The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to World-Class
Muscle Gains
Annoying Legal Stuff
Copyright © Ville Lehtonen 2015
No person may copy or reproduce this book in part or in full, digital or otherwise, without written
permission from the author or current copyright holder. The author/current copyright holder cannot
be held accountable for any loss (monetary or otherwise) that the reader suffers by following the
recommended actions in this book. Also the author/current copyright holder is to liable to be sued
for any reason pertaining to this book, it’s information, or lack thereof. Neither can the
author/current copyright holder be held responsible for any choices with undesirable consequences
that the reader makes, due to the recommended actions contained in this book. The author does not
make any claims or guarantees regarding the information in this book, the value of the resources,
etc. While the information provided is up to date at the time of this writing, please understand that
things may have changed by the time you read it. The author is not responsible for any injuries that
may occur due to health related advice. Always consult with your doctor before trying anything that
I recommend in this book that requires physical exertion. By downloading and/or reading this book
you are declaring that you have read this statement and agree to everything that it contains.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter -1- Power Bodybuilding
Chapter -2- The Arnold Routine
Chapter -3- Bulking & Cutting Like a Pro
Chapter -4- Diet Information
Chapter -5- Importance of Sleep
Chapter -6- 8 Ways to Increase Your Testosterone
Chapter -7- Maximum Muscle Growth
Chapter -8- The Importance of Mind & Muscle Connection
Chapter -9- Reasons For Lack of Gains
Chapter -10- 5 Reasons How Bodybuilding Will Help You Succeed In Life
Introduction
Hi it’s Ville and…I want to thank you for downloading this book!
The problem that most beginner, intermediate, and even some experienced bodybuilders/fitness
addicts have, is that they are simply not following great training protocol and the best principles
available.
In this book I am going to share with you some of the best training techniques and workout routines
known to man, advice on cutting and bulking in the most efficient manner, valuable information
about diet, boosting testosterone, and some mindset stuff that I want you to consider.
The information you’re about to learn has come from 6+ years of non-stop experience in training
and nutrition, and hundreds of hours of studying world’s top bodybuilders, fitness models, muscle
models, and legends like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, Bob Paris, Serge Nubret and
others…
Whether you’re a complete beginner, intermediate, or even advanced ‘’physique craftsman’’ this
book will take your game to the next level. If someone would have taught me stuff like this when I
started, I would’ve progressed a lot faster with my muscle gains.
The knowledge you’re about to learn has worked for me and produced great results, and it has
worked for the best of the best in the world, the crème de la creme of the fitness/bodybuilding
world, so I’m sure you’ll get some value out of this too.
I promise that if you follow the stuff you’ll learn in this book, you will progress and make gains a
lot faster than before.
I hope you enjoy it!
Power Bodybuilding
There are some fundamental arguments in bodybuilding. I’m talking about the ones you see ALL
THE TIME. How much protein should I take in? What kind of split should I use? How often should
I workout? What’s the best rep range for growth? What’s the best volume for growth?
Most people try to make these issues out to be black and white to solidify their stances and often
fail to acknowledge that these issues are not black and white and there is a substantial gray area.
Take the arguments regarding rep ranges for example. How often have you heard you should ONLY
train in ‘X’ rep range because it is the best one for growth? Then two days later you see an article
interviewing a 300 lb behemoth who trains in a different rep range but also looks insane, so who are
you to believe?
Recently, there has been a bit of negative bodybuilding press regarding lifting in lower rep ranges
with heavier weights. Some researchers and bodybuilders would have you believe that low rep high
weight training might be next to useless for bodybuilding.
But I think powerlifters could teach bodybuilders a thing or two in some cases. Konstantin
Konstantinovs, Brandon Cass, Shawn Frankl, Matt Krockzaleski, and Sam Byrd could easily be
stage ready with a few months of dieting and do very well.
Stan Efferding and Johnnie Jackson both hold world records in powerlifting and compete as IFBB
professional bodybuilders. Many of the bodybuilders from the classic era built their base with
powerlifting including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo.
Ronnie Coleman, arguably the greatest bodybuilder ever to live never competed in powerlifting but
was no stranger to heavy weights. Part of what made his DVD ''The Unbelievable'' so legendary and
well… unbelievable was the workout footage of him deadlifting and squatting over 800 lbs and
front squatting 600 lbs for reps!
Certainly higher rep ‘pump’ style training has its place for a bodybuilder’s arsenal, no
doubt. But so does heavy power training! Hybrid is the way to go.
In the past I was following the advice of so called ‘bodybuilding experts’ making sure to train with
maximum intensity 1x/week but getting plenty of rest to make sure I wasn’t ‘overtraining.’
For example when training legs, I was told I did not need to squat or deadlift to get my legs to grow
and that was fine by me because squats hurt and I would’ve rather not done them.
After a few years of spinning my wheels I read an article that adviced me to take up a hybrid style
routine where I did heavy work (squats, deadlifts, presses) mixed with lighter hypertrophy ‘pump’
work.
Against everything I had read I started working out all my body parts 2x/week. This would go on to
become the basic template for what would evolve into Power Bodybuilding. Low and behold my
legs grew more in 4 months than they had in the previous 4 years, and so did every other body-part.
The Anabolic Effect
Now you may or may not ever deadlift 700 lbs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make drastic
improvements in your physique by incorporating aspects of power training mixed with
hypertrophy.
Probably the most important thing heavy training can do is increase your overall capacity for
muscular growth through significant strength gains.
Training with lower reps and heavier weights is going to stimulate far greater increases in strength
than training with light weights for higher reps. But how is that anabolic? I’m sure you are thinking
“I am a bodybuilder; I don’t care how much I lift!” But by increasing your strength you will
increase the amount of weight you will be able to lift when you train with in the higher rep ranges
or ‘bodybuilding style’ training which will increase your potential for growth.
For example, if one trained only straight high reps (10-15 reps) on an exercise you may end up
plateauing at a squat of 300 lbs for 15 reps (not necessarily, just an example).
If that same individual incorporated heavy training into their regiment however, perhaps they get
strong enough that they can squat 400 lbs for 15 reps. Who do you think will have the greatest
potential to increase their mass over the long haul? Most likely it will be the person using more
weight if all other variables are equal because they will be able to create more overload and greater
muscle damage, evoking a greater growth response.
So while pure bodybuilding style training may give you more growth over the short term, a
combination of heavy weights for low reps and light weight for high reps over the long term is
going to provide more muscle by increasing your growth potential! Keep this in mind.
So while pure bodybuilding style training may give you more growth over the short
term, a combination of power and hypertrophy training over the long term is going to
provide more muscle by increasing your growth potential!
The Principles
There are several dozen forms of the Power Bodybuilding but the basic premise is the same: each
muscle gets worked 2x/week. I will show you different variations of Power Bodybuilding in this
book, which you can rotate back and fort for maximum muscle building potential.
The first 2 days of the week are split into upper and lower body power days. This is followed by a
rest day. Then 3 days of traditional hypertrophy orientated bodybuilding training. This is how you
get the best of both worlds, powerlifting and bodybuilding!
An example of the split would be:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Day 1: Upper Body Power
Day 2: Lower Body Power
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy
Day 5: Lower Body Hypertrophy
Day 6: Chest and Arms Hypertrophy
Day 7: Rest
Power Days
During the first 2 days of the week you will focus on big power movements for your upper and
lower body like squats, front squats, deadlifts, deficit deadlifts, and box squats for lower body.
Barbell and dumbbell presses and rows as well as weighted pull-ups for upper body.
Your goal should be to stay in the 3-5 rep range for 3-5 working sets on the compound movements
(only use one power movement for lower body, presses, and pulls/rows, i.e. don’t do squats and
front squats in the same workout).
Make sure you rest enough in between sets to completely recover and be ready for your next heavy
set. If that means you need to take 5-6 minutes between sets then so be it. The purpose of these
workouts is to move maximum weight! Save short rest periods for your hypertrophy days.
On your power days you need to have a POWER mentality. Move the heavy ass weight at all costs!
A good way to make consistent progress is to rotate your power movements every 2-3 weeks. A
few sets of assistance exercises can be done for smaller body parts like hamstrings (though
deadlifts and squat will involve significant hamstring recruitment), calves, shoulders, and arms.
Auxiliary exercises would include things like leg extensions, glute ham raises, good
mornings, standing and seated calf rises for legs and dumbbell presses, upright rows,
curls, and skull crushers for upper body auxiliary work.
Hypertrophy Days
On your hypertrophy days you should train basically like you normally would for a bodybuilder.
Your rep range should be 8-15 reps and keep your rest periods to 1-2 minutes between sets.
I would increase the volume of these sessions by approximately 50-75% compared to your power
days. Make sure you do not over use failure on your hypertrophy days or you will burn out quickly.
I only recommend going to absolute failure on the last 1-2 sets of each exercise once you have
adapted to the routine. On prior sets stop 1-2 reps shy of failure.
Overtraining Factor
Now I know you are thinking “I will overtrain if I workout each bodypart 2x/week!” While the
first few weeks you may be very sore, tired, and not feel great, if you push through this after about
4-6 weeks you will find that your body will adapt to the increased frequency and you will hardly
get sore more for more than a day.
You will also find that your strength will start to skyrocket! I do recommend de-loading once every
6-12 weeks however. A deload would consist of a week of lifting at 60-70% of your normal
weights. This will be enough to maintain your strength, but light enough to allow you to actively
recover.
Keep in mind one thing when starting this routine, it is not for the faint of heart, but heavy
iron, is no match for an iron will. If you are mentally and physically tough enough, you may
just power your way to new gains!
The Routine
Day 1: Upper Body Power Day
•
Bent over or Pendlay rows:
3 sets of 3-5 reps
•
Weighted Pull ups:
2 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Rack chins:
2 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Flat dumbbell presses:
3 sets of 3-5 reps
•
Weighted dips:
2 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Seated dumbbell shoulder presses:
3 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Cambered bar curls:
3 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Skull crushers:
3 sets of 6-10 reps
Day 2: Lower Body Power Day
•
Squats:
3 sets of 3-5 reps
•
Hack Squats:
2 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Leg extensions:
2 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Stiff legged deadlifts:
3 sets of 5-8 reps
•
Glute ham raises or lying leg curls:
2 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Standing calf raise:
3 sets of 6-10 reps
•
Seated calf raise:
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy Day
•
Rack chins:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Seated cable row:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Dumbbell rows:
3 sets of 12-15 reps
•
Close grip pulldowns:
3sets of 10-15 reps
•
Seated dumbbell presses:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Upright rows:
3sets of 12-15 reps
•
Side lateral raises with dumbbells or cables:
3 sets of 12-25 reps
•
Seated dumbbell shrugs:
3 sets of 12-15 reps
Day 5: Lower Body Hypertrophy Day
•
Squats:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Hack squats:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Leg presses:
2 sets of 12-15 reps
•
Leg extensions:
3 sets of 15-20 reps
•
Romanian deadlifts:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Lying leg curls:
2 sets of 12-15 reps
•
Seated leg curls:
2 sets of 15-20 reps
•
Donkey calf raises:
4 sets of 10-15 reps
•
Seated calf raises:
3 sets of 15-20 reps
Day 6: Chest and Arms Hypertrophy Day
•
Incline dumbbell presses:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Flat dumbbell presses:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Hammer strength chest press:
3 sets of 12-15 reps
•
Incline cable flyes:
2 sets of 15-20 reps
•
Cambered bar preacher curls:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Dumbbell concentration curls:
2 sets of 12-15 reps
•
Spider curls bracing upper body against an incline bench:
2 sets of 15-20 reps
•
Seated tricep extension with cambered bar:
3 sets of 8-12 reps
•
Cable pressdowns with rope attachment:
2 sets of 12-15 reps
•
Cable kickbacks:
2 sets of 15-20 reps
Day 7: Rest
Keep in mind this workout would be for someone who is relatively adapted to higher
frequency and volume, so you may want to cut out an exercise or two on each day to
start until your body adapts.
De-load
If changing exercises and focusing on weak portions of the lifts themselves don’t improve things
you may need to de-load for a week.
I don’t schedule de-loads, I take them when I need them which is typically every 6-12 weeks. How
long you take it for will depend on how long it takes you to feel mentally and physically refreshed
and focused.
For a de-load I recommend doing your normal routine, but only using 60-70% of normal weights.
So for if you would normally do 3 sets of 5 on squats with 300 lbs., I would recommend doing
180-210 lbs. on squats for 3 sets of 5.
This will be light enough to allow active recovery but heavy enough for you to
maintain your muscle mass and strength.
Failure
Failure is a tool and has to be used correctly. During the first 3-6 weeks of the routine I would NOT
recommend taking sets to failure as doing so will burn you out physically and mentally very fast.
I’d recommend stopping 1-2 reps shy of failure.
Once you get adjusted to the volume and frequency then you can start adding in failure for your
power movements and some of your accessory/auxiliary work as your body gets more adjusted.
You should never train to failure consistently more than 6 weeks in a row without at least a partial
break from it. The reason I recommend this is because if you constantly train to failure it will
decrease your performance, strength, reduce the volume you are able to tolerate, and ultimately
reduce your hypertrophic capacity.
There is this notion out there that any set not taken to failure is a wasted set, but that’s complete
NONSENSE that has been perpetuated over the years by people who have not read the research.
Indeed, research has shown that sets taken near, but not to failure are almost, if not as
effective as sets taken to failure on inducing growth and there is the added benefit that
they do not overtax your nervous system to the point where it reduces your strength,
power, and volume output.
I believe he who makes the greatest strength gains [in a controlled fashion] makes the greatest
muscle gains. Note that I said strength gains. Everybody knows someone naturally strong who can
bench 405 yet isn’t that big.
Going from a 375 bench to 405 isn’t an incredible strength gain and won’t result in much of a
muscle mass gain. If someone goes from 150 to 405 for reps, that incredible strength gain will
equate to an incredible muscle mass gain.
Ninety-nine percent of bodybuilders are brainwashed that they must go for a blood pump, and those
same 99% stay the same year after year. It’s because they have no plan. They go in, get a pump and
leave. They give the body no reason to change!
A power-bodybuilding game plan stresses continually getting stronger on key movements, and the
body protects itself by getting muscularly larger. If you never get anywhere close to your ultimate
strength levels, you will never get close to your utmost level of potential size.
How important is a journal?
It’s crucial. You must always write down your weights used and reps done, excluding warm-ups, in
a logbook. Every time you go to the gym, you have to continually beat your previous weight, reps
or both even if it’s just by five pounds or one rep. This is how you progress and grow. You can't
just get in there and wing it.
''What gets measured, gets managed.'' When you track your performance every workout, you will
become highly aware of the progress you're making, or not making. If you train without a journal,
it's extremely difficult to measure your progress.
If you get to a strength sticking point, you must turn to a different exercise for that body-part and
get brutally strong on that new one. This will help you bust through any plateaus or sticking points.
The journal will become your new best friend, always pushing you to the next level. Looking at
that piece of paper and knowing what you have to do to beat your best will bring out the best in
you. You're in a competition against yourself. Every workout, every set, every rep.
Yes, it's a little bit extreme to track every workout. But if you want extreme results, you have to put
in extreme actions. Mediocre actions guarantee mediocre results.
Stretching
Stretching can have myriad benefits if done correctly: recovery, fascia size and potential
hyperplasia, which is still only theory. It can change your physique in pretty dramatic ways
[especially your chest, triceps and quads]. It should be done only after the body-part has been
worked.
I recommend stretching for every body-part. Basically, you want to get into a deep stretch and hold
it for 60 to 90 seconds.
This is how you can stretch your quads. You just got done quad training, so take an overhand grip
on a barbell fastened in a power rack about hip high and simultaneously sink all the way down.
Push your knees forward and under the barbell until you’re on your toes basically a sissy squat.
Now straighten your arms and lean as far back as you can, and hold that stretch for 60 to 90
seconds. It’s going to hurt.
Do this one faithfully, and in four weeks your quads will look a lot different than they
used to.
The Arnold Routine
This routine was made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it's a great program for gaining
mass.
I recommend you to rotate the power bodybuilding routine, and this routine every month for
maximum muscle gains.
One thing that I've noticed that if you use the same training program for a couple months in a row,
your progress will stagnate, and you will get utterly bored. That's why it is highly important to
switch things up once in a while.
This is a routine where you also follow the'' each body part twice a week'' protocol. You're going to
be training 6 times a week with one off day. If you're a complete beginner, you might want to
decrease the volume of each training session by a couple of sets before you get used to the training.
You can use the same power bodybuilding method with this program as well if you want. Focus
more on lower rep ranges to build the strength on the first 3 workouts of the week, and the on the
last 3 workout sessions, focus more on the hypertrophy rep ranges (8-12).
If you rotate these two programs, train hard, eat right, and sleep well, you're going to be ahead of
most people.
Here's the routine:
Day 1: Chest & Back
Day 2: Shoulder & Arms
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Chest & Back
Day 5: Shoulers & Arms
Day 6: Legs
Day 7: Off
Example routine:
Day 1: Chest & Back
 Dumbbell bench press: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Incline dumbbell bench press: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Incline bench cable flies: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Peck deck: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Barbell row: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Pull-ups: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Seated cable row: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 V-bar pulldowns: 3 sets, 8 reps.
Day 2: Shoulders & Arms
 Standing Military press: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Seated dumbbell press: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Upright rows: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Side-lateral raises (dumbbells/cable) : 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Barbell Shrugs: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Rear-delt fly (machine): 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Close-grip bench press: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Skull crushers: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Barbell curls: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Hammer curls: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
Day 3: Legs
 Squats: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Leg press (narrow foot stance): 3 sets, 10-15 reps.
 Walking lunges: 3 sets, 10-15 reps.
 Leg extensions: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Stiff-legged deadlifts: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Hamstring curls: 3 sets, 8-12 reps
 Calf raises: 5 sets, 10-15 reps
Day 4: Chest & Back
 Incline barbell bench: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Barbell bench: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Dumbbell flies: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Hammer strength press: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
 Deadlifts: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Dumbbell rows: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Lat pulldowns (t-bar): 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Kneeling cable pullovers: 3 sets, 8-12 reps.
Day 5: Shoulders & Arms
 Seated dumbbell press: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Behind the neck seated smith machine press: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 One arm dumbbell upright rows: 3 sets, 8 reps.
 Read delt flies (machine): 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Barbell shrugs: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Weighted dips: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Cable overhead extensions: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Preacher curls: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Concentration curls: 3 sets, 10 reps.
Day 6: Legs
 Squats: 3 sets, 12 reps.
 Narrow stance smith machine box squats: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Leg press: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Stiff legged deadlifts: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Hamstring curls: 3 sets, 10 reps.
 Calf raises: 5 sets, 10 reps.
Day 7: Rest
 Recover and sleep
INTENSITY TECHNIQUES
Scatter these training techniques into your workouts.
1-10
After a warm-up set or two, find a weight that you're only able to lift for 1 rep. After you perform
that 1 rep, take just enough weight off to perform 2 reps. From there, do the same for 3 reps and 4
reps, going all the way up to 10 reps. This is brutal because you take no rest between sets. The only
rest you get is when you're unloading the weights. I love this technique, and it's a total shock to the
muscle.
You can add this technique into this training program and use it a couple times per week to shock
the muscle fibers completely.
STRIPPING
Immediately after your final work set, take some weight off and lift for another 5-10 reps. Then,
with no rest, keep repeating this process. Reduce your weight, lift, reduce again, lift, and continue
until you're down to the bar. Once you're down to the bar, lift for 20 reps.
Again, use this technique a couple times per week, but don't overuse it.
MAX EFFORT
Pick one exercise and see what you can do for a 1-rep max. To get there, work up to the weight with
the following rep pyramid, taking ample rest between each set: 20, 15, 10, 8, 5, 3, 1, 1, 1-rep max.
Bulking & Cutting Like a Pro
The human body is not good at building muscle and burning fat at the same time. And that's why
you are usually adviced to bulk up then cut.
The problem with that is that you gain a lot of fat. And when you gain a lot of fat, you have to get
rid of it, and when you do a hardcore diet, you will lose muscle.
The main problem with traditional bulking program is that you look like shit for half the year. You
should look good all the time!
Many people are just lazy and use the word ''bulk'' as an excuse that allows them to rationalize
eating more and getting ugly and fat.
Professional bodybuilders do this all the time. They get fat during the off season and then get
shredded when the competition comes. They can afford to look like shit in the off season because
they only have to look good during contest season.
For guys like you and I, there's no off season! Life is too short to spend half of the year looking like
crap.
And by the way, your fat cells never go away.
When you start gaining fat your fat cells grow. And once they grow to capacity, the cells split, or
divide, now you have more fat cells than you started with. The problem with that is now you have
set a new baseline for the amount of cells your body carries. Your fat cells can grow and shrink but
you will never lose them!
So, once you have gained additional fat cells, from that point on – for the rest of your life, it will be
easier for you to gain fat and more difficult to lose it.
This is why it is important to not gain a lot excess fat while bulking. You can and will gain a little
bit extra fat, but please, do not go crazy with it.
You are born with a set number of fat cells. If you eat more calories than your body needs, your fat
cells stretch to store these extra calories as triglycerides. You may even gain new fat cells when the
cells have enlarged to their maximum size. Once created, however, fat cells remain in your body
forever; they may shrink in size when you lose weight, but they never go away. Check out this study
if you want to read more about this study: Johns Hopkinds University School Of Medicine
http://bit.ly/130twVK
Cutting
To lose fat, all you have to do is burn more calories than you consume. When you are burning more
calories than you consume you are in what is called ''a caloric deficit.''
Cardio, fat burners, dieting, fasting, etc., are all simply tactics to help your body get into a state of
burning more calories than it consumes to put your body in a caloric deficit.
Being in a caloric deficit is literally the only way to burn fat. There's no way around it.
The best, and the easiest way to get in a caloric deficit is adjusting your diet. Diet is way more
effective than cardio when it comes to burning fat. In fact, you can actually burn fat without doing
any exercise at all. (I don't recommend it)
Zyzz, the starter of the ''aesthetic'' movement, rarely did any cardio. He said ''If you're diet is in
check, you don't even need to look at the treadmill.''
Although that is very true, I still recommend always doing cardio whether you're bulking or cutting,
because it has tremendous health benefits that you just cannot miss! Humans are ment to move
around and exercise, and weight lifting does not give you the same benefits that cardiovascular
exercises does.
The most effective way to burn calories is to count the total amount of calories consumed.
Rules For Easy Cutting
If you follow my advice and do not gain too much excess fat during the bulking phase, the cutting
will automatically be a lot easier than for most people, and you don't have to kill yourself dieting for
5 months to get all those flabby tires off your body.
That's the first step to making the cutting phase a lot easier. The second step is meal preparation.
You go out and buy those plastic tupperware boxes and pre-cook all of your meals.
Once you have the boxes, go out to the supermarket on a sunday and get everything you need for
the upcoming week. This way, you don't have to worry about going to the food store during the
week, and all of your meals will be microwave ready.
You're also going to need a food scale to measure your foods, and count your macronutrients.
What kind of macronutrient split should you use? The most common and probably the best one is
40/40/20. 40% of your total calories will come from proteins, 40% from carbohydrates, and 20%
from fats.
When you're counting and measuring your foods, remember that proteins are 4 calories per gram,
carbohydrates 4 calories per gram, and fats are 9 calories per gram.
So how do you count this all up and split your macronutrients?
Simple math. Let's say you need to consume 2500 calories each day to lose around 0.5-1.0 pounds
per week. So, you pick that number and start counting the precentages.
0.4 x 2500 = 1000. So, thousand of your total calories needs to come from proteins. And the same is
for carbohydrates because it's also 40% of your total calories. This leaves us with 500 calories,
which will come from fats. Let's look at the grams.
1000 calories from proteins is 250 grams of protein.
1000 calories from carbs is 250 grams of carbohydrates.
500 calories from fats is 55.5 grams of fat.
And that's your daily intake of macronutrients. Pretty simple. Also, don't forget the micronutrients,
which are vitamins and minerals. They are essential for health, well being, and of course building
muscle.
Micronutrients include vitamins like vitamin C, A, D, E and K, as well as the B-complex vitamins.
And also iron, magnesium, selenium and others.
How do you make sure you're getting all the micronutrients? Just eat a balanced diet of nuts, whole
grains, green leafy vegetables, and fruits. The more color in your diet, the better. On top of eating
healthy, always supplement your diet with multi-vitamins and other health supplements.
When you're counting your macronutrients and preparing your meals, make sure that your diet is
balanced and healthy.
Depending on how you feel each day, you might want to play around with the total amount of
calories and your macronutrient split. If you're feeling like absolute crap every day, with low energy
and maybe even slight depression, then you might need to increase your calories a bit.
You can also change up the macronutrient split a little bit, because everyone is different and you
might need a little more fat for example than most people to feel optimal and energized.
Just play around with it until you find the sweet spot with the calories and the macronutrients. Yes,
cutting isn't easy and you're not supposed to feel on top of the world each day in terms of energy
and performance, but you should not feel like crap either.
Your goal is to make sure you feel good most of the time (some days suck of course) and lose 0.5-1
pound of bodyweight per week.
What else can you do to make the dieting easy?
This is where the hormone Leptin comes in. Leptin is a hormone produced by the fat cells in your
body. Leptin essentially controls your metabolism, hunger, and energy expenditure. What does this
have to do with getting shredded?
The longer your body is in a calorie deficit, then the lower your leptin levels and metabolic rate
becomes. What this means is your metabolism slows down, and it will be extremely hard to lose fat.
A re-feed day once a week increases the leptin levels in your body, which will ramp up your
metabolism and help you lose more fat.
I highly recommend you to have a re-feed day once a week. Usually, a refeed day consists of a day
with a about 50% increase above maintenance calorie levels. A good rule of thumb for a refeed day
is to increase carbohydrates 100-150% higher than normal, keep protein at about 1g/lb. of
bodyweight, and keep fat intake as low as possible. A refeed, or “cheat” day is a sure way to
jumpstart your metabolism and to normalize leptin levels.
You can also include a cheat meal on your re-feed days, which will help to increase your leptin
levels, but also help with the cravings that have built up over the past week of eating clean. So, Not
only is a cheat meal mentally beneficial, but it will also help you burn more fat!
Also, make sure you're getting quality sleep every night. A stude showed that those who didn't get a
good night's rest had 15% lower levels of leptin in their body. I will tak about the importance of
sleep later in this book.
HIIT, which is high intensity interval training is something that will also help with your leptin
levels. HIIT will stimulate large secretions of human growth hormone, which boost fat-burning
mechanisms and help to regulate leptin levels.
You can do HIIT basically with anything. You can do intervals with a jump-rope, with sprints, with
swimming, cycling, and boxing.
This type of cardio will also have tremendous benefits on your cardiovascular health and endurance,
which in turn will help you perform better in the weight room, and thus allow you to build more
muscle.
Diet Information
Keeping Your Body Anabolic Overnight
New research has proven that overnight protein administration stimulates muscle protein synthesis.
There were two studies done, the first being in elderly men and the second being done in
recreationally active young males and they both showed that protein ingestion prior to sleep
stimulated muscle protein synthesis overnight.
As it has been shown time and time again that 20-30g of protein (~10-15g EAA) is enough to fully
max out MPS. (muscle protein synthesis)
A study compared 30g of high quality protein to 90g of the same source and showed that 90g had
no further benefit over the 30g dose.
So the point is that you wouldn’t need more than 20-30g of quality protein before bed to maximally
stimulate muscle protein synthesis.
But, again not so black and white, this 20-30g dosage will also depend on the size of the individual
and their overall total daily macros.
Even though there are basically only two studies for this, it shows that protein ingested immediately
prior to sleep or during sleep is effectively digested and absorbed, therefore stimulating muscle
protein synthesis overnight.
It’s very fascinating and promising research so we highly recommend some sort of high quality
protein source before bed.
Off Season Dieting
The diet that one follows for their off-season will play a huge role in determining their muscle mass
gains.
A person can lift 7 days a week and have the sexiest training program but if they don’t have a
proper nutrition plan to follow then they’re not going to fully maximize the potential results they
can attain.
To design a proper nutrition plan you should give yourself adequate time to slowly gain the
necessary muscle mass to achieve that aforementioned lean muscular look. This is what we talked
about earlier.
If you’re not realistic with the adequate time you’re giving yourself you are likely going to put on
more fat than muscle. I did this the first few years of my training, and trust me, you do not want to
do it. You will look like crap.
It's easy to get tricked into believing that you're gaining muscle when in fact you're gaining fat,
because you will look bigger when you get some extra fat on your body. Don't fall into this trap
because you will only put on a certain amount of muscle each month.
So what kind of nutrition plan should you follow?
Your bulking diet should have three main goals:
 Slowly and deliberately adding in calories to avoid excess fat
 Gain as much muscle mass as possible without the compensation of excess fat gain
 Capitalize on meal frequency and nutrient timing
When the body is in a caloric surplus (bulking state), it is very easy to put on body fat although a
calorie surplus is needed to gain muscle mass.
When in a calorie surplus, it needs to be controlled through adding calories each week slowly (slow
bulking) to avoid extra fat accumulation.
Also, spacing and timing your meals correctly are imperative to your success in gaining muscle
mass.
Before getting into more details about the proper nutrition program, it’s important to discuss the
three macronutrients and their roles.
Protein
Protein will be a very dynamic macronutrient in your diet, it’s so powerful that when consumed, it
will activate muscle protein synthesis (percentage of muscle tissue protein renewed each day) from
leucine content.
The majority of energy used to provide ATP for muscle protein turnover comes from the oxidation
of fat, as this is the preferred energy substrate of muscle at rest.
Therefore, a focus on maximizing the muscle synthetic response with ~10g of EAA may decrease a
person’s body fat by increasing their resting energy expenditure from the increased lean mass.
Maximizing Muscle Protein Synthesis
The best way to get elevated levels of MPS is through the essential amino acid (EAA) “Leucine.”
You can only get EAA’s through diet or supplementation, your body does not produce these amino
acids.
There have been countless studies showing that leucine is the key stimulator for MPS. And you’re
better off eating animal sources of protein because of the high leucine content.
But, before you go buy a bucket of leucine powder and sprinkle it on your meats, please keep in
mind that leucine is just a small piece of the puzzle, if you don’t have the other essential amino
acids you will not build a protein.
Leucine is actually a strong indicator of the quality of the protein you’re consuming as it relates to
its ability to raise muscle anabolism.
When you raise muscle anabolism, your body is in a great position to build new muscle tissue.
The more muscle tissue one has, the higher their metabolic rate is going to be and this will keep fat
to a minimum.
Take home message: Aim for protein sources high in leucine to build muscle mass
Protein Distribution
The way you will distribute protein throughout the day will play a key role to enhancing muscle
mass.
A study done by Norton et al. Shows that an even distribution of protein (30g per meal at breakfast,
lunch, and dinner) caused greater muscle gains over an 11-week period than the same total amount
of protein distributed unevenly (10g at breakfast, 20g at lunch, and 60g at dinner).
The conclusion showed that protein distribution is a critical factor in determining the efficiency of
protein use for muscle anabolism.
So, when you set up your protein distribution throughout the day we highly suggest keeping protein
feedings consistent throughout each meal.
An example would look like 200g protein a day through 4 meals is 50g at each meal. This is how I
eat personally.
Carbohydrates
The main purpose of carbohydrates is to provide energy and fuel for the body.
Some people are very “carb happy,” meaning they can burn through carbohydrates and not gain a
pound of fat and then there’s those that are “carb sensitive,” meaning their body has a hard time
burning carbs and thus leading to fat storage. This is why I recommended earlier to play around
with your daily macronutrient intake.
Carbs are very important for providing the body with energy and essential for gaining muscle mass.
Carbohydrates have probably gotten the worst reputation of the macronutrients due to eating
excessive amounts leading to excess fat.
Some of this is true, but when in a caloric surplus I feel that carbohydrates need to be as high as
possible without excess fat gain and insulin sensitivity needs to be taken advantage of at the right
times.
Carbs are going to be very variable depending upon total calorie intake and insulin sensitivity.
Some individuals will be able to tolerate carbs better than others, so it really depends on how
healthy your metabolism is.
Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin sensitivity refers to how much insulin it takes to clear a certain amount of glucose (carbs).
During a caloric surplus, it’s imperative that you take advantage of insulin sensitivity in the a.m at
breakfast, pre workout and post workout. These are the times that your body is most insulin
sensitive and can best tolerate carbs!
For example, I recommend breakfast because the majority of the population goes through a 6-8 hour
fast during their sleep, so their bodies are desperately craving nutrients in the a.m.
Pre and post workout; your body can best assimilate a high amount of carbs into your muscle
tissues because your body is most insulin sensitive at these times.
What does the increased insulin do to you?
Well, increased insulin will serve to shuttle all of the nutrients required by the body while also
stimulating the release of insulin growth factors because your muscle cells are volatized and need
nutrients to repair. Muscle growth!
Also, when you are working out, you cause an acute catabolic situation and your muscle does not
become anabolic again until you consume sufficient nutrients.
You also get an increase in insulin sensitivity by working out so you can more effectively tolerate
and utilize carbohydrates post workout so it also makes sense to put more carbs post workout as
compared to other times of the day.
Take home message:
Partition the majority of your daily carbs at breakfast and at pre and post workout to utilize insulin
sensitivity best. Don't eat a huge load of carbs before bed, because the insulin sensitivity will be low
Fats
Fats are the most energy-dense macronutrient (9 kcals/gram) and they provide many of the body’s
tissues and organs with most of their energy.
Fat is the most critical macronutrient to optimize hormonal functions (i.e., testosterone, libido, etc).
Fats are also essential for building muscle, reducing cortisol levels, providing energy and assisting
the body in functioning properly.
The main hormone that we are interested in elevating through fat consumption is testosterone.
It is vital that you aren’t deficient in dietary fat or it will impair hormone production and decrease
your morning wood.
Fat Intake and Testosterone
Since fat is responsible for optimizing hormonal functions, such as testosterone, this doesn’t mean
to go down to Mc Donald’s every day.
Remember that fats are the most energy dense macronutrient (9 kcals/gram) and they can be easily
stored as body fat.
So you must be aware of what your body metabolizes better through carbohydrates or fats because
it will be up to you to play the trial and error game.
Several studies concluded that diets low in fat (under 15% of total calories) significantly decreased
testosterone levels while diets higher in fat (above 30% of total calories) increased serum
testosterone levels.
I actually noticed this when few years ago when I was cutting. I decreased my fats way too low and
my libido was completely gone.
To make things easier for you, it seems that one should not lower fat below 15% of daily calories
unless they would like to see their testosterone levels plummet.
On the contrary, you should not increase fat to over 40% in order to increase testosterone.
But again, this is just a rough estimation and you have to try things out for your body.
You might be able to go over 40% and make solid gains or you might start adding fat.
Although fat increases testosterone to a degree, it is important to remember that testosterone is only
a small piece of the larger pie.
There are many other hormones and factors involved in building muscle other than just the good ol'
testosterone.
By increasing fat to extremely high levels, there will be less “space” for carbohydrates and protein,
both of which are very important for building muscle mass.
Just be sure not to look at consuming fat in a linear fashion, as moderation is the key to everything
in life.
Fiber
Fiber is a complex carbohydrate made up of non-starch polysaccharides, resistant starches, and
cellulose.
Fiber tends to sit longer in your GI (Gastrointestinal) which pulls fluids into the area. That’s
normally a good thing because it makes you feel fuller.
A carbohydrate with less fiber will be digested more rapidly and not pull water in your GI like
something heavier would with a lot of fiber.
Fiber also helps with digestive health, increases thermogenesis and thus helps with fat loss and it
produces short chain fatty acids through fermentation in the colon and these have several beneficial
metabolic effects.
How Much Fiber
So how much fiber should one consume a day?
With fiber being such an important part of the diet, ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition)
suggests a minimum of 25g per day for women and 38g per day for men.
But, it’s not so simple to just say “Okay, so if ISSN recommends this amount, then that’s all I need
to get for the day right?”
Things are never black and white when it comes to nutrition and metabolism, there’s always a grey
scale.
So, my point being about daily fiber intake depends on a lot of factors. For example, the greater
amount of fat you want to lose and the slower your metabolism is the more fiber should be raised as
it has a thermogenic effect.
And obviously a bigger person will need more fiber than a smaller person. So, again, there is no set
calculation, but the ISSN recommendations are a good starting point.
Can you consume as much fiber as you want?
Not so fast, by consuming too much fiber it potentially reduces absorption of vitamins and minerals
and may also cause diarrhea, cramping, and bloating.
If you are fairly new to having fiber in your diet then you will tend to get fairly bloated because
your digestive tract is not used to the high fiber content.
Eventually your body will adapt to it, so don’t panic.
Nutrient Timing
Nutrient timing is a crucial aspect during a caloric surplus. Every calorie counts each and every day
and nutrient timing takes consistency.
One must consistently spread their macronutrients out and get a good balance of them in each meal
or as we said earlier, hit your daily numbers as accurate as possible.
Pre and post workout meals are going to be your money makers. While in a caloric surplus it’s best
to get the majority of your daily carbs around your pre and post workout meals.
Why?
You want more carbs for energy during an intense training bout, also carbs are protein and muscle
sparing during exercise and because they are a cause of insulin release.
We all know insulin happens to be one of the most anabolic and anti-catabolic hormones in the
human body. That's why pro bodybuilders use it all the time.
Post workout you want more carbs as well because you want to replenish all of the glycogen you
depleted during your workout and for proper recovery and to maximize muscle protein synthesis
(muscle growth).
A recent study says it has been suggested that the consumption of a protein-carbohydrate meal
immediately before and after resistance exercise may provide the ideal anabolic conditions for
muscle growth.
Also, another study indicates that timed ingestion of protein/essential amino acids, and
carbohydrates are best for replenishing skeletal muscle glycogen, reducing muscle soreness, and
rates of protein degradation, inducing a positive net protein balance and amplifying strength and
muscle mass gains.
Therefore it is critical that one consumes protein and carbs post workout in order to induce muscle
mass, but I'm not saying that you have to bring your post workout meal with you to the gym and eat
it immediately after your last rep.
Just keep in mind that you need to have protein and carbs at some point post workout.
Meal Frequency
When it comes to meal frequency we are well aware of the fact that there are many arguments
floating around and everyone has their own biased opinion on how many meals and how often one
should eat.
Research shows if you eat too frequently, it could be counterproductive for overall anabolism.
Studies also show that muscle protein synthesis after a meal lasts up to 3 hours and amino acid
levels stay elevated up to 5 hours.
So, you are better off waiting longer between meals and having bigger doses of protein.
This seems to be better for muscle protein synthesis.
When you constantly try and elevate amino acids through meal frequency, (having 6-8 meals a day)
overtime your body becomes less sensitive to the anabolic effects of amino acids.
Where if you do larger protein doses and separate apart your meals longer (4-5 hours), when the
next dose of protein comes, then your body will be more sensitive to the amino acids thus leading to
greater anabolic effects.
Also, when you constantly eat every 2-3 hours your body is depending on a glucose spike.
This could lead to glucose sensitivity being low because of the constant meal frequency.
It is much better to eat every 4-5 hours because your glucose levels will be more sensitive.
It takes at least 3-4 days of fairly strict dieting to impact on metabolic rate (and some work on
fasting shows that metabolic rate goes up acutely during the first 72 hours of fasting); a single meal
means nothing.
You will not go into ‘starvation mode’ because you went more than 3 hours without a meal.
Nor will your muscles fall off as an average sized food meal takes 4-6 hours to fully digest (still
releasing nutrients into the bloodstream).
But most importantly, do what you feel is right and what works for your body. Trial and error will
be your best friend.
Importance of sleep
Most people assume that the only time you build muscle is when you are in the gym, but the truth is
that your body mostly builds muscle outside of gym, when you're sleeping and recovering. In fact,
the right sleeping habits offer an easy way to help you burn fat and build muscle mass.
Why is sleep beneficial for building mass/losing fat?
The Annals of international medicine published a research report which showed that sleep is an
important element for weight loss. In the study, it compared two groups of women who were both
on calorie restricted diets. One group had 5.5 hours of sleep at night, and the other group had 8.5
hours of sleep at night. The result of the study showed that the group who had more sleep at night
lost more fat within a two week period of time. Even more surprising was the fact that the people
who slept less at night started to lose muscle mass. A lack of sleep causes a shift in metabolism that
results in fat preservation and muscle degeneration at the same time.
One of the reasons for these results was that the sleep deprived group had a change in hormone
levels within their body. Sleep deprivation results in an increase in the hormone called ''ghrelin,''
which is the appetite stimulating hormone. Many people assume that they burn more calories when
they are awake for a larger precentage of the day, but a lack of sleep actually slows the metabolism
so that the body can preserve energy.
Why sleep is beneficial to building muscle fast?
There are several elements that work together to help you develop stronger, bigger muscles. Lifting
weights helps you to build muscle because the weights and the resistance cause small tears in the
muscle fibers. But, lifting weights isn't enough, because you also need to provide your body with
the tools that are needed to recover after the weight lifting session.
The foods that you eat will impact your muscle growth, because the nutrients are used to repair the
damaged muscle tissue. Even if the right nutrients are available, they can't be effectively used until
you rest the muscle tissue for a while. Therefore, sleep is the perfect opportunity for the body to
rebuild and repair, and when you close your eyes at night a lot is happening on the cellular level.
Sleep is the primary way that your body can repair muscle damage caused by your workout, and if
you are cutting your sleep hours at night then you are robbing your muscles and body of the time
that is needed to recover.
For optimal muscle building results, you need to make sure that you allow the torn muscle fibers to
heal before your next exercise session. If the muscle aren't healed yet, then you will be at a
disadvantage.
Also, consider the fact that sleep has a direct impact on your stamina and mental toughness during
your workout sessions. If you missed a few hours of sleep the previous night, then it is more likely
that you will struggle to maintain your regular exercise endurance and intensity because you will be
tired.
More about getting quality sleep in the next chapter.
8 Ways to Increase Testosterone
1. Eat more fat and cholesterol
Our diet plays a huge role in our testosterone production. Our glands need certain mineral – like
zine and magnesium – to get testosterone production started, and our body need cholesterol to make
testosterone.
To boost your testosterone levels you need to increase your fat and cholesterol intake. Studies have
suggested that higher fat and cholesterol consumption results in increased levels of total T; men
with low-fat diets typically have decreased T levels.
As I've switched my diet to mainly paleo from a regular diet with less fats, my testosterone levels
have been very high compared to my previous diet. You can feel the difference.
Now you must be asking, ''isn't fat and cholesterol bad for you''? It's not. It's good for you. Your
body can not make testosterone without it.
2. Eat more nuts
Almonds or cashews will increase your testosterone levels greatly. All nuts are little fat bombs that
provide the cholesterol that cells need for T production.
3. Take vitamin D3 supplement
Vitamin d3 actually isn't a vitamin, it's a hormone. A really important hormone that provides a
whole load of health benefits.
Our bodies can naturally make vitamin D from the sun, but recent studies have shown that many
westerners are vitamin d3 deprived because we're spending less and less time outdoors.
If you're not getting enough sun, you may have a vitamin d3 deficiency, which may contribute to
low T levels. Studies have shown that men who take this supplement see a boost in their
testosterone levels.
4. Take omega-3 fish oil.
Fish oil has been shown to improve heart and brain health as well as increase production of the
Luteinizing hormone (the hormone responsible for triggering the testes to produce T) Because of
the increased amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol you will be consuming, you want to make
sure you get enough of the good fats too.
5. HIIT Cardio training
Studies have shown that in addition to weight lifting, HIIT cardio can boost testosterone levels. For
those of you who don't know, HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training. (we talked about this
earlier.) It calls for short, intense bursts of exercise, followed by a less-intense recovery period. You
repeat with the intense/less-intense cycle several times throughout the workout. In addition to
increasing T, HIIT has been shown to improve athletic conditioning and metabolism as well as
muscle strength.
Sprinters do HIIT all the time. Just look at their physiques, they are usually huge. Now compare
them to long distance runners. They're always twigs.
6. Get more and better sleep
Our bodies make nearly all the testosterone it needs for the day while we're sleeping. That increased
level of T that we experience at night is one of the reasons we wake up with ''morning wood''.
If you're not getting enough quality sleep, your body can't produce testosterone as efficiently or
effectively. In one stude, researchers at the university of chicago found that young men who slept
less than five hours for one week had lower testosterone levels than when they were fully rested.
The drop was typically 10-15%.
Not only does sleep boost T, but it also helps manage cortisol, a stress hormone that has been shown
to decrease T levels when present in high amounts.
How do you increase the quality of your sleep?
1. Sleep in complete darkness (get black curtains that don't let any light through. Studies have
shown that the darker the room, the better your body's production of human growth hormone
is)
2. Avoid caffeine anywhere from 6-8 hours before bed (caffeine has a half-life, meaning, if you
drink 200mg of caffeine, after about 6 hours, there will be still 100mg of caffeine in your
bloodstream, which will screw up your sleep.
3. Don't look at any electronics 1-2 hours before bed. It's so compelling to play with your
phone and look at instagram pictures before dozing off, but don't do it. The light from the
screen decreases your body's production of melatonin, which is the hormone that let's you
fall asleep.
4. Drink a small glass of water before bed. I've found that drinking a little bit of water right
before bed can make you wake up a little bit more energized in the morning. The key here is
to just drink a little bit, not a gallon, otherwise you'll disrupt your sleep by waking up and
going to the bathroom.
5. Do not snooze. Snoozing you alarm clock will make you wake up even more tired than you
were before snoozing. (I usually feel like crap when I accidentally do this)
6. Don't eat a huge meal right before bed. Yes, you should eat before going to sleep, but not a
mammoth meal, and not 15 minutes before bed. If you're going to eat a huge meal before
bed, make sure it's at least 2 hours before going to sleep. Otherwise, keep the portion small.
7. Manage your stress
When we face stress, our adrenal glands secrete cortisol to prepare our bodies and minds to handle
the stressful situation – the primal ''fight or flight' response.
In small dosages, cortisol is fine and even useful, but elevated cortisol levels for prolonged periods
can do some serious damage to our bodies and minds. One area that seems to take a hit when
cortisol in high is our testosterone levels.
Several studies have shown a link between cortisol and testosterone. When cortisol levels are high,
testosterone levels are low; and when testosterone levels are high, cortisol levels are low.
One of the best ways to manage stress is to meditate for 20 minutes a day, when you begin to feel
stressful. Done correctly, it will leave you feeling amazing, with all the previous stress completely
vanished.
Simple instructions on how to meditate, (you can find much better ones online) but this will get you
started.
Sit alone in a quiet place, with your back straight in a comfortable situation. Close your eyes and
stay completely still. Do not move around even if you feel like it. Then focus on your breathing, and
try not to think of nothing else.
Now what will happen probably in about 20 seconds, is that a though will come up. Your job is to
direct your focus back to your breath as soon as you notice yourself thinking. And repeat that
process until the time is up.
Meditation and quieting your mind is a skill, and inevitably you will suck at first. But if you start
today, you can become good at it in few weeks, so you can start to enjoy the massive benefits of
meditation. Just look them up on Google, there are like 20 amazing benefits that it provides. You
can miss them.
8. Take contrast showers
I take contrast showers every morning. Contrast shower means a hot & cold shower.
Jump in the shower and start with hot water, which creates the contrast for the cold water that's
coming. Next, turn the water temperature to as cold as you can, and make sure you move around in
the shower, don't just stand still letting the water only hit certain parts of your body. The goal is to
let the water hit every part of your body. (very uncomfortable)
Then, after moving around in the shower under the cold water for about 30 seconds, turn the water
back to hot for 30 seconds, and repeat for 3 times.
Contrast showers have amazing benefits that you simply cannot miss...
1. Cold showers burn fat
There are two kinds of fat in your body: white fat and brown fat. White fat is the bad guy (think the
Joker) and brown fat is the good guy (think Batman).
White fat is the body fat we all know and struggle to get rid of. When we consume more calories
than our body needs to function and we don’t burn those calories for energy, they are stored as
white fat, which tends to accumulate at your waist, lower back, neck, and thighs.
Brown fat is the good guy you might have never even heard of, and its function is to generate heat
to keep your body warm. Here’s the good news: when brown fat is activated due to extreme cold, it
burns calories to keep you warm, which could provide a helpful assist in your weight loss plan.
How much of an assist? Scandinavian researchers found that exposure to cold temperatures
increased the metabolic rate of brown fat by fifteen fold, which could help a person drop nine
pounds in a year if sustained. That's great.
2. Cold showers boost recovery after exercise
Athletes often take ice baths after vigorous training do reduce soreness. You don’t have to take it
that far, but you can obtain a similar benefit with a cold shower.
3. Cold showers increase mood and alertness
Who doesn’t feel a bit groggy when they take that first step out of bed? This is something everyone
struggles with, but if you’d like to put some pep in your step first thing in the a.m., take a cold
shower as you wake up.
When cold water pours over your body, your breathing deepens in response to the shock of the cold
(this is your body trying to keep you warm by increasing overall oxygen intake). Your heart rate will
also increase, resulting in a rush of blood through your body that will help you get energized for the
day.
The cold water will also result in your body feeling pain, and when your body feels pain, it releases
serotonin and endorphins so that you don't feel as much pain.
This will make you feel like a god. Trust me...just try it.
4. Cold showers strengthen immunity and circulation
Remember how I mentioned that cold showers speed up your metabolic rate, which helps you lose
fat? The increase of this rate activates your immune system, which releases virus-fighting white
blood cells that will help you get sick less frequently.
Cold showers also increase your overall blood circulation, which can help you avoid hypertension
and the hardening of arteries.
So in conclusion, hop in the shower and turn it to cold every day no matter how much you hate it! It
will build character and make you a higher level person.
Maximum Muscle Growth
Choose the best exercises for growth
When you're a beginner or intermediate bodybuilder, you shouldn't be as concerned with refinement
as with growth.
You should focus less on isolation exercises and focus more on compound movements. The
compound exercises like bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, bent-over row, should always
be the foundation of your workout program.
These exercises offer the added benefit of allowing you to train very heavy to overload the target
muscle groups. Performing these moves and challenging yourself with heavy weights is the single
most critical component of gaining strength and size.
Train Heavy for low reps
Start with few warmups and then pyramid the weight up from one set to the next and go to failure.
Get a training partner to help you past failure to do a few more reps.
Make sure the load induces muscle failure at a targeted range.
Don't get too comfortable with the same routine
Do the same workout for too long without making changes, and It's value will fall over time. That's
when you get stuck and hit a wall, and the progress stops. This happened to me a bunch of times
early in my training journey.
Have a base framework but constantly change up the exercises. The muscles need new stimulus
once in a while, so don't get complacent in a constant routine.
If you notice that you're current routine is not producing results, you need to change up the
exercises or the exercise order.
For example, if you hit a wall with the bench press, you can switch that up and focus on incline
dumbbell bench and get really strong at that. Then as you change back to the bench after a while,
your strength should be up a bit.
Don't be afraid to experiment with new exercises or alternative training methods.
Go past failure with advanced techniques
Don't be afraid to apply such technique as forced reps, negatives, drop-sets, partials, rest-pause, or
other ideas techniques. And remember not to take every single set to failure. This will decrease your
performance in the later sets and decrease total volume.
Guard against overtraining
Sometimes when trying to bring up a lagging body-part, you might be tempted to just go all out and
train that muscle every day. This can sometimes be helpful but sometimes counterproductive. There
will be times when a body-part lags behind because you are training it too much, hitting it so hard,
so often, and so intensely that it never has a chance to rest, recuperate, and grow.
Remember that too much can be as bad as too little when it comes to training.
Overhead presses are your best mass builder for shoulders
Compound movements like presses and upright rows are the best mass builders for shoulders, since
they engage the greatest degree of deltoid musculature.
You can mix it up and do regular shoulder presses and then also incorporate behind the neck presses
for a slightly different stimulus. Go heavy on shoulder presses.
Perform the same exercises in a different manner
Small differences in how similar movements are done work the targeted muscle in slightly different
ways, allowing for greater overall stimulus.
For example, when using dumbbells rather than the barbell on overhead presses, you can
deliberately lower the weights several inches below the bottom position of the barbell shoulder
press, and bring the dumbbells together at the top to elongate the range of motion and cause a
greater stimulus.
Attack the delts with different variations of exercise s
Use isolation exercises to complement the presses on your shoulder days, and really stimulate the
muscles properly.
For example, instead of doing side lateral raise always with dumbbells, use cables once in a while,
which have a slightly different feel.
Always train traps with delts
Because the upper traps get some stimulation during many shoulder exercises, it is wise to train
them with delts.
The absolute king of trap exercises are shrugs, and variations of it. Seated dumbbell shrugs, barbell
shrugs, and power shrugs.
If you're not familiar with power shrugs, let me explain. Load up a barbell with as much weight as
you can shrug for about 6-8 reps. The key here is to focus on just getting the weight up, not with
complete jerking, but with little momentum, and slowly lowering it down to the starting position.
This will allow you to use a lot more weight than you normally would, and build power in your
traps.
Also, upright rows and cleans can be used to finish of the traps after shrugs.
Remember to use both heavy and lighter weights in your trap training.
Build mass with standing barbell curls
The standing barbell curl is one of the best exercises for biceps, because they allow you to use
heavy weight and use a full range of motion.
A great way to start your bicep workouts is to start with the standing barbell curl and use 6-8 rep
range with full range of motion to really grow the bi's.
Don't stop at failure
When you take your curls to muscle failure, don't stop there. Once your reach a sticking point, use
just enough momentum and swinging to keep the set going. This will allow you to get a few more
reps in to further stimulate the muscle.
Use dumbbells
Remember to also include dumbbells in your bicep training. Dumbbells are good because you can
concentrate on each arm at a time, allowing a greater contraction and squeeze compared to the
barbell curl.
Use higher reps on certain exercises
Remember to use the 8-12 rep range also when training the biceps, and concentrate on the squeeze
and the contraction and longer reps.
Add partials after failure
For example with triceps, you can use the advanced training technique: partial reps.
After doing a set of full-range push-downs, for example, extend the set with 5-6 partials, either over
the top or bottom half of the movement.
Even though you can't do any more full reps, you can manage to do a few more half reps to really
boost stimulation.
Focus on your weaknesses
If you have a big chest, it's natural to give them little extra effort in the gym. But you should take
the opposite approach.
There will almost always be a muscle group that has fallen behind on the development.
About a year ago, I noticed in my own development that I had not trained my calves, forearms, and
traps enough, so I decided to start focusing on those more every week to bring them up to par.
I added 2 workouts for calves, forearms, and traps to every week to boost growth.
Sometimes Squat on the smith machine
Sometimes you can change it up and squat on the smith machine instead of doing regular squats.
When you use the smith machine, you can focus more on the quads, because you don't have to
focus on balancing the weight. The smith machine handles that for you.
One of my favorite alternatives to the regular squat is the smith machine narrow stance squat. Have
your feet a little closer than your shoulder width, and don't go below parallel or 90 degrees.
This will bring incredible amount of stimulation straight to your quads, and induce an incredible
burn without having to balance the weight. Just make sure you keep your butt from not going
backward like on a normal squat. Keep your thighs straight and don't curve your lower back.
Train abs 3 times a week
You should train your abs at least 3 times a week with the combination of heavy 6-8 reps and the
lighter 8-15 rep range.
The thing to remember is that while most people usually train abs in the very high rep ranges like
20-30 reps, the abdominals are still just like any other muscle group and they need heavy weights to
grow and become more defined.
Build strength to build a big chest
When you have a strong foundation of strength, the hypertrophy gains will come easier. Use the
power-bodybuilding method to get stronger so that you can move more weight when training in the
hypertrophy rep ranges (8-12)
Use multiple angles
Include basic compound movements in your routine that hit the pecs from a variety of angles. Have
the foundation of heavy bench press and incline bench presses, but also use the fancy machines and
all the variations of cable flies available.
Use dumbbells also
Barbells should be the foundation because they allow for heavier weights, but there are advantages
with the dumbbells.
You get much greater stretch when training with dumbbells, especially with the incline presses. The
dumbbells can also be lowered deeper than a barbell.
Dumbbells allow you to work through a longer range of motion, and also allow a greater
contraction for the pecs at the top part of the movement.
Vary your pulling movements
Pulldowns and pull-ups are for width, and rows are for thickness.
Use all kind of different variations on the movements. Do underhand-grip chins and pull ups with
and without added weight, and vary your pull downs, sometimes bringing the bar behind your head
and other times to your chest.
This will allow you to assault the back from multiple angles which will get you better overall
development.
Mind your elbows
Wide-grip pull ups coax the upper lats to come out. Understand that with wide grip movements, the
elbows stay out away from the sides, which engages the upper lats more effectively.
With closer-grip and reverse-grip back exercises, the elbows stay in tighter to the sides, which
reduces the emphasis on the upper lats and instead places more of the focus on the lower lats. So
depending on elbow position relative to your torso, you can effectively focus on some areas of the
back over others.
The Importance of Mind & Muscle Connection
One of the most important things regarding optimal muscle growth is the mind & muscle
connection, which gets easily forgotten in the midst of the intense training sessions.
Your ability to connect your mind to your muscles, like an artist who connects his mind with each
brush stroke, is highly important if you're after those real gains.
Without excellent mind & muscle connection you're wasting your time at the gym, like majority of
people do. I see it every day...
Having a great mind & muscle connection doesn't just mean feeling the muscles work, which is
very important, but also having clarity on how well you have stimulated the muscle during your
training sessions.
In the past I noticed that even when I went through what was seemingly a great training session
with great exercises, still I wasn't getting the results I was after. The problem? Mind & muscle
connection...
I've noticed that you can go through for example a whole chest session without actually stimulating
the chest effectively enough to gain quality muscle. What can seem like a great training session,
actually isn't.
Oftentimes, even when you do multiple exercises for a muscle group you're still not stimulating the
muscle enough to see great gains, even when it feels like you are.
Staying focused in the gym isn't always easy, as your mind easily starts drifting to other things than
training. You probably don't often realize it but you're missing out on one of the most important
secrets of fitness success, the mind & muscle connection.
This has happened to me hundreds of times and every time I fail to keep my attention fully in the
present moment while training, the effectiveness of my workouts suffer greatly.
The Connection
As you know, movement is controlled by the brain. The first step towards muscular contraction is a
signal sent by the brain to your muscles telling them to contract.
You might say that the Mind-Muscle Connection (MMC) occurs at something called the
"neuromuscular junction". This is where the mind meets the body. The brain releases a chemical
neurotransmitter called 'Acetylcholine' to communicate with muscles in the body.
When Acetylcholine is released at the neuromuscular junction it crosses the "synapses" (the tiny
space that separates the nerve from the muscle) where it binds to receptors on the surface of muscle
fibers. And voila, muscle contraction.
The more you can improve this communication, the more muscle fibers you will recruit!
A single muscle head is made up of many individual muscle fibers. By improving your MMC you
are actually increasing the number of muscle fibers being recruited when you perform a lift.
This results in a better quality muscle contraction and better, more effective workout.
Being Fully Conscious
In order to make great gains, you have to be able to feel how much you have stimulated the muscle
fibers each workout, and to stop thinking in terms of how many sets or exercises you've done. It
doesn't matter.
What matters is how much stress have you put on that muscle you're training. How much
stimulation have you actually caused? Is the muscle fully taxed or is there room for
more? ...Usually there is.
Depending on how good your mind & muscle connection is you might have to do much more work
each session than you think - you'll have to increase your workload.
This applies to all muscle groups but especially to chest and back, which are both hard to stimulate
effectively.
You can go through a whole back workout of 5 exercises with 3 sets each and still not stimulate the
back enough to gain muscle at an optimal rate, especially if you have been training for a while.
The problem is that oftentimes we oversimplify our training. We just hit the weights with intensity
and forget to be smart about it and to really stimulate the muscles effectively.
What we need is a great mind & muscle connection to really start making those great muscle gains
that we are all after.
The next time you train, really be conscious on how much stimulation you're causing in the muscle
you're training. Don't just train hard, which you need to do, but train smart. That's how you gain
muscle most effectively.
Chances are that you're not causing enough stimulation in the targeted muscle to see progress at a
rate that you desire. And to make sure you're causing enough stimulation, simply add more volume
to your workouts. But make sure it's ''quality volume,'' not just mindless training.
Try to stay as present to the moment as possible and only allow your mind to think about the
movement you're performing, nothing else. Failing to do this results in mediocre gains.
Sometimes it can help to close your eyes during the set, to really feel the connection. I've seen Mike
O Hearn do this multiple times. And he's a big dude.
The other reason why you would want to close your eyes is because when there are a bunch of
people in the gym, you can get easily distracted, without you even noticing it, causing a lack in
mind & muscle connection.
Finally, to improve the mind & muscle connection you can perform warm up sets before you move
onto working sets, and to flex the muscles you're training between sets.
I've found these two techniques amazingly helpful in cultivating a better mind & muscle
connection.
So, in conclusion, be more mindful when it comes to building your physique.
Many people forget this or better yet don't even know about it, and the result is a mediocre
physique. Train harder, and smarter and the gains you desire will come.
Reasons For Lack of Gains
You know what I'm talking about...You hit the gym 5 times a week and lift until you pass out.
You invest a great amount of time into it but still don't see the muscle gains you so desire. Your
progress has stagnated, your muscles aren't growing, and you feel like shit because of it. No
progress = misery. I know, it sucks. I've been there a million times...
So, what the heck is the problem you ask? Where are the gains?
I will share with you 5 simple reasons why you're not gaining muscle, and how you can start
making progress again.
1. Work Ethic
Many people have this stupid habit of always doing the same number of sets and exercises, month
after month, year after year. Maybe it's a habit, or maybe a limiting belief.
How can you expect to put on more muscle if you always train the same way and give your muscles
the exact same amount of workload each session?
It's like reading the same book over and over again, expecting to learn something new each time. Or
eating chocolate every day and expecting to look great.
A lot of people are afraid of ''overtraining'' which is actually very hard to do. They say: ''I already
did 9 sets, I can't do more or I'll overtrain!''
That's exactly the reason why most people are not putting on quality muscle. And that's the reason
why they don't progress. They're simply afraid of hard work...
The only time when you should be worrying about training too much is when you are on a diet. But
when you're in the off-season, trying to put on muscle and you're on a caloric surplus... oh you can
train a lot more and much harder than you think you can.
As a natural, sometimes you need to take your training sessions to a whole new level and do twice
the amount of sets as you normally do, with twice the amount of intensity. Sometimes, you need to
completely annihilate the muscle fibers once in a while to see new gains. When you think you are
totally done, do 10 more sets.
Once in a while a like to do a ''growth week'' where I train for example biceps every day of the
week. This does wonders to your muscles, and it's not ''overtraining''.
See, your body gets used to everything you do. And if you put your body through the same routine
every time, do you think you will see any change?
If you want to take your physique to the next level, you need to stop making excuses, get rid of your
limiting beliefs, and start working harder.
2. Patience
If you're looking to acquire the aesthetics of a Greek God, I got news for you...It's going to take
years of dedication and hard work. Especially if you are just starting out, you need to realize that it
will not happen overnight.
Don't look in the mirror every day and wonder why you aren't getting any bigger. Building a great
physique is long road filled with disappointments and failures. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
So, take a deep breath, and relax. Stop worrying so much and just put in the work and the results
will surely come over time with enough consistent effort and dedication.
And remember that Rome wasn't built in a day either. But once it was built, it was glorious.
3. Eating Habits
Eat big to get big. Many people miss the most fundamental part which is the diet.
You need to be on a slight caloric surplus every day to put on quality muscle.
If your calories are hanging in the maintenance levels...Well you aren't going to grow.
If you have a hard time eating enough, or you have an extremely fast metabolism like many do,
make your own weight gainer shakes.
Get a blender, add some milk, peanut butter, coconut oil, nuts, oats, or any healthy calorie dense
foods, blend it up and drink it. Boom! Easy 1000-1500 calories in seconds. Problem solved.
Also, make sure you don't eat fast food to get easy calories, because junk food equals junk results.
Eat clean foods to get the best results. McDonald's will give you a heart attack, or a cancer. Don't
eat that shit.
4. Form
Are you doing quarter-squats or swinging like a retard while doing bicep curls? I see it every
day...People don't know how to actually use the muscle they want to work, completely wasting their
time in the gym.
The quality of your form dictates how fast you can put on quality muscle mass. Lousy form equals
lousy gains. Remember that perfecting your form and really learning how to make the most out of
every exercise takes years.
I've been training for 6+ years and I'm still learning how to better my form. The learning never
stops. The more you train, the better you learn to use your own body.
Now, there are occasions when you can use lousy form, like when doing cheat curls, but for the
most part, great form is very important.
5. Ineffectiveness
For fastest muscle gains possible, you need a superb training routine. If you are training with a full
body routine, or a pure strength training routine, you will not be putting on muscle quickly. I can
promise you that.
You have to be on training protocol that maximizes your body's full muscle building potential. And
most training programs do not do that.
Are you doing biceps only once a week when you could be hitting them three times a week? Like
for example, the smaller muscles like biceps, abs, calves, forearms can be trained several times a
week, as they respond best to frequent stimulation.
Make sure your training program is efficient enough if you want to gain muscle as quickly as
possible. Which is what we are all after...Right?
5 Reasons Why Bodybuilding Help You Succeed In Life
There are so many beautiful similarities between building a great physique and a successful life,
which are unfortunately over-looked by most people. People think there is nothing more to gain
than a physical transformation and a heavier bench press. In reality, however, there is a whole lot
more.
What you learn through the difficult journey of crafting your physique is a formula that can be
applied to anything...A philosophy that raises your chances of succeeding in life tremendously and
prepares you for the difficult journey that lies ahead.
The road to success is never straight and smooth, but always full of bumps and curves that knock
even the strongest down on their knees.
The discipline, the sacrifices, the slow rewards, the failures, the setbacks, and the disappointments
that you go through while building your physique are there to teach you something of immense
value - something that most people will never learn - something that, when applied correctly to any
endeavor you may embark upon, will give you the golden touch of Midas (Greek god who's touch
made everything turn to gold.)
You'll just have to stop being a mindless meat-head and allow the iron teach you the lessons of
success ;)
Here are the 5 reasons why bodybuilding will make you successful in life.
1. Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy
Building and sculpting an aesthetic physique naturally takes years and years of pure commitment, a
lot of disappointments, endless hours spent in the gym, and at the dinner table.
The improvements come in tiny dosages, sometimes leaving you wondering whether or not the
endless grind, the piles of food, and the brutal, painful workouts are really worth the effort.
You don't know how long it's going to take you to reach your goal - your destination - the perfect
physique, but you still keep pushing with all your effort.
No matter how hard the going gets, no matter how difficult it sometimes feels, you still keep
moving forward.
While going through this journey with It's ups and downs, something really important gets
ingrained in your brain. You learn the important philosophy that nothing worth having in this life
comes easy.
That anything worth having requires a great deal of effort and serious time commitment on your
part.
If you are after the finer things in life, the philosophy learned from bodybuilding can truly take you
very far, because it can be applied to anything. You learn what it takes to make something out of
nothing. You learn how difficult it is to attain something worth having.
This philosophy - while obvious - must be learned by first-hand experience to really gain the
benefits.
Nothing worth having in life is never up for grabs - never easy - never available for the weakminded individuals who are not willing to sacrifice the pleasures and put in the work required in
order attain something great.
Nothing worth having comes easy and the more you have to struggle to get it, the least likely you
will take it for granted.
''For anything worth having one must pay the price, and the price is always hard work, patience,
love, and self-sacrifice''
2. Growth Happens Outside of Your Comfort Zone
Struggling through the last painful repetitions when it feels like no more could be done - when your
body tells you to give up but your mind says keep going - that's where the growth happens.
When a heavy load is weighing upon your shoulders, your legs are trembling, your out of breath,
you feel like giving up but you squat down one last time, that's when you progress and move
towards your goals.
You learn that in order to change your body - to craft a beautiful physique - you have to go to where
your limits are - and beyond them - where things are difficult and uncomfortable.
Life is a game and actively seeking to stay out of your comfort zone is what it takes to level up - to
progress - to thrive.
You have to be willing to suffer in order to attain something special and to live a life that most
people only dream about.
When you go to the frightening edges of your limits and decide to move forward in spite of fear,
that's when your limits expand, that's when you grow as a person, and that's when you feel the most
alive.
Attaining true success in life can never happen staying inside comfort zones. Outside of them,
however, is where greatness lies.
Constantly staying out of your comfort zone is uncomfortable and that's why majority of people
stay the same forever.
Most people stay in their comfort zones their whole life, always avoiding things that are hard, never
trying anything new, without knowing that life truly begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Developing a perverted pleasure in pain and learning to be ok with discomfort is something we all
should strive for.
Literally start being disgusted with your comfort zone, disgusted with stagnating and start wanting
more.
The more you are ok with being out of your comfort zone, the more you are willing to experience
the pain of failure, and the more you are ready to face the uncomfortable challenges of life, the
faster you will get to where you want to be.
No pain, no gain, it's embedded in the brain - 50 cent
3. Self-discipline Is The Key To Success
What is the definition of self-discipline?
The ability to control one's impulses, emotions, desires and behavior. It is being able to turn down
immediate pleasure and instant gratification in favor of gaining the long-term satisfaction and
fulfillment from achieving higher and more meaningful goals.
And to possess it is to be able to make the decisions, take the actions, and execute your game plan
regardless of the obstacles, discomfort, or difficulties that may come your way during the journey.
You will face obstacles, you will face discomfort, and you will face difficulties while trying to build
a body that's worth having.
Self-discipline is what will keep you going even when the going gets tough, and even when things
are not going your way.
Discipline is required to build a physique that's aesthetic, symmetrical, and proportionate body.
Discipline is required to maintain a healthy low calorie diet and to starve yourself while shredding
the body of excess fat.
Discipline is required to constantly push yourself out of your comfort-zone in order to see new
progress. Discipline is required to keep going to the gym and to give your all even when you least
feel like it.
To build an awesome life of wealth and abundance, to take consistent action towards your dreams,
and to endure the hard times, you need discipline. And without learning it somewhere, you simply
won't have it when its needed.
If you ever want to be more than a regular citizen, working a regular job, and living a regular life,
you have to be a business owner. To create a successful business from the ground up will certainly
require many long nights, hard work, sacrifices, disappointments, and a lot of time.
How do you endure all that? How do you work the long nights when you are tired and the only
thing you want to do is to go to bed? How do you keep yourself focused on your goals, and how do
you keep doing something when there is no certainty that it will even work? You need discipline.
Discipline is not something that's granted for everybody when they are born. Discipline is learned
by being disciplined.
''Self-discipline is the true foundation of success''
4. Sacrifices Has To Be Made
Society tries to deny the law of sacrifice and promises people that they can fulfill their dreams
without having to forsake nothing at all. And the lazy people blindly buy into it. ''The 5 minute abs!''
''Get rich quick!'' ''Lose weight by with this pill!'' It's a fantasy. There is always a price to pay.
In order to build a great physique you have to be willing to make sacrifices. You have to sacrifice
the unhealthy foods, excessive alcohol, the feeling of comfort, and the time required. In order to get
totally shredder you need to be on a strict diet. In order to achieve success in life, you have to be
willing to sacrifice and give up comfort and conformity.
What are you willing to sacrifice on your journey? There is 24 hours in a day, how many hours will
you sacrifice?
Sacrifice does not mean giving up something for nothing; it means giving up one thing for
something else we believe is worth more.
Most people are not willing to let go of their time wasting activities, negative influences, and
comfort zones in order to build a life that they really desire. Which is why they will stay average.
Be willing to do that, be willing to make sacrifices, be willing to sacrifice the pleasures, be willing
to put in the long hours and work hard towards your dreams.
Success never favors people who are lazy, reasonable or realistic. Be completely unreasonable. Be
completely unrealistic. Set goals so big that you feel scared even setting them.
With hard work and persistence anything is possible. Remember that.
Do what others wont. Begin while others wait. Decide while others delay. Work while others wish.
Save while others waste. Study while others sleep. Persist while others quit.
You need to give up, in order to go up.
''Belief, sacrifice, sick work ethic, passion...and remaining focused. That is the formula for success.''
- Arvin Lal
5. Failure Is Nothing But a Step In The Right Direction
During the journey of building your physique you will encounter countless failures and
disappointments. Sometimes the failures and disappointments are so heart-wrenching that you feel
like giving up and moving on to the next thing.
The improvements come so slow that you often ponder whether or not the hard work is really worth
it. But if you truly want it, you'll keep going.
While nobody likes to fail and to be disappointed, both are always a part of any great journey.
Ask any truly successful person about his or her journey to success, and the answer you always get
is that there has been a lot more failures than successes.
Most people are so scared of failure and disappointment that they will never try to achieve anything
great in their lives.
Most people prefer to play it safe by restricting themselves to their comfort zone and avoiding any
risks. Remember; the risk isn't taking a risk. Not taking a risk is the risk.
When you're older you will only find yourself bitter and disappointed about your life, and die with
immense regret, with a tear rolling down your cheek as you drift away...
In order to live a life that most people only dream about, you have to be willing to take risks and be
ok with failure. Failure is all about perspective. Unsuccessful people see it as a horrible thing that
should be avoided at all costs.
While successful people see it only as a step in the right direction - a step closer to their goals. Fail.
Learn. Keep going.
''It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as
well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.''