There is nothing more pathetic than a man who ego lifts at the gym.

For those of you who don't know what ego lifting is,

Ego lifting is someone who sadly gives a fuck about what others think of them at the gym, and loads more weight on the bar than they are capable of handling just so they can be seen by others "lifting" as much weight as they can get away with.

Notice "lifting" in quotation marks. Yeah you might be able to do the minimum it takes to "lift" said weight, but at what cost? Your form sucks, you didn't do enough reps, you didn't do the right lift, and so on.

I see ego lifters every day at the gym. Doing way more weight than they can handle. Doing curls where they throw their shoulders backward so hard and have their elbows out in front of their body so far that they are getting zero bicep activation at all and turning it into a front deltoid workout.

Or squatting 1/4 of the way down. Or dead lifting with a rounded back that looks like a question mark. Or using all the momentum they possibly can to bring the bar down on lat pulldowns. Turning incline bench/incline DB bench into a flat bench by moving their ass forward and arching their back. Turning overhead presses into a push press. You get the idea.

A good prescription for being an insecure ego lifting faggot is to try out the Vince Gironda 8x8 system.

8 sets of 8 reps.... with 15 seconds of rest

Vince Gironda was an old school body builder who called this system "the honest workout" Your ego will quickly be crushed with this workout program. Because in order to do 8 sets of 8 with only 15 seconds or rest, you can't be doing a lot of weight.

Run it for 6 weeks. If you want to ease into it, take the first week and do 30 seconds of rest instead of 15 to get the tempo down, and calibrate the weight you can handle. Then in week 2, go down to 20 seconds. Weeks 3-6, 15 seconds. I guarantee you the initial weights you choose will be too heavy. That's how it was for me. You think you are picking a light weight, and then you realize you can't finish the 8 sets of 8 and have to go lower next time.

It's not just 8 sets of 8, its 8 sets of 8 with good form. If you have to compromise your form at any point except maybe the last rep or two on the last set, its too heavy.

Barbell curling 20 pounds? Dumbell curling 10 pounds? Squatting 135? Overhead Pressing only the bar? Neck Pressing only 115 pounds? Having to use the assist pad on pull ups/chin ups? If the thought of doing any of that makes you shudder because gasp people might think you are weak, the 8x8 system will put that mindset to rest. I can do 20+ chin ups easily in a single set. But in an 8x8 I have to do them assisted. Oh no, people are seeing me do assisted chin ups, oh no! How will I survive?

Here are the lifts I do when I run this program:

Monday: Gironda Neck Press, Wide Grip Dips, Overhead Press, Lateral Raise, Lying Tricep Extension, Smith Machine Reverse Grip Bench

Tuesday: Wide Grip Lateral Pulldown, Assisted Chin Ups, Drag Curls, Spider Curls, Reverse Grip Barbell Curls, Forearm Wrist Curls

Wednesday: Squat, Hack Squat, Leg Curls, Standing Calf Raises, Cable Ys, Barbell Shrugs

Thursday: Incline DB Press, Cable Crossovers, Standing DB Press, Kneeling Face Pulls, Rope Tricep Pushdowns, Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions

Friday: Chest Supported Row, Assisted Pull Up, Barbell Curl, Incline DB Curl, Reverse Grip DB Curl, Reverse Grip Wrist Curls

Saturday: Leg Press, Glute Ham Raise, Seated Calf Raise, Hang Clean, Prone Press

Sunday: OFF

Run it for 6 weeks. You'll learn how to workout at a fast pace, and perfect good form. I run it for 6 weeks every year, and just got done with my most recent 6 week cycle and its a great way to disrupt your body.