Instant Gratification
Instant gratification .
we live in a world where we want it, and we want it now.
If you dont want to go out to buy food, no problem, just call someone and theyll deliver it to you. Want to be famous? Piece of cake, take a photo of your ass and put it on Instagram. Dont want to wait to see that new movie that comes out TOMORROW?! Thats ok, just download a copy online right now and its yours forever. You dont even have to go up to someone and talk to try and get a date anymore, you can just swipe left and youre an instant fucking stud, no effort required.
The desire for instant results with putting in as little work as possible is on the rise, especially in the fitness industry thanks to social media, and its mind blowing! No one wants to actually put in any work anymore. Fad diets, crap supplements, muscle stimulation devices, listening to the so-called experts because they have a few thousand followers on Twitter, wrapping yourself up in cling film to enhance fat loss (seriously, Ive seen this) and of course, recreational uses of steroids (taking steroids for shits and giggles as opposed to using them to get an edge in bodybuilding competition) are all common place now and this last one is driving me fucking crazy!! Now dont get me wrong, Im a guy who very rarely could give two fucks about what people take but what I cant stand is (1) the overwhelming need to start taking them as soon as the journey to muscle building begins BECAUSE PEOPLE AE TOO FUCKING LAZY AND IMPATIENT and (2) the belief that steroids hold magical properties in providing users with the knowledge in knowing fucking EVERYTHING about lifting weights when in actual fact, their technique and execution is just pure shit and its so embarrassing to look at, I wouldnt even show it to Stevie Wonder.
Building muscle isnt an instant gratification kind of thing, like anything worthwhile, it takes time, it takes practice and it takes persistence. But the results are rewarding, and they are worth it. Read the book, implement the strategies, get to the gym and work your ass off. Do it for YOU and only you. Delay the gratification, enjoy the anticipated reward and look forward to the journey as well as the destination.
Us and them
Before you read on, it is absolutely essential that you understand the difference between us and them. The reason being is that I want you to believe Ive written this to help you, not to con you with shit that doesnt work. But to believe it, you must know the following:
not all men (or women) are created equally
and no matter what Flex magazine, Instagram wannabes selling shit or even Dave down the gym tells you, (and Im sorry to break it to you) theres not a fucking thing you can do about it.
Theres us and theres them. Always has been, always will be.
The amount of times in my life where Ive heard:
Well thats not what Arnold Schwarzenegger did
Ronnie Coleman didnt do any of that
Jay Cutler said to eat this
That is what I mean by them. The freaks of nature. The elite. The people with superhuman genetics. Steroids, Fortune and Photoshop aside, even by taking all of that away, the best of them out there, the people you may aspire to be like, are just on a different level genetically . For the majority of you, if you read this book in the hopes of becoming one of them in 6 months time youre setting yourself up for disappointment.
Some of them know what theyre doing, sure, but for them, they pick up a barbell and their biceps grow by 2 inches. They dont understand the struggle of muscle building and therefore, they dont really know what truly works and what doesnt for people like us, and why should they? The new age bodybuilders have trainers and nutritionists, they dont know macros from assholes. They get a programme and they just go do it. Simple. So, should we be looking to them to help us with our gains? Probably not eh?
With that being said, if you ARE reading this book in order to be the best that YOU can be, to focus only on YOUR own achievements, YOUR own goals and YOUR own path then welcome. You have the right mind set and fuck me, youre going to do well.
Muscle building is a science. If you feel that to get big, yow gotta lift some heavy ass weight is a far more intelligent and factual strategic method for muscle building (cheers Ronnie Colman), then please, put down the book and go do it. Ill see you back here in a few weeks or months when lifting that heavy ass weight isnt all it appeared to be.
Now, lets make some muscle.
Training
This book contains 20 methods of building muscle, looking at training, nutrition and factors outside of the gym. Like most things in life, building muscle is a trial and error thing. What works for someone may not work for you (discussed in greater detail in chapter 1) and vice versa. I dont know YOU and I dont know your body, but whoever you are, you are certain to find a huge number of tips in here useful, but please, (and this is the reason for this chapter) dont try to do ALL OF THEM AT ONCE!!, simply because some of these tips will contradict one another and it will leave you feeling pissed off and deflated, for example, one section will focus on you lifting for a set time rather than reps, but another will have you going to failure, therefore throwing both set times and reps out the window. Both of these work, but you must use this book as a tool to work on and study your own body, carry out experiments and chose the best method for YOU. Taking on too many of these tips at once will be overwhelming and youll give up before youve even begun. Read the chapters, pick the ones you like and use them. Slowly integrate others or change them completely depending on your outcomes as you get accustomed to the new training.
And of course, no fitness book is complete without this little nugget:
Before taking on any of the training principles found in this book, make sure you are healthy enough to do so. If you are unsure, consult your GP immediately.
Enjoy
Do what works for YOU
This statement is one of the most important things to remember when embarking on anything in life Period!
In terms of muscle building, what this means is you must try to learn to understand your body, try different things out and dont just stick with something because its what the other guys do.
We all have different frames, different limb lengths and this creates different responses to different exercises. For example, I spent years and years doing the Barbell bench press. Why? Because in all those fitness magazines and celebrity workouts, the barbell bench press was deemed the king of chest exercises. Everyone did it, does it and will continue to do it, and so naturally, I followed this belief. But, if Im honest, it never really stimulated my pec muscles the way other exercises did, like the dumbbell press or dumbbell flys. I can get a really good stretch on my chest generally, but I couldnt really achieve this with the barbell. I also found it harder to contract the muscle at the top of the movement with the bar, so for me, the barbell bench press isnt my go-to exercise and just because the guys at the gym do it it doesnt mean that its for you. Of course, the barbell bench press is one example, and you might find that it works great for you and therefore, you should stick to it. The lesson to take from this tip is listen to your body. If it isnt working for you, and your technique is good, replace the exercise with something else. Dont waste time on shit that doesnt work.