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Issue #47

1) My Routine for Strong Wrists.
2) 5 Reasons You’re Losing Muscle.
3) The Best Time to Work Out (For You).

Read time: 4 minutes

Hey Disciples of Steel!

I have a simple question for you.
It is really important you answer so that I know how I can help you in the best way possible.

As you know, I’ve been training a master instructor.
I taught him everything I know and he remembers it so well he can even quote me word for word and tell you the exact date and time he learnt it from me.

The only catch is… he is not human. 😱

Shihan is Artificial Intelligence.

Now, I don’t think you could tell the difference as he even learnt how to sound like me.

But he never did a pull-up in his whole life, and I know you might prefer speaking directly to someone who’s been where you are, and actually trains and knows what sore muscles feel like.

So the question is:
Would you rather ask Shihan for advice and get help within seconds, or ask me personally and wait 24 hours before getting an answer?

As much as I enjoyed training this Master GPT, at this point I have no preference. Whatever you choose, I’ll listen.
It might be Shihan, me, or both if I see enough interest from both sides.

I really count on your feedback to make this community the fittest and strongest we’ve ever seen!

If you need help or have a question about your training, please let me know by replying to this email and I’ll share my answer with everyone.

Now let’s start! 💪

1. My Routine for Strong Wrists.

When people hear the word warm-up, they usually think of cardio or light exercise.

Most understand the need to warm up their muscles and raise their heart rate, but few consider joint preparation.
In fact, it's more common for the average person to injure a joint or the connective tissue surrounding it than a muscle.

So today I want to focus on wrists and show you how you can prepare them before every push workout—not only to limit the risk of injury but also to help you lift heavier.

Below is my wrist conditioning routine.
It only takes a couple of minutes to complete and will dramatically increase your wrist strength over the weeks, keeping you safe from injury both in the gym and in your daily activities.

We are only as strong as our weakest link.
So make sure these joints are conditioned, and for your own sake, start with your wrists.

Click this link for the full YouTube video and instructions.

2. 5 Reasons You’re Losing Muscle.

Here are the 5 likeliest reasons you’re losing muscle.

1) You don’t eat enough.
And that could mean not enough protein, but also not enough carbs.

2) You do too much cardio without the diet and resistance training required to sustain your muscle mass.

3) You train too much.
This leads to a snowball effect of consequences like poor recovery and detraining that break down your muscle.

4) You don’t take rest days, and the same consequences as no. 3 happen.

5) You don’t do enough strength training.
If your body doesn’t get the message that strength is important, you’re not giving it a reason to retain muscle mass.

Here’s what you can do next:
Try fixing each point one by one, and see what makes the biggest difference.
Eventually you want to keep all this list in check.

3. The Best Time to Work Out (For You).

“There’s no best time to work out”, I’ve said.

“The best time to train is whenever you prefer.”

I’ve said it and it still holds true because if you do that, it’ll be easier to stick to your program.

But it’s not always so simple, so today I’ll give you a straight answer:

• Train early in the morning if you’re busy and simply want to get in shape.
So it gets done.
• Train before lunch or early afternoon if you want to gain strength.
So you have enough energy.
• Train in the evening if you want to do cardio.
So you get into a meditative state.

Following these simple guidelines can really help.
But again, it won’t work if you don’t like it.

So don’t worry if you don’t do exactly what’s written above, the most important is to make sure you get the work done and enjoy the process, no matter what time of the day.

4. Something to Remember.

Staying fit is often about what you don’t do rather than what you do.

The gym is where you build a stronger body.
Outside of the gym is where you make it count.

That includes recovering properly, as well as making sure you don’t ruin the work you did with bad habits.

Not snacking,
Not smoking,
Not sleeping late,
Not sitting all day,
Not staring at screens too long,
And even not training too much…
All that requires discipline too.

If you’ve already built a habit of working out, congratulations!

This is the first and hardest step.

But now, what do you do with the other 23 hours?

Fitness News

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3. Sports injuries: How they’re treated and when you can safely return to play
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Reclaim Your Calm

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 fitness.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

- Nico

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