There are probably many reasons you choose to workout, health, happiness, friends, stress but I’m sure somewhere in your top 3 is to look better. I know this sounds conceited, materialistic and vain but I think deep down we can all agree that if working out didn’t get you more looks at the beach or get your IG posts more likes most of us wouldn’t do it.

Personally, it’s my top reason for lifting most days of the week, with “because my hairline isn’t coming back anytime soon” taking a very close 2nd.

Whatever your reason for working out, all of the training staff at MVMT want you to achieve those goals but let’s focus on getting lean, building muscle and looking svelte, because come on, it’s pretty important.

How to look better starting next week.

1. Hit legs 2x/week

2. Lift heavier

3. When you get tired, push a little more

4. Set nutrition restrictions for the holidays

1. Hit legs 2x/week. Do you ever realize how much more you sweat during leg days than any other lifting day? Your legs are the largest muscle group in your body. Regardless of how massive you think your chest is Chad, your legs have more muscle fibers which means you will burn more calories and build more muscle by working your legs. As the saying goes, “big trunk, big branches” meaning if you want big arms and a large torso, you need a solid foundation that starts at the ground. Never skip leg day.

2. Lift heavier. If you don’t have a reason not to, why don’t you? Getting “bulky” is not an excuse and if you haven’t gotten bulky before, it will not happen now. You’re older now and your old body has way more things to worry about than your neck disappearing. If you need a spot, ask your trainer. That’s part of what we’re here for.

3. When you get tired, push a little more. Have you ever lifted so heavy you had to cuss or let out a tiny grunt or moan to get the weight up? I’m sure you’ve heard me, Meagalife, Brad, Andrea and Nate all letting out auditory groans in the pursuit of aesthetics. If you’re not struggling those last few reps at least a couple sets during every workout, my guess is you’re not pushing it hard enough. I know this isn’t CrossFit and we’re not going to put your name up on any white board but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t push yourself to see what you’re capable of doing. It’s those last few reps, when you don’t think you have anything left that make the difference. So engage you abs, tighten up your core to protect your back, breathe and get those last two reps in.

4. Set nutrition restrictions for the holidays. There are few things I love in this world more than eating. If you’ve ever been out with me you know I can house some food… as long as it’s gluten free, dairy free, low sugar, most nut free, soy free, legume free and there’s not a bunch of cats running around the restaurant. I’m not suggesting you start as restrictive a diet as I put myself on but if you set some hard guidelines you might finally start to see some progress. I went gluten free at a Friendsgiving in 2017 and initially told myself I was going to try it from Thanksgiving to Christmas but saw such incredible results I never went back. That month over the course of 5 family style dinners I ate turkey, prime rib, green bean casserole, mashed and baked potatoes with butter, cranberry sauce, corn on the cob, all the rice I wanted and probably a total of 2 pumpkin pies without the crust. I drank multiple bottles of red wine and many, many tequilas. Really I just cut out the bread rolls, beer, stuffing and pie crust, which was the hardest. I ate more than I’ve ever eaten and every night I went to bed not feeling stuffed to the brim and woke up not bloated. At the end of this experiment, I was more cut up and defined, not to mention my asthma and allergy sensitivity basically disappeared but who cares, that’s just breathing. The point is I looked better and I don’t know many people that roll into January feeling stoked about their body. I think we should all have a few hard rules that we follow and if you try something for a month and you hate it move on to the next thing that might get you closer to where you want to be (that’s how I felt about intermittent fasting, saw awesome results, more energy, clearer thoughts, probably better digestion but I want to eat when I want to eat so nixed that real quick).

At the end of the day, you pay a high price for a gym membership and that tells us that you prioritize your fitness and want to get better than average results. Fitness is hard and we take out a lot of the guess work for you but unfortunately, we can’t force you to add a plate to that back squat or grab heavier dumbbells or slap every pastry out of your hand so there’s still a lot up to you.

Let us help guide the way. You got this.