11 TIPS FOR BEING A BLOKE IN THE GYM

1/ IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT WEIGHT - Lifting progressively heavier will contribute to massive success in the gym BUT it means naff all if regard for your technique goes out the window. Perfect your form first, then start working your way up the dumbbell rack. 

2/ TEMPO - Understanding how quickly you execute a movement is just as important as the above. Get this wrong and at best you won't be getting the most from a movement, at worst you're getting badly injured. 

3/ YOU CAN'T OUT TRAIN GETTING HAMMERED EVERY WEEKEND - I advocate the approach of being squeaky clean with your training and nutrition through the week to allow some flexibility at the weekend, but flexibility doesn't mean an extra 5000 calories of beer and pizza. Reign your alcohol intake in and train on the weekend too to add some extra accountability and structure.

4/ PAY LESS ATTENTION TO MIRROR MUSCLES - The vast majority of us blokes are imbalanced in the sense that we train what we can see and neglect what we can't. Meaning we are happy to smash chest, front delts, biceps and quads but we neglect back, glutes, hamstrings and calves. Get this balance wrong or risk looking like Quasimodo and being over, with a narrow chest and crap mobility.

5/ TRAIN LEGS - I know you might have that old knee niggle from years ago but I promise you it can be worked around. Maybe you think training glutes is only for girls? Definitely not the case. Training legs properly can be sweaty, oxygen deprived sickener of a session but the benefits of getting your leg training up to scratch will make it all worth it.

6/ FASHION FAUX PAS - Wearing JUST leggings? No. I don't care how trendy it is or how much you love your new dri-fit, matt finish, seamless, insulated, fluorescent tights. Nobody wants to see the outline of your sweaty nutsack and they definitely aren't making you squat any better. All you need to do is slap a pair of shorts over them and all is good in the world. While I'm on the rant, no nip-slip vests, flip flops or jeans either please.

7/ YOUR POST-WORKOUT SHAKE - No problem with this if it's convenient and you are going to struggle to get a solid meal within a couple of hours of finishing your workout. Just don't believe the marketing hype that necking a protein shake within 24 minutes 33 seconds of finishing your session is where your progress in the gym is made or lost. 

8/ GYM CREEPING - Girls don't go to the gym to get chatted up. The vast majority of the time they want to get in and just do their thing undisturbed. They are also pretty vigilant so yep they notice when you float from one girl to the next, and the next and then oh, there's a new girl.. her too. There's plenty of better places/apps for you to try your luck but the gym isn't one of them.

9/ YOU DON'T NEED STEROIDS - You're probably after the kind of results most of us guys want; (strong, athletic, lean visible abs, good proportions), the Men's Health kind of look. I cannot stress enough just how much you do not need drugs to obtain this. It will take time, persistance and progression but I promise you, drugs definitely not.

10/ THE BEST RESULTS TAKE THE MOST TIME - We as blokes tend to be pretty impatient. That can be our biggest downfall where training is concerned. There's a fine line between being hungry for change and being impatient. If you find yourself regularly hopping from training plan to training plan, coach to coach, diet to diet then understand there's 100000 ways to get you to the same end goal and not one specific magical solution. 

11/ BE OPEN TO LEARN - Our ego often gets in the way, especially in the gym. Never feel like you know it all. This goes for a PT, an experienced gym goer or a complete beginner. If anyone in the gym ever tells you they do know it all and you should listen to them over anyone else, they should be the first person you swerve.