Ego checking and Day 1

              When you are starting out a new routine, whether it be in the gym or any other application in life, make sure you check the ole ego before you begin. Veterans of the sport know this well, sometimes learned the hard way. If you're just starting to workout, start low! work up to it! If it's your first day in the gym, don't put 5 plates on the bench and have your arms torn off. Ego grows faster than muscle. If you get too much of it, you're going to wind up working against yourself on your goals. I hear some people talking about how they've added 20lbs to their bench in a month because they sit differently pray to the gym gods before they go to sleep every night. The reason that there are such gains when you first start has a lot to do with form, learning how it should be done. Getting your body in tune with the lifts that you're doing. Adding weight to your sets takes times. Don't rush it. I was given some very good advice recently, I was having issues in the hole with my squats ( when you are at the bottom of the rep getting ready to come back up ) I was told to do body weight squats in front of a mirror. Get the form down. Do it a lot. Train the body to move they way it's needed to. It has helped significantly in my squat form. I would highly recommend to do this with your big moves (bench, deadlifts, squats, etc. ). Get used to that motion, because as you get closer to a high workout weight, form starts to suffer. So the better form you have, the less it will be affected when you're really pushing weight.

                   Today was also day 1 of the power lifting routine, I really like how the assistance workouts are tied to the big power movements. It was a tough day, and I enjoyed every second of it. Some people know what their one rep is, but I used the formula given to estimate mine. They actually worked rather well, lifts were tough, but still kept good form and I left with back and shoulders that were on fire. I've gotten a new favorite workout, face pulls. I can't believe I've never heard of these! Amazing!  Hits the upper back nice and hard, and if you don't move the weight right you'll faceplant on the machine.  Which is a great motivator on form!