How to Not be Weak
Three Point Thursday #8 | Defeating Excuses, Practical Training, Recovery Methods
Here’s your weekly three-pointer, to open your mind.
Read the online version here
The mission of “Three Point Thursday” & about the author here
Excuses = Lies
"It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”—Socrates
“Sparta, Rome, the Knights of Europe, the Samurai…worshipped strength. Because it is strength that makes all other values possible.”—Unknown
Did you move your body today?
Uncomfortable truth: If you’re not working out at all, there’s only two possible explanations:
You’re lying to yourself
You’re being lazy
There’s many things in life that I’m not sure about. But I’m 100% certain that this is the truth, granted you’re not injured or disabled.
Any excuse you have for why you don’t exercise isn’t true.
Common Excuses—”False Rationalizations”
“I don’t have time.” Nonsense: Even just 30 minutes of exercise 3 days a week can produce positive results
“I’m too tired.” Nonsense: There is no shortage of studies showing that even a tiny amount of exercise actually boosts your energy in the long run
“Gym memberships are expensive.” So what: You can get in shape from bodyweight exercises + walking/running alone
“I don’t know what to do.” So what: There are thousands of programs and free YouTube videos to teach you
Reality
If you don’t exercise, you’ll never become the best version of yourself.
Everyone wants to feel good about themselves. I’ve found that if I’m ever not feeling good about myself for whatever reason, an intense weightlifting or basketball session magically does away with the negativity.
By working out consistently, you always have a reason to feel good about yourself, regardless of what else is happening in your life. It is powerful.
Because even if you have a horrible day, well, you still got stronger, look better, and sharpened your mind. It’s always a win, no matter what.
Through this process you become more self-assured. And you realize you actually have many reasons to feel good about yourself. You just didn’t appreciate those reasons as much (or even recognize them), until you became more confident and happy with yourself (thanks to intense exercise).
Also, if you are in great shape, it’s a reflection of your character in a way—it shows you have qualities like discipline, consistency, and grit. This will serve you well in your relationships. It’s something people respect.
Don’t miss out
The science backed benefits of working out regularly on physical and mental health:
Increased strength
Increased endurance
Weight control
Reduced anxiety
Better overall mood
More energy
More attractive appearance
More confidence
Better sleep
Increased sex drive
Stronger immune system
Stronger bones
Higher probability of living longer
Increased cognitive function
It’s shocking how many people aren’t willing to sweat just 30 minutes a day for these advantages.
Embrace the Pain
Maybe you consider exercise to be unnecessary, or even dumb, because you willingly put yourself through pain.
But if you consider things you’re proud of, any achievement, strong relationship, specific knowledge etc. you have to put in work for it. There’s pain involved.
It’s not easy, but that’s the point! The difficult stuff you’ve done is what you’re proud of.
It’s what’s rewarding.
The gym is the same way. It’s a grind, but it’s worth it. And it makes everything else in life so much better.
“One of the most fascinating lessons I’ve absorbed about life is that the struggle is good…by putting yourself in that intense form of stress (exercise) it makes regular life more peaceful.”—Joe Rogan
Human Reward Systems
“Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science - in all of biology”.—Bill Nye
Human Beings have been evolving for hundreds of thousands of years. With little technology or knowledge, life for most of our ancestors throughout time was a constant struggle for survival.
And because most humans who lived throughout time were hunter-gatherers (pre-sedentary civilization) they spent most of their days on the move, completing tasks.
What tasks?
Getting food and protecting their loved ones from violence were the main ones.
Brutal, challenging, physically demanding tasks.
Therefore, the human brain evolved to feel rewarded after completing these difficult undertakings.
Chemicals in the brain associated with happiness and motivation (i.e. dopamine) are extremely powerful when directed towards physical challenges. We are all humans. These mechanisms are part of everyone’s DNA.
The cheap pleasure you get from scrolling Tik Tok and binge-watching Netflix is nothing compared to the joy of building a beautiful physique and being an athlete (even if it’s just running).
To truly feel alive, you have to respect evolution, and move your body!
Effective Training Regimen
“There are no shortcuts—everything is reps, reps, reps.”—Arnold Schwarzenegger
For the past two years, Push/Pull/Legs has been my training routine.
This regimen is perfect if you’re lifting 3x a week, because every muscle in your body is worked per 3 day cycle. And if you’re lifting 4-6x time per week, you can just repeat a specific day based on what makes sense for how your body is feeling.
In the next sections, I include links for each exercise that will take you to videos explaining how to perform them properly.
Every link takes you to a video from either ATHLEAN-X, Scott Herman Fitness, or Jeff Nippard. They’re the 3 best weightlifting YouTubers I’ve come across. All have incredible knowledge about the scientific aspects of training + human biology and anatomy.
That said, let’s dive into push/pull/legs:
Note
*There is no universal training program, and they can look different based on your goals.*
*It’s necessary to be a long term thinker about your training. You’re fitness goals won’t be achieved overnight. Patience.*
*To stay consistent working out, don’t rely on motivation. There is only discipline. Most days you won’t want to lift. Do it anyway.*
“Don't worry about motivation. Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable - and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished, you will likely fall short.”—Jocko Willink
Push
Push day breakdown: Training all upper body pushing muscles: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps.
The pool of push workouts I shuffle through: (I usually do 5-7 of these movements for 4 sets each. I always aim for 8-12 repetitions per set).
Pull
Pull day breakdown: Training all upper body pulling muscles—Back, Biceps, Rear Delts.
The pool of pull workouts I shuffle through: (Again, I usually do 5-7 of these movements for 4 sets each, and always aim for 8-12 repetitions per set).
Legs
Leg day breakdown: Training all lower body muscles—Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves.
The pool of leg workouts I shuffle through: (You guessed it, I usually do 5-7 of these movements for 4 sets each, aiming for 8-12 reps per set).
No Recovery, No Growth
“Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body each day…it’s a non-negotiable biological necessity.”—Matthew Walker
Sleep is for the strong. It’s when your body recovers. If there is no recovery, there is no growth.
The importance of quality sleep for 6-8 hours every night cannot be stressed enough.
During sleep:
Muscles repair themselves and grow
Brain consolidate memories
Body regulates it’s hormones
Immune system stays strong
Energy levels get replenished
If you want to hear the horrors of the effects of not sleeping enough, listen to this Podcast by Joe Rogan. The guest is a sleep doctor from the UK named Matthew Walker.
More Basic Tips
To get strong and grow your muscles, it’s also advisable to:
Eat well (natural foods more than processed foods)
Hydrate consistently
Stretch out
Consume ample protein
Supplement with creatine
My Journey
You may have thought while reading this article: “why should I listen to this guy?” (maybe you think that while reading all my articles, but I hope not.)
To that I would say there’s some things you have to understand about me.
My whole life, the most powerful characteristics I’ve always had have been enthusiasm, insatiable curiosity, and obsessiveness (for better or worse).
These characteristics have been applied in many areas. Lifting weights is one of those areas.
I used to look like this:
I was extremely insecure because of how skinny I was with so little muscle.
You can only get called a twig and get asked “can you bench the bar bro?” so many times before that insecurity turns to anger.
The thing about anger is, I’ve found that channeling it towards anything other than sports or lifting weights is bad for you. In a world where outrage and resentment is the norm, the people who constantly feel the need to attack and talk shit about others could benefit from some incline bench press drop-sets. And then going for a fucking run after. When your busy working hard to build yourself up, you’re less likely to be a hating loser who spends their time tries to tear other people down.
But I digress.
Anyways, I told myself that I would look like Rocky Balboa one day. Definitely not there yet. Give me another 5 years.
The first time I ever lifted weights was with the football team freshman and sophomore year of high school in 2016 and 2017. It was always terrifying. I didn’t know what I was doing and was constantly nervous of getting made fun of or hurting myself.
I started on my own by going to the YMCA junior year with some basketball teammates, but we usually spent more time on the court than in the weight room.
A big turning point was the summer before my first year of college (Umass Amherst) in 2019, when my neighbors offered my family a bench, barbells, and weights they were no longer using. We said hell yes.
This promoted my older brother Pat to buy a squat rack with a pull-up bar a couple days later. At the same time my grandfather and some friends offered more equipment to complete the new home gym.
The rest was history.
“Get Rights” as we called it, had a busy summer with people in and out of the garage every day getting a pump. Shoutout to anyone who was ever a member, you know who you are.
There was some other great home gyms in the central Massachusetts that rose to prominence the next summer, like my good friend Owen’s home gym, aptly named “Holden Get Rights.”
There was also the infamous Jefferson Bar Bell, a.k.a J.B.B. But you had to be a football lineman or linebacker and bench at least 300LBs to become a member. I never went.
Enter the Tweaker
I remember the first time I worked out with Andrew “Gucc” Gallucci freshman year at Umass. We were almost done with a push day (or at least I thought), when he held up his phone showing me how many more workouts, sets, and reps he still had planned for the day.
I laughed. “Bro, you’re not supposed to do that much on one day, don’t you know?”
He just looked at me with a blank face. “Nah man, this is the workout today.”
I thought he was a psycho and was over-doing it. I told myself he didn’t really know the right way to go about exercising.
I met him on the first day of college in good ole Southwest. We were great friends and partied together often, but that was the last time I ever lifted weights with him freshman year.
Then COVID happened. With everything closed, my family’s home gym was a blessing during this time. I kept at it and was beginning to believe I was some sort of fitness expert.
That was until “Gucc” and I got an apartment out in Amherst for sophomore year. Because of the pandemic, there was basically nothing to do. So we hit the gym every single day.
It’s pretty much all we did that year. Anytime Fitness became our home. And that’s when I realized I was certainly not an expert. And that Andrew was a certified personal trainer.
I owe a lot of my exercise knowledge and progress to him teaching and pushing me.
In Conclusion:
Keep grinding everyone, your life will continue to be better because of it.
“Don't worry about motivation. Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable - and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished, you will likely fall short.”—Jocko Willink