A lot of people who are new to training are often lifting weights with no direction. Unsure of what they are doing or trying to achieve they are not pushing themselves to the limits of their potential. If you are one of these people here is a sample routine for you to try.
Bodybuilding:
Day 1:
Chest : Decline Bench press 5 sets in the 8-10 rep range
Incline Dumbbell Press 3 sets in the 8-10 rep range
Parallel dips 3 sets to failure
Triceps: Over heard extensions 3 sets in the 8-10 rep range
French curl into close grip bench press supersets.
Tricep pull down 3 sets in the 8-10 rep range
Abdominals: Sit ups 3 sets, the last one till failure
Leg raises 3 sets 3 the last one to failure
Day 2:
Rest
Day 3:
Back: Bent over Rows 5 sets of 8-10
dumbbell pull ups 3 sets of 8-10
Lat pull down 3 sets of 8-10
Chin up 3 sets to failure
Biceps: Hammer curls 3 sets of 10
Concentration curls 3 sets of 10
Ez bar curls 3 sets of 10
Day 4:
Abdominals: Sit ups 3 sets, the last one till failure
Leg raises 3 sets 3 the last one to failure
Day 5:
Legs: Squats 3 sets of 10-12
deadlifts 3 sets of 8-10
Legs extensions 2 sets of 10
leg curls 2 sets of 10
Calf raises 3 sets of 12-15
Day 6:
Rest
Day 7:
Rest
Monday, 5 December 2011
Frank Zane High Def Body Review
This is a review of Frank Zanes latest book High Def Body. For those of you who do not know who he is, Frank Zane is a 3 time Mr Olympia and has one of the most aesthetic bodies I have ever seen, look him up!
The book is one of the most comprehensive and complete I have ever read on the subject of bodybuilding. This book covers a wide range of subjects and information that would be useful to anyone who does any form of training.
Some of the subjects he covers are weight training for men, women, children and the elderly, diet, supplements, posing, psychology, cutting weight, bulking up and steroid effects to name a few. There is actually much more covered in the book. Frank Zane has been training for many years and built the best body in the world at one time BUT some of the methods he endorses will not be for everybody. We all have different genetics and need different things sometimes in our training.
One of the most useful things I found from this book was the tips on injury prevention, something I feel anyone who trains should pay attention to as injuries don't just affect your training but can in some cases affect your everyday life.
His ideas on the psychological part of training are great also and I am already seeing the benefits from some of the techniques Frank covers in the book.
If I had to make criticism of this book I would say some of the pictures (which are great, and there are lots of them) are awkwardly positioned on the pages making you have to read around them. Also, some of the advice on training could perhaps seem a little dated to some. Frank is not trying to reinvent the wheel here and the exercises and routines he suggests are basic.
Overall this is a great read and I feel EVERYONE who reads this will learn a lot from it. Frank answers almost all the questions you could ask about bodybuilding. I'm very impressed with this book and would give it a solid 9/10. I hope this review has been of some help, thanks for reading!
The book is one of the most comprehensive and complete I have ever read on the subject of bodybuilding. This book covers a wide range of subjects and information that would be useful to anyone who does any form of training.
Some of the subjects he covers are weight training for men, women, children and the elderly, diet, supplements, posing, psychology, cutting weight, bulking up and steroid effects to name a few. There is actually much more covered in the book. Frank Zane has been training for many years and built the best body in the world at one time BUT some of the methods he endorses will not be for everybody. We all have different genetics and need different things sometimes in our training.
One of the most useful things I found from this book was the tips on injury prevention, something I feel anyone who trains should pay attention to as injuries don't just affect your training but can in some cases affect your everyday life.
His ideas on the psychological part of training are great also and I am already seeing the benefits from some of the techniques Frank covers in the book.
If I had to make criticism of this book I would say some of the pictures (which are great, and there are lots of them) are awkwardly positioned on the pages making you have to read around them. Also, some of the advice on training could perhaps seem a little dated to some. Frank is not trying to reinvent the wheel here and the exercises and routines he suggests are basic.
Overall this is a great read and I feel EVERYONE who reads this will learn a lot from it. Frank answers almost all the questions you could ask about bodybuilding. I'm very impressed with this book and would give it a solid 9/10. I hope this review has been of some help, thanks for reading!
Friday, 11 November 2011
Ectomorph Back Training
As an ectomorph we are in a constant up hill struggle to gain quality muscle mass. Training the back gives us that 'thickness' when looking from the side and is an absolute must for anyone who is bodybuilding. I wanted to post up a back routine that will hopefully be of help.
The first exercise I would like to talk about is the pull/chin up. When doing Pull ups I've found that it's best to do more sets with lower repitions. I can really put the focus on quality reps and attaining full stretch. I feel I gain far more muscle mass this way. My favourite is to do 6 sets of 5 reptitions but this obviousley depends on your level of fitness/experience.
The second exercise I feel is the best is bent over barbell rows. But rather than raising the weight to the chest/abdomen area really making a concentrated effort to bring the bar in towards your waist. I've found this activates my lats and overall back much better. The weight must get heavier and heavier with this exercise as this is your main mass builder.
Another exercise which is great for you back is the lateral raise. Although not a big mass gainer and you can't go to heavy. It's absolutely brilliant. You will really feel the burn when performing this exercise.
It's not conventional but I find a standing shoulder press with a slight arch in the back a great mass builder for the traps and the rest of the upper back. Lift with precaution though, you do not want to risk injuring your lower back!
As a finisher I like to do lat pull downs. With as wide a grip as I possibly can and bringing the weight down right to chest level. Its always important to make a conscious effort to engage the back at the beginning of the movement so that you don't use your arms to much with this exercise. I like to keep a medium/heavy weight with this and increase the reps to 12-15.
The routine I do looks like this:
set reps
Chin ups 6 5
Bent over Barbell Rows 5 8-10
Lateral raises 3 10
Leaning Shoulder Press 3 10
Lat Pull down 3 12-15
If you're stuck with any back development or getting bored of your routine. Give this one a go and see how it is for you.
The first exercise I would like to talk about is the pull/chin up. When doing Pull ups I've found that it's best to do more sets with lower repitions. I can really put the focus on quality reps and attaining full stretch. I feel I gain far more muscle mass this way. My favourite is to do 6 sets of 5 reptitions but this obviousley depends on your level of fitness/experience.
The second exercise I feel is the best is bent over barbell rows. But rather than raising the weight to the chest/abdomen area really making a concentrated effort to bring the bar in towards your waist. I've found this activates my lats and overall back much better. The weight must get heavier and heavier with this exercise as this is your main mass builder.
Another exercise which is great for you back is the lateral raise. Although not a big mass gainer and you can't go to heavy. It's absolutely brilliant. You will really feel the burn when performing this exercise.
It's not conventional but I find a standing shoulder press with a slight arch in the back a great mass builder for the traps and the rest of the upper back. Lift with precaution though, you do not want to risk injuring your lower back!
As a finisher I like to do lat pull downs. With as wide a grip as I possibly can and bringing the weight down right to chest level. Its always important to make a conscious effort to engage the back at the beginning of the movement so that you don't use your arms to much with this exercise. I like to keep a medium/heavy weight with this and increase the reps to 12-15.
The routine I do looks like this:
set reps
Chin ups 6 5
Bent over Barbell Rows 5 8-10
Lateral raises 3 10
Leaning Shoulder Press 3 10
Lat Pull down 3 12-15
If you're stuck with any back development or getting bored of your routine. Give this one a go and see how it is for you.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Arnold Schwarzenegger - motivational bodybuilding quotes
Arnold Schwarzenegger is someone who a lot of people, including myself, look upto. So I have posted some quotes of his on here that I hope you will enjoy.
"The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent."
"I never set limits or created mental barriers. You may have read that I imagined my biceps as big as mountain peaks when I did my curling exercises. This visualization process was essential if I was to gain the kind of mass and size I needed to win the Mr. Olympia contest against monsters like Sergio Oliva and Lou Ferrigno ..."
"Experiencing this pain in my muscles and aching and going on and on is my challenge. The last three or four reps is what makes the muscles grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens. I have no fear of fainting. I do squats until I fall over and pass out. So what? It's not going to kill me. I wake up five minutes later and I'm OK. A lot of other athletes are afraid of this. So they don't pass out. They don't go on."
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."
"Learned helplessness is the giving-up reaction, the quitting response that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn't matter."
"Good things don't happen by coincidence. Every dream carries with it certain risks, especially the risk of failure. But I am not stopped by risks. Suppose a great person takes the risk and fails. Then the person must try again. You cannot fail forever. If you try ten times, you have a better chance of making it on the eleventh try than if you didn't try at all."
"As a kid I always idolized the winning athletes. It is one thing to idolize heroes. It is quite another to visualize yourself in their place. When I saw great people, I said to myself: "I can be there."
"We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There's really an attitude
to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be
hungry. You have to want to conquer."
"My instinct was to win, eliminate anyone who is in competition, destroy my enemy,
and move on without any kind of hesitiation at all."
"The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent."
"I never set limits or created mental barriers. You may have read that I imagined my biceps as big as mountain peaks when I did my curling exercises. This visualization process was essential if I was to gain the kind of mass and size I needed to win the Mr. Olympia contest against monsters like Sergio Oliva and Lou Ferrigno ..."
"Experiencing this pain in my muscles and aching and going on and on is my challenge. The last three or four reps is what makes the muscles grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens. I have no fear of fainting. I do squats until I fall over and pass out. So what? It's not going to kill me. I wake up five minutes later and I'm OK. A lot of other athletes are afraid of this. So they don't pass out. They don't go on."
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."
"Learned helplessness is the giving-up reaction, the quitting response that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn't matter."
"Good things don't happen by coincidence. Every dream carries with it certain risks, especially the risk of failure. But I am not stopped by risks. Suppose a great person takes the risk and fails. Then the person must try again. You cannot fail forever. If you try ten times, you have a better chance of making it on the eleventh try than if you didn't try at all."
"As a kid I always idolized the winning athletes. It is one thing to idolize heroes. It is quite another to visualize yourself in their place. When I saw great people, I said to myself: "I can be there."
"We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There's really an attitude
to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be
hungry. You have to want to conquer."
"My instinct was to win, eliminate anyone who is in competition, destroy my enemy,
and move on without any kind of hesitiation at all."
"The unique thing about bodybuilding is that when I compete it is just me on a stage
alone. There is no field, no bat, no ball, no skis, no skates. All other athletes
have to use equipment, like a football. But I don't use anything in competition
except myself. It's just me up there. Me alone. No coach. No nothing."
alone. There is no field, no bat, no ball, no skis, no skates. All other athletes
have to use equipment, like a football. But I don't use anything in competition
except myself. It's just me up there. Me alone. No coach. No nothing."
"For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer."
"I knew I was a winner back in the late sixties. I knew I was destined for great things. People will say that kind of thinking is totally immodest. I agree. Modesty is not a word that applies to me in any way - I hope it never will."
"The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens."
"The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character"
"Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body."
" What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn't think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.
"
Ectomorph Chest Development
As a classic ectomorph the one muscle that I have struggle developing is the chest. This muscle area is outright the most stubborn body part for me. I was always told when I first started training that if you want bigger muscles in the chest, you bench, bench, bench and then bench some more. The bench press while a brilliant and worthwhile exercise just wasnt working for me.
In fact I found because of my long limbs I was walking away from the exercise with sore delts and triceps and not much pump in the chest. With those long ectomorph limbs we have a long way to press that bar and I found it was just to much pressure on the other muscles and not enough on the chest. The way I combat this is to do half reps, in that I don't fully extend my arms and fully activate the tricep muscles. This way I can keep the tension on my chest and not have to worry about my triceps and delts exhausting before my chest does. I only ever raise the bar high enough to work the chest, I'm not interested in activating the other muscle groups , they have their own set days for exercise. Since I chose that variation of the bench press I have had much better pumps in the chest area and more accelerated growth too.
Another way I improved impact that bench pressing has on me was to change the angle of the bench. I almost always bench press on a decline now. I feel it offers more than incline and flat bench as I really feel more of the weight on my chest. The angle the bar has to come down at really activates the chest more for me and I also find it more comfortable on my body. Incline and flat bench pressing almost always give me pain in the shoulders when going heavy with them.
The dumb bell press on incline is also a great chest builder in my opinion. Again I do half reps when performing this exercise so I can give the chest no rest at all and keep the weight on it. I really like to exhaust the muscle with this exercise. I think it offers much better range of motion than the bar does. That little bit of extra stretch you can attain at the bottom of each rep really makes a massive difference from my experience. I've never had no problems with pressure on my joints when doing this exercise and always feel that my chest has been worked really hard.
The other exercise I perform at the end of my chest work out is the parallel dip! I defy you to do these and not feel an agonising burn in the chest! I normally perform these at the end and I do each set to failure. Failure is where the true growth is.
My chest work out that I'm doing at the moment looks like this:
decline bench press:
Set 1 15 reps
Set 2 12 reps
Set 3 10 reps
Set 4 10 reps
Set 5 8 reps
I haven't included the weights as we all have our own levels of strength. I keep the same level of reps on set 3 as I do in set 4 but increase the weight on the fourth set just to add a little bit more intensity.
Incline dumbbell press:
Set 1 10 reps
Set 2 10 reps
Set 3 8 - 10 reps
I increase the weight on every set but like to keep the amount of sets lower than on the first exercise. I believe if you have hit your chest hard enough on the first exercise you shouldn't be able to perform at the same level on your second exercise as it should be exhausted.
Parallel dips:
Set 1 to failure
Set 2 to failure
Set 3 to failure
I do all the sets to failure to ensure there is absolutely nothing left in my chest. I do not want to leave a workout knowing that I could have done more.
As a beginner ectormorph I have found this has worked for me the best so far. I've had much better results following this routine. It won't be for everyone. But I have aimed this more of the beginner ectomorph, as that is where I am myself. So if you are struggling with chest development as I have, give this a go, it has certainly been very effective for me.
In fact I found because of my long limbs I was walking away from the exercise with sore delts and triceps and not much pump in the chest. With those long ectomorph limbs we have a long way to press that bar and I found it was just to much pressure on the other muscles and not enough on the chest. The way I combat this is to do half reps, in that I don't fully extend my arms and fully activate the tricep muscles. This way I can keep the tension on my chest and not have to worry about my triceps and delts exhausting before my chest does. I only ever raise the bar high enough to work the chest, I'm not interested in activating the other muscle groups , they have their own set days for exercise. Since I chose that variation of the bench press I have had much better pumps in the chest area and more accelerated growth too.
Another way I improved impact that bench pressing has on me was to change the angle of the bench. I almost always bench press on a decline now. I feel it offers more than incline and flat bench as I really feel more of the weight on my chest. The angle the bar has to come down at really activates the chest more for me and I also find it more comfortable on my body. Incline and flat bench pressing almost always give me pain in the shoulders when going heavy with them.
The dumb bell press on incline is also a great chest builder in my opinion. Again I do half reps when performing this exercise so I can give the chest no rest at all and keep the weight on it. I really like to exhaust the muscle with this exercise. I think it offers much better range of motion than the bar does. That little bit of extra stretch you can attain at the bottom of each rep really makes a massive difference from my experience. I've never had no problems with pressure on my joints when doing this exercise and always feel that my chest has been worked really hard.
The other exercise I perform at the end of my chest work out is the parallel dip! I defy you to do these and not feel an agonising burn in the chest! I normally perform these at the end and I do each set to failure. Failure is where the true growth is.
My chest work out that I'm doing at the moment looks like this:
decline bench press:
Set 1 15 reps
Set 2 12 reps
Set 3 10 reps
Set 4 10 reps
Set 5 8 reps
I haven't included the weights as we all have our own levels of strength. I keep the same level of reps on set 3 as I do in set 4 but increase the weight on the fourth set just to add a little bit more intensity.
Incline dumbbell press:
Set 1 10 reps
Set 2 10 reps
Set 3 8 - 10 reps
I increase the weight on every set but like to keep the amount of sets lower than on the first exercise. I believe if you have hit your chest hard enough on the first exercise you shouldn't be able to perform at the same level on your second exercise as it should be exhausted.
Parallel dips:
Set 1 to failure
Set 2 to failure
Set 3 to failure
I do all the sets to failure to ensure there is absolutely nothing left in my chest. I do not want to leave a workout knowing that I could have done more.
As a beginner ectormorph I have found this has worked for me the best so far. I've had much better results following this routine. It won't be for everyone. But I have aimed this more of the beginner ectomorph, as that is where I am myself. So if you are struggling with chest development as I have, give this a go, it has certainly been very effective for me.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
The 'E' word
As I have mentioned in my previous article I'm not an experienced guy when it comes to training. Infact, just being 22 years old some could argue I'm not experienced at anything (yet). But it is painfully obvious even in my limited experience the huge epidemic that faces many people when taking the plunge into self improvement either physical or mental. The dreaded excuse.
I want to say first off before I delve any further that I am not looking down on people who I reference or describe in this article. This would be extremely hypocritical of me, as I have been at times the worst culprit you could find for excuses. Infact, the past 7 years for me have been checkered with periods of inactivity, half hearted training and some pretty catastrophic excuses!
I cannot speak for everyone, but my main catalyst for making excuses and cheating myself out of a very beneficial and productive activity was fear. Fear of working hard to be precise. Working hard for newcomers can sometimes be quite a shock to the system! Especially when you don't lack the real understanding of what the hard work represents and does for you. Straying out of that nice cosy comfort zone can be a difficult task. Many of us dip our toes into the water and immediately withdraw, we want everything including our training to be wrapped up in that lovely comfort zone.
This isn't just confined to the ranks of beginners either in my opinion. Could just be my gym but I've never seen a queue for the squat rack... a guy who I go to the gym with has been training regularly for years now. When I suggested we train legs and proceeded to the leg press machine his face recoiled with horror, his eyes bulged out his head and the words ' I can't, I've just brought a new pair of jeans and I don't want to grow too big for them' splurted out from his mouth. Despite the fact he'd spent the whole journey to the gym moaning how he isn't making any gains, he all of a sudden had a fear he'd grow at the rate Bruce Banner does when he gets angry and tear his beloved jeans up. Leg training as anyone who lifts weights knows, is not easy.
Although you can push yourself maybe in certain areas of training if you miss out a body part you don't like or find boring to train you're limiting your own potential. The excuses we make can come in many different guises and forms. When I first started training I found my back to be my strongest body part. Infact I enjoyed the successes of my back training so much I started to neglect other body parts that needed attention. My excuse? I enjoy training back so much, that's why I always do it. The truth is I became too focused on exercising my back because that is where I was strongest, the other body parts were much harder for me to train and at that point in my training, less enjoyable. Without realising it I was running away from the harder parts in my training and staying within the boundaries of my new found comfort zone.
All the time I hear people say they want to lose weight or get in shape and 90% of the time it is followed by a BUT (insert excuse here). This is especially evident in gyms in January, gym memberships shoot up in January and the gyms get more busy, it then starts dying off again. Comittment to training and the training itself is not easy, rather then face the task head on a lot of us find it easier to hide behind an excuse.
Another big one I stumble across on the internet all the time is the excuse of genetics. Yes genetics determine our potential growth and the rate of our growth, but it doesn't excuse you for being out of shape and not achieving what you should be. Sure, you may never win the Mr Olympia, 99% of us don't have a chance of even competing against a Mr Olympia but genetics is only one factor of many. I'm going to cause upset with this statement but I am of the opinion that unless your Diet is 100%, your training training is 100%, your mind is 100%, Your rest is 100% and it has been for many years then you have no buisness bitching about your genetics. Deal with the task at hand. It's much easier for us to put these people on a pedestal and look at them as something different, then it is to put yourself through the exact same gruelling motions that they have on a daily basis to get where they are now. Their success is no genetic accident. Whatever your goals are, dont put yourself off with excuses before you have even began.
I've been one of these people for years now and to a certain extent I still am. I'm still able to make excuses for myself and sometimes I do. I'm not perfect and I am still very much a work in progress myself. But I would like to share with you some tips that I use to combat this. It may work for you, it may not, you might not even have this problem at all. We're all different.
Learn to observe yourself, take hold of your thought patterns and look at them, recognise when you feel like running back into your comfort zone. Analyse whether the choice you are making is really for the best of you. It is also wise to observe when you haven't ran into your comfort zone and have faced challenges head on. Learning to observe is looking inside and learning more about yourself. Some of us aren't aware we make excuses. I wasn't for a long time.
The biggest favour you can ever do for yourself is to just be honest. When you make the decision not to train, really look inside yourself and question whether your being genuine or wherever you are hiding from the truth.Is there more you can do? Or are you taking the easy way out?
Picking a role model and trying to strive for the abilities you like most about that person can also help. There are many, many people who have achieved excellent feats we could draw inspiration from. Imagine you are in that persons shoes, what would they do? How would they act? Would Jay Cutler excuse himself from that last rep because it hurts? Apply the mindsets of these people to yourself. After all, it brought them their success!
In closing this article I would like to state that, excuses are ok, but only when they are valid and you know deep down in your gut your being truthful with yourself. You don't have to turn yourself into a machine that feels nothing and mercilessly keeps going forward, you are human after all and should embrace that. This article is merely a point in a certain direction and an (possible) learning opportunity.
I want to say first off before I delve any further that I am not looking down on people who I reference or describe in this article. This would be extremely hypocritical of me, as I have been at times the worst culprit you could find for excuses. Infact, the past 7 years for me have been checkered with periods of inactivity, half hearted training and some pretty catastrophic excuses!
I cannot speak for everyone, but my main catalyst for making excuses and cheating myself out of a very beneficial and productive activity was fear. Fear of working hard to be precise. Working hard for newcomers can sometimes be quite a shock to the system! Especially when you don't lack the real understanding of what the hard work represents and does for you. Straying out of that nice cosy comfort zone can be a difficult task. Many of us dip our toes into the water and immediately withdraw, we want everything including our training to be wrapped up in that lovely comfort zone.
This isn't just confined to the ranks of beginners either in my opinion. Could just be my gym but I've never seen a queue for the squat rack... a guy who I go to the gym with has been training regularly for years now. When I suggested we train legs and proceeded to the leg press machine his face recoiled with horror, his eyes bulged out his head and the words ' I can't, I've just brought a new pair of jeans and I don't want to grow too big for them' splurted out from his mouth. Despite the fact he'd spent the whole journey to the gym moaning how he isn't making any gains, he all of a sudden had a fear he'd grow at the rate Bruce Banner does when he gets angry and tear his beloved jeans up. Leg training as anyone who lifts weights knows, is not easy.
Although you can push yourself maybe in certain areas of training if you miss out a body part you don't like or find boring to train you're limiting your own potential. The excuses we make can come in many different guises and forms. When I first started training I found my back to be my strongest body part. Infact I enjoyed the successes of my back training so much I started to neglect other body parts that needed attention. My excuse? I enjoy training back so much, that's why I always do it. The truth is I became too focused on exercising my back because that is where I was strongest, the other body parts were much harder for me to train and at that point in my training, less enjoyable. Without realising it I was running away from the harder parts in my training and staying within the boundaries of my new found comfort zone.
All the time I hear people say they want to lose weight or get in shape and 90% of the time it is followed by a BUT (insert excuse here). This is especially evident in gyms in January, gym memberships shoot up in January and the gyms get more busy, it then starts dying off again. Comittment to training and the training itself is not easy, rather then face the task head on a lot of us find it easier to hide behind an excuse.
Another big one I stumble across on the internet all the time is the excuse of genetics. Yes genetics determine our potential growth and the rate of our growth, but it doesn't excuse you for being out of shape and not achieving what you should be. Sure, you may never win the Mr Olympia, 99% of us don't have a chance of even competing against a Mr Olympia but genetics is only one factor of many. I'm going to cause upset with this statement but I am of the opinion that unless your Diet is 100%, your training training is 100%, your mind is 100%, Your rest is 100% and it has been for many years then you have no buisness bitching about your genetics. Deal with the task at hand. It's much easier for us to put these people on a pedestal and look at them as something different, then it is to put yourself through the exact same gruelling motions that they have on a daily basis to get where they are now. Their success is no genetic accident. Whatever your goals are, dont put yourself off with excuses before you have even began.
I've been one of these people for years now and to a certain extent I still am. I'm still able to make excuses for myself and sometimes I do. I'm not perfect and I am still very much a work in progress myself. But I would like to share with you some tips that I use to combat this. It may work for you, it may not, you might not even have this problem at all. We're all different.
Learn to observe yourself, take hold of your thought patterns and look at them, recognise when you feel like running back into your comfort zone. Analyse whether the choice you are making is really for the best of you. It is also wise to observe when you haven't ran into your comfort zone and have faced challenges head on. Learning to observe is looking inside and learning more about yourself. Some of us aren't aware we make excuses. I wasn't for a long time.
The biggest favour you can ever do for yourself is to just be honest. When you make the decision not to train, really look inside yourself and question whether your being genuine or wherever you are hiding from the truth.Is there more you can do? Or are you taking the easy way out?
Picking a role model and trying to strive for the abilities you like most about that person can also help. There are many, many people who have achieved excellent feats we could draw inspiration from. Imagine you are in that persons shoes, what would they do? How would they act? Would Jay Cutler excuse himself from that last rep because it hurts? Apply the mindsets of these people to yourself. After all, it brought them their success!
In closing this article I would like to state that, excuses are ok, but only when they are valid and you know deep down in your gut your being truthful with yourself. You don't have to turn yourself into a machine that feels nothing and mercilessly keeps going forward, you are human after all and should embrace that. This article is merely a point in a certain direction and an (possible) learning opportunity.
Progress so far
I'm using this blog not just to write articles etc but also to monitor my own progress with my training.
Gains I've made so far:
Mesurements:
Chest:Before: 39 inch Now: 41 inch
Arms:Before:14 inch Now: 15 inch
Quads:Before:21 inch Now: 22.5 inch
Calves:Before:? Now:15.5 inch
Weight:
Before: 13 stone Now: 13 stone 10
Gains I've made so far:
Mesurements:
Chest:Before: 39 inch Now: 41 inch
Arms:Before:14 inch Now: 15 inch
Quads:Before:21 inch Now: 22.5 inch
Calves:Before:? Now:15.5 inch
Weight:
Before: 13 stone Now: 13 stone 10
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