You Have to Put in the Reps

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
Hence the name there is aMethod to the Madness.

(00:23):
Before I get started today, letme thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gilden of the Gilden GroupRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.

(00:44):
What's going on everybody?
886-451-2412.
What's going on everybody?
This is Rob here.
It is Memorial Day for me, Ithink.
When is this going to go off?
I think this is going to launchtomorrow morning, which is
Tuesday.
So I went and did the MicklerMile this morning in St

(01:08):
Augustine, near St Augustine,and I think I had done like a
mile race one other time maybe.
But you know, it's unique.
It's a different distance torun at.
It's actually pretty cool.
Anyway, fun way to start theday.
Had to be there pretty earlyand running a mile is different

(01:30):
than a 5k.
You got to go a little faster,right, but the cool thing about
it is just when you look at yourwatch you're basically going to
finish, you know.
So that was pretty neat.
There was not very many peoplethere, but there was some.
There was definitely elitecompetition there, which is
pretty neat to see.
There's this guy.
His name is Keith Brantley andhe's from our area, my area of

(01:54):
Central Florida, and he was inthe 1996 Olympics.
So that's pretty neat to see.
He ran the mile.
He's in his 60s now and he'sstill super fast.
He's part of that club thatputs the event on.
But anyway, I like to start myday with exercise.
That was definitely differentand that's how I started my day

(02:16):
today, because you know what Ialways think I've got to put in
the reps, and that's what I'mgoing to talk about today.
You know, at my gym I have aboard of 10 things that I think
are fundamental principles thatwe need to practice and work on,

(02:38):
to really stay with our fitnessand work on our physical
fitness to the best of ourabilities, and one of them is
quality over quantity.
And that's obviously true, orat least it's true in my mind,
because why would I put it on myboard if it's not true in my

(02:58):
mind.
So what I'm getting at here,because I said we got to put in
the reps.
At the same time we have tohave a healthy balance of we
have to put in the reps.
So the reps is, in my opinion,and the way I'm going to explain
it, is the quantity in life andof course, quality speaks for

(03:23):
itself, right?
So quality in the gym is therepetition should be done with
appropriate load, the repetitionshould be done with good form.
The quality for cardiorespiratory reps would be that
you're running at or jogging orbiking or walking at the
intensity that you should be at,or you're paying attention to

(03:48):
your body and not just doingwhat we call garbage miles.
So quality is just one of thecritical foundations of a good
exercise program to keepyourself going, to make sure
you're putting the prioritieswhere they need to be.
But, as I said, we have to alsodance with that gray area of.
We also have to put in the repsand we have to put in the reps

(04:13):
in anything that we want to besuccessful in life.
Now Arnold Schwarzenegger hashis famous quote that says it's
really all about the reps.
Has his famous quote that saysit's really all about the reps.
And he was known to write downhis little training program on a
chalkboard when he went to hisgym when he was a young man and

(04:35):
he would write down like everytime he completed a set.
He would kind of like draw aline on the board, you know.
So he was like counting hisreps.
So there is a point where wehave to understand that we have
to figure out what the work isthat we need to do and we need

(04:57):
to do the work.
You know, in my newsletter thismorning I was talking about this
concept and I was talking abouthow Michael Jordan is arguably
the greatest basketball playerto ever play.
I say arguably because there'sarguments and I'm not going to
sit here and try to solve ifthat's true or if he's number

(05:18):
one, because it really doesn'tmatter.
That's why I use the termarguably.
He's, in the argument, one ofthe greatest players to ever
play at his sport and he wasknown to have a phenomenal work
ethic in the gym alone, atpractice.
So I don't know, I'm sure hehad a great practice outside of
practice as well, but just withwhat's been documented and

(05:41):
reported is that when he was atpractice, when he played for the
Chicago Bulls, he would put inbetween 500 and 1000 shots at
practice.
I mean, doesn't that kind ofmake your arms sore just
thinking about it, you know?
And over 500 of those were freethrows.
Over 500 free throws.

(06:04):
This is a person who, at thetime, was a perennial all-star.
I don't know if there was aseason where he wasn't an
all-star.
He's a hall of famer.
He has won six championships.
I mean again, arguably thegreatest player to ever play.
And, by the way, his free throwpercentage for his career is

(06:25):
83.5%.
So that's really, really good.
So he felt like he still neededto put in the reps.
So he felt like he still neededto put in the reps.
500 to 1,000 shots per day.
That was his reps.
So I'm sure he had dribblingreps.
I'm sure he had passing reps.
I'm sure he had different reps.
I'm just trying to give you anexample of what reps mean and

(06:48):
what they can mean for you.
Kobe Bryant, who came alongmaybe a little bit later, like a
generation later, 10 yearslater I think they played at the
same time but he was of adifferent generation, the next
generation.
He wanted to be the nextMichael Jordan, and again he's

(07:09):
in the argument of one of thegreatest to ever play.
Well, the reports are that heput in 800 to 1,000 shots per
day.
Looking at that, seeing how hecame a little bit later, you go
oh 800.
So he had a top Jordan.
It's like okay, that's fine.
He still understood that he hadto put in the reps to try to
become the greatest.

(07:29):
I mean there are examples overand over and over.
When I was doing this, preparingfor this, preparing for the
email, I was looking atdifferent scenarios that people
might be able to relate to.
When we look at the NFL, tomBrady although I was never a
Patriots fan, but he is arguablythe greatest quarterback to

(07:53):
ever play and I'm not going todispute that the man won six or
six or seven Super Bowls.
I mean that is crazy how muchhe won.
And when he played the teams Ilike, like the Dolphins, I mean
he always pretty much dominatedthem.
And the reporting is that heput in three to six hours per

(08:14):
day of game film, three to sixhours per day, and he is
considered to be the smartest,most prepared quarterback to
ever play.
I mean we can look at thesescenarios and I hear it all the
time.
I hear oh well, you know,jordan was gifted and Kobe
Bryant was gifted and Tom Bradywas gifted.
It's like you have to be giftedto become a professional

(08:36):
athlete.
There's no question about it.
But I believe what separatesthem from the other gifted
players out there the otherphysically gifted is their
willingness to put in the work,that is, their repetitions.
Now I kind of ran out of.
I didn't want to use too manyexamples in the email because

(08:59):
then it kind of gets away frombeing a small brief, pointed
email in the mornings and so Ididn't get a chance to look up
exactly how many throws he made.
But I can remember the storiesof Dan Marino when he was a
young kid, in high school.
Now he was an elite quarterback.
He's also one of the greatestto ever play the game in the NFL

(09:20):
.
He didn't quite have Brady'ssuccess with Super Bowl wins,
but he is considered also one ofthe greatest to ever play, one
of the greatest throwingquarterbacks ever.
I'm sure we've all heard thatand again, I'm not here to argue
sports.
He was also known to put in thework.
He had what was known to be aphenomenal release, a very quick

(09:42):
release.
So he threw the ball from hisear.
That way he didn't have to windup and make these really long
throws so he can get the ballout quicker, so he didn't end up
getting sacked.
Well, you're not born with thatability to go.
Oh, throw it from your ear.
That came allegedly from hisfather telling him that he
should master this.
So he would go out into hisbackyard and throw footballs and

(10:07):
baseballs.
Because he also played a littlebit of professional baseball.
A lot of people don't realizehe was actually drafted by the
Kansas City Royals to playbaseball.
So he was just a great athleteall the way around.
But he would throw balls fromhis ear to the tree and again, I
don't want to give you theexact number because I didn't go
look it up, because I hadalready had enough information,

(10:29):
but I don't know, hundredsprobably.
And he wouldn't come insideuntil those throws were made.
I mean, so what are your repsyou have to put in?
I mean, I believe greatnesshappens when we put in the reps.
So if we want to be physicallyfit, what are the reps that we
have to do?
You know there's differenttypes of guidelines.

(10:53):
I've heard some people say youknow it doesn't matter what I do
, but I'm going to put in 75minutes of exercise per day.
Okay, I mean, that is puttingin the reps.
Or there are people,bodybuilders, that will go to
the gym and say I'm going to do22 sets of strength training

(11:13):
before I go home.
Okay, that's putting in thereps.
Maybe putting in the reps ismaking sure that you log your
food in your MyFitnessPal orwhatever device you're using day
in and day out, but you'reputting in the reps.
Or maybe you are counting thoseannoying calories Kind of the

(11:33):
same thing, but just a differentway to say it that you're
paying attention to your diet.
By putting in the reps, you'resaying all right, so to lose
this weight, I've got to eat1,400 calories a day, and I
don't believe that things justhappen.
So, in order to lose thisweight, this is the number me

(11:55):
and so-and-so came up with, orme and my calculations came up
with, and I'm going to follow itand I'm going to do it day in
and day out.
I'm going to add up my calories, I'm going to check it out, I'm
going to see if I hit mynumbers and I'm not going to go
over it.
So you're putting in the reps,going to go over it.

(12:19):
So you're putting in the reps.
So with me, lately one of mystruggles has been quad
flexibility.
I'm pretty flexible overall,but my quads they're just so
tight and it's strange becausethey didn't used to be.
And someone was asking me theother day so are you doing
anything different in yourtraining?
And it's like no, not really.
You know, I mean, I'm puttingin the reps there, which is good

(12:41):
, and that's probably whythey're getting tight.
Because, if you don't know,this, like when you strength
train, you're actuallyshortening the muscles, so you
can be making those muscles alittle more tight if you're not
appropriately stretching themout.
But then I got to think okay, so, rob, you don't miss a strength
training workout when you'resupposed to do it, you put in
the reps there.

(13:01):
Why?
Well, you like it, you see thebenefits.
You see the benefitsimmediately you get a pump.
When you leave the gym it feelsgood.
Okay, rob, you don't miss yourcardio, you know, because they
get runners high, or, you know,walkers high or cyclists high,
you know, whatever.
So after cardio I'm in a goodmood, you know, it makes me feel

(13:24):
invigorated, glad I did it.
So I don't miss that.
So I put in the reps, day in andday out, I'd say, with the
cardio and the strength training.
But then I ask all right, soyour quad flexibility seems to
be holding you back a little bit, at least bothers you.
You put in the reps.
It's like, eh, you know, I haveto be honest and say, you know,

(13:45):
maybe the last couple days,yeah, but not even really.
I mean, I haven't stretched yettoday.
It is 146.
I plan on stretching later whenI go into the gym, but you know
, I haven't.
Yesterday I think I did alittle bit, but you know, I know
I strength train and I can'tremember if I absolutely put

(14:06):
them in.
I mean, I know I did a coupleof days ago, I took some time
and really stretched out good,but see, that's not good.
Really stretched out good, butsee, that's not good.
I mean, if I want my quads to bemore flexible, if I want to get
back to the point where I canget that heel back into my rear
end like it used to be, and nowit's God, I don't know three
quarters of the way up, I'm like, why are these quads so tight?

(14:28):
I can still touch my toes.
My hamstrings are fine.
Well, whatever I mean, I cansit here and complain or I can
say, oh, I'm just getting older,you know, and I just, you know,
I'm not as flexible.
I mean that's BS, I'm notputting in the reps.
I mean, yeah, maybe 10 yearsago it was a little easier for

(14:48):
me to regain my flexibility inmy quads.
It would take a little bit ofwork, but I'd be able to pull
that foot back up into the butt.
Now I'm getting a full quadstretch.
It might've been easier.
Now it's harder, but notimpossible.
I need to put in more reps.
So if something isn't happeninglike it used to, I need to put

(15:10):
in more reps.
I mean, too many times we quit,we complain and we give up,
basically because we say youknow what, this isn't working.
And then we have to be honestwith ourselves and say, well,
have we been really putting inthe reps day in and day out?
Are we consistent with this?

(15:31):
Because we could probably lookback and go the things that
we've been really successful at.
We've been consistent withputting in the reps.
When I was in college and bothmy undergraduate and my graduate
degrees, I was obsessed withgetting really, really good
grades.

(15:51):
I'm not saying this is healthyor whatever, but it is what it
is.
It is who I was at the time andI think it came from not doing
overly well in high school.
A bit of a problem child.
I liked to party a little bitand I know you shouldn't say

(16:11):
that in high school.
But I try to be real on mypodcast, my emails, in person,
so people understand everybodycan get better at everything
that they do.
But I mean I didn't make goodgrades because I flat out didn't
care.
And then I thought, well, maybeI'm just not cut out for this
after leaving high high schoolso took a little bit of time to

(16:34):
figure out what I wanted to do.
I was insecure about startingcollege because I just didn't
know if I could do it.
You know, because I'd nevertried.
I never put in the reps in highschool ever, I mean ever.
I look back sometimes I'm likehow did I even graduate?
Like I didn't even turn thingsin.
I mean I just flat out didn'tcare.

(16:57):
So that's on me, nobody else,that's on me.
So I started up and right awayI told myself Rob, you're going
to put in the reps.
Reps was studying an hour foreach class per day.
So if I was taking threeclasses which I think I started

(17:18):
with or maybe two, I can'tremember I was going to study
that class for two hours orstudy period for two hours.
If it was three classes, it wasthree hours per day.
I wasn't going to wait the cram, I wanted to know that I did
everything in my power to makeit happen.
And if I was going to fail kindof like I did in high school,
even though I didn't technicallyfail, I didn't make good grades
then I was at least going toknow okay, it's not cut out for

(17:42):
me, but for me to figure thisout, I'm going to have to give
it my best, because the only waywe know if something is working
or cut out for us is if we'regiving it our best, and if we're
not, we don't have anything toblame, but our effort.
So I did, and I remember, aftermy first semester, getting
almost all A's.
I think I had one B, but youknow what?

(18:03):
That was one of the rare B's Isaw in all of college.
I think I had two, you know twoB's and the rest were A's.
I had almost straight A's allthe way through my UCF career
and I graduated magna cum laude,top 10% of my class.
I was in Phi Kappa Phi, whichis the National Honor Society
for Psychology, and then I wenton to get my master's and I

(18:26):
graduated with a 4.0 in mymaster's.
I mean, that's coming from aperson who you know should have
failed high school.
I think, you know, probablyunder today's standards I would
have, because you know, backthen they just didn't care.
You know we always say as Xersand boomers, oh, kids are softer
.
It's like dude, it is so muchharder for these kids today in

(18:47):
school that have to pass thesecollege type exams when they're
in high school.
I mean, no, no, it's a lotharder for them.
You know there's more standards, there's not less, there's more
.
But you know that's neitherhere nor there.
You know I went through what Iwent through.
But the point is I had to put inthe reps because it really
mattered to me and I thinkthat's the key when something

(19:07):
matters, we have to put in thereps.
The other thing I did allthrough college was I put in the
reps with the gym because thatmattered too.
Now I was already pretty goodat quote gym, I could work out,
I was already bodybuilding, butI still loved it and I still had
this belief system that if Ikind of backed off a little bit
I would lose it Again.
It's probably not overlyhealthy, but it is what it is

(19:29):
and now, being an adult, I canlook back and go.
Well, that might have been alittle too obsessive, but you
know, at least I can see thatnow.
But the point is is in the twothings at that time in my life
that mattered the most, I put inthe reps and that was getting
an education and that wasstaying fit.
Those were the two things.
Those were my priorities and Ishowed it was my priorities by

(19:50):
putting in the reps.
So reps doesn't always have tobe 10 reps on the chest, press
right, reps have to be.
You know, maybe it is, I mean,maybe you know.
I know people that say theydon't feel good mentally unless
they do 100 pushups per day.
Okay, that's putting in thereps.
And I've known people that say,oh man, it's like almost
bedtime and they haven't done itand they go do it and that's

(20:12):
important to them.
And again somebody might say,well, you know, that's a little
weird doing a.
You know a hundred pushups at1130 at night.
No, it's not.
I mean, you know, and who careswhat people think is weird
anyway?
Like the most important thingis, like what is it for you to
figure out what you have to do?
Like I give a few clients whoare willing and ready homework

(20:33):
and I'll say, just do this andthat's, they do it.
I mean, that's putting in thereps.
And if we don't put in the reps, how on earth do we expect to
hit our goals?
Like only we can do it.
All right.
So here's your assignment.
I want you to figure out whatreps you have to put in per day.
Just figure it out, and thenyour second assignment is start.

(20:57):
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