5/3/16

Day 2 started with jumping into the lift with the 3:30 group, which was an upper body workout. We started off the workout with some activation exercises such as yoga pushups, jump ropes, med put (throwing a medicine ball against a wall by rotating your hips and upper body), reverse bear crawls and sled shoves. After warming up with those exercises, we jumped into the lift. I realized many exercises had a some form of a negative, which means you need to count down a certain number of seconds going down or up. For example, we had dumbbell presses, but instead of just going straight down and up quickly, it had a 3-1-2 negative, meaning I needed to take 3 seconds going down, pause for a second at the bottom, and take two seconds going up. Adding a negative made the exercise 100x harder. In fact, the amount of weight I used was 20-25 pounds lighter than what I would do for normal dumbbell presses for 10 reps, yet this still felt harder. Joe explained to me that adding negatives into certain exercises is a really good way to put on mass. I always thought the only way to put on a lot of mass is to simply put up as much weight as possible, yet I learned otherwise. I'm glad I asked the question because it gave me a new perspective on training methods.

After finishing my workout, it was time to help out around the gym. My work today consisted of running to Home Depot and making a few copies of the key to the gym, helping out the adult group by making sure all the equipment they needed was out, and mopping the gym once the last group finished. Though it was late and I was pretty tired when it was time to mop, the boys helped keep the mood light and the morale high. By observing and helping multiple groups a day, I really feel as if my knowledge for the training industry has grown in two short days and I have a much better feel for what the career would be like. One of the things I really like about Compete is how much everyone wants to be there. The trainers give 100% to their clients, and in return, the clients give back their full effort.