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1. Am I making improvements? Can I see a difference in my physique and/or are my numbers (weight/reps) increasing? If not, revamp your workout. If you feel you’ve plateaued, try changing one or more of the following: exercises, repetition range, workout split (what muscles you work on each day and how many days a week you workout), or incorporate an intensity booster like forced reps, drop sets, pump sets, or rest-pause training (I’ll discuss these in either the next post, or the one after that).
2. Do I feel this exercise working the muscle it’s supposed to work? For the record, everybody’s different. You must remember that, because it implies something extraordinary: an exercise that one person truly feels is effective, you may hate. So don’t perform any exercise just because you “heard” it was effective; listen to your body, and see how it feels during the exercise itself (assuming you’re using correct form, of course). If you don’t feel it working the targeted muscle group, then don’t do the exercise. To this day, I rarely do dumbbell curls. I prefer barbell curls; it’s that simple.
3. Am I using correct form? Never underestimate the importance of good form. If you have to choose between lifting more weight with sloppy form and less weight with strict form, always choose the latter. I’m ignoring cheat reps (that’s an entirely different discussion).
4. Could I have trained harder? Don’t misunderstand me; there are many instances when you’re unable to train harder (when you’re rehabilitating an injury, for example). In general, however, this is an important question to ask–were you focused during your workout? Did you try to squeeze out an extra repetition, or did you simply let the weights drop when you were tired? If you want to see serious gains, you need to train seriously.
5. Did I remember my pre- and post-workout nutrition? These are (arguably) two of the most important meals of your lifting days. If you’re trying to gain muscle mass, make sure to consume whey protein powder before you lift (about 25 grams) and a large fruit. After you lift, make sure you drink a shake with about 30 grams of whey protein and 20 grams of casein protein, along with about 40 grams of a fast-digesting carbohydrate (like a bagel with jam, for example). For fat loss diets, keep pre-workout recommendations listed above, but consume about 30 grams of whey protein and a 32 oz. Gatorade directly after your workouts.
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