Rhys

28 | Strongman fan, music lover, gamer, weirdo, nerd | Instagram - Flux_RS

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

One of my biggest pet peeves in fitness is when people call a training session a ‘lift’. Like “just got a great lift in, feeling so good right now”.

That’s like having a meal and calling it an ‘eat’. Stop it.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

The metal community and the gaming community have at least one thing in common:

Constantly complaining about what they don’t like instead of just enjoying what they do.

Nobody is gonna listen to your whinging. Be constructive and rational. “*thing I hate* IS TRASH” does nothing

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

Training for multiple qualities at once might not be optimal for achieving your absolute peak in any one of them, but it sure does makes you more well-rounded and adaptable than those who hyper-focus on one thing.

For most people, being well-rounded will serve you better.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

Don’t judge someone’s progress based on where they are now, look at where they’ve come from.

It’s a good bet that the person who built their deadlift from 50-150kg knows more about training than the person who pulls 150kg on their first day. Same strength, different experience.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

The main gripe I have with social media fitness is how normalised PED usage has become.

If you wanna use PEDs then go ahead, but glorifying it will always rub me the wrong way. You aren’t a savage ‘transcending your mortal form’, you’re actively promoting unhealthy practices.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

People can argue about how good or bad the transformers films are but nobody can deny the orchestral soundtrack is immense.

‘Arrival to Earth’ is Hanz Zimmer-level epic.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

Always unfortunate when a band or artist starts prioritising making songs for the radio. You lose the heart and soul that made their music good to begin with.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

“REEE Sleep Token isn’t metal!!”

Not exclusively. But they have songs that fit somewhere in the spectrum of metal subgenres.

Just because a band doesn’t ONLY make metal music doesn’t mean they can’t be associated with the genre at all.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

“But people have different goals in the gym, some just want to build muscle and look better”

One of the key points of my philosophy towards fitness is that bodybuilding/aesthetics has poisoned people’s perception of what the purpose of training is.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

It’s remarkable the amount of people that go to the gym but have minimal athleticism and questionable kinaesthetic awareness if you were to throw them into a novel movement.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

For anyone who’s just training to be a generally more capable human, you should be elevating these things. If you’ve been training for over 5 years and the only thing you’ve attained is larger muscles, rethink your priorities.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

In life there are those who emit brightness and those who must gravitate towards it.

If you do neither, you will reside in misery.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

In terms of exercise variety:

A good general rule of thumb is to stick with a movement until progress stalls, then change the movement.

There’s nuance involved, but ‘muscle confusion’ is a nonsense term that shouldn’t be used as a factor when considering exercise selection.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

One of the best pieces of advice I can offer for anyone getting into the gym for the new year: try to understand the reasons for what you’re doing.

Any movement is better than none but you’ll make the best progress when you know why you’re doing certain things over other things.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

Strength and fitness is a life-long pursuit. You can’t expect to be where you want to be in a matter of weeks or months.

You must be prepared for this to take years. That’s the reality.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

If you’re under 40 and have no health conditions you should not be complaining about chronic aches and pains.

Modern life has made people so sedentary they think mid-30s is ‘getting old’.

Move more, human beings aren’t meant to sit still the majority of their life.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

Most people who exercise want to look better.

The biggest factor influencing our physique is muscular development.

The main driver of muscle growth is mechanical tension.

Therefore weight training is critical whether you want to lose fat or get jacked. Lift some heavy stuff.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

You must stay on track when you follow a programme.

Don’t go too much heavier on good days or too much lighter on bad days, if a prescribed RPE requires you to go wildly off-track then you need to re-assess your training.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

Strength training is all about stimulating neuromuscular adaptations, NOT bludgeoning the muscle.

I see far too many people failing reps when they’re trying to get stronger, this isn’t how we facilitate strength gains. In fact I’ve found that it actually makes me weaker.

[Rhys @Flux_RS]

The Olympics showcase the ever-improving pinnacle of human performance in many disciplines.

Don’t let that undermine your own efforts to be the best that YOU can be. If you are better than you used to be, at anything, that’s worthy of pride. Keep grinding.