Review Of Gold's Gym Express

A Gym For Those In A Hurry

Today I will be giving a review on Gold's Gym Express located in Normal Illinois.  First thing is first, the location of the gym is great.  It is located on College Avenue and it is by a variety of stores.  It also has a parking lot that is often times empty, which calls for easy parking.  Overall, the location and the ease of getting to and from the gym is a big plus.



Once entering the gym, you will notice a friendly atmosphere and a great staff.  The staff at Gold's Gym are all very nice and they are willing to help you on an array of topics.  The layout of the gym is very practical.  They have an area for cardio, which features a lot of treadmills and some ellipticals, along with rowing machines.

 They also have a free weight section.  This features a wide range of dumbbells, going up to 100 pounds.  Another area features some machines that allow you to add resistance (examples: leg press machine, hamstring curl machine, and pushing and pulling machines).  Another feature they have is a group training area where you can work in a group of people and perform challenges set by a personal trainer.  All in all, the environment is great.  They have tanning beds, personal trainers, TVs, free weights, machines, and cardio machines.

If I could give one recommendation, it would be to add an additional squat rack.  Gold's Gym Express only has one squat rack, which makes it hard to finish work outs in time because you are waiting on the person in front of you.  To balance this negative out, the price of the membership is only $10 a month.
If you are interested, HERE IS THE LINK TO SIGN UP

Why My Fitness Blog Is Great

Why My Blog Is Great

Today I will be talking about my personal fitness blog.  In the past I have done an analysis on other's blogs, but today I will be doing an analysis on my own.  Although I still do not have too many blog posts, I will continue to post new blogs with important information.  

My blog is more suited towards a specific niche market, which is for those whom are looking to become stronger.  In my opinion, everyone can always be stronger.  Not only will it improve the way you look, but it will make everyday life easier, it will improve your mood, and it will make you healthier.  It has also been proven that it will help you as you grow older, strengthening your bones and preventing osteoporosis.  

I love to talk about fitness and I love to help people get stronger.  Fitness is great because it is something that can be easily tracked and your results are based on how hard you work.  If you are going to the gym only a few times a month, you will never see progress.  My blog is here to motivate you to want to go to the gym and it is here to give you information on how to improve your strength gains.

This blog focuses mainly on strength, but at times I will talk about things like diet and ways to become healthier.  I have a big passion for powerlifting and this translates into everything I say in my blog.  There is a clear distinction between bodybuilding and powerlifting.  Bodybuilding is working out in order to look better, while powerlifting is working out in order to become stronger.  My blog is for the sole purpose of getting you stronger.  I provide tips on how to perform certain exercises correctly, how to vary intensity and volume, and I provide information on how to get stronger.  

Bodybuilding.com blog link

Increase Strength As Quickly As Possible

Today I read a blog about how to get stronger in 31 days.  This blog featured 10 areas to increase your strength in a short amount of time.  I will go over these top 10 areas, then I am going to add 3 ways that I think were missed.  To save on time, I will go through and list these and I will also provide a link so you can read in depth how these will help you.  The link is provided here.

1. Use free weights and compound movements
2. Learn perfect technique
3. Use low repetition range
4. Warm up properly
5. Increase your resistance every time you train.
6. Train your weak points
7. Limit your exercise selection
8. Train like a strongman
9. Eat
10. Supplement wisely

I believe that these are all solid ways to improve your strength.  In my opinion though, you should not want to try to increase your strength by a lot in a limited amount of time.  Strength comes with time.  You are not going to see incredible gains in a short amount of time.  Rather, you should program your workout to try to make small gains every month.  The goal is long term, not short term.  I am going to now include 3 areas that were missed.

11. Rest-  Without proper rest, you will never get stronger. You are going to have to get proper rest in order to become stronger.  It isn't a race to get as strong as possible.

12. Foam roll-  This will not only loosen your muscles up for your workout, but it will also prevent injuries.  You should spend 10-15 minutes foam rolling before every workout.  Not only this, but you should also do it on off days.  This will help get of soreness and it will get you ready for your next workout.  You can buy a cheap foam roller from Amazon.

13. Vary your volume and rep range-  I think an area that was missed was varying your rep range and volume.  Going with a higher rep range will make your muscles grow larger, due to hypertrophy.  Low rep ranges will work your fast twitch muscles, allowing you to lift more weight.  The key is to lift the weight as quickly as possible.  If you are doing high rep ranges, you should try to focus on going slow, and working on contracting your muscles.  Doing both of these will help your muscles grow and become stronger.

Analyzing Eric Cressey's Blog

The Greatest in the Industry

I still urge everyone to check out Eric Cressey's blog, and I can not stress how important it is to see his stuff.   He is not only extremely intelligent, but he can back up his knowledge with incredible feats of strength also.  A link to his blog is shown here.  His blog is absolutely amazing and I have learned more for his stuff on his website than I have anywhere else.  He has complete knowledge of anything strength, fitness, or diet related.  If you would like to see even more than what his website has to offer, he also writes informative books on an array of subjects.  Click here. 

I have personally purchased his book "Maximum Strength," and I only have good things to say about it.  One of the things that Eric Cressey does that most other fitness professionals don't do, is that he emphasizes the important of mobility and proper warm ups.  He has a big selection of different warm ups that he talks about on his blogs.  He also goes in and talks about ways to move better, improve 

posture, and improve the quality of life through fitness.

Eric Cressey often posts multiple times a week and he not only posts blogs himself, but he also promotes others in blogs, which gives a wide range of knowledge across many fitness professionals.  I believe that this is one of the greatest blogs you can read.  The information on it is backed up by science, unlike a lot of blogs which may be just personal opinions from people.  One of the things that separates his blog from the rest is that he has personally gone through many of the things he talks about.  Some bloggers may only know about the information, but they may not be athletes themselves.  Eric Cressey has been there and he has been an elite powerlifter.  If you want to take your strength to the next level, his blogs can be a great resource. 

Promotion of GymTalk's Blog "Less Is More"

A Blog Everyone Should Read

Today I will be talking about a blog post that I urge everyone to read.  This blog is about going back to the basics and it is kind of what  I touched on in my last post.  My train of thought is that most people try to do too much.  They may be on a program for a month, then they will get tired of it and switch to a completely new program.  The blog I read today was titled "Less Is More," and it goes through and talks about exactly that. His blog is humorous and insightful, and I suggest you read it.

The first step that this article talked about was to unfollow every fitness coach from social media except one.  The idea in this is that there is just too much information out there and the variety is not needed.  All you have to do is follow one fitness coach and you will have more than enough information on what to do.

The next step is to figure out what we can actually do.  This gives you a good idea of your base of strength and it will allow you to capitalize on it.  This is all about building a base before you move on to more advanced exercises.

He also talks about going back to a basic 3 meals a day.  You don't have to get fancy with your meals.  All you need is something basic that is going to give you your core nutrients necessary.  Many people will mess with different diets and fads, only to give up on them and go back to where they started.

Finally, he talks about incorporating a fully body workout three days a week.  People are too focused on specializing on a certain muscle group (think of the people that go to the gym and just do bicep curls).  The idea is to hit all of the areas of your body and to create a balanced physique.  Focusing too much on certain areas will cause imbalances and they can cause problems in posture.

Top 3 Exercises To Perform for Strength

These Exercises Are A MUST!

In this post I will be talking about the most crucial exercises to perform in order to obtain strength gains.  If these exercises are done consistently and with proper form, you will be able to see noticeable gains in strength in as little as one month.  The key is to do these on a weekly basis and to work on perfecting your form.  Each week you should be adding 5-10 pounds, depending on the exercise.  Once these strength gains come to a stop, and you start to plateau, it is reasonable to try to add 2.5 pounds every week or every other week.

1. The Squat

The squat is the most important exercise that anyone can perform.  All people have different bone structures, femur lengths, torso lengths, proportions, etc., so the weighted back squat may not be for everyone.  This should not stop you from squatting though.  There are many variations of the squat that can be completed safely.  Some different variations include the box squat, the front squat, the back squat, and a body weight squat.  Some other variations could even be with single leg work, such as doing lunges.  The squat is the most important exercise because it is a complete full body movement.  Just about every muscle is used in this movement, not just your legs. The squat can be done a few times a week, and it will not necessarily tax your central nervous system like the deadlift... which brings me to my next exercise.


2. The Deadlift

Many Consider the squat the king of all exercises, which often times leaves the deadlift as the next best exercise.  The deadlift is also a complete full body exercise.  It mainly ends up working your hamstrings, quads, forearms, and upper back.  When done properly it can leave you completely drained.  The reason I put this below the squat is because it can not be performed quite as often as the squat.  Since you will be lifting more weight in the deadlift than in a squat, it will more easily tire out your central nervous system, making recovery time longer.


3.  The Bench press


The final lift that I will be going over is the bench press.  I included the bench press in the final most important strength exercise that you can do because it completely targets the upper body.  Whereas the squat and the deadlift target the entire body, the bench press will solely be targeting your triceps and chest.  The squat will target your core, hamstrings, quads, glutes, and back, while the deadlift will target your hamstrings, quads, core, forearms, and upper back, which just leaves the chest.  The bench press allows you to lift a very large amount of weight, which is why it is considered a compound movement.  Doing compound movements increase strength quicker than doing something in isolation.  The key is to involve as many body parts in a movement, and your strength will go through the roof.

Feel free to read more of this from an article provided by Bodybuilding.com

Beginning the Journey

Beginning the Journey


I think the most important thing that anyone can do in fitness is to start small.  Too many people work too hard in the beginning and they become demotivated.  I see beginners going to the gym all of the time and they push themselves to the breaking point and they don't understand that it is not necessary.  It isn't necessary to wake up at 5 am, run 5 miles, then eat salad all day, in order to become fit.

My best piece of advice is to start your fitness journey by taking a 30-60 minute walk outside everyday at the same time.  For example, you may come off of work and begin your walk at 6 pm and finish it by 7 pm.  After a week or two, this will start to become more routine and you will look forward to these walks.  It's a time to relax and erase your mind of all of the stress you have had during the day.  After you have finally eased into it, you can finally get to the gym.  Walking everyday for 30 minutes is important because it isn't something that you are going to dread and at the same time it is something that you can make a routine.  The problem that most people have is that they fall out of a routine.  You may have motivation to start your routine, but once that motivation fades, it is important to keep going out of habit.  All you have to do is replace your time at the gym with the time you used to spend walking.  Therefore, you will have already built the foundation of your schedule with your walks.

If you try to start your fitness journey too aggressively, you are going to burn out.  Fitness isn't a race, rather, it's a marathon.  It is important to set goals, but I think that people often times get too caught up in the short term goals.  Of course, you need short term goals to stay on track for your final fitness goals, but they have to be realistic goals.  Becoming stronger takes a lot of time and it isn't something that will happen overnight, and it may not even happen after a year.  That is why it is so important to make it a routine.  It is a complete lifestyle change and you are going to have to look forward to going to the gym. This can be accomplished if you ease into it and make every step enjoyable.