Q&A #1 - The Best Pre-Workout Supplement, Recovery, and Altitude Masks
If you don’t follow me on Instagram (@mjttraining), you should. I’ve been doing Instagram fitness Q&A’s every Friday. I’ve been getting requests through DM’s to elaborate on several of them so I figured I’d start compiling some of the most popular questions with longer/better answers than I can provide in an Instagram story.
Today’s Questions:
1. What’s the best pre-workout?
2. How do I build confidence lifting heavy weights?
3. Why should I lift weights if I’m just training for a PT test?
4. The best things to help recovery from workouts
5. How useful is an altitude training mask?
6. Is stretching good before a workout, after a workout, or both?
7. How important are supplements/protein for a casual fitness enthusiast?
8. Is it better to lift incorrectly and tweak something, or not lift at all until you’re sure of proper form?
9. I’m bored with my cardio, need ideas
1. What’s the best pre-workout?
I’m going to answer the question behind the question – how do I get going in the gym when I’m tired and unmotivated? My answer – enough sleep, good nutrition, and not murdering yourself in the gym. I get it, sometimes you’re tired and would rather be anywhere but the gym. On those days you might just need a kick to get moving, in which case I recommend a cup of coffee or a small energy drink. You shouldn’t be relying on pre-workout to get you through every session. If you are, re-evaluate if you’re trying to do too much in the gym – too much weight, volume, etc. Not every session should be a 10 out of 10 effort. That’s a recipe for burnout.
Re-examine your sleep hygiene. Make every effort to get 6-8 hours of sleep most nights. Sometimes it won’t happen, and that’s fine. Perfect is the enemy of good; make it happen as often as you can. Sleep is essential for both mental and physical restoration.
You’re an adult, which means you know what foods are good and bad for you. It isn’t complicated. If you’re eating like crap, don’t be surprised when you feel like crap.
2. How do I build confidence lifting heavier weights?
If you’ve never been under a heavy squat or bench press, it can be extremely intimidating. Lifting heavy weights is a skill, and you shouldn’t expect to be good at it without spending time developing that skill.
The best method I’ve found to build confidence with my clients is to focus on progressing slowly and never missing weights. Training to failure and missing weights is unnecessary and counter-productive. Building confidence takes time. Shoot for small, consistent wins every session. Not every session needs to be a massive personal best.
When you’re training, ACT confident with the weight even if you aren’t. Don’t “wimp” the bar out of the rack; take it out with confidence. No matter what exercise you’re doing, squeeze the bar hard, get as tight as possible, and visualize success. The more you put yourself in those uncomfortable situations, the more you’ll know what to expect.
Click here for an in-depth barbell training program to get you strong and conditioned.
3. Why should I lift weights if I’m just training for a PT test?
I won’t go as far as to say it’s necessary, but it’s optimal. Everything else being equal, maximal strength makes submaximal tasks like calisthenics easier. Who do you think is going to be able to do more push-ups, someone who can bench press 1.5x their bodyweight or someone who can’t bench their bodyweight at all? Who can do more pull-ups, someone who can pull themselves plus 50 pounds of gear over the bar or someone who can barely do their bodyweight? Of course, this assumes that both people have been training their calisthenics and aren’t carrying too much body fat. I want you strong, lean, and athletic, not just strong in a few gym lifts.
Having a strong lower body will also help your sprint times and may reduce injury risk for all running-related tests. Don’t skip deadlifts.
I would also encourage you to look beyond the PT test. You wouldn’t be training for a PT test if it wasn’t related to a job. Lifting weights will make you better prepared for all job tasks that require sprinting, carrying, climbing, or overpowering an assailant.
Click here for my police academy training program – includes weights, calisthenics, running, and everything else you need to succeed.
4. The best things to help recovery from workouts
Sleep 6-8 hours per night, eat enough calories to support your activity level, and manage your training well so you aren’t doing too much or too little for your abilities and goals. Things like stretching, massage, foam rolling, cupping, dry needling, cryotherapy, etc have limited evidence for their effectiveness and aren’t necessary, especially if you don’t have your sleep, training, and nutrition nailed down. If you enjoy these therapies and they help you subjectively relax and “feel better,” use them! However, don’t convince yourself that you MUST use them to recover properly.
5. How useful is an altitude training mask?
Not particularly useful. Altitude masks were originally marketed as providing similar benefits to training at high altitude. They do make it more difficult for you to breathe, making exercise feel harder. However, living and training at high altitude causes specific adaptations in the body, one of the main ones being an increase in red blood cells, the cells that carry oxygen to the rest of your body. More available oxygen = better performance in endurance activities. This cannot be replicated without blood doping (what Lance Armstrong got in trouble for).
Training masks may strengthen your respiratory muscles, but it’s debated whether this is necessary for increased performance. The main drawback to training with a mask is that it makes you work at a lower intensity, blunting the other adaptations your body makes to endurance exercise. You feel like you’re working harder, but your training intensity is actually lower. This probably isn’t optimal for increasing performance longer-term.
Save your money or invest it in good training and education instead of a mask.
6. Is stretching good before a workout, after a workout, or both?
Research thus far has shown static stretching (holding a position for a set amount of time) before a workout decreases power and strength. Dynamic stretching (moving through a range of motion without holding any one position) is a great way to warm up for most athletic activities, so knock yourself out.
If you want to do static or dynamic stretching after a workout, it won’t hurt anything. Probably isn’t necessary but if you enjoy it and it makes you feel good who am I to say not to do it?
The exception to this rule is if your desired activity or skill requires a large amount of flexibility (IE you want to be able to do the splits). In this case, stretching is necessary, but keep your flexibility work separate from your other training.
Read this for more of my take of mobility work.
7. How important are supplements/protein for a casual fitness enthusiast?
Supplements in general aren’t very important. It’s called a “supplement” for a reason – it supplements your current diet. If you don’t have your diet in order, don’t bother with ANY supplements. Save your money or invest it in high quality food and training education. There is no magic bullet.
The one exception I’ll make is protein powder. Almost no one I know gets enough protein every day, and high protein foods can get expensive and are usually inconvenient to eat on the go. A high quality whey isolate protein will help you get enough protein in your diet, especially if you’re sitting at a desk or on the road all day. Look for a product with minimal fat, carbs, and ingredients besides protein.
8. Is it better to lift incorrectly and tweak something, or not lift at all until you’re sure of proper form?
There’s a lot to unpack here. I’m almost always going to say doing something is better than doing nothing, so the second option is out. Start training.
Let’s take a closer look at the first option. First, let’s unpack the phrase “lift incorrectly.” I am very hesitant to say there’s a universally “incorrect” way to lift something. With the huge variation in body shapes and sizes, limb lengths (or missing limbs), neurological conditions, and movement habits, I’ve seen a huge range of variation in movement. Let’s not put movement in an arbitrary box.
This even goes for ways of moving that have been historically called “incorrect” or even “dangerous.” For example, almost every maximal deadlift I’ve ever seen is pulled with a slightly (or very) rounded back. Listen to the internet gurus and they’ll tell you that’s a sure way to blow your back out, yet it doesn’t always happen. If that technique is so dangerous, why not?
These athletes have a high tolerance for both the weight they’re lifting and the positions they’re in. The position itself isn’t dangerous; it’s a lack of tolerance for the position. Here’s another example. When I first started lifting weights, deadlifting 135 once with a rounded back would leave me sore for days. Today, using the exact same rounded back technique, I could do dozens of reps and not be sore or have any negative effects at all. I’m stronger and my tolerance for different positions is greater. It’s not the technique.
Start thinking about technique from a performance standpoint. What technique works best for my body in order to move the most weight or complete the most volume? Technique is a continuum from “less optimal” to “more optimal.” It isn’t black and white.
Back to the original question. I’d advise you to 1. Get technique coaching but also 2. Don’t be afraid of movement. Instead, slowly build up the weight and volume you’re using. Start wayyyy too easy, just 1-2 working sets of each movement, with a weight that you know you could get 3-4 extra reps per set if you had to. This is plenty to start out with and will build a foundation for all your future training.
9. I’m bored with my cardio, need ideas
Try a farmer’s walk complex. Pick 3-5 bodyweight or kettlebell exercises for sets of 15-20 and do 3-5 rounds of a circuit. The catch is between each exercise, do a 100ft farmer’s walk with heavy dumbbells or kettlebells. You’ll build conditioning, grip strength, and strength to move under load even when you’re tired.
Here’s an example:
20 KB Swings
100ft Farmer’s Walk
15 Dive Bomber Push-ups
100ft Farmer’s Walk
20 KB Goblet Squats
100ft Farmer’s Walk
Repeat 3-5 times
**Thanks for reading. For more Q&A’s, follow me on Instagram @mjttraining or just shoot me an email**
If you’re looking for a fitness trainer in the Mt Juliet/Hermitage/Nashville TN area, online fitness training, or just need some advice to get your fitness program started, contact me