So if you’re just getting started, or you’ve been at it for years but haven’t made any real progress, here are a few tips to get the ball rolling for you.
Tip #1. Get a Goal
Get your goal crystal clear. I can’t stress that enough.
Tip #2. Get a Plan
This is roadmap to your goal. Without it, your chances of building muscle and burning fat are slim to none, and slim just left the building. A great muscle building program is just what you need.
Tip #3. Get a Friend
Preferably one that’s serious and has similar goals as you. This will help both of your along your journey.
Tip #4. Get some Education
Yup, go read some books! The more educated you are about this, the less you will fall victim to all the “hype” your friends tell you and the magazines tell you.
Tip #5. Get Serious
You get serious about your goal and your goal will get serious about you, lol. This is a big endeavor, so if you treat it like a hobby, you’ll get hobby results.
So here are some great body building tips for beginners – and people that haven’t made any progress.
Until Next Time,
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Filed under Body Building Tips, Workout Motivation by on Jun 19th, 2010. Comment. 
Many people are looking for that ever elusive formula for success.
It’s like the Unicorn or the pot of gold at the rainbow that we keep chasing, but never find it.
We never find it because a definitive formula for success DOESN’T exist.
why doesn’t it exist? Because everyone’s definition of their personal success is different.
So if everyone’s definition is different, we can’t all use the same formula to get different results – Duh.
However, there is hope. There are priniciples that lead to a desirable outcome each time. Just like the priniciples in math (such as Algebra – I’m an Algebra teacher right now)
lead to the solution of a given problem – aka, your own personal definition of success.
The first principle I learned a few years ago and it’s the first step to this entire thing – and the backbone of this post.
Princple #1 – The Crossover
No, I’m not talking about a move in basketball. The Crossover refers to the fact that – the principles you used for one area of your life can be applied to another area of your life.
An example would be the principle of progressive overload (which I’ll get into more later)
is used on each muscle to make it grow. This prinicple crosses over to other areas of life also.
Which leads me to my next principle…
Principle #2 – Progressive Overload
Simply put, if you want to get better at anything, you must continue to challenge yourself beyond your previous limits.
I had a quote I used to say to msyelf whenever I felt like quitting, “If you push your limits, you further them.”
Ask any athlete, or any CEO why they are they best, and they will say that they continued to push themselves while everyone else quit.
Principle #3 – Intake Determines Output
In muscle building, this is called calories. You put junk in and your body will look like junk.
In other areas of life, this is called information (which also applies to muscle building).
You can only do what you learn. If all you learn and are fed is negativity, you’ll produce negative results.
So watch what’s coming in, if you care about what’s coming out (this is why I stopped watching TV 2 yrs ago, to have more control over what’s coming into my brain).
Principle #4 – Intensity
Training with intensity is just one of those things I hope you know already. But seeing that I see most people in the gym
aren’t getting the results they would like, they aren’t intense enough about their training.
Part of Intensity is Focusing. You have to focus intensely on your desired outcome in whatever area of life you are working in for it to be successful.
Yes, it’s going to take hard work. Hard/Correct work is the only way to achieve anything worthwhile in life.
Principle #5 – Consistency
I’ll never forget one summer that I made a huge tranformation in my body.
At the end of the summer, people in the gym asked me what was my secret. I replied with one word – Consistency.
I was there day in and day out, whether I felt like it or not. I did what I had to do on a daily basis with my nutrition and weekly with my workouts.
I was consistent and it showed to everyone.
Part of winning is just showing up, and you have to show up over and over again if you ever expect to win.
Those are the first five principles of success that we can take from bodybuilding.
Stay tuned for the last 5 in this series.
Until Next Time,
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Filed under Workout Motivation by on May 3rd, 2010. 3 Comments.
Hey if your read my post on how to set goals and achieve them, this will be a personal follow up to them.
Writing this out for you to see is creating a condition – I have to come close or risk looking like a fool on my own blog!
So here we go…
Mitch’s Fitness Goals for 2010
- Gain 20 lbs
- Run 2 miles 3x week
- Achieve my “look”
- Bench twice my body weight
Not a laundry list, but their targeted to what I want to achieve through lifting.
Your list may or may not be long. As long as each item on that list is important to you, that’s all that matters.
I feel a little short last year. Here are my goals for last year
- Bench 280
- Leg press 1200
I got up to 245 on the bench and 1000 on the leg press. I fell off from these goals because neither of them were tied directly into what I really want to achieve through lifting which are to achieve the body I’ve always dreamed of and have full confidence in the way I look.
This may sound like insecurity, but I like how I look now and I’m proud of the progress I’ve made. The body I’ve built is a testament to my willpower. However, though I’ve come a long way, I’m still not where I want to be yet. Don’t worry, I dont want to be some disgusting bodybuilder type. I want a functional, good looking, athletic body.
Being in good physical shape will free me from some ailments I currently battle as well. Next year, I may think about some type of fitness competition, but that’s another time.
I plan to achieve my fitness goals by following the plan I already have which is Vince’s No Nonsense Muscle Building program. When something works, you stick with it, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.
I’ll also be picking up and training a partner which you will hear more about in coming months.
To assist you in your goals, I’d like to know what they are for 2010. By telling people, you’re actually creating a condition and furthering your progress to that goal, so I highly encourage you to share.
Until next time, Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Mitch
Filed under Body Building Tips, Workout Motivation by on Jan 4th, 2010. 3 Comments.
Ok, yesterday, I covered the foundational things you need to achieve your muscle building goals.
You can check out yesterday’s post here.
Basically, I said you need to get your mind right.
Today, I’m going to cover some of the essential practical steps to achieving your muscle building goals in the new year.
Some you may’ve heard of and some you haven’t.
1. Break Your Goals Down
I take my yearly goals which are pretty big and break them down to quarterly goals. I break those down into monthly and weekly goals. I like to set weekly task lists for myself to make sure I get certain things done on time and correctly. This is a great way to stay on track.
It’s easier to eat an elephant one piece at a time than to try and consume the whole elephant in one bite. Break your goals down and focus on smaller chunks that will eventually lead to your desired result. So if you want eventually bench 300 but you can only bench 185 currently, that can seem a bit daunting. Focus on getting to 195, then 215, then 245, and so on.
The psychological effect here is to get small successes which will get you in positive, winning mindset. This will greatly increase your chances of reaching your desired result.
No surprise here.
2. Set Conditions
This is probably the most powerful goal achieving technique I’ve heard of. It involves setting a condition in which you must achieve the desired result.
A friend of mine told me about this and it absolutely changed the way I looked at goals. A great condition for you may be to get a personal trainer or get a dedicate friend that won’t let you quit. Or maybe tie your goal to a specific reward like a vacation or competition.
The idea here is to not leave yourself with a way out. If you limit your options to success or bust, you will be a lot more likely to succeed.
3. Focus on Performance Rather Than Outcome
Vince offers a great strategy in his No-Nonsense Muscle Building book which is to set performance goals. What he means is that you can’t always guarantee the outcome (e.g. weighing 180 in 6 months), but you can control your performance in the tasks that you need to go to get to that result.
Your outcome goal is a result of a lot of factors. Some you can control such as nutrition, training, recovery, and education. But there are other factors you can’t control like Life. You never know what may happen to detur you.
So instead of focusing on your outcome goal (e.g. a certain weight, certain look, milestone on certain lifts), you should focus on your performance. Your performance includes getting the right amount of calories, pushing yourself on each rep, getting the right amount of recovery time, etc. These are things and you can control which will positively move you toward your goal.
The rest, as they say, is out of your hands. Accept it and move on.
4. The Little Things Count
These last few things are the small hinges that swing big doors. They are often overlooked but shouldn’t be underestimated.
- Write your goals down – daily
- Visualize your results 5 mins a day
- Tell people about your goals – this creates a success only condition
- Track your progress and make periodical adjustments
And there you have it. Some of the most efficient and effective ways to achieve your muscle building goals. In my next post, I will share my muscle building goals with you and how I plan to achieve them.
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Mitch
Filed under Body Building Tips, Workout Motivation by on Jan 2nd, 2010. 2 Comments.
First I’d like to begin this post by wishing you a Happy New Year! A new decade is upon us. What will it bring?
It’s that time of the year again, where people make resolutions to do all sorts of crazy things. People want to lose weight or quit smoking usually. I’ve wanted to learn Spanish for years. Even now that I have a Colombian girlfriend, I still haven’t made good on this goal.
Which goals were left undone by you last year? How did you prepare? Why did you succeed or fail?
I decided to write a blog post about goal setting as much for you as I am writing it for me. After all of my personal development study, I still miss the mark more often than I’d like.
Goal setting and achieving isn’t easy, unfortunately. We’d all like to set it and forget it. But we know it doesn’t work that way and you can’t get something for nothing.
That being said, I know you want the most efficient route to your goals. Since this is a muscle building blog, I’m going to focus on just that and not the broad range of goal setting.
However, you will see a bit of a cross over. Let’s begin with the foundational advice first.
1. Begin With The End In Mind
I’ve blogged about getting your goal body in place. You should have a clear picture of what you want to look like and most importantly, feel like.
Imagine who you are then. What is your body fat? What is your BMI? How much do you weigh? What do your abs, biceps, pecs, legs, look like? How do people react to you? How do you feel about yourself?
It’s easier to get to your destination if you know where you’re going and what it looks like.
2. Get A Road Map
The best way to do this by far is with an effective muscle building program. If you’re looking for a shortcut, this is by far the best way next to getting a personal trainer.
I’ve said it over and over that the solution isn’t in a bottle. You have to educate yourself and these programs provide the best need to know education on the internet.
3. Get Committed
Commitment is something that seems to be lacking in this world. Especially with all the divorces we see everyday. Commitment is a quality you will need in ever area of life. Cultivating that quality will benefit you in more arenas than muscle building.
Make a firm, ironclad decision to transform your body. I like to say, “Just as the sun rises and sets, I will be the success I want to be.” You must be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.
Block out any negative influences that will deter you, whether it’s people in your life or images and media you come across. You don’t have to get rid of them, just don’t listen to them when it comes to your body.
4. Set Whole Body Goals
We’re talking about body goals here, but as Stephen Covey suggests, set goals that will affect your mind, body, heart, and spirit.
How will your muscle building goals affect your mind? How will they affect your heart, meaning your human relationships? How will they affect your spirit meaning your sense of purpose in this world?
When you tie your goals into other areas of your life, your connection to your goals become stronger.
Simply put, you can’t achieve a goal you aren’t connected to.
That’s it for the foundational stuff. Tune in tomorrow for the action steps.
The new motto for 2010 is this…
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Mitch
Filed under Body Building Tips, Workout Motivation by on Jan 1st, 2010. 6 Comments.
