The Most Common Mistake in the Gym

Here is a little backstory of my early days.

I remember my first couple of months after I decided to take my fitness extremely seriously in 2015.

My gym partners and I decided to do a chest routine. As we were warming up, I asked one of them,

“Hey man, did we decide on the number of reps we are going to do for each exercise?”

He replied, “We are doing 4×10 for each exercise.”

I looked at him like he spoke a foreign language to me, but I was naive at the time, so I nodded and agreed.

Safe to say, I struggled throughout that entire workout. The weights that I chose to do, I either left reps in the tank or I could barely get to the 10th rep.

I left that workout confused. I had no idea how I performed. I could not get a baseline of how I did.

The crazy part is…

The cycle continued on for years and years until college where I discovered Rep Ranges.

“4×10, 5×5, 3×7, 3×10” are Fixed Rep Schemes.

Meaning that in order to successfully complete a set you must hit the certain number of reps.

Are fixed rep schemes bad? Not necessarily, but they are extremely inefficient for building muscle.

Honestly, they are a waste of time and growth potential.

For some, they can also be a tool of discouragement.

Learn to switch from the fixed mindset to training in rep ranges.

“5-10, 6-15", 8-20” are all examples of Rep Ranges. It offers:

1. Scalability

2. Room for failure

3. Encouragement

4. True progress

Who doesn’t want encouragement the next time they step into a gym?

Apply this tip and let me know how your next gym session goes.

Until next time. Peace

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