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Here’s a hard truth: If you only work out once this week, it’s as if you didn’t work out at all.

I know this goes against the usual empathetic advice you see online, but consistency is at least as important as your feelings.

Don’t get me wrong, you can absolutely be proud that you worked out once, and you deserve credit and encouragement for every single effort you make.

But you can’t make progress if you work out too little, and I’m sure you know that.

I think it might help some of you to look at it that way. Because you don’t want your effort to go to waste, do you?

So if you can manage to do 1 or 2 workouts this week, don’t let it go to waste and make it 3 or 4.

Progress is truly made in the last rep, set, or workout.

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1. Simple tips to get rid of lower back pain.

Around 40% of adults suffer from lower back pain.

While the causes may vary from one person to another, it can often be relieved or completely disappear thanks to lifestyle changes.

The first thing to note is that, although rest and sleep are important, it is necessary to keep moving in most cases. Sitting or lying down for too many hours usually makes things worse.

Here are some of the activities and exercises you can do at home to ease your lower back pain:

• Walking
• Keeping a good posture (a Wellness Ball Active Sitting helps a lot with that)
• Knee raises to strengthen your core
• Deadlifting with a resistance band or a kettlebell. This must be done with a light weight, for longer sets, and with control. Even if your back doesn’t hurt, it’s always better to avoid deadlifting heavy, the risk is not worth the reward
• Standing Russian Twist with a medicine ball.

• Bonus: prioritize low impact training if you work out. Kinesis by Technogym is your best option for this.

Disclaimer: this cannot replace medical advice. You should always consult a doctor before starting a self-rehab program, especially if you think you suffer from more than just a strain.

2. Do you even do a warm-up set?

I’m assuming you already know the importance of warming up before your workout.

But I see too few people warming up for an exercise.

It’s especially important in 2 cases:

1. Your first exercise: you might feel ready but you could still injure yourself even at 70% of your max rep.

2. If you train for strength: obviously the risk of getting hurt is higher if you lift 90% of your max on the first attempt.

But there is another reason.

Without a specific warm-up set for your strength exercise, you are unlikely to lift as heavy as you could, or for as many reps as you’d like.

This is what I call a wasted set. You use just as much energy, but you can’t lift as heavy and therefore can't make as much progress.

Stop wasting sets and time, and start doing warm-up sets.

3. Always have a training plan B.

An athlete’s tip: “you can always train something else”.

No gym? Go walk for an hour.
No time to work out? Stretch at your desk.
Are you sore everywhere? Do some mobility work.
Did you hurt your wrist and can’t lift? Time to improve your cardio.

Have you noticed how some athletes are able not just to come back after an injury, but to come back stronger than before?

It’s because whatever happened has forced them to work on something else they might have neglected. And what seemed to be an obstacle turned out to be what they actually needed to reach the next level.

Every now and then, something gets in the way of our workout plans. But what if it was an opportunity to get better at something we have overlooked?

Is something interfering with your routine this week?

Think like an athlete: “what else can I train?”

4. Your one-arm push-up plan.

This is how you can use a few home fitness accessories to progress to the one-arm push-up.

One-arm push-ups are half skill, half strength. I could make up a list of benefits if I wanted to, but let’s be honest, we like them mostly because they look cool and we saw Rocky do them.

All you need for this program is:
• A bench
• A balance dome
• A medicine ball

Practice each stage until you can do 15 reps with relative ease, then move onto the next one.

• Declined push-ups
• Declined wide push-ups
• Balance dome push-ups
• Medicine ball push-ups
• Archer push-ups
• Archer push-ups with medicine ball
• Wide legs one-arm push-up negatives

When you can do 15 reps of that last exercise, I’m confident you’ll be able to do 2 or 3 one-arm push-ups with great form.

Take note that it usually takes several months to a year for most people to achieve. There is no shortcut.🥲

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 and let me know whatever is on your mind.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

- Nico

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