Choose Your Outcome
The first thing you want to do is establish your goal or goals. If you have only one goal, for example to get huge, that is much easier to plan. Suppose you have two or more goals, that will take a little more planning as sometimes the food schedule for one goal is in opposition to the second goal.
Also, your available time may be limited, so pursuing two goals at one time can become a little tricky. Here in L.A. people come to me usually for a few different things: Everybody wants to be lean in the middle. Most dudes want to get built. Some just want to be cut but not big. Women generally want a nice butt arms and abs. Some people are looking to drop weight fast. Some people are looking to be strong and functional. Some want to train for a sport or to support their particular lifestyle.
Pick Your Poison
The internet and the bookstore are full of ideas. I love bodybuilding.com and muscle and fitness magazines for hard core bodybuilding. In Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness you can find bodybuilding, but they specialize more on great functional, circuit training and quick workouts for people more interested in being lean and tight. They also offer great ideas for quick workouts for people on a time crunch.
You can easily find workout programs that you can follow exactly as is. Generally you’ll find programs for somewhere between four- to eight-week stretches. You can even search for programs designed for three-, four-, five- and six-day splits, useful depending on the time you can dedicate to reaching your goal.
Identify an Ally
People come to me for a lot of different reasons. One of them is motivation. I help people break through plateaus with motivation and spotting techniques (there will be a column on prop spotting techniques to come, watch for it!)
I workout with a training partner for both of these reasons, and you might want to too. It helps to have a scheduled appointment with someone for the days you wake up lazy. it also helps to push past your limits on your own because you can push each other to go farther and spot each other to lift more.
Another really important benefit of a training partner is having a set of eyes on your form. Many people have unbalanced musculature, which can be corrected by form. Sometimes you might need to drop the weight a bit to balance out an underdeveloped muscle.
Crush the Game
Seeing results is all about putting in the work. Like anything else, the more you put in the more you will get out. It’s very important to pick workouts that seem horrible in a good way, not just terrorizing.
It always kind of sucks when you’re in the middle of it, but if the workout challenges you in a way you like, it can be kind of fun at the same time. So exercise selection is very important. If you hate one of the exercises in the workout that you picked, change it to something that works the muscle similarly that you find less offensive.
Eat for the Body You Want
We have all heard the saying “abs are made in the kitchen.” It sticks because it is true. I don’t do meal plans for my clients, but I do teach them how to eat and choose food for their goals and their lifestyles. I find meal plans too restrictive for most people when they are finding their own food. A meal delivery service catered to your goals can be a workable meal plan because then you don’t have to think, shop or plan, which is great for busy people.
For body building there are different ways to eat for bulking, muscle growth and leaning out. There are a ton of different opinions, theories and plans you can follow, and I will get into more of those in future columns.
Cash In Your Rewards
Enjoy that hot new body! Buy it new clothes. Take it to the beach. Take it on dates!
