Today’s post is our latest installment of a new series called the “Coaches Corner.” Our Adonis Transformation Coaches will share their knowledge, experience, and best practices to help ensure your successful transformation. To continue the series, our topic comes from none other than AGR Pioneer, Jason Haynes.
DISTRACTIONS
For the past 10 years or so all of my gym experiences been either at home gym or at small hole-in-the-wall dungeons during off hours when not many people go there. I don’t know but I like to train solo with not many people with his minimal distractions as possible (sidenote: if you’re ever gonna play music for a visitor to your country just because it’s in the native language of the person that doesn’t mean it’s a good choice for listing music. I had someone once play “I’m a big big girl” while I was deadlifting! I mean, I was on that last grinding rep when the song came on. I just felt my testosterone flee from me and I dropped the weight).
Anyway, coming back to the US has been a trip in so many ways and certainly the gym is among one of the most interesting ones. In my previous blog I talked about just the over abundance of highly caloric and tasty foods that you can find readily in this place, but today I’m gonna focus on the gym itself.
So here I am in Southern California. There is a wide array of gyms and plenty of choices…most of them are open at good hours. The place I go to is pretty much ok… it’s cheap, serves my purposes, the weight of the dumbbells go high enough, and there’s a wide assortment of machines. So, that’s good. At the time I go there (at about 5:30 in the morning) only a few guys are in the weight section…and these are the guys who are there are to work out.
Or are they? A few…yes,but the others…I am not so sure. (Another blog post, maybe).
“It’s been a process of learning NOT to be distracted by what I see around me.” – Jason Haynes
Anyway, the first time that I stepped into that place to work out was just a shock. As I said in the beginning of this blog…the last 10 years was simple and effective. Nothing but weights and the occasional TV in front of the treadmills. So…I walked in the gym, and I I just stood there staring at what was nearly unbelievable to me. I felt like I was in a panorama of big flat/plasma screen TVs…each one tuned into a different station. I hadn’t even begun to lift a weight yet and there I was transfixed on over a dozen screens.
It was so distracting. I think my 45 minute workout must have taken about an hour and a half because all I did was get constantly distracted. One TV station had Big Ten football, on another one is the all sports station, yet another one had UFC fighting (oh wait no that’s every day..but on that particular day they were doing prop airplanes flying through a slalom course of probably hundred foot tall pylons. Up until that point, I thought that stuff was only in video games).
It was reedicyoulous!
If my memory serves right: six TVs along the cardio stations, three other TVs along the left side, there’s at least four along the right side and then there’s two or three along the other side of this building. Each one is turned to a different station, granting a great opportunity for…say it with me..
Distractions.
“Each of the coaches there has worked hard, achieved the golden ratio, and maintained it. We have some insight and tricks than can help you stay focused and get on track, if necessary.” – Jason Haynes
It’s been a month since I’ve been going here to the gym (in fact I just renewed my monthly dues this today). It’s been a process of learning NOT to be distracted by what I see around me. I think it was pretty easy to learn it, actually, as I have had many years of no distractions and have adapted that mindset. I don’t know if I would have adjusted as easy if I had not had all those years behind me.
I have to tune out because I only have 30 minutes to get my training done so I pretty much ignore what’s going on around me. Yes, I am still cordial an courteous and everything else according to social convention, but I just can’t allow distractions to interfere.
Man, that UFC program that always plays at my training time REALLY challenges my focus, though.
I have to keep a mental countdown in my head every time of every second. I don’t rely on stopwatches anything like that but the risk is always there: a distraction. Distractions that come in many shapes and forms….it could be people, things people do, it could be TV sets, it can be people doing weird exercises (don’t let maybe that’ll be my next blog post).
Most of us who have normal jobs and families and commitments…our time in the gym is precious and cannot be divided amongst other things around us when we’re there. We are there for one reason: to train, to push our muscles, to push our limits of strength and to attain that coveted golden physique.
Distractions are everywhere…inside AND outside the gym. Each set of potential distractions carries it’s own challenges and solutions. If you would like help to work through your distractions and challenges, check out the AGR Premiere Coaching program. Each of the coaches there has worked hard, achieved the golden ratio, and maintained it. We have some insight and tricks than can help you stay focused and get on track, if necessary.
Train hard, train smart.
Jason
About Allen Elliott