Masculine Skills- Sales- Post By 8Ball

 Have you ever seen people who can light up any room?  They can convince people do things almost effortlessly, this is because they have learned sales and influence.  Sales and influence are power skills that men need to learn.  To be a good sales person you have to understand people, both men and women.   Once you have an understanding of them, you need to figure out their pain points and jump on them.

People will call this dark and manipulative its effective and that's all that matters.  Sales just like real life starts with the intro the first impression.

How to Have a Strong Intro

 Speak with energy and look to help- people get this wrong, they think it means being overly excited or trying too hard to please people.  The correct way is to introduce yourself or answer the phone with confidence.  Think Hi I'm Dave! and offer your hand for a shake.  The importance of this is that the first impression makes an impact.  

Take the intro seriously.  Most sales are lost within the first two minutes.  Think in real life when you meet people, who do you remember the most?  Do you remember the upbeat guy who's upbeat and ready to get after it?  Or is it the dull boring guy who feels sorry for himself?

After you hook the consumer with the intro, the next step is to qualify or do a needs analysis.

Depending on your background, car sales calls this a needs analysis door to door sales calls this qualifying.  The purpose of this is to find out what the consumer wants.  The key to this is to remain indifferent to the consumers reaction.  If you're doing home improvement here are some great questions to ask.

So many windows do you have?  

When's the last time you had your roof replaced?

How do you and your wife like your kitchen?  

What's the attic insulation like in your home?

This is for needs analysis qualifying questions for home improvement products.

Common objections will be I don't have time for a free estimate tomorrow.

I need to ask my wife.

I don't need any windows, roof, attic, kitchen etc.

How to rebuttal those objections

Objection- I don't have time for a free estimate tomorrow.

Rebuttal-  I understand you don't have time tomorrow, Our consultants are out here 7 days per week providing free estimates to the community, So if they arrive at 4 pm they'll finish around 5:30 and the estimate is good for a whole year so you don't need to make a decision today if you don't want to.  With that being said when is the best day to get you a free quote?

Objection- I need to ask my wife/husband.  

Rebuttal- I understand that you need to ask your wife, I agree it's better that both of you are here for the free quote.  Tomorrow will have project coordinators providing free quotes, they'll be here from 10, 2, 6 pm what time works best for both of you guys?

Objection- I don't need any windows rn

Rebuttal- Sure, I understand you don't need any windows rn.  The quote is good for a whole year, it's great to capitalize on this so that way you can compare prices and see what the market is like.  You don't have to make a decision tomorrow if you don't want to.

Remember this needs analysis is specifically for appointment setting for home improvement products.  I did this door to door for 1 year.  The job had good and bad days but it taught me how to handle face to face interactions.  Most importantly it taught me how to handle rejection and move forward.

Rejection isn't personal on to the next consumer.  If this isn't your attitude you will fucking suck at sales.

If you can't handle cursing go read a women's self improvement site where someone gives a shit about your feelings.  

If your rebuttal game is good you'll make many sales.  If you're lazy and don't like to work on yourself the rebuttals will be hard.  You get out what you put in.  If you want to make sales you will have to learn how to handle objections.  Objections happen at every point in the call.  The key is to practice them so much that it becomes second nature.

Yes bros, you have to practice rebuttals.  Practice with yourself or get a buddy your gf ai robot idgaf someone who can practice giving you objections and you practice handling them.

The next part of the sale is the sales pitch.

The pitch is almost as important as the close.

I'll use insurance sales as an example, whether that be u65 insurance sales or Medicare.  With these types of jobs yes the insurance plan is most important and copays benefits will be the deciding factor.  With that being said the way to close deals in insurance is to read each copay or coinsurance with the same confidence level whether it's a $0 premium or a $1000 gold plan premium.  If you're counting someone else's dollar and trying to sell yourself it will be noticeable. 

Here's what I mean.  The plan is for the customer/consumer not you.  When you shop with your own pockets you miss out on sales.  Another point in a good sales pitch is to go back to the needs analysis to build credibility.

Use this statement.

Earlier, you told me.  Boom, builds credibility instantly if you took good notes, this is because you read back what they told you earlier in the call.  

This is how you build anticipation before asking for the deal.

Last step close the sale.

If you've everything right up until this point, this will be cake.

When you go with the earlier you told me, etc...

Then you reiterate what you went over on the needs analysis.

Finally, close the deal with confidence.  

Based on the information we've gone over today, the plan that makes the most sense

will be xyz, with a _ premium.  starting Feb 1st 2025, lets go ahead and get you enrolled.  Pull out your medicare card, or if it's u65 say please spell your first and last name for me to get this application started.

This right here is called an assumptive close.   Or assuming the sale.  Why is this important you may be wondering?  It's important because the consumer can sense your confidence or lack their of through your language and tonality. 

If you ask for permission or are too nice you will get an objection- guaranteed.

How to handle an objection- on the close.

Common objections on the close

I need to think about it.

I'm not ready today.

I need to talk to my spouse.

I already have a plan.

Objection- I need to think about it

Rebutall- I understand you need to think about it, was there any particular question you may have that I didn't go over?  Answer question, then tie back to sale.

Yes this copay for a specialist is $45.  Do you have any other questions for me before we get this plan started today?

Go right back to the close after answering the question.  The key to this is to do it smoothly don't rush.  Answer the question, search for additional questions and go back to the sale.

Objection- I'm not ready today.  

Rebuttal- I understand you're not ready today, the plan starts on the first of Feb, so if you decide you want to cancel you can call back before the end of the month and you'll go back to the plan you were on.  With that being said lets go ahead and get you enrolled for x,y,z plan.  

Yes some will complain about using free look to sell, but it's all about how you word it.  In Medicare it is stricter than u65 insurance.  

Objection- I need to talk to my spouse

Rebuttal- I understand you need to talk to your spouse, do you think your spouse would be happy with you if you passed up on a $0 plan like this with all these great benefits?  The cards take 10-14 days to arrive in the mail.  You'll get all this info, that way you guys can see it together after enrolling.  With that being said lets go ahead and get you enrolled.

Again a lot of these principles will keep tying together.  Notice how I still use assumptive language.  Assumptive language is key.  If you lose your tonality or assumptive posture at any point you will lose the customer and have to schedule a callback.  The reason you word the rebuttals this way is because it puts the heat right back on the husband.  

Objection- I have a plan already

Rebuttal- This rebuttal will be different, only pitch a switch if the plan is genuinely better and literally say I understand you have a plan already, this plan I went over with you though, has more benefits and is going to help saving money.  With that being said lets get you enrolled for this plan starting 02/01/2025.

Post sale process

A good sales person follows up with his clients post sale.

A rookie ignores his customers.

The reason for this is because it will build trust, and it will help you get referrals.

Treating the customer well post sale is how you get a customer or client for life.  

Thanks for reading.  8ball here til next time.

Apply Pressure to Your Life- Guest Post by Bullseye

It's Bullseye here, and I know Pura Sangre through pro wrestling.  I can't give any more information right now, but I will in the future.  Expectations for article, you will learn, will probably be offended and will start to question your life choices.  You may hate me but allow the article to resonate and really think about the words you're about to read.  Save this article share with friends, comment do whatever you want.  

 Apply pressure, it's a phrase I have heard a lot growing up and still hear it.  But what does it actually mean and how can we apply it.  Applying pressure to me is giving max effort.  You want to squeeze the life out of every moment and not play small.  People that play small never win.  Literally I have a forearm tattoo that says live big.  The meaning behind it is to not keep myself small.  To let my light shine bright.

To be as powerful as I can be no matter how insecure it may make others.  Usually the term apply pressure is used by women who want men to step up and communicate with them.  I'm telling you to apply more pressure to your real life.  The more you chase women and vice versa the more women chase men the more your goals get neglected.  

For me being a pro wrestler and former fitness model, I've applied that pressure to pro wrestling and the gym.  I've never wanted anything more in my life.  The thing is to actually do it and not be a fucking chode.  Wrestling just like anything you want to improve takes time and effort.  Both take time, patience and consistency.  

Consistency will beat intensity every time.  Who ever is most consistent in the gym with their workouts and meals will look the best.  Sure you'll have haters who will cry gear every time you build new mass.  But fuck them let them hate.  Just like people reading this, if you don't like my writing style get the fuck out.  I'm here to reach real people not robots who want to be perfect. 

Think about it who would you rather be.  Would you rather be person a shows up some times trains as hard as possible but doesn't train every week.  Or would you rather be the guy that is consistent and shows up 4-5 days whether they feel like it or not.  Showing up when you don't feel like it is how you build discipline.  Disciplined people go further in life than motivated people.  Read that again.

Same goes for powerlifting.  People have asked me if I still care about powerlifting.  Yes power lifting, is still important and power lifting will always get a lot of love from me.  Oly lifting, and bodybuilding all work but they all require you to be consistent and have progressive overload.  Power lifters usually struggle with their diet.  Yes it's fun to push heavy weight.  But not at the expense of looks.  Power lifters besides Dan Green and Larry Wheels, are usually quite out of shape.

When training for a complete physique you need to train all the rep ranges.  Don't listen to these puny trainers who aren't even 200 lbs.  Your rep range should be from 3-30 reps.  Yes you read that right sets of 30.  My all time best squat of 315 was for 27 reps a few years ago.  High rep squats aren't easy and will have you gasping for air.

This past year 2024 I did great and accomplished my squat goals.  My strength went up and I lost body fat.  Before I could squat 500 lbs x 5 but I had a lot more fat on my body.  Not a lot more but more.  This year all I focused on was training as hard as possible on the 8 best barbell exercises.

1: Barbell or safety bar squats: Squats add mass to your whole body, as someone who has participated in daily squatting I can tell you that it is damn effective, these include, front squat, low bar and high bar squats.  All 3 squats work well and have used all 3 effectively.  

2: Barbell power clean:  A few years ago I'd have listed dead-lift ahead of cleans, but cleans have added mass to my upper back like no other exercise.

3: Barbell conventional dead-lift: If you don't know what a conventional dead lift is get the fuck off my blog.

4: Barbell Overhead Press: Best shoulder builder, stand up and press over your head.  Seated military is also good if you have back issues, but don't be a pussy about it.

5: Barbell Incline Press: This exercise adds mass to your chest like no other, focus on a slow controlled lifting speed and lower the barbell slightly below your chin towards your neck.  Punk ass science guys will say it's dangerous, it's only dangerous if you're going for 1 rep or 3 rep maxes stick to weight you can control.  

6: Barbell curl straight bar: Biceps are targeted well here.

7: Barbell reverse lunge/ split squat: These build the glutes and quads effectively and don't require a lot of weight.

8: Close grip flat bench press: These add thickness to the tricep like no other. 

If you focus the majority of your workouts on these 8 exercises or as many as possible and base your workouts off that.

Here's an example:

Push day: Barbell Overhead press- 4 x 6-8 reps, Incline barbell press: 4 x 10-15 reps, Close grip bench press: 4 x 15-20 reps

The reason you want to structure your workout that way is because by attack every type of rep range.  You lift heavy to activate your nervous system and then you finish the workout with bodybuilding technique and pump training.  Now don't go overboard with pump training.  Progressive overload still needs to be applied here.  As in say you're on close grip bench press, you still need to try to make gains on your 15-20 rep sets.  Make gains as in, do more than last time for the idiots that don't understand.  

For a pull day you could structure the workout this way.

Pull day: Barbell Power clean: 5 x 5 reps, barbell deadlift: 3 x 8 reps, chin ups 5 x til failure each set, barbell curl 5 x 12-15 reps

Same format start heavy and work up to lighter pump work later in the workout.

Legs are different since you need to stimulate slow twitch muscle fibers for quads, 15-20 reps or even 25-30 work effectively for quads.  Now that doesn't give you an excuse to not go heavy.  Here's what I mean.  If you're a low bar squatter, as in bar on rear delts going for strength and pushing weight, the structure needs to be like this.

Legs- Low bar squats barbell: 5 sets 15, 10, 8, 6, 4, Single leg split squat with barbell: 5 x 15-20 reps, Barbell reverse lunge- 3 x 15 reps, body weight walking lunges 5 x 20 steps per leg

If you focus on this leg workout you will become a lot more athletic.  It is hard to do because when you do single leg barbell training, your core has to be stabilized more than with two legs.  

There's a reason every college football strength and conditioning incorporates some form of single leg training or lunging.   It's effective and builds leg size and athleticism well.  

For all the guys whining and complaining about the lack of machines and cables.  If you're not 200 lbs already with muscle dripping every where, you don't need to worry about cables.  I assure you if stick to that 3 day workout program you will build size and strength.  If you're worried about calves do calf raises every workout, problem solved.  I have no patience for excuse makers and guys who are obsessed with machine exercises.  If the barbell didn't work, strength and conditioning programs wouldn't use them in every program.  The barbell is the best tool in the gym and if you don't understand that by now you're lost and need to look at the physiques of 600 and 700 lbs squatters.  

12/30 Workout

Today's workout was different I experimented with high volume dumbbell Bulgarian split squats- I used a 80 lbs dumbbell for 10 sets of 10-15 reps, I super setted with 5 sets of hanging leg raises, my forearms were giving out but I still got a minimum of 5 reps with my best set being 12 reps.  Do the exercise even if your forearms give out.  That's how you make them stronger.  Then I did band rotational twists for 3 sets.  I then went to a local park to run sprints and I did 11 sprints ranging from 35-50 yards.  

This workout was a challenge, I wanted to quit after the 5th set.  The beauty of free will though is that you have a choice.  I chose not to quit.  I pushed through it and had a great workout.  During my workout a taller guy started doing dips when he got there, he didn't know that I had been using it.  I could have been nice and said nothing.  I chose to tell him, hey man I was on here first actually but you can work in with me no problem.

After talking to the guy, I could tell he was socially awkward, he was slightly intimidated by me and didn't want to look me in the eye.  He also was with his gf a very attractive younger black woman with dreads.  They both looked over in my direction and I waved and nodded my head.

Guys if you're a weeny man who is socially awkward don't bring your gf to the gym where she can meet better men than you.  I see this stupidity every day.  I'll quit beating a dead horse though.  The problem isn't me being aggressive it's just be a man, I was inviting him to workout with me and have a conversation and he was too shy or scared too.  It's disappointing because the guy seemed cool nevertheless maybe one day he'll have the courage to tell me about himself.  

Being socially awkward is something that needs to be fixed asap.  No matter where you are in life, prison, the valley.  Gated community, or the hood or barrio.  No matter what your circumstances are you need social skills and a presence about you to survive.  

I learned this through all of my years working all different types of sales job.  Even if you're a bad ass mofo who can whoop everyone's ass and knows how to shoot a gun.  You still need to know how to talk to people.  Being able to influence people and make connections is an important skill.  

I've seen it first hand.  I have an old friend and we'll call him Conda, and Conda stands for anaconda because the guy is a snake in real life that's another story though.  Conda single handedly would create opportunities for himself with his mouthpiece.  He knew what to say and when to say it.  I've never met anyone with more influence in my life.  

The thing about influential people is they are never the bullies or the open narcissists, they are usually covert narcissists, they hide their narcissism well.  They may even buy you drinks let you spend the night.

But all of it is a facade.  It's based on a lie.  They are doing this to disarm you and gain your trust.

I'm glad this person came into my life no matter what happens.  I'll always be grateful for the opportunities he helped me get.  It's disappointing that this guy exited my life.  But manhood involves pain, both physical and emotional.  It's about bouncing back from that pain with resilience and strength.  Going after the next opportunity with full confidence and expectation to get what you want.

When you focus with this energy you can become boundless.  The thing is people misunderstand what I am saying.  Expecting to get what you want doesn't mean you can't strategize.  It takes strategy and brute strength to get what you want.  You have to be the lion and fox like Machiavelli said.  

You have to be able to put the fear of God in someone and terrify them, at the same time you also have to be able to beat them at a debate and be able to make them your friend.

This is what I mean by being a man and socializing with people.  Believe me I used to think it was stupid but after living I have learned that you need to do it from time to time.  This doesn't mean you'll become a social butterfly over night but you can build up to it.  I used to suck socially and now through trial, error and making smart adjustments I know how to connect with people.  

I've learned that the key to influencing people to your side and getting them to like you is to get them to be their true selves around you.  This doesn't mean tell your whole life story right away.  When you genuinely don't seek their approval and act like yourself your real self not the person you hide, when you say your real opinion no matter how vulgar or offensive.

P.s. for the soft ass social justice warriors out there this doesn't mean racism or prejudice.  I have truly met great and awful people of every race and same with dating I have dated great and sorry women of every race.  Everyone deserves a fair chance but if they cross you and screw up, you have to have the guts to let them know that's not okay, whether you're white, Hispanic, black, Asian, or indian IDC stop making it about race and look at real primal people.  

They are free, both men and women can be primal and being primal is who we really are.  Society has taught us to hide ourselves and play small.  You need giant energy to be great, whether it makes other people uncomfortable or not.  In Tim Grover's book Relentless there's a line that says a cleaner maintains his standards and plays to his best no matter what others are doing, the follow up line then says, get on my level or get the fuck out.  

And for women out there especially female athletes go for it.  For real, I see a lot of women not living up to their potential too.  This site is primarily for men but I have a daughter and am aware that some women will read this.  I see women every day in the gym who could easily be pro wrestlers.  Not that I'm forcing the industry on anyone but people and women whine about how bored their jobs are or life is and want excitement.  I can tell you that pro wrestling is one of the most exciting things I've ever been a part of in my life.  

Enough though, no more.

That's enough for now.

Till next time.

Bullseye.

A weekend to remember

It happened last friday.  The event replays in my head over and over.  The look of fear and terror in his wife and kids eyes were enough for me.   It was satisfying.  This is not an admission of guilt.  I did the right thing, and I have no remorse for my actions.  Seeing him cower in fear as I point it right at his face.  

People don't understand that in todays world you have to make people respect you.  Sometimes you have to do dark uncomfortable things to make them understand.  The beauty is that once you're no longer afraid to do that, the respect comes.  I go after respect not love, I date women who respect me, respect is everything and when he came at my girl that way I had to send him a message.  He had to know I wasn't going to take it lightly.  

Fear and respect last longer than love does.  Obviously, it's possible to be both feared and loved, but it is rare.   Pride is another value that is lost these days.  What I see in the us now is a bunch of lost effeminate punks that have never had real adversity.  I had a gun pointed at me for the first time at 16.  I have no patience for your soft femininity.  I stick with my masculine values and allow women to be the emotional ones the way nature intended.

Every day at the gym or almost every day, I see men in dying relationships.  I see women with a wandering eye, and pathetic men that will go back to their gf if they cheat just out of fear of losing her.  I'll tell you something right now bro, if she cheated on you it's over and you've lost.  If you go back to her after she cheated, watch your pride and self-esteem drop.

Can't be me you got me fucked up.  I'll never, I take pride in having pride, being strong, and sticking to my boundaries and principles.  Young men today are lost and don't want to do that.  They are so desperate for approval and validation that they start to become weak and feminine.

Despite what women say, they don't want a weak effeminate man.  Yet, I see it every day in gyms.  Foolish young men with broccoli haircuts, taking their girlfriend to a gym with guys, who are bigger than you, stronger than you, and can kick your ass.  

I'll use an example from the gym to illustrate my point.  A few months ago a young college couple came to the gym around the same time I was there.  I was wearing a tank top showing off my jacked tatted up physique.  The couple was a young suburban white couple.  The guy was a handsome pretty boy who resembled former Jets QB Zack Wilson.  He had short blonde hair and his gf also had blonde hair.

Here's the problem the guy had though.  He had no edge and he cared too much about the girl.  I could sense it a mile away.  She glanced at me more than once despite me paying them no attention.  The damage was done already.  This idiot, introduced his woman to a room full of better superior men.

Guys if you're not over 200 lbs and you're just dating a girl, its a huge risk taking her to the gym with you and a stupid one.  Unless your game is on point, and I doubt it is, it will backfire.  

In 2025 less men will be in shape.  More men will be effeminate and soft.

And more men will be cheated on by their wives and girlfriends.  Men have to take their balls back, and get in touch with their masculine side more.  I'm not telling you to become a deranged psychopath, but I'm telling you, you need balls more than brains and emotions.  The uncomfortable truth is that without balls or guts you'll get nowhere in any industry and in dating. 

Sack up and get on to the next challenge, next workout, next wrestling match.  For any women reading this, you may get upset and bitter, but you know damn fucking well that you don't fantasize about a soft effeminate pussy.  2024 has taught me some brutal life lessons, and I'm grateful for it, with out these experiences or adversities, you become soft and weak.

Go through the fire and gates of hell and come out the winner.  Hell on earth is not real, on to the next one.  Grab your sack and get to work.  

How to Lose Body Fat in a Faster Way

If you're anything like me, then that means you want to lose body fat now.  The issue with that is that fat loss takes time.  If you rush the process without proper planning then it's very likely that you will stumble.  This is because no matter what the fat loss process takes time.  With that being said, there are ways to lose body fat faster, and that's what this article will cover.

1:  Eat until your slightly satisfied:  what this means is that when you're eating and dieting, you never want to be too full.  Being too full almost assures that you won't lose fat.  When you want to lose body fat you need to be in a caloric deficit.  If you're never too full it will make fat loss much easier.  

2: Consume more nutrient dense whole foods:  When you eat whole foods that have great nutrients, you will stay full longer, feel better, and perform better.  This is because our bodies weren't designed to eat massive quantities of candy, cookies, cakes.  If you replace those foods with, Steak, Chicken, Beef, Fish, white rice, sweet potato, and avocado.  If you only ate those foods you'd never get fat and fat loss would be much easier.  Since you're satiated you will be less likely to overeat.  

3: Allow yourself to feel hunger consistently:  If you're not hungry, you're not losing fat, period end of story.  The key to getting lean and ripped is to become comfortable with hunger and feeling the hunger pangs, it's a sign that you're on the right track.  Learning to deal with this and embracing will help a lot.  This is because everyone is scared of failure and most people are also afraid of pain.  Hunger means you're losing fat, just keep that in mind.  

4: Intermittent Fasting: This one is controversial.  Intermittent fasting is great for burning fat, and it's average at best at building muscle.  This article is about fat loss though, so we'll leave that topic for another day.  The way you can do IF is to fast for 16 hours and eat within an 8 hour window.  An example would be.  If you start eating at 12 pm, you have to stop eating by 8 pm.  This diet/lifestyle works, you just have to follow it to the T.  You just need to stick to it an be consistent.  During the fast, you're allowed to drink water, diet coke, coffee, and anything that's zero calories.  Whoever wants to lose fat fast, I recommend them do this.

5: The Keto Diet:  This last one is the most effective for losing fat.  For those who are unaware, the keto diet is a zero carb, high protein, medium fat diet.  I follow Dave Palumbo's keto diet, and that's the one I recommend.  On the keto diet you can't consume carbs, this is what puts your body into ketosis which is what makes the body burn fat for fuel instead of sugar.  You will get a headache on the 3-4th day if you're doing the diet correctly.  

Thank you for reading.

Share this article with everyone

And implement these 5 tips today

Email me @johnwessnow12@outlook.com for personal training inquiries if you're interested.  

Building your body is About You

When a lot of people first start working out, they focus on the people in the gym who have the best bodies.  While this is a great example of what to aspire to, that doesn't make it a good strategy for your own physique development.  When it comes to building your own body, the most effective strategy is to put all of your thoughts and attention on building your body, not what someone else is doing at the gym.

Building a great physique will require you to focus.  The better you can focus the better you will be at making gains and accomplishing your physique goals.  Focus also helps you with your lifting in the gym.  In general, it's better to be focused than distracted.  Pick a program and reasonable diet that you can stick to and do it for at least 3 months if you really want to see results.

90 days is enough time to make a solid transformation.  Again, this is assuming that you can stay focused and stick to a program/gameplan.  The key is to see the program and diet all the way through with minimal mistakes/cheating.  Keep your mind on what you're looking to accomplish and stay on track.  Getting distracted is what hurts people the most with their physique development.

Another common issue people have is jealousy people have over someone else having a better metabolism, and not having to eat a strict diet.  The more strict you keep your diet, the better you will look though.  Just because Jacked Daddy over there eats pop tarts doesn't mean you should.  Stay focused and stick to your diet.

The same thing goes for gym training.  If your best squat is 385 stick with 385 for your training max, don't raise it to 405 just because you see me or someone else easily squatting that weight.  Lavar Ball said it best "Stay in Your Lane" staying in your lane will make you great at building your body.  Focus on you and you only, bodybuilding, physique development, is a selfish pursuit.  If you're not focused on yourself you won't be any good at endeavors like these.

Being self-centered, or selfish, is actually a great thing in bodybuilding.  The more selfish you are the better bodybuilder you will be.
All this means is to be preoccupied with yourself and to not worry about what anyone is saying or doing.  I can write workouts for anyone, what I can't do is teach you how to only focus on you.  You have to develop that ability.

Bodybuilding is about reaching your physical genetic potential.  All the bodybuilding greats, Kevin Levrone, Yates, Shawn Ray, they never cared about what other bodybuilders were doing.  It was all about progress and being the best bodybuilder they could possibly be.  None of these guys cared about what the other guy was doing, it was all about bringing the best body to the stage.  Now, if you go to gyms everyone gets discouraged if they don't look like Arnold after 3 weeks.

Remember that when you're building your body, you are the only one that matters.  If you hire me as your trainer, it's your program that counts.  If you're serious about building your body your thoughts and attention need to be on yourself.


Thank you for reading.

Share this article with everyone.

Comment below and tell me your thoughts.

Declutter Your Life

Today this post has more to do with myself, however these tips can be applied to your own life and I do find these principles to be useful for other people as well.  When you're trying to advance and make gains in your life you have to be aware of the type of people who are around you.  Now, these are people you might get along with or have nothing against.  However, you need to have the ability to detach from your emotions and coldly analyze whether this person is advancing and making progress in their life.  If they are not you need to be cold and ruthless and drop these people from your life.

You need to see it from the perspective of decluttering, or taking out the trash.  Just because you get a long with someone doesn't mean that you need to be hanging out with them.  A lot of people will tell you what you want to hear just to fit in and so you will like them.  You need to pay attention to the people who are moving forward and doing something with their lives.  These people aren't as available as the unsuccessful crowd.  You need to be aware of what's going on.

If you're trying to make positive changes and forward progress you need to be around people who are doing the same thing.  Now, you will need to be aware of the pretenders out there.  These are the people who will promise everything and never deliver.  Stay away from these people.  This is why you need to hold others accountable.  This way you will know whether or not a person is worth investing in or not.

Most people aren't quite frankly.  And while that may sound harsh, if you have this mindset it will be hard to get taken advantage of.  This is what people fail to realize.  If you're unable to see people this way, don't be surprised when you don't accomplish your goals and you get caught up in their bullshit.

If the person isn't at your level or higher, don't work out with them.  For me that means hardly anyone has the right to train or workout with me.  I'm simply at a higher level than the majority.  If you can't at least do what I can do in the gym, I have no interest in working out with you.  This means the heavy lifting and the physique.

I'm not responsible for any training partners gains, I'm only responsible for my own gains.  If someone is way behind me, I'll never train with them again.  I made this mistake recently.  Now, the other guy was cool and nice, he's just nowhere near my level.  And while that may sound arrogant and egotistical.  I do have plenty of proof and evidence to prove my point.

You need to take out the trash and de clutter your life.  A lot of you guys think it's your responsibility to pick your guys up and leave no man behind.  I'm here to tell you that's wrong.  Move yourself forward, if your buddy wants to stay behind leave him behind.  I want to say this without sounding redundant, but someone else's progress is not your responsibility.  You can hold them accountable but that is all you can do.  If they choose not to make gains or move forward that's their problem.

I know this post was about me and what's going on with my life, but if I can help 1 person with this article then I did my job.

Thank you for reading.

Share this post with everyone.

10 Reasons You Can't Lose Fat

As summer approaches you may be wondering why you don't have the body you want.  Or if you had a good bulk you want to lose the body fat to reveal the gains you made in the winter.  For you guys you will need to pay close attention to the content of this article.  Most people just don't have the drive or focus necessary to make long term gains, or short term gains for that matter.

A lot of people have a fat loss problem.  This article will provide the solution for you.  Too many people are given bad fat loss advice, that leaves them smaller and weaker, and then they end up gaining most of the weight back at some point.

1: You're not in a calorie deficit

The whole purpose of a diet is to lose body fat.  People don't seem to understand that you need to be slightly hungry most of the day in order to be in a deficit or lose weight.  Now throughout my fat loss journey I have consistently been hungry.  If I am not hungry, I know that I am not losing body fat.  Here's my current body Recent pics
More pics
Last pic

(ps, the only reason I post pics of myself is because I have done the work and have evidence, I am an authority on this topic and I can back up what I write)

2: You're training the wrong way

A lot of people don't understand that when you're on a diet it's very unlikely that you will add new muscle.  What this means is that you need to train in a way that will help you keep as much muscle as possible.  Meaning that all of those high volume routines will need to go.  When you're in a calorie deficit the primary goal is to maintain the muscle you have.  You won't do that by lifting light weight and high reps.  Throughout my whole diet I have been lifting heavy.  Heavy training clips
Snatch high pull

This heavy training is what will keep the size and dense muscle.  I'm not telling you to squat 500 lbs, just push yourself to keep training heavy.

When you train heavy you're forcing your body to keep the gains you make during your bulk.  Training correctly during a diet or fat loss phase is crucial.

3: You're full of excuses

This one is tough to here for most people.  If you complain about how hard a diet is all of the time you will begin to weaken yourself and start to create excuses, which we all know does nothing.  Excuses do nothing, don't forget that.  Once you start making excuses it becomes a painfully difficult habit to break.  This is why you need to be certain that you're ready to start your diet.  Once you start your diet, see it through to the end.  Keep yourself focused on the current workout and next meal, that's all your mind needs to worry about.  Fat loss is mental and if you can't win the mental battle with yourself you will cheat and mess up your diet.

4: You're trying to lose too much too fast

This is similar to the 2nd reason.  Most people think they can start doing cardio and high reps and they're going to get shredded quick.  This is a delusional belief.  Realistically you can expect to lose 1-2 lbs of body fat per week.  Any more weight loss and you will risk tapping into that valuable muscle tissue you worked so hard to build.  Keep yourself focused on losing fat slowly in order to preserve as much muscle mass as possible.  This is what people don't like to do.  If you're trying to lose too much weight too fast, you will be disappointed, burned out, and you will throw in the towel like the quitter you are.

5: You're too stressed out

A lot of reasons why people struggle with fat loss is due to their hormone profile.  Especially the 9-5ers that are working 40 hours or more per week and dealing with traffic every day.  These people are chronically stressed.  This is not good, as cortisol the primary stress hormone, is terrible for your fat loss and muscle gains.  The more stress you have the harder it will be to lose body fat and take reveal that beautiful six pack you worked so hard to build.  Calm down. smoke a j, meditate, do what you need to do to relax.

6: You have no discipline

If I had to pick one quality that is most important for losing fat it's discipline.  Jocko Willink likes to say that discipline = freedom, which I do agree with.  You can also add, that discipline equals a great physique if you apply that discipline to your diet.  Once you've mastered yourself and staying disciplined you will be able to see the changes in your physique.  This is something that people need to develop asap.  Pay the price today pay any price tomorrow.

7: You're too worried about your feelings

Almost everyone that struggles with dieting is because they are emotional eaters.  This is a bad habit that needs to be corrected.

The only way to conquer emotional eating is to only eat when you're hungry or when there is a scheduled meal.  If you're not hungry don't eat.

8: You snack too much

Another common issue a lot of people have is when they snack.  Snacking is okay, in moderation.  Although in this situation snacking is a terrible choice.  Most people snack to avoid feeling hunger, this is a stupid idea, seeing as though you will need to feel hunger throughout the entire diet in order to lose the most body fat.  Just keep that in mind.  To lose body fat you need to be in a caloric deficit.  Snacking takes you away from a caloric deficit.  When you're eating correctly, you won't feel the need to snack.  Now, if you're one of those people who has to snack, stick with protein shakes and protein bars.  

9: You think just eating clean is enough

Again this is going to get redundant.  If you're not in a caloric deficit you will not lose body fat.  A great example of this is when people claim to be eating clean and they're still not losing fat.  If you're eating clean and can't lose fat it's because you're consuming too many calories, it's as simple as that.  

10: You're not tracking your calories

If you could only remember to do one thing, remember to track your calories.  This will help you find the exact amount of calories you're eating every day.  When you track your calories into MyFitnessPal or CalorieKing, you will actually have it written down and there will be no guesswork.   Tracking your calories can also help you stay focused and more aware of the foods you're eating.  The best reason to track your calories is so that you will know whether or not you're in a caloric deficit.  

Thank you for reading.

Share this article with everyone.  

 

How to Stop Holding Yourself Back and Start Making gains

If you're like most people you want to make gains.  Yet, you don't make gains, and you look the same as you did 6 months ago.  This is due to several factors.  The first one is because they have no game plan for the gym.  

In everything you will need to plan in order to be effective.  This is due to organization skills.  If you're not organized, training in the gym will be different and your gains could slow down.   Without even realizing that it's possible that you're holding yourself back.

Self-sabotage is not easy to stop.  And it's even weirder that people can't seem to break this habit.  At least most people. What you will need to do is become aware of what your thoughts are.  By watching over your thoughts and noticing your habits, you will then be able to recondition yourself to think differently.

I see so many people in the gym and in life who hold themselves back way too much.  Release the emergency brake, this is the only way you'll make progress.  You need to get in touch with the darkness within and use that when you train.  These are some of the ugly truths of training.

People also hold back on their workout intensity.  The truth is, if you focus and move fast, you can finish all of these workouts in 1 hour.
The faster you move and finish the workout, the faster you can get out of there and eat your post workout meal.  The issue that people have is that they're scatter brained and are easily distracted by anything.

Stop worrying about what other people are doing in the gym.  Focus on your own training, and the progress you want to make.

1: You can only build your dream body if you believe it

This principle really drives it home for me.  People don't understand that writing down goals or new years resolutions, doesn't mean a damn thing.  If you want to build your dream body you need at least 3 days of training per week, and you need to follow a good diet program.  When you cheat on your diet or keep yourself fat, it's usually because you've allowed being fat to become your identity.  Self sabotage is is common with these people.  They subconsciously don't believe that they deserve their dream body.

Of course they'll never get there.  You have to believe that you can diet effectively and get lean.
Here's the solution.  Every day you need to repeat these affirmations.

I will build the body of my dreams no matter what
I'm invincible
I stick to my diet until it's completed.
I deserve to have my dream body.


Pick 1 or 2 of these affirmations and repeat them multiple times throughout the day.  Now, you still have to go train and eat a clean diet.  The affirmations are useful, because some people really don't believe they can get and stay in great shape.  The affirmations are a great solution to a lack of belief.

Always remember this.  It takes 30-90 days to create a new habit.  These affirmations when said with conviction will help you more than you realize.  Try it for 1 month, and if you're not happy with your progress stop saying the affirmations.

I'm not gonna tell you guys what to do.  That's not my role here.  My role and purpose here is to give people the tools to build their dream body.  I don't give orders unless I'm working with my clients.  That's because I know my clients are going to listen to me.  Now, on this website, all of the information has been tested out by yours truly.  495 low bar

The only reason I share videos is so you guys can see that I'm serious about the gains and I can help you guys make serious gains as well.  Otherwise I wouldn't show them.  Trust me I would rather help people build their dream body and experience it, the difference is that if I don't show you guys what I can do or have done in the gym I wouldn't have any credibility.

Another common error people make is not doing the exercise correctly.  A good example of this would be an extreme rounded back dead-lift. DON'T DEAD-LIFT LIKE THIS

If you don't do the exercise correctly you won't develop the right muscles and you can be at risk for an injury.  This is why being so technical is important.

2: Delusional Expectations:

Sadly the main reason a lot of people give up is because they're goals take longer to accomplish than they previously expected.  When you first start working out, you need to think long term.  You're not going to look like Arnold overnight.  The good news is that you, me, and everyone else can build their dream body.  It will take time.

3: Wanting to look like Someone Else:

Here's another mistake that I have made myself.   For my first couple of years of hard training I wanted to look like Flex Wheeler, the issue with this is that Flex has a different shape and structure than me.  The mindset switch needed to make gains is to focus on having the best body you can possibly have.  If you want to look like someone else, you're not practicing self-love, which will help you make gains as well.  A lot of people sabotage themselves, and this is because a lot of people don't truly believe.

It's okay to aspire to be something.  Flex Wheeler is my vision of the ultimate body.  I do know, that I will never look like him.  We are two different people.  Which is why you need to focus on yourself.

4: You're not Focused

Any goal that someone has needs an insane level of focus.  If you're focused on the wrong things your gains will be subpar at best.  What you need to focus on is the body you want to develop and how you can do that.  If you train yourself to focus you can double your gains.  This is something that people need help with, me included.  Before every workout think about how you want each body part to look.  Setting goals and focusing on them makes it easier. 

If you don't focus on your own goals you will be helping someone who is focused on theirs. 
Here's what to focus on.

• What kind of body do I want?
• How badly do I want to change the way my body looks?

If you don't develop the ability to focus on your goals you will never achieve the dream body you want.

Apply these principles and see how many gains you will make.

As always thank you for reading.

Share this article with everyone.

Reach out to my personal email if you're ready to take the next step in building your dream body.

duke1614@gmail.com

How To Get Summer Shredded

I get a lot of questions from people about what is the best way to go about getting shredded.  Everyone wants the latest diet or workout.  These are basic and simple.  This is what people need to make gains.  The easier something is to understand, the easier it will be to stick to it. 

When you're trying to get shredded, the main obstacle is dieting.  Most people fail miserably on this part.  This is due to a failure to plan.  When you have a goal and want to accomplish it, you have to put your energy and focus into it.  Never think about how you're going to diet or how long you want it to last.  This leads to paralysis by analysis.  You also need to know what foods you crave and what time you get these food craving.

What needs to be done next is to inventory what you're currently doing in the gym and analyze how well it is working for you.  Unfortunately, most people don't do this correctly.  To do this right, write down every top set of each workout.  If you're not getting stronger, or making visible changes in the mirror, it means what you're currently doing isn't working.  

Without proper inventory, it's hard to find out what your habits are.  If you don't know your daily habits how will you know what to correct?  These are the questions that people don't want to ask themselves.  If you focus and correct these mistakes you can make gains and help yourself .  This is the reason I have been able to make gains myself.  If you can't stick to the program and focus you will never make gains. 

Now, let's get to the actual workout and plan.

The number one mistake people make in the gym when dieting is not lifting heavy enough.  When you lift heavy during a diet, you force your body to keep as much muscle mass as possible since you're continuing to train heavy.  The goal here is to lift as heavy as possible during the diet in order to preserve as much lean muscle mass as possible, 

As far as how you structure your diet.  Here are some useful questions that you need to know the answer to.  What healthy foods do you enjoy eating?  I know you enjoy your donuts and pizza.  Well how's that working out for you?  For most people, go ahead and skip the donuts and pizza.  Other questions you need to answer are why are you dieting?

What is the reason for the diet?  Are you getting ready for a wedding, bodybuilding show?

How often do you get or "feel" hunger during the day?

If you take it seriously and actually answer these questions you'll make gains.  This is only if you stick to the diet as written and I'm assuming you'll continue to train heavy even when it's inconvenient.  You will have sleepless nights, there will be moments where you will want to give up, it will be up to you to decide how you will react.  If you know what you like to eat, and when you get hungry you will be better prepared to make a good decision about what to eat.

Get Shredded Diet and Training Plan

Sample Diet and Meals:

Meal 1: 5 whole eggs, 1/2 cup of oatmeal

Meal 2: 8 oz canned tuna, with 1 serving of almonds

Meal 3: 6 oz of lean beef, w 1 cup of green beans and 1 cup of rice

Meal 4: 1 serving of almonds, or protein shake

Meal 5: 8 oz of canned tuna, or cottage cheese

As far as the meals are concerned, follow this sample diet and if you do it exactly as written you will make gains.  The problem people have is that they don't know understand what needs to be done to get shredded.  Sticking to an effective diet is most important for body composition.  

Get Shredded Workout Program

Day 1: Push Day

Flat bench press: 3 x 4-6 reps

Weighted dips: 3 x 8 reps

Overhead Press: 3 x 6 reps

Close grip bench press: 3 x 8 reps

Ez bar tricep press downs: 3 x 20 reps

Day 2: Pull

Dead-lifts: 1 x 6 reps

Deficit dead-lifts: 3 x 6 reps

Weighted chin ups: 3 x 8 reps

Pendlay rows: 3 x 10 reps

Barbell curl: 3 x 12 reps

Day 3: Legs

Back squats: 3 x 3-5 reps

Front squats: 3 x 6 reps

Leg press: 3 x 20 reps

Walking lunges: 3 x 20 steps per leg

For the best possible gains, do each workout once per week with a day off in between each workout.  It's important to take the off days.  Dieting is hard and stressful on the body.  In order to successfully diet down, you need to preserve as much lean muscle mass as possible.  When you're on a diet the body doesn't have the required amount of calories to build lean mass.  

Building muscle requires a caloric surplus.  For fat loss, a caloric deficit is the most important.  Contrary to what the fitness industry says, you can't build muscle and lose fat simultaneously.  Muscle building simply requires too many calories.  What this means is that you need to make sure that you're in a caloric surplus every day.

Thank you for reading.

Share this post with anyone.

If you're interested in 1 on 1 coaching personal training, email me at duke1614@gmail.com.  I'll do everything I can to help anyone achieve their dream physique.  

What Should You Focus on in The Gym

After a long hiatus I am back and we will be bringing more useful content to you guys soon.  Now, a lot of people go into the gym and they have no plan.  They don't understand what needs to be done in the gym, and they lack the skill to execute the effective movements.  The best thing to do is to admit you're not making gains and learn to focus on big barbell movements.  This is what the majority of people need to pay attention to. 

The average Joe is never going to compete in a bodybuilding show.  With this being the case, it wouldn't make sense to train them the same way a bodybuilder you would train a bodybuilder.  For the overwhelming majority, they're energy needs to be focused on making strength gains on the big compound movements in the 6-12 rep range for upper body and 2-8 rep range on squats and do 20 rep squats too.  When you double down on what works, you will make gains.

When you're doing what you're supposed to in the gym, you'll make noticeable gains and most people will come up with an excuse to talk to you.  The bare bones minimum is what is needed for most people, you don't need fancy techniques or long isolation exercises.

Average Joe Bare Bones Minimum Program

Leg Day:

Low Bar Squats: Work up to a heavy set of 2-5 reps and then complete 1 set of 20 reps

Walking barbell lunges:  4 sets 12 steps per leg

Romanian dead-lifts: 4 x 8 reps

Calf raise machine: 4 x 12-15 reps

Shoulders and Triceps

Overhead press: 4 x 6-8 reps

Dumbbell Seated overhead press: 4 x 12 reps

Bent over lateral raises: 4 x 15 reps

Close grip bench press: 4 x 6 reps

Weighted dips: 4 x 8 reps

Back and Biceps

Dead-lifts: 4 x 3-6 reps

Weighted chin ups: 4 x 3-5 reps

Bent over barbell rows: 4 x 10 reps

Lat pull downs: 4 x 15 reps

Barbell curls: 4 x 8 reps

Hammer curls: 4 x 8 reps

Preacher curl machine: 4 x 8 reps

Chest

Flat bench press: 4 x 6 reps

Incline bench press: 4 x 8 reps

Decline bench press: 4 x 12 reps

Dumbbell pullovers: 4 x 15 reps

That average Joe program is simple and it is effective.  Any one who does this program and makes gains is proof that the plan and training style works.  

That program is basic and bare bones minimum, if you have a gym membership, you will be able to do every single exercise.  This website focuses on gym training not body weight or calisthenics, so if you don't have a gym membership obviously you would have to do a modification of this and do what you can do.  

When you put your focus and energy on programs like this, you will make more progress in the long term.  This program will make you grow if you're bulking, and if you're cutting it will help you shed weight fast.  

How to make this program effective for you.  The best way to look at this program is to focus on the key lift of the day.  On push day it's bench press, on legs it's squats, pull day is dead-lifts.  This is where people struggle since there's so many exercises people don't know how to prioritize.  This means that you'll need to pay attention to the lift of the day, and do anything you can to help yourself add weight on the bar while continuing to use the correct form.  

Recap:

You need to focus on the bare essentials in the gym. 

This means putting at least 80% of your training focus on the big barbell compound exercises.  

Thank you for reading.

Share this post with everyone.

Try the program and comment below with your results.  

Blueprint for Gains

There will be many times when you decide you want to look a certain way, also you want to make sure that you have a good blueprint for gains.  You have to find out what exercises work best for you and then start progressing on those exercises immediately.  A good example would be a sumo dead-lift vs a conventional dead-lift.  Now, I do conventional dead-lifts, this doesn't mean you should do the same thing.

Here's what you need to do.  Pick 3 exercises for each body part and then rotate them.

Chest: Flat bench press, Incline bench press, Dumbbell incline press

Back:  Dead-lifts, bent over row, weighted chin ups

Legs:  Low bar squat, high bar squat, Front squat

Shoulders:  Standing overhead press, Seated overhead press, seated behind the neck press

Biceps:  Barbell curls, 1 arm preacher curl, Hammer curls

Tricep:  Close grip bench press, reverse grip bench press, ez bar tricep pressdowns

There's a list for every body part.  Pay attention to this list.  For every body part I want you to rotate each compound exercise until you have done it 3 times, then pick your best exercises and do them every week.

Your push day should look similar to this.

Push Day:

Flat bench press: 4 x 6-8 reps

Incline barbell press:  3 x 12 reps

Standing overhead press: 4 x 3-5 reps

Seated dumbbell press: 4 x 12 reps

Ez bar tricep extensions: 3 x 15 reps

Cable overhead tricep extensions:  3 x 15 reps

This push day template is how most push days should work.  Moderate the volume, if you know how to train to failure correctly just do 1 warm up set for each and one working set.

But, if you're not advanced I would stick to the workout as written.  One modification could be to do overhead presses first, this is just because it will be easier this way for some and could save their shoulders. 

A bodybuilding style pull day will look something like this.

Bodybuilding Pull day:

Dead-lift: 3 x 6 reps

Weighted chin ups: 3 x 8 reps

Bent over barbell rows: 4 x 10 reps

Barbell curls: 4 x 10 reps

Preacher curl machine: 3 x 15 reps

If you stick to that pull day as written you will make gains.  Do it exactly as written.  The only thing that you could change is, you can do weighted pull ups instead of chin ups, you can also do 1 arm preacher curls instead of the machine.  This training style will also help you build strength and mass.  Strength and muscle are one in the same, but not always.  Sometimes the strongest guy isn't the biggest guy and vice versa. 

For a power lifter the accessories would be different.

Dead-lift day:

Dead-lifts: 3 x 3-5 reps

Deficit dead-lifts: 4 x 6 reps

Block pulls: 3 x 8 reps

Snatch grip dead-lift: 3 x 6 reps

1 arm dumbbell row: 3 x 15 reps

When you're power lifting the dead-lift needs to be trained at a deficit and the block pulls are to help you increase lockout strength.  Afterwards, the snatch grip dead-lift and 1 arm dumbbell rows will help with adding muscle mass.  Deficit dead-lifts can help with speed at the start of the dead-lift.  For some of you, if the volume is too much, take out the block pulls.  Every other exercise do it exactly as written.  Although you could substitute bent over rows for block pulls.

Just keep in mind that this workout will wear you out and make you hungry.  Eat as many clean calories as you can because that's what's going to help you make gains.  Take your diet just as seriously as you take training.  

How to Make Gains outside of the gym

Eat 1.5g of protein per lb of body weight

Sleep 7-10 hours per day

Meditate

Visualization

Relaxation

The first strategy to make more gains outside of the gym, is to eat 1.5 g of protein per lbs of body weight.  This is because your body needs protein to repair muscle.  Eating this amount of protein will make you strong fast.  The next one is to sleep, 8 hours of sleep is ideal, I do realize this can be a challenge for most people.  Meditation is another way to help calm down and reduce your stress levels.  Staying calm is important for making gains, if you can't relax you will be stressed out and your cortisol increases.  

Visualization is an important tool because a lot of people subconsciously sabotage themselves.  Visualization is important because it will give you an exact picture of how you want to look and how strong you eventually want to be.  This mental rehearsal will help train the subconscious mind to help you achieve and accept success.  

Try all of these tips and try the workout.

Comment below and let me know how the workout felt.

Signing out as usual.

Share this article with everyone and thank you for reading.  

How To Deal with Setbacks and Stress

Like a lot of people my day to day includes stress and I've had to deal with setbacks this year.  Due to a piriformis injury I have suffered this year, my squats haven't been the same.  I haven't been able to use as much volume or weight that I want.  This means that I haven't been doing as much either.  The point is that when you're dealing with stress and setbacks, you just need to keep showing up.  Keep doing what it takes and keep eating clean.

It's natural for us to run from our responsibilities when we are stressed or dealing with setbacks, but if we don't push forward, we'll never grow or improve.

This is why you need to learn to embrace failure and mistakes.  This is an issue that most people have.  When you start out on your fitness journey, whether that be bodybuilding, power lifting, you will make mistakes and fall flat on your face.  You need to think about what it is that you want to accomplish and do what's necessary to get there.

It will be harder than you expect it to be.  If you can have realistic expectations, you could be more prepared to deal with setbacks and stress.  When you're stressed out, your body begins to produce a stress hormone called cortisol.  This hormone is terrible for building size and making gains.  This means you have to find a way to make your body relax.

How To Relax

• Make sure you're breathing properly:  When you're breathing shallow and through your chest, you are not getting as much oxygen as you need, this will make it hard to relax.  The key here is to breathe through your diaphram.  
• Let go:  I know so many people that worry about useless unnecessary crap.  Cut it out, let go.  If someone cuts you off in traffic let it go.  If someone is gossiping abut u let it go.  This is hard for people.  But when you let things go, you develop control over your emotions.
• Don't overdo caffeine.  This one is as simple as it sounds.

Once you're able to relax, this will lower your cortisol, which in turn will help you make gains.

This way if you have some setbacks in your training you'll be able to understand why the setbacks are happening.  If you get injured, do your best to train around the injury, don't just not train if you can train around it.  Obviously if the injury is too debilitating don't go to the gym.

Thank you for reading.

Share this article with everyone.

Why you Should Bulk First

A lot of beginners when they first start training or bodybuilding have no clue where to start.  This is not surprising.  The issue that they have is that they spend their time in the gym on foolish nonsensical exercises and machines.  This will keep anyone small and lead to no gains.  What beginners need to do is focus their energy and the bulk of their training on the heavy big lifts.

Now, lucky for you, in the era of the internet there are plenty of free programs out there that can help you make consistent gains.  What you need to do is pick one program and do that for 6 months straight without stopping.  With that being said, you need to focus on bulking when you first start training.

Assuming you're not 30 lbs overweight you need to bulk.  This is because your first year of training is when you can make the most gains.  People in the fitness industry call these noob gains.  This means you need to consume 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per day and consume at least 250 grams of carbs per day as well.  Unless you want to become a lard ass, you need to watch how many carbs you eat.  Because over-consumption of carbs can turn into body fat fast.


Now lets's get back to the gym.  For your first year of training here are some recommended programs.

Workout A:  

 Low bar Squats:  4 x 6, 1 x 20

Bench press: 3 x 6

Power clean: 3 x 5

Dead-lift: 5 x 5

Workout B:

Low Bar squat: 1 x 20

Standing overhead press: 5 x 5 reps

Dead-lifts: 1 x 5

Weighted dips: 3 x 8 reps

Weighted chin ups: 3 x failure

This workout is to be done exactly as written.  Perform this 3-4 times per week every other day.  Some weeks you'll do Workout A twice and others you'll do Workout B twice.  If you eat enough food you will make progress.  I suggest that you eat a minimum of 4,000 calories per day.  If you do this every day and stick to it you will make impressive gains.  

The weighted chin ups and weighted dips are more than enough arm training.  This will build thickness in the arms.  If you skip out, you will miss out on major strength gains.  The power cleans in workout A are done 3rd on purpose.  Make sure you never miss a rep on power cleans.  Don't take power cleans to failure ever.  Every body part is trained in this program.  Except calves.  

It's up to you whether or not you want to train calves.  If you want to be a bodybuilder, train them, if not, don't.  I train calves, it's up to you if you want to train them.  

Now, if you want a program that is purely for adding mass here it is.

Barbarian mass program

Workout A

Low bar squat: 3 x 20 reps

Weighted dips: 4 x 8 reps

Weighted chin ups: 4 x 8 reps

Dead-lift: 2 sets 6, 12 reps

Dumbbell pullover:  3 x 20 reps

Weighted cable crunches: 4 x 15-20 reps

Workout B:

Low bar squat: 3 x 20 reps

Incline bench press: 4 x 6 reps

Bent over barbell rows: 5 x 5 reps

Barbell curls: 5 x 12 reps

Dumbbell pullovers: 3 x 20 reps

Workout C: 

Low bar squat: 1 x 20

Flat bench press: 5 x 5

Barbell overhead press: 4 x 8 reps

Dead-lifts: 2 x 10 reps

The mass gain program is superior to the other if you're talking about pure muscle gains.  20 rep squats add crazy mass all over your entire body.  Weighted dips and weighted chin ups are functional exercises that everyone needs to do.  If you can't do them with weight just start off with body weight until you can.  Progression on all of these exercises will lead to size gains.  

How to Build Cannonball Shoulders that Turn Heads

Have you ever been to the gym and seen someone with massive shoulders?  If the answer is yes, then you know what I'm talking about.  Just massive cannonballs, people with these kind of shoulder can't be missed or looked over.  They turn heads in every gym they go to.  Think about what it would feel like to have those round dense, sculpted shoulders.  Behind every set of shoulders like that is years of hardcore training.

Why your shoulders are small?  Most people have small shoulders because they train them incorrectly.  This is because, they follow outdated routines that are for guys with elite genetics.  What you need to do if you want to grow your shoulders is make them a priority.  Train them your first and last workout of the week.  In this article I will guide you down the right path.

Do you have a poverty overhead press?  Here's mine.  Overhead press

If you do that's a big reason why your shoulders are small and weak.  Here's what you need to do grow your shoulders.

1. Overhead press with a barbell 2 x per week

I can tell you from experience of going to the gym consistently for 5 straight years, most people don't do the standing overhead press.  In fact, if you don't call it the standing overhead press, they'll think you mean seated.  Look there's nothing wrong with the seated overhead press, it just doesn't build the same amount of muscle as the standing overhead press.

What you need to do is have one shoulder focused pressing workout, and the second overhead press day, would come during your push workout after bench press, as an accessory.

Shoulder workout A:

Standing overhead press:  3 x 6, 4, 3 reps

Seated smith machine behind the neck press: 3 x 8, 8, 6 reps

Seated dumbbell shoulder press:  3 x 6, 6, 4

Rear delt machine:  3 x 20-25 reps

This workout needs to be done early in the week since it will lay the foundation and set the tone for the rest of the week.  On workout A you will do the Standing overhead press power-lifting style.  I want you to lift as heavy as possible for the first exercise.  I want you guys to focus on moving weight here.  If you have to push press the last 1-2 reps that's okay with me.  After that the smith behind the neck is excellent at strengthening the standing overhead press.  I find that to be an effective accessory.  On the dumbbell presses I also want you to focus on moving as much weight as possible.  I have done these with 100 lbs in each hand.

On the rear delt machine, this is where you will do some"bodybuilding."

Go slow, take 3 seconds on the way down the eccentric and 1 on the way up.  Get 20-25 reps I don't care how much weight you guys use on this exercise.  The objective with this one is to get a great pump and feel your rear delts doing the work.  Lean back in order to minimize back involvement too.

This is where a lot of people make mistakes, they lean forward and take their rear delts out of the movement.  

The next workout will be workout B

Workout B:

Flat bench press: 3 x 6, 4, 2 reps

Incline bench press: 4 x 8 reps

Standing overhead press: 4 x 8 reps

Push press: 5 x 3 reps

Dip machine: 4 x 20 reps

Workout B is supposed to be your heavy bench press day.  Remember that bench presses also work your shoulders, so don't neglect the bench press during delt training.  It is important to remember that the bench press carries over to the overhead press and vice versa.  People think they have to dump one to get better at the other and that's not true.  I put the standing overhead press as the 3rd exercise here.  

During this workout I want you guys to go for volume, so pick a weight that you can get 10 reps with and do 4 x 8.  The push presses after that I want you to go for strength and power.  Push press allows you to use your hips and legs to get momentum on the lift.  Normally I despise momentum, in this case though the push press is a great exercise that also develops athleticism.  Which is something most people lack in today's gyms.

Most people in gyms are also incapable of doing a push press that's more than 135 lbs.  Then they wonder why their shoulders are so small.  Remember that you need to be able to overhead press your own body-weight, if you do that your shoulders will be better.

You might be wondering how come I didn't program lateral raises and front raises into this program.  The reason is because if your overhead press is less than 200 lbs, it sucks and it needs to be improved.  Too many people watch juice pumping bodybuilders do lateral raise after lateral raise and build big shoulders.  Of course it works for them.  Everything works for them.  Stop working out the way a pro bodybuilder does.

If you do this program as written and eat like a maniac for the next 60 days, you'll have a better pair of shoulders and a stronger overhead press.  Not to mention, you'll be turning heads and getting looks from women you never got before.  Keep training hard and heavy and don't let up on your goals. 

Action Steps:

How much do you want to bench?

How much do you want to overhead press?

What do you want your body to look like? 

Answer these and figure out what you want to look like.  It's important that you answer these because this is what will give you a purpose.  If you're directionless in the gym you will fail and you will be frustrated with your progress.