We feel it would be fair to say that most men who enter the gym take their ego with them. They just want to lift as much as possible all in the name of bragging rights. Naturally, lifting heavy for low reps does bring with it the eventual benefit of increased strength, but if form and technique is compromised just so that an extra 20 kilos can be added to the bar, it’s surefire way to get yourself injured.
Social media has become an invaluable tool for workout warriors, as the various platforms are inundated with fitness gurus providing advice with regards to movements, technique and correct form. These gurus can come in the form of either industry professionals or even high profile celebrity athletes, with one such example being Conor McGregor.
The Irish MMA fighter is no stranger to keeping his body in ridiculous shape, and he’s previously been an incredible source of knowledge for amateur athletes everywhere. He recently launched his McGregor Fast app, which is bundled with workouts and nutritional advice to help get you into similarly fighting fit shape. But his latest Instagram post promoting the app also brings with it an important lesson, and that is to say you don’t even need weights to workout effectively.
View this post on Instagram
Your own bodyweight has the innate ability to provide enough resistance on its own for you to build up your muscles and strength, provided you know the moves to perform. And, while he doesn’t talk in great detail about the moves he’s performing, the images Conor includes with his Instagram post show a raft of movements you can perform that will help build your core strength.
RELATED: Fitness Coach Reveals How To Replicate Your Exact Gym Workout At Home
Speaking both from experience and from taking onboard knowledge from a wealth of industry fitness fanatics, we can comfortably recommend you perform and hold each of Conor’s movements for 30 seconds, and give yourself 10-15 seconds rest before attempting the next. Perform the sequence for 4 to 5 rounds and you’ll be working up a sweat in no time.
Not only will performing these movements increase your core and overall body strength, but they’re essentially stretches too, and as we’ve learnt before, stretching is incredibly important as it engages the muscles to be put in their ‘prime state’. It’s when they’re in this state that they are going to make the most gains. This in turn allows you to eventually move away from using just your bodyweight and onto heavier weights.
So, next time you take to the gym floor, don’t fall foul to skipping the essential workouts and thinking you’ll be able to lift big without consequence. Take Conor’s advice and start with your body first.
You can’t shoot a cannon from a canoe.