized my form was to blame, I wasted more than a month performing incorrect squatting techniques. To fix my problem, I re-read the squat section in the Starting Strength book and figured out what I was doing wrong (my knees were too inward). Coupled with some key stretching exercises, I was back in the squatting game and have been lifting heavier since with the proper form. Sometimes you need to re-evaluate your exercise techniques to make sure you’re getting the best out of your workouts.

1. Always perform warm ups before your exercises. Warming up allows your muscles to get ready to the exercises’ motions and oncoming weight increases. By getting your muscles warmed up and increasing your heart rate, you are preparing your muscles for activity and letting them know that you’re about to use them. On Rippetoe’s routine, you should always warm up with an empty bar and then gradually increase the weights slowly until your work sets. Take a look at the warming up page for more information on how to properly warm up.
2. Make sure you’re 100% certain you can lift the weight. I’ve seen it too many times and it’s happened to me on one occasion (that resulted in my injury!): people (usually newbies) get too cocky and load up more weight on the bar then they can handle. Besides witnessing weights tumble down onto the floor, the unlucky ones will receive a jolt of pain in specific muscles. My advice: increase your weights slowly and don’t rush anything. Remember, there’s always the next workout to increase in weight!
3. Stretch your muscles after every workout. Usually overlooked and forgotten, stretching after your workouts will help with DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) which is basically next-day soreness and/or pain (a lot of rookies new to training will feel it). Stretching is beneficial for keeping your muscles happy, as it allows your muscles to strengthen, increase the range within a joint, and more blood and oxygen to pass through (thanks to the mechanical means of stretching the muscle). This way, future cramps are prevented and you’ll be ready for your next workout without (much) pain. Sometimes people also tend to stretch before their workouts. I consider this good practice as well and highly recommend it to start off your training on the right foot.
   

Since you are on a strength training program, proper nutrition is an extremely important factor (when is it not when it comes to weight lifting?). Following this routine, you should be taking in a lot of protein, such as meat, eggs, milk and fish. According to weight lifters everywhere, you should be taking in a gram of protein (1g) per pound (1lb) of body weight. What you want is good quality food/calories in your body and not junk food. You can have your McDonalds hamburgers, your weekly pizza with your friends and eat out every now and then, but you should really consider eating clean healthy foods for a lean bulk/body. Get rid of the candy, soda and chips and start eating a lot of meat. Steak, ground beef, fish, chicken, etc. are your best friends in world of weightlifting. Remember that weight lifting makes you strong and eating makes you big. But you don’t want to be big as in fat! Proper nutrition along with heavy lifting is what results in someone becoming big with strong muscles.

Keep in mind that you don’t make muscles in the gym: working out simply ‘shreds’ your muscles. Recovery is when your muscles start to rebuild themselves using the nutrients in your body. When you lack the proper nutrients, you can’t make good, strong muscles.

Here is a short overview of the type of foods you should be eating throughout the day. Instead of having 3 square meals a day, try splitting it up into 5-6 periods.

In The Mornings

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, hands down. Eating breakfast will give you sufficient energy to start right and pretty much make your overall day a pleasant one. Skipping breakfast is never recommended. If you skip this meal of the day, you might as well stop training now because you will be wasting your time.

Foods such as whole wheat, oats, cereals (non-sugary ones!), eggs, milk, toast, bread and fruits are highly recommended. Eat a lot of protein and carbohydrates to have enough fuel to last until lunch time.

Consuming fruit juices such as apples, grapes and oranges (Vitamin C) are encouraged along with your breakfast.

Before Lunch

Before having your lunch, have a snack or two. Protein bars, energy shakes/drinks and fruit are great to keep your energy levels up. Tuna and peanut butter sandwiches can be considered light snacks.

Lunch

Lunch should consist of a lot of protein and carbohydrates, such as skinless chicken and potatoes. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with a banana also make a decent lunch for people on the run. Have some spaghetti with your favourite toppings (such as meat or seafood) and stay away from junk foods! Tuna sandwiches with mayonnaise is also acceptable.

After Lunch

From lunch to your workout, you should have a light snack or two. It can consist of small light sandwiches rich with proteins (tuna) or a small salad.

Before Working Out

Before your workout begins, you should be loaded with carbohydrates (most of it should come from the foods you have been eating throughout the day) to stay energized throughout your workout. Do not have a heavy meal before going to the gym or else you will have stomach pains and quite possibly become very sick

If you take creatine, consuming it now is a great option and probably the best time to do so (45 minutes to an hour before your workout).

During Your Workout

Consume a lot of water and natural juices. You can also consume EAA/BCAAs and creatine here if you wish to do so.

After Working Out

This is when you should be taking in enough protein to satisfy your muscles’ demands for optimum recovery. There is a two (2) hour window after your workout that opens up your body into taking protein efficiently, so I suggest you use this period wisely as it is a key role in muscle recovery. If you do not sufficiently feed your body after the workout period, you will be hurting your gains, not to mention the current ones.

Dinner

Dinner should not be heavy. I would personally stay away from carbohydrates during this time and simply have a light protein dinner such as a chicken salad. Consuming carbohydrates at this point is at your own suggestion as you do not want to have trouble sleeping before bedtime arrives.

First, always go the maximum distance your arms allow you to. That means when the bar goes down, make it lightly touch your chest and when it goes up, go all the way and stretch your arms. Don’t bounce the bar off your chest to make use of the momentum, that’s cheating. And don’t let gravity bring the bar down for you or else you’ll injure yourself: bring down the bar slowly and let your chest and arms do the lifting.
Second, slightly arch your back when lying on the bench to prevent back injury.

Finally, the grip is super important. Do not use a “monkey grip” on the bar as you will leave the door open to serious injury. Always grip the bar with your palms underneath and wrap your thumbs around the bar. You do not want the bar falling onto your body (notably the face) when you lose your grip. I can’t stress this advice enough as I’ve seen videos of people suffering serious injury from bench pressing incorrectly by using the so-called monkey grip.