Issue #52

1) Protect Ya Neck.
2) 7 Tips To Eliminate Muscle Soreness.
3) The Most Productive Break You Can Take.
4) Don’t Train To Fail(ure).

Read time: 3.6 minutes

In this week’s edition, I wrote about 4 topics that I thought were really important to address early in your training.

I just felt like writing about them individually, without really thinking of a connection between them.

But it turns out there’s a big one, and it’s been a common theme in our training method: mindfulness and sustainability.

I think this is what subconsciously inspired me to talk to you about:

• Neck injury prevention
• Alleviating sore and fatigued muscles
• Introducing sporadic exercise in your lifestyle
• Avoiding training to failure

These are the things you’ll learn about today, and I suggest reading this issue slowly —or maybe twice— not because it’s complicated, but because you should remember these principles every day.

PS: I just launched a new tool to make it even easier for you to ask me any question you want. All you have to do is follow this link and send me your message, and I’ll reply to you personally.
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1. Protect Ya Neck.

Here’s something you need to know about not warming up your neck before doing advanced bodyweight exercises.

It’s like a Russian roulette: you can get away with it 5 workouts in a row, but when the pain strikes, your workout is over, and you may be unable to train for a week — or longer, don’t gamble with your neck.

While this happens more when doing advanced calisthenics moves, you’re never completely safe from this happening to you, even at a beginner level.

Neck pain and strain can especially be felt while doing push-ups, planks, inverted rows, or simple band pull-aparts.

And it can easily be avoided by taking a minute to follow the routine above.

Plus, regularly stretching your neck makes it stronger on the long term too.
And it might even fix your sleep.

I really see no reason why you wouldn’t incorporate it in your warm-ups right now, so please do it and share your feedback with me. 👍

Click this link for the full YouTube video and instructions.

2. 7 Tips To Eliminate Muscle Soreness.

Are you always in pain the day after a workout?

You don’t have to live with muscle soreness; I don’t.

Here are 7 tips to prevent muscle soreness and fatigue:

1)    Warm up: warming up properly doesn’t only make your workouts safe and more effective, but also makes recovery easier.

2)    Hydrate: this is a huge point. Too many people don’t drink enough when they work out. If you usually don’t drink at least 1 liter, force yourself!

3)    Exercise more regularly: exercising once or twice a week is probably not enough for you to progress, and it makes you more prone to muscle soreness too.

4)    Active recovery: a great way to make your blood flow and facilitate recovery is light intensity exercise on your rest days.

5)    Massage/foam rolling: they increase blood flow and release muscle stiffness, which in turn relieves your pain.

6)    Stretching after each workout: this is one of the best ways to make the next day pain-free.

7)    Rest more: you might suffer from muscle soreness because you don’t give your body enough rest. Make sure not to train more than 5 times a week, even if you’re in good shape.

These are the most effective methods, and the most expensive of them might be your water bottle…
So make sure you try them all before spending your money on fancy trends.

3. The Most Productive Break You Can Take.

Mental work is strenuous and I won’t teach you anything by saying we need breaks to stay efficient and sane.

The problem nowadays is we often use these breaks to give our brain even more activity.
Social media, mobile games, chats…
We just can’t stay still.

How many times have you done it today?
And when was the last time you took a break without your phone?

Instead, you could take the best possible break there is: short exercise.

There’s nothing in this world that can better release your stress and restore your mental clarity.

Especially if you work from home, write, or study.

So today when you feel like it’s time to pause, try not to sit down and scroll.

Go for a walk, do some squats, stretch, or if you’ve been listening to my advice:
Take that pair of dumbbells in your drawer and do a few sets.

See how much better you feel, and how much better your work gets.

PS: This is me taking a short exercise break in Kuala Lumpur, what do you think of this view? 🤩

4. Don’t Train To Fail(ure).

What is “training to failure” and why you should avoid it.

Training to failure means doing repetitions until you “fail” the last one because your muscles are exhausted.

I never do that.
And if your goal is to get strong (which also makes you look good, feel good, and live longer), neither should you.

Whatever you do in the gym, you teach your body.

Train to failure and you teach your body to fail.

This is okay if your only goal is to build muscle mass, but it probably isn’t.

Training for strength will grow your muscle mass too, maybe not enough to become a bodybuilder, but enough to look like an athlete.

So instead of going to failure, do as many repetitions as you can with good form.

That’s how you build strength, looks, and longevity – sustainably.

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I hope you found some useful tips and motivation in today's edition.

Please share your feedback and help me improve my content for everyone!

A great way to do this is by replying to this email with a personal question you have about training.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

- Nico

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