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THE ANCIENT RAW ELEMENT
IN SUCCESSFUL TRAINING
The room is softly lit with candles, and the scent to
incenses fills the air as does the Indian meditation chants
from my new CD ( purchased via infommercial for only $9.95...
what a deal!)
In the corner of my office, I sit crossed legged in the
Lotus position, eyes closed, my mind off in another dimension,
a part of a different metaphysical plane of thought. My
superior meditative powers pulling together and holding
in place the powerful insight of my “third eye”.
Oh yes! Brilliant thoughts that at any moment would burst
forth in a torrent of wisdom. Flowing forth into compelling
words that will stir the minds of all my readers.
Surging into the finger tips that poise waiting to attack
my lap top key board and show the pathway to results and
understanding to all who would read and understand.
Okay ! All the above is “CrapOla” … to
the max…but hey, it sounds better than the truth.
For in truth, I sit staring at a blank computer screen,
waiting for divine intervention that will rise up before
my eyes on this screen much like the Phoenix of myth, magically
forming an article that totally eludes me at the moment.
And then, almost as if visited by one of the spirits from
Dickens’ “Christmas Carol”, in came my
inspiration, gym bag in hand, Tyler the Barbarian.
Now, Tyler exhibits NONE of the physical characteristics
of a Conan but it is his demeanor that has earned him the
gym title of “The Barbarian”. If one were to
listen to Tyler, and “buy into” his vocal ranting
and raving leading up to and during his training sessions,
you would almost hear Arnold speak of crushing his enemies
and hearing the cries of their women. |
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“Hi Doc, how’s your day going? Time to go to war
with the weights, time to crush the weights and build some muscle.”
“Oh, if that were only true Tyler, if it were only true.”
Tyler either didn’t hear my comment, or chose to ignore
it, in either case, he never acknowledged my comment as he passed
by and headed into yet another session of grunts and groans and
little real work.
Tyler is a very personable young fellow, and all at the club
like him, but when it comes to his actual training, well much
is to be desired. And, while it has on more occasions that I
care to try to count, his short falls with regard to his training
have been more than adequately pointed out, he still seems to
either fail to grasp the truth, or chooses to totally ignore
it. In either case, he suffers as a result.
But at least today, his sudden appearance has sparked my needed
article content.
Tyler represents a large part of today’s society. In life,
if something is made easier or more convenient and it can still
result in the same outcome, it makes total sense to do so. However,
people should never look for an easier or more convenient way
to build muscle mass in the fastest way possible, for the simple
reason that… IT DOES NOT EXSIST.
If you seek the greatest amount of results for your time invested
in the gym you must apply the correct information as well as
work hard and consistently.
But too many people are omitting this key corner stone within
the process … SIMPLE HARD WORK.
Most gym members, regardless of their good intentions never
work hard enough in the gym.
Applying the single most productive, all inclusive exercise
in the world, will not reap any results if the process of hard
work is not at the core of the process.
Conversely, if you apply this all out, “balls to the walls” approach
with a less effective exercise, you will still experience good
results.
The above is especially true if you are the “Tyler Type” (
a hard gainer, naturally thin with a hard time gaining any weight
much less muscle mass). If you fall into this category of trainee,
then all the proper diet and training approach will produce nothing
without an all out 100% effort on your part.
Now it is true, that there are those in the gym that show the
signs of progress without this total hardcore approach, but even
these individuals (and all my years of gym life continue to bear
this out) will exhibit a much higher degree of results in far
less time if they should stumble onto the truth involved in making
the “work” in “working out” a true fact.
The term hard work tends to get lost in the various ways different
individuals describe and apply it. Some of these people are just
not cut from the cloth of hard work, and for them the idea alone
is one they just can’t grasp. And as a result, much like
Tyler, they never make the jump from “Bunny” training
to Gorilla training.
And like Tyler, they can’t make the transition within
the training context from work to all out hard work. Not that
many if not all THINK they are training in that manner, Tyler
sure does.
If you are not totally sure you are working as hard as you possibly
can in your training, then you probably are NOT. And in many
cases, even if you truly think you are giving all you have to
each training session, you probably are not.
Many times over the years, someone has come to me and from the
first has been adamant in their assurance to me that they are
applying “everything” to their training, only to
fall out midway through a session when actually forced to apply “hard
work”. Such work applications have eluded them in their
quest, simply because they have never been literally FORCED to
hang in there and make it happen.
If you can answer in the affirmative to any of the following
questions, you are not working hard enough:
- Do you find your mind wandering during a workout?
- Is your workout the sole reason for being at the gym, or do
you spend time in social interaction?
- Do you ever find yourself quitting in your head during a hard
set? Letting the momentary pain overrule the last few executions
within the set?
- Do you change horses in midstream? Example: you are slated
to grind out some truly brutal squats, but after the warm-up
set, you opt for leg presses, finding some justification in the
process. And of course you would never admit that you are altering
the session because of the work value of squats (they are HARD).
But, hey… your gym “hero” is doing leg presses,
so you falsely reason you too should be doing them. Never mind
that years of heavy brutal squats are the true reason he has
tree trunks for legs.
- When the reps get “too much for you” do you then
reason that a couple more sets rather than grinding out those
last ones will accomplish the same thing?
- Do you have an established “list” of reasons (excuses)
to pull from should the routine begin to tax your resolve. That
list may include but not be limited to things like:
- You forgot to drink your protein drink today
- You didn’t get your full eight hours of sleep
- Your Boss has been riding you like a Brahma Bull at work
- You really need to be home cutting the grass
- Oh, Lord, you just discovered your socks don’t match
The list is endless!
Please keep in mind that when I refer to “hard work”,
I am talking about the effort you put into your exercise, not
how much or how long you work out for.
Results in the gym, like any worthwhile success in life, is
about the quality of the work you put in, not the quantity. You
can work long or you can work hard but you cannot work truly
hard for long periods of time.
And the presence of hard work is not optional, not if you are
serious about building some real muscle mass fast and effectively.
And, this should not be either surprising nor disturbing to
you. There is an tremendous sense of joy and accomplish that
can only be realized through hard work. The accomplishment of
a hard task lends itself to the true feeling of what it means
to feel like a winner.
While it is true that most of us on the surface will initially
resist a challenge, it is IN the challenge that we feel our best.
That sense of pure reward that only comes from overcoming adversity.
Every time you push yourself to the limit, and challenge your
inter self you will experience the rush of winning.
Without the presence of hard work, all else is meaningless.
So, back up to the wall, and face your opponent, it is time
for battle. No running away, no escape, face it head-on and take
the challenge on, knowing the fight to come.
All this said, I will bring this little message to a close,
and see if I can squeeze some hard work out of Tyler. I do hope
he has let his finger nails grow out some, I am sure he’ll
need them to get my foot out of his ass.
Remember, successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful
people won’t.
Should you want to remain ordinary, then do ordinary things.
If you desire to be more, to be extra ordinary … well
then that is a whole new ball game.
BATTER UP ! STEP UP TO THE PLATE. TAKE A SWING… UNLESS
YOU DO, YOU HAVE NO CHANCE OF EVER HITTING THE BALL.
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