Issue #51

1) The Ultimate Leg Burn.
2) 5 Mental Tricks To Make Your Workouts Easier.
3) Say Goodbye To Pain With Active Recovery.
4) What is The Best Cardio Machine For Home?

Read time: 4 minutes

On Saturday morning, I got up and headed to the park, where I went through a long series of mobility drills and sprints, as per the plan.

Here’s the thing, I normally don’t train on Sundays, but I missed 2 workouts last week and therefore had no choice.

Now let me tell you it’s not the “excitement” of working out in the morning that got me out of bed, but rather the thought of my first coffee.

And even after that coffee, you could hear me dragging my feet as I was leaving home; until I decided to train in another corner of the park for a change of scenery.

I still lacked motivation, so I focused on the post-workout treat I was gonna get myself and felt a bit better.

You see what I did? Mental tricks! Strength and mobility training may be a passion for me, but I still need these tricks sometimes.

And it usually starts feeling much better after the warm-up… Except when it doesn’t.

Some days, it’s not laziness or a simple lack of motivation, it’s just a tough day. And even as dopamine starts filling your brain, time in the gym seems to slow down, these reps feel heavy, it’s like you’re training in the Matrix.

So today I’m going to give you 5 mental tricks to make your workout feel a little lighter when you’re having a hard day.

Because that’s the kind of day you need it done the most! 💪

PS: I am of course talking about a psychologically tough day. If you haven’t slept, are overly sore, or in pain, better call it a rest day.

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1. The Ultimate Leg Burn.

The wall chair hold, or wall sit, is a deceptively simple but highly effective exercise that targets the lower body to build strength and endurance in your quads, glutes, and calves.

It’s a static hold, meaning you’re not moving through reps but holding a challenging position that recruits stabilizer muscles and engages your core for balance.

Some people like to use it as a warm-up on leg day, but I personally find it much more effective as a finisher!

If you train for strength (hopefully following my Dual Strength Method), use it as a strength endurance exercise at the end of your workout by doing 3 sets of the max time you can hold, minus 5 seconds. Why “minus 5 seconds”? Because you do not want to go to failure when you’re training to endure.

However, if you’re currently trying to build muscle mass and bigger legs, do go to failure. Perform 3 or 4 holds at the end of your workout for as long as you can and feel the ultimate leg burn!

The wall sit works great for all levels, and can be done with no equipment or while holding additional weight like a kettlebell.

Click this link for the full YouTube video and instructions.

2. 5 Mental Tricks To Make Your Workouts Easier.

No motivation for the gym today?

Here are 5 mental tricks to make your workouts feel easier, I’ll end with my favorite.

1) Try counting your reps backwards, a lot of people find it more motivating that way.

2) If you’re doing long sets (for example 15 reps) try counting by blocks of 5, where each new block is a different level.

3) When doing cardio and it starts feeling hard, tell yourself you’ll do 1 more minute. If you’re not exhausted yet, add 1 more. Repeat until you’ve really reached your limit.

4) Add variety in your rep scheme: Try drop sets, supersets, pyramid sets etc.

5) And here’s the best of all if you’re having a low day: the smallest step method.
Plan to warm up and go home.
But once you’re there, add some short cardio.
If you’re feeling fine, do 1 more exercise. And maybe another one, and one more etc.

The trick with this last method is that you are free to stop anytime. But you’ll find that it almost always turns into a complete workout.
(You can find an example in this issue.)

3. Say Goodbye To Pain With Active Recovery.

Active recovery is low-intensity exercise you can do on your rest days.

Which then splits your rest days into 2 categories: full rest days and active recovery days.

The former is absolutely mandatory at least once a week, and probably 2 or 3 if you’re not a trained athlete.

However, it’s a good idea to also have an active recovery day for the following benefits:

• Reduce muscle soreness

• Reduce stiffness

• Encourage consistency

• Help recover faster

• Boost your mood

Active recovery can be as simple as walking, swimming, yoga or playing tennis. 30 minutes might be enough but you can go longer depending on the intensity.

My favorite? Light intensity rowing with a focus on movement, followed by full body stretching.

4. What is The Best Cardio Machine For Home?

The answer is simple and almost always true: the best type of cardio is the one you’ll stick to. (What do you see yourself doing on the long term?)

And your decision should be based 90% on that.

However, here’s a few additional pointers before you make your purchase:

• Treadmill: running is the purest form of cardio but not suitable if you have fragile joints.

• Bike: better for the joints but requires leg strength and endurance to train at an intensity high enough to improve cardio health.

• Elliptical: best option for the joints, however longer training time is required if you want to improve your cardio.

• Rower: most efficient option if you have limited time and want to train cardio and strength at the same time.

So tell me, what do you think is the best cardio for you to do at home?

I hope you found some useful tips and motivation in today's edition.

Please share your feedback and help me improve my content for everyone!

A great way to do this is by replying to this email with a personal question you have about fitness.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

- Nico

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