People have asked me, on rare occasion, why I am “skipping” certain machines at the gym. 

There are no stupid questions!  I want to make sure I address even the easiest and most simple questions, to help *everyone* in the learning process towards achieving their healthy body goals.

It’s simply a matter of the mirror:  I base what machines I use and what exercises I’m going to do based on the overall look I’m trying to achieve.  

While I appreciate the “circuit” system that so many gyms have, they are designed primarily for people who really do not have any sense of direction, and just need to get their body moving.  In this regard, these circuit systems are fantastic and a great place to start for any newbie.

But for the more intermediate or advanced exerciser, we learn through experience which machines best suit our individual goals.

This topic applies more than anything to those who are looking to build muscle in an effort to “body shape” themselves, sculpt themselves into whatever their genetics will best allow them to accomplish.  Although you would think this automatically applies mostly to men, I am hoping that more women will try to understand the importance of weight resistance exercise as a crucial part of achieving your goals.

Toning and building our bodies into what we’re trying to achieve is the point.  This is the challenge we all have, but the great news is that there is a tremendous amount that we can all do to help change the things, the parts of our bodies that we’d like to change the most.

We all have individual body weaknesses.  For those using weight resistance, we have an advantage over those not using weights to help develop specific body parts in ways that better balance our bodies.  And although “spot reduction” is not really an option to reduce specific areas of our bodies, an overall understanding of diet and exercise can take us far towards reducing any specific body issues.  I’ll even go out on a limb and mention that SOME schools of thought are re-exploring the notion that we CAN “spot reduce”…a concept that has been allegedly proven as a falsehood, since the early 1990‘s.

Regardless: A better body is, in my opinion, achievable by just about 100% of the people who genuinely try.  The best body our genetics will allow…and even BEYOND the best of our genetics…is ALSO achievable with the right diet, activity level, and knowledge of how to get there.  

Based on how the rest of my family appears (all twenty to thirty pounds overweight), I am a living example of just that.  🙂

Love, Happiness, Health and Peace……………………Tim   🙂