how hard do you push yourself?

[Zaraza]

At times i feel like im not pushing hard enough, shouldnt i be completely sweaty and exhausted? I feel as if I do not do enough weights or reps, or that my mentality during the lift is cutting me short by counting reps.

I have misplaced my Ipod so i dont have music to motivate me further. How do i know if i have pushed enough? I am going to gym tommorow, i work out alone right now because my friends are not back from college. I will have a partner tommorow though, i think that is one reason I dont push hard. I am afraid i wont hold the weight and drop it on myself and cause an injury.


any suggestions, comments, advice?

my ears are open

 

[yep]

I dont really push myself that hard, you CAN overwork yourself and lose results that way. I usually just do my heavy ass sets, rest, do heavy ass sets, rest, and continue.

Trick is you wanna go 3-4 weeks cutting...then go 3-4 weeks bulking...this is the way i see gains in strength and fat loss/muscle gain.

I do very little cardio i prefer eating right...so all in all your probably doing fine.

 

[future_strongguy]

Pushing yourself in lifting is much easier than pushing yourself in conditioning.

Usually I push myself to two or three reps before failure.

edit: it really depends on what kind of training you do. If you do Rippetoes/Stronglifts 3x5/5x5 the program pushes you, so it's easy. If you are doing, for example:

Burpees x as many as possible in 10 minutes then it's different.

When I start to get tired I tell myself with every rep... "work hard"

 

[I-tallionStallion]

I agree, it feels great when you leave the gym exhausted, sore, worked, sweaty. But that isn't everything, making gains is everything.

Now do you feel like you worked hard on your sets and reps? Are you taking your squats, deads, bench to the limit with great form while hitting every rep and maybe more?

Your big lifts are the most important things for you to exceed in, not dumbbell curls, shrugs, or other small lifts like that. Do that well with a great diet and you will see gains.

If you need a spot then make a friend in the gym and have them spot you on your last set. I've made many friends with the gym regulars this way. It is a good thing to do as you may pick up good tips or have your form watched and corrected amongst other things.

 

[Zaraza]

Yea I see what you guys are saying.

I try to push myself hard on the last reps. I just started doing deadlifts, and at times its hard to get the form right. I do manage to get it right, had the best form in highschool, but i feel like i might tip over lol forward. It could be i am not used to it right now.

 

[BMX]

I push mysefl real HARD. I don't lift to near-death exhaustion but I have hit failure in most of my lifts and other times I won't but it's still a great workout. In conditioning, I go pretty hard, doing pullups, dips, burpees, cycling, pushups you name it.

I don't workout to music and I do workout alone. Hitting failure on the bench happens sometimes and I get pinned, but I don't purposely load the weights to something beyond my reach. Always properly hydrate, especially when pushing yourself to what you believe 2 be a higher level.

 

[AirborneDoc82ndABN]

I personally like leaving feeling smoked and finished. If you are bodybuilding then its a bit different, but I don't workout, I "train".. so for me, I always leave the gym broken off and in need of rest, but thats just me..

And to touch on what ItalionStallion said, he is absolutely right when he talks about the major compound lifts. They are hands down the best and most important lifts there are..

Hit it hard!! And someday throw in some smoke sessions with lighter weights and high reps..

 

[ProDJ26]

In all honesty I chat up the locals as sooon as I enter the gym and when warming up. Maybe about 2 mins tops however once I get into my routine (Ripptoe) my ipod is blasting and im in my own little world. I usually get a spotter on my last work sets. Many times (especially with benching) my spotter will try and lift the weight for me. I CAN'T STAND THAT!!!! So I end up doing an extra one or two lifts because I've felt like they lifted the weight for me.

The workouts themselves can last anywhere between 45mins to an hour. I'm soo exhausted after I'm finish theres only two things on my mind at the time. My post workout shake and sleep. I used to workout some friends but everytime we go to the gym I head for the squat rack while they go do curls.

Train like your on roids, eat like an animal, sleep like a baby and repeat