Having friends is essential -- a true gift in life. Friends are never perfect, just like you aren't perfect. But they always have your best interests at heart. To have a good friend you must be a good friend. I've got a number of friends at the gym. Here are two of them.
We are constantly nudging each other on in our goal to take good care of the fragile tents in which we dwell in this world. Because of their encouragement and example, today I tried a brand new exercise called the bicep cable curl. I did it both one-armed....
... and two-armed.
Now, I'm not one who believes that you need tons of novelty if you're a lifting novice like me. If you're coming back to the gym stronger on a consistent basis, then your program is working for you. So exercise variety is not some holy grail that lifters need to obsess over. That said, there's nothing wrong with mixing things up from time to time, like I did today. I definitely don't need a million exercises to grow my biceps, but I am willing to give new exercises a try if I think they can help me reach my goals.
Incidentally, another thing that really drives me during my workouts, in addition to the help and motivation of others, is listening to great music like this awesome piece.
I love it so much I'm teaching it to myself on the piano.
In a nutshell, the most reliable way to make progress in the gym is a combination of consistency with your current routine and the willingness to add in new exercises if you think they are useful for achieving your overall fitness goals. Since muscle growth is a very slow and gradual process in the short term, however, it's probably best to stick with those exercises that have proven to be the most advantageous to you through the months and even years.
Meanwhile, I've been doing house cleaning and guess what -- I'm finding it a lot more tiring than working out at the gym. I always feel uninspired and generally blah when it comes to working around the house. I do love my family, though, and nobody likes a parent who's a slob. While I do sort of care about appearances, I clean the house mostly because dust is not good for your lungs or anyone else's for that matter.
Back to dusting ....