Tag Archives: life

awareness, balance, better choices, body, Body shape, creation, decisions, Energy, Fitness, Goals, good posture, life, long-term perspective, long-term strategy, muscles, planning, Strength training, truths, workout, you, your life

So, what is “Light Weight” anyway?

Back Double Biceps - few days out from the Australian Natural Bodybuilding Championships Result: 2nd in Australia.

“Back Double Biceps” under the watchful eyes of my coach at that time (2 x Australian Champion, Mr John Daniels) – few days out from the Australian Natural Bodybuilding Championships
Result: 2nd in Australia. 

If you’re familiar with bodybuilding and bodybuilding history, there is a former Mr Olympia (one of only 13 men who have won the best-built body title in the world over the last 50 years), that made the phrase “Light Weight” part of gym lingo and folklore.

He was none other than Ronnie “The King” Coleman. An eight-time Mr Olympia, beating Arnold Schwarzenegger who won it seven times. Phenomenal achievement!

So, what he considered “Light Weight” would be someone else’s heavy (actually, it would be 99.9% of all gym goers definition of “extremely heavy”). This is what I am talking about here today.

I have heard many people ask the question “what weight should I use?” It really is a very individual thing. What may be less heavy for someone, may be too heavy for others. If you’re unsure of what weight to use, it may be wise to do a little “pre-exercise” planning.

Now, what I am going to explain below may be considered by many to be ‘quite obvious’  but for some, it may not be so. Here’s what I mean, for a beginner:

Steps before lifting weights –

  1. Start with the bare minimum, in terms of poundage (leave your ego at the door)
  2. Progressively increase weight with each set of the exercise
  3. Stop when you reach a poundage that allows you to strictly perform the exercise within the required number of repetitions.

For example, some of the basic gym tools:

Dumbells.

  1. Start with 1lb dumbbells and work you way up incrementally – either 1lb or 2lb increments
  2. Where the increments switch to 5lb increments, apply steps above accordingly.

Barbells.

  1. Start with just the bar (no weight added). A standard weight bar could weigh anywhere between 5kg and 9kg. An Olympic bar would weigh 20kg (~ 45lbs).
  2. Once the bar feels too light, start adding 2 ½ lb plates on both ends.
  3. Increase weight incrementally by 5 pounds.

Medicine balls.

  1. Start with the lightest (once again, leave your ego at the door). It may be 2 or 2.2lbs.
  2. Once you feel strong enough to move up, do so. Keep in mind, however, that medicine balls typically increase in 2-pound increments ( 6 to 6.6 lbs, 4 to 4.4 lbs etc).

So, there you go.

Figure out how much time of your 86,400 seconds each day you can devote to a work-out (hopefully a minimum of 3,600 seconds twice a week). Find a results-specific workout type you would like to put your body (and mind) through and then just do it!

Don’t be afraid of the gym. You don’t need a degree in exercise physiology. If you’ve ever resented anyone for their physique, you can stop now. I want to let you know that sometimes the bodies that have earned your exercise envy may not be more committed to working out than you are.

It’s just that they’re smarter when it comes to HOW they work out.

Now it’s your turn.

There is no secret to getting in great shape. It is not how much time you spend exercising (there is a bare minimum though for every goal) but it is taking the time to exercising properly. Executing each exercise in proper functional manner, continuously asking yourself the question –

“How well am I doing this particular rep of this particular exercise?”.

Not knowing how to.

Not executing exercises with good form could be disastrous. One simple slip in form can transform a useful exercise into a useless one. The problem areas in your body are progressively neglected and you continuously stress and overwork muscles you would rather avoid or work less.

Don’t you sacrifice your ‘safety umbrella’. Sets you up for major postural problems in the future.

Remember, overworked and over-stressed muscles ( like shoulders for men ) lead to muscle imbalances which lead to (over time) – injuries. Injuries, yes. Some of which you cannot afford to have.

Seek help from a suitably qualified and experienced professional for guidance if you’re unsure.

Train safer. Train smarter.

You’ll enjoy the next 40 or so years in the gym, better.

 

Until next time,

 

Relaxed with dumbells.

Relaxed with dumbells.

 

Collage of some bodybuilding poses

Standard
Beliefs, Energy, life, mind, needs

Appropriate Significance.

Relaxed.

Relaxed.

In my last blog “To matter or not to matter”, I posed two questions –

  1. Who am I?
  2. Why do I exist?

How we answer these questions determines whether we live for about eighty years or eternity.

I mentioned that it would have to be one of man’s innate needs: to have mattered. It is the same for all men, whether you trying to achieve your full potential in life or only doing just enough to survive from paycheck to paycheck.

Maybe, some men can imagine it engraved on their tombstone:

“He made a difference.”

Man’s most innate need, I believe, is his/her need to be significant – to find purpose, to find meaning.

The important thing here or the difference between success and failure in achieving this need to be significant is HOW we go about satisfying this. You could go about it by fulfilling your own ambitions by sucking in all the spoils of this life and think this could get you closer to being significant.

Or,

You could succeed by becoming a part of a higher purpose – a club, a movement, a political party, a religion. You could find it in your relationship with a higher force, whatever it may be – God, Mohammed, Hare Krishna, Buddha.

So, how we answer those two questions determines how we seek out significance. It divides us in to two distinct groups:

  1. Those who seek significance in appropriate ways
  2. Those who seek significance in inappropriate ways

Which one are you? Which group will you fall in to when you’ve left this physical earth? Our hunger to satisfy this need of significance can get you closer to God (or whatever deity you pray to) or move you further away from him.

I believe authentic, lasting significance lies in your connection and belief in your higher force – your God. You need to be part of something bigger than you, something all-encompassing, something omni-present. Something God-like, or God himself if you are a Christian.

It does not matter what religion you belong to. Maybe, even construct your own bible or religious text.

Through communication with your God, through prayer and meditation, you can achieve significance that endures, that is lasting.

This communication link, like branches to a vine, will allow you to grow and seek your significance in appropriate ways. You will find your life purpose and remembered forever.

Dream: you will be remembered when you are gone. That Your Life mattered.

 

Until next time,

 

Paul V2 (1)

Standard
Beliefs, Energy, hope, life, needs, perspective, time

To Matter or Not To Matter.

IMGP3059 Mens_Under_80kg_Finals-1065 Mens_Under_80kg_Finals-1066

I sometimes think of the human body as a community, and every part of the body playing an intricate role in it to function, and function optimally. All the way down to its cellular level, such as the white cell. As basic human anatomy classes have taught us, the cell is the basic unit of an organism. However, one of the great things about the cell is that it can live for itself, or it can help build and sustain the larger being – the human being.

So, the body can be seen as one unit, but it is made up of many, many parts – namely, cells. Though there are many cells, they form and make up ONE – one body. The cells cannot escape even if they wanted to. For example if a cell making up your biceps should say to the optic nerve cell, “hey, I am not an optic nerve cell, so I won’t be part of this human body”, it would still belong to the body, whether it likes it or not. You see, the cell is an individual and an integral part of the ‘whole’.

Every cell has a life and a purpose of its own. Every cell is arranged by God or whoever you believe in, just the way the universal, super-energy wanted it to be. If all the cells were the same, humans would not be able to do the things we do. We simply would not exist as we are. There would be no eye, no nose, no hand, no foot – no body. There would be no mind. There would be no – YOU!

So, we are billions of cells. But, one body, mind and spirit.

One, but many.

It follows from my analogy above, that even though a hand or a foot or an ear cannot have a life separate from the body, the microscopic little cell, can. It can be loyal to the body or just cling to and exist on its own, and only worry about its own life.

We’ve all got to be careful though, as some cells do choose to infiltrate and live in the body, with the other cells, other organs, sharing all that it has to give. Getting all its benefits and giving nothing in return. Taking, taking, and more taking, whilst maintaining complete independence, pilfering what the whole body, the whole community has worked for: the preservation of life. Giving nothing. This works against the whole being, better using the limited resources to the betterment and survival of YOU.

In time, these minority cells gain more strength, more power and more leverage as they have access to more resources.

These become parasites and cancer cells.

They wear you down and eventually kill. The human, unknowingly allows the minority cancer cells to repeatedly torcher, pilfer, exploit and weaken the majority. The majority that is the good white cells. You have the power to stop the spread of these cancer cells. How?

Become part of something bigger. Bigger than you. Bigger than the individual.

Become part of a group, a club, a community, a movement, a passion, a religion – like the tiny little microscopic cell in your body is. A part of you. Don’t be afraid of commitment. No, commit to yourself. Sign up for life membership with this group. Share your voice. Let your voice be heard. Don’t be afraid. Share your speciality. Give your time, your energy. Share your knowledge and contribute to that something that is bigger than you.

Help! That group. That team. That movement. That religion.

The greatest need for each and every one of us is not only the basic needs as outlined by Abraham Maslow in Maslow’s hierarchy. No, the greatest need is to have significance. To matter!

A man’s ultimate desire is immortality.

We want “something” to survive us. Have you ever wondered why monuments, buildings, stadiums, roads churchs and many days in the calendar is named after someone? To be remembered. To be remembered that your life had mattered.

Search your soul. Search your heart. Do you in some small way (or big way) wonder and hope that one day someone will remember your time when you were alive (now). That your life, above all else – MATTERED? Was it a life that had significance? Was it a life with purpose? I don’t know. Only you can answer that question.

And you will probably need to answer two other questions:

  1. Who am I?
  2. Why do I exist?

How we decide to answer these two questions is a choice between two timelines: One that is about eighty years old and one that lasts forever. To eternity.

What I do know is that you still have a chance to have one. You first need to look at  finding your purpose in life, your little contribution to the bigger world of human beings is critical. Critical to your uniqueness of individuality and loyalty to man-kind as the cell is to the human body. One cannot live without the other.

Every thought you think. Every action you take will have an impact on some other human being, whether you intended to or not. Try to add value to rather than subtract value from another human being’s life through the way you think and act.

Nothing happens in isolation in your body just like nothing happens in isolation in the universe. There is a ‘flow-on’ effect. An imprint in the history of your life. An imprint on human-kind’s history. Of our universe’s entire life.

You. Me. Each and everyone of us form part of the whole – the whole human race. Just like the cell is an integral part of the human body. You have a part to play in your life – while you are alive. Find this role. Search high and low. Never-ever give up looking. Just like most things we look for, remember to look for it in the place you least expect to look. Sometimes, it could be right in front of your nose and you don’t ‘see it’ at first.

Sometimes, you may need to stop looking. You may just be too close to the problem. In this case, seek appropriate and relevant help.

Understand your role in your loyalty to the human-race to the best of your ability and play it. Find your purpose. Find your significance. How do you do this? Well, one vital step is to work on increasing your awareness of YOU. Look in to your belief systems, your principles. Your values.

Question them. Challenge them. Turn them upside down, inside-out. Shake them up and sieve all the bullSh#t out. What remains is the essence. Your essence of your life. This is a possible starting point.

The answer is uniquely yours. Your individuality. But remember, your independence, your uniqueness needs to also be balanced with your loyalty to the human race.

Here’s a little formula: Life purpose => Significance (positive contribution to a higher purpose) => Mattered (when you’re six feet under).

Just like the little cell in your body, doing its job for a higher purpose – doing its job to help you be YOU, you may just be surprised with how your unselfish contribution towards some higher purpose, may change your world.

It may change the world. The human race. For the better.

So make your life, a life that matters. Now and when you’re gone. Find your significance. Find your immortality.

Living a life without significance is close to not living a life at all.

Think. Do.

Until next time,

 

Paul V1

Standard
a better life, adaptation, attitude, awareness, beauty, belief, Beliefs, better choices, body, choices, compassion, courage, Energy, examined life, game of life, grace, gratitude, hope, Imagination, life, long-term perspective, long-term strategy, love, muscles, perseverance, responsibility, risk, self, self discipline, self improvement, self-respect, success, Vitality, workout, you, your life

Work your giving muscles.

_MG_9779-1

Give.

Giving is a joy.

For the same reason that we should exercise our bodies, we should GIVE. Your body is functioning at its best when it is forced to work, specifically, when your muscles are forced to work. If you don’t do anything and live a sedentary lifestyle, then in the long term you are actually hurting them and yourself.

It is as simple as that.

The thing about muscle training is that you have to ‘expend some energy’. Some people just don’t want to do that, because it means ‘work’. Work equates to pain which equates to fear of it. That’s certainly a very common way of thinking of lifting weights in the gym, but that’s only one perspective.

Another perspective is that ‘working out’ your muscles, when done properly is one of the greatest and most vital pleasures you can possibly experience in your life.

Your lifetime.

In whatever goal you desire, you need to make sure you understand how to use the tools 🛠 necessary to bring about the change you seek.

Energy Crisis WITHIN.

We are constantly reminded that there is an ‘energy crisis’ in the world today. True, there is. The science says this and politicians argue over interpretation of facts about it. Different perspectives again, on a global scale.

However, the biggest threat to man-kind today is evolving within. I refer to the growing energy crisis WITHIN. Within each individual.

There is a direct correlation between what I call an ‘energy crisis’ within and the increase in sedentary lifestyle choices. If you don’t ‘spend’ any energy in the gym and work your muscles, strangely enough, the result is you will progressively have less strength and energy and VITALITY, than if you had.

This individual energy-crisis physically manifests itself in many life-threatening illnesses – both mentally and physically.

First test. Test YOU, always.

Re-charge.

The gym and weight-training is, I believe, one of the last remaining genuine “re-charge points” available for each and every one of us. Yes, available to you, too. Just like your mobile phone and other modern-day comfort and convenient goods need re-charging and energy to function optimally, you do, too.

The more energy and vitality you re-charge and ‘feel’ within you after expending energy working your muscles is akin to what you will get and feel when you GIVE and don’t expect anything in return.

Do you GIVE it just TAKE?

Are you a Giver or taker.

There are givers and there are takers in this world, but I would like to think there are more givers. Are you a giver or a taker?

Do you exercise your ‘giving muscles’?

“Giving muscles?” I hear you say. “What is that?”

Lets firstly look at what it means to be a “giver”?

We can certainly look up a definition if we google it but I will attempt to explain it by referring to some behavioural traits we observe in people around us, and you.

Well, there are many traits – you could say, giving people offer friendship easily; they are caring and empathetic – not only with their money but emotions and knowledge; they take genuine delight in the good fortune of others.

Education through a perception of the truth.
Increasing your awareness, taking sufficient and appropriate actions and adapting accordingly is key towards self-improvement.
Funny thing is that the process also applies to relationships and response.
Vv

Giving is an Attitude toward Life.

Just like making exercise a part of your life, giving is an attitude toward life than it is a specific act at one time or another. Givers have certain openness about them. Givers don’t seem to speak a lot about their ‘rights’. Givers do what is right. They generally find time to laugh and don’t wallow in self-pity. They are forward-thinkers but learn from the past and are keen observers of the present.

Givers do not run constant cost-benefit analyses to see if an opportunity for generosity is to their advantage. They are likely to not get too attached to the material possessions in their lives.

Help people strengthen their resolve, internally, with their own souls
so… that nothing can tear it out. I give knowledge to those who want to learn.

Want Less, Give More.

There are giving muscles in you, in every one of us. We just need to consciously use it and ‘feel’ the life-giving effects of using it. Feeling its essence. It is, in essence, what it means to be human.

Like training your muscles – for 20, 30, 45 or 60 minutes in the gym, you get back ten times the energy and vitality you expended which re-charges you and your being. Your life. You can’t afford not to invest energy. Give more and ultimately, get more. Add more life in to your years and not just be concerned with getting more years to your life.

Giving is to your benefit – physically, mentally and spiritually.

You don’t have to be a saint or martyr to give. Miserliness in all forms, diminishes you – diminishes us.

Diminishes the human race.

The more you keep, the less you have and the less you are.

Giving is a joy.

Want less. Give more.

Try it if it isn’t already a part of your attitude to life.

This is another of life’s interesting paradoxes.

Until next time,

Writing things down sometimes helps in the communication process.
The goal is not communication. The goal is EFFECTIVE communication.
Making real changes with the knowledge gained from ‘feedback loops’ allows me to formulate the right adaptive strategy for student – ex Australian Wallaby Captain, Phil Waugh.
Vv.

Standard
Beliefs, body, Body shape, Energy, Fitness, Goals, habits, Imagination, life, workout, you

What it takes.

Find your superpowers. Know your superpowers. Work to your superpowers (strengths)

Stereotypical mis-perception.

A common mis-perception prevalent in today’s society of a person lifting weights in the gym is a steroid-buffed buffoon who hogs all the lifting machines. He (or she) grunts like a pig so loud lifting gigantic weights – a maverick risk-taker with a highly inflated view of their own self-worth.

Women and some men are still petrified about this even in today’s modern world and so they steer clear of the weights room. Very sad indeed. The consequence of this is that many people don’t believe they have what it takes to start and stick to a weight-training program because they’re not like that stereotypical mis-perception.

My family gym was for everyone – from all walks of life, from all backgrounds, all races and ranged in age from teens to 90 year olds.
Everyone abided by ‘old-fashioned value’ – respect, patience, care, compassion, trust, tolerance etc
Here I am with one of my blind members (and her guide dog) who visited my gym 3 days per week for 7 years. Many other gyms descriminated against handicapped population. Not mine.
My gym was an ALL inclusive Family Gym.

Take this supplement/drug and you can look like me.

Now, I am not saying that such gym-goers don’t exist, they do, but they are the minority. They have their place in the health and fitness industry. They are great for the supplement and drug industries. “Take this supplement/drug and you can look like me” sells. Its big money.

I can tell you that in my 20 plus years of training in gyms, the only people I have met like that are few and far between, mainly in magazines and some tv and big screen movies starring the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger. The majority of people now don’t look like that.

One of my good old friends at the gym

Real Gym enthusiasts.

Real gym enthusiasts are real people just like you. Mums and dads and brothers and sisters and uncles and aunties. The only difference between them and the majority of people who do nothing or just go for aerobics classes is that they have, for one reason or another, decided to lift weights.

There is no qualification process, no entry requirements – just a decision to go to a gym, followed by action.

However, there are certain qualities that successful body sculpturers/builders/gym goers tend to have. Fortunately, they’re not uncommon and all of them can be learned.

Friends that workout together … stay together?
Some of the family of gym members that called my gym ….. our gym .. their gym.
Lovely people in a lovely phase of life.

Main Traits.

After 23 years and counting, here are the main traits that all good gym enthusiasts have as I see it:

1. Determination – above all else you need to have the stamina and drive to finish what you start and the desire to look a certain way – either for you or for your loved ones. However, I am just guessing here, I would say that for every 100 people who sign up to a gym, I reckon, 95 lose hope and belief in themselves and where they are going within the first 3 months of starting. Hey, a good example is those who start something as part of their New Year’s Resolution. Are you one of them?

2. Humility – not a quality you associate with a regular gym-trainer, is it? I say this because of the awareness the person needs to have to be able to accept that he/she is not perfect and that he is doing something about it. He/she is going to the gym to help make themselves closer to what they imagine themselves to be in the mirror. A better version of themselves and being their best for themselves, and for others.

Its means being honest with yourself and accepting that you don’t know everything. Its knowing that you don’t know much about body re-engineering and managing your risk levels, bringing them down to an acceptable level. You could either try seeking help from a trained professional or doing your research on your own and taking on all the associated risks if you decide to train on your own.

You’ll also have to be a person who likely has a mind open to learning new things, in a field that is not your strong point, every single day. But remember: arrogance is an injury waiting to happen and a workout killer!

3. Decisiveness – nothing gets done unless you make decisions. We all agree on that. Building and re-engineering a physique, a new improved physical version of yourself is a repeated process of action through a structured program, deduction through pattern recognition of observations made (how much weight, reps, rest times, energy etc), information gathering, feedback, followed by decision-making.

If you’re taking this journey on your own, you take responsibility for your own decisions and once you do this, you take control of your physique transformation and not blame anyone or any external factor. If you’re a beginner and smart enough to seek out an experienced professional, even better.

One of the highest risks is getting injured. Believe me, after 23 years of gym training I have been made aware of preventable injuries unfortunately suffered by many gym goers.

4. An analytical mind– you need to be able to evaluate every aspect of your workout, at every stage of your development. You must analyse whether things are working as they should and how you need to improve them. There are a lot variables – reps, sets, rest times, tempo, breathing and execution techniques etc. The list goes on. The best trainers/coaches have minds that think laterally and are not afraid to change workouts to adapt to the person being trained.

My Family of friends in my gym I owned and managed for 7
years.
All working towards being the ‘best the can be’

the right time in your life. 

Ask yourself if this is the right time in your life to undergo a physical transformation for the better. Say for example, you’re in your mid-50s and you have been thinking about reducing your waist line so as to lower your ‘life risk’ such as increased risks of heart-related ailments.

Is it something you have been thinking about for such a long time and have not done anything about? Stop looking for excuses and the situation you’re in, simply be honest with yourself and ask yourself “are you ready?”

Gym Extended Family Members enjoying a day of Lawn Bowls.
We had some great lawn bowls events over the 7 years.

It is never too late to start. 

It is never too late to start. I have helped hundreds of people get started, people of all ages including many in their 50s, 60s, 70s and even 80+ year olds. Their quality of life improves out of sight and they breathe vitality – the essence of life, back in themselves.

Recently, after achieving his original physical goals and more, a 72 year old client of mine said that the five months he spent with me was the best investment he had made in his life – and he would know as he spent a big part of his life investing in large property deals in his line of business.

He was a brave man, open-minded and determined enough to not only desire a better way to live his life but also adopt and adapt daily habitual changes that would help him get the desired results in the short-term but also for the next 30 years or so.

Collage of some bodybuilding poses .. presenting my physique art to the audience in my gym

Start a strength, health & fitness program. 

So, start a strength, health and fitness program. Even if you’re not, take a leap of faith and believe in yourself, believe that you can do it. Like I have said in earlier blogs, it may not only add years to your life but also life in your years. It does not matter what age you start or how out of condition you are – just start. Your life depends on it!

The sad truth is I would think that probably over 95% of gym goers stop going after a few months of starting, but that means that 5% continue and do succeed. You need to ensure you’re in the successful 5%. Adopting the four traits I have listed above and a ‘can-do attitude’ is what it takes.

How can you increase your chances of success in your program? Do yourself a favour: find yourself a trainer/coach that gives results – WITH CARE. This may not only be the best thing to get you started but also stay on track until you build up enough momentum to keep going on your own, progressing with safety.

Good luck!

Until next time,

Standard
body, Body shape, body weight, Energy, habits, muscles, perseverance, self-image, Strength training, time, truths, Vitality

Its body shape not body weight that matters

The old Cap”n Viking Pirate – ME.

Weight loss is a losing game

I have helped hundreds of people of all ages re-engineer their bodies towards a stronger, healthier, fitter version of themselves over the years with over 84% success rate in clients’ achieving their goals. Weight-loss has always been a by-product of the transformation using my framework to body re-engineering.

It is important but it has never been the main focus for me and I’ll tell you why I have never believed in losing weight just for the sake of losing weight. Weight loss is a losing game, I know but most people go about loising weight the wrong way.

Be the best you can be for you, first, then by default, everyone gets the best of you.
Vv.

The importance of composition 

The weight scale can be misleading because it tells you nothing about your body composition. Your weight can fluctuate quite a lot on a daily basis due to many factors – your water intake, temperature, time of day etc. It has been the catalyst for many trainees being disheartened and de-motivated on their journey to a better version of themselves.

The scale does not tell you what your muscle-fat ratio is. So, understand that body shape is more important than body weight.

Imagine. Believe.

Rely on YOU

Avoid rapid weight loss because that usually accompanies muscle loss and you cannot afford to lose muscle. Avoid diet-only transformation programs that does not incorporate strength training. If you have a lot of fat to lose, and if you choose not to get an experienced personal trainer to help you, the best thing you can do is combining a well thought out diet plan with a good progressive strength and cardiovasular and stretching routine.

With self-control, discipline, consistency and persistence you may lose say, 10 kg on the scale  over 6 months. A safe and sure way. But note, that would be the net effect of actually losing 13 kg of fat and gaining 2-3 kg of muscle. Like for all my clients who go through my re-engineering programs, this way of weight loss will have a significant effect to your appearance, fitness and well-being: your body shape.

Rely on YOU.

The additional muscle gained enables you to use up more energy even at rest. The benefits go far beyond the initial fat loss and mere aesthetic measures as there are improvements in the inter-cellular and intra-cellular levels in your body and this would help reduce the tendency to store fat.

Educating a top national sprinter of the importance of proper nutrition for recovery & optimal performance

The best you can be

So, the better your condition gets, that is, putting on more muscle and losing fat, the easier it is to lose further fat and maintain a lean body once you have shed the excess fat. You body goes about maintaining a new ‘state of balance’, a new equilibrium: a new YOU.

Don’t go on extreme weight-loss diets, don’t fast to lose weight and don’t go on a fad diet and we have had many come and go over the years. When you limit your food intake extremely without proper resistance exercise, your body will respond by slowing your metabolism or ‘engine room’ and this makes fat loss more difficult and fat gain easier. Your engine room dictates the amount of calories you burn at any point in time.

You then find yourself spending more and more time on treadmills and other versions of cardio machines in gyms. You’ve seen the countless numbers pounding the conveyor belts of these machines in the gym. This all leads to losing muscle you cannot afford to lose.

Target a weight loss of no more than half kilogram per week, which under the right training program can add up to 13 kilograms over a realistic and healthy time-frame of six months. Do this safely.

Don’t be the best ‘biggest loser’ you can be, be the BEST  you can be!

Sometimes a feather can feel heavy when you are FOCUSED on the essence.

Strive for an improvement in body shape, get closer to getting an ‘x-frame’ (which means a smaller waist and from a health point of view means you carry less visceral fat around your waistline which all medical advice say decreases your health risks).

You should not do it with diet alone. You must build muscle.

Control fat by building more muscle. Muscle burns fat, its as simple as that!

Until next time,

 

Best of Vitality and ahoy to YOU,

 

The old Captain Viking Pirate ,…. & thoughts on muscel and body shape and the ridiculous focus on weight loss ( I love meaty women!)

Each rep of every set of every exercise is an opportunity for a person to connect with the muscle group he or she intends to.
The right mix of tempo, control, continuous tension and feel is critical.
Executed properly, under an experienced eye, allows one to bridge the muscles with the mind.
Practise does not make perfect. PERFECT PRACTISE MAKES PERFECT!

Standard
adaptation, adequate sleep, attitude, awareness, balance, basics of training, beauty, Beliefs, better choices, body, care empathy, change management, choices, communication, consciousness, decisions, desire, diet, Energy, examined life, game of life, Goals, gratitude, habits, happiness, hope, Imagination, Leader, life, long-term perspective, love, mind-muscle connection, muscle building, muscles, needs, patience, perseverance, planning, respect, responsibility, safe training, self discipline, self improvement, self-image, self-respect, Strength training, symmetry, synergy, taking action, time, truths, Vitality, workouts, you, your life

14.5 tips for growth and producing more, with care

The old Captain Viking Pirate 🏴‍☠️ ⚔️Enjoying a beer 🍺 in a hot 🥵 spring day here in Sydney Australia 🇦🇺

I’m talking about growth and producing more muscle for you, here.

There is no room for compromise on the components of recuperation and getting adequate rest to building more muscle towards a more healthier, stronger, fitter you. More muscle is hopefully a more satisfied you too with regards to your body transformation goals.

Here are 14.5 tips (the list is not exhaustive) for getting adequate recuperation and rest with the goal of more muscle and to take better care of you:

Building the best physique you hope to does not rely on chance.
It comes down to many variables summed up here –
Imagination + Visualisation + Effort (hard deliberate practice) + Feel (Heart) + Talent (genetics) + Focus (never-say-die Mind-set) …
To create Balance & Symmetry in design.
It does not matter which art medium is used – building architecture, watches, cars etc ..
Beauty = Balance & Symmetry
The only difference between sculpturing your physique and the other types mentioned above is –
the human body is alive and has a mind.
Continue to work on yours.

1. Make sleep a priority.

Make quality the focus, not quantity

 

2. Eat a little extra calories unless weight loss is your goal.

 

3. Lifting moderate to heavy weights (for your level) is critical to muscle growth.

Once you’re training hard (referring to your skeletal muscle here), consume 1g of protein per pound of body-weight.

Don’t waste your time with ‘light weights’
Use a weight (depending on the muscle group) that will get you to 10 reps.
But you struggle to get to 8 reps with good form.
Everyone’s limit is different.

4. Stay away from low-fat diets. I can show you how fat can be used to burn fat.

Matter of fact, fat in your diet is essential to stripping unwanted fat off you – especially the stubborn fat a lot of people carry around their waists. Fat is vital for your overall health – mind and body. It helps maintain an anabolic metabolism.

However steer clear from unhealthy fats as best you can.

 

5. Avoid junk food. Enough said!

 

6. Don’t get too caught up on sources of protein, carbohydrates and fats.

Why?

Because what you actually digest and allow your body to assimilate is more important than what you eat and drink.

Meals need to suit you and your physical goals. Understand YOU. Find the most appropriate solution. If you can’t do it yourself, find someone who can help. It may just reduce the risk of disappointment.

 

7. Try not to go for long periods without food/meals.

Try to avoid getting hungry (believe me, you probably will like me less if you’re around me when I am hungry. You definitely don’t want to be around me when I am both angry … and hungry … ‘Hangry’

Preparation is key – try setting aside some time in the evening for preparing your sandwiches, blender drinks etc for the next day. A little time in the kitchen the night before or on the weekend, will save you tonnes of time during the week, thinking about what you would like to eat for various meals.

Educating a top national sprinter of the importance of proper nutrition for recovery & growth for optimal performance

8. Don’t waste your “window of opportunity”

Within a half hour of finishing your workout, have a liquid easily digested meal (high in protein) and then have a balanced solid-food meal in the next couple of hours.

I call this the ‘window of opportunity’ to infuse your muscle cells with the necessary nutrients to maximise growth and retention.

Now sit, back, rest and say … “Grow baby, grow!”

And it will.

 

9. Don’t skip breakfast!

 

10. Supplements are just that – ‘supplements’.

It is meant to supplement a nutritionally sound diet from real food.

That took me to multiple NSW Titles and 2 x World Championships, simply eating good ‘balanced meals’ of REAL FOOD. You can’t beat it. Keep it simple.

Focus on food! Full stop.

 

11. Drink adequate amounts of liquids.

Too much water is better and less risky than too little.

A good guide is drinking 1L of water per 25kg – 30kg of bodyweight.

My apprentice drinking water as I have ‘coaching conversations’ with him

12. Manage your energies.

I’ve always thought that life is about energy management, not time-management.

Do try to spend more of your precious time with people and doing activities that give you energy – real energy and do your best to limit your time doing activities or being with people who drain you of energy.

Recuperation and rest for example is an activity that enhances your energies. Love yourself more. Give yourself more of it. Don’t feel guilty.

 

13. Keep calm.

Do this by slowing the mind. Quiet the mind. Find a way.

Find your way.

Feel your emotions.
Think through and with your heart.
Listen to your íntuition

14.5 Stay healthy.

We’re all different, all unique.

Appreciate that uniqueness and ask yourself what your idea of ‘healthy’ is and how would you define it, with respect to every area in life – meal composition; amount of rest/sleep; play time; activities that you do; books that you read; visual programs that you watch etc.

Continue to ask yourself ‘what is healthy to you’ and promptly eliminate habits and behaviour that steal away from a more healthy you. Respect and love YOU first to truly respect and love all around you.

Take your health seriously if you want to optimise your ability to recuperate….

And live better …

… now and in to your future.

 

While you’re still breathing and can do something about it.

Just DO IT! ( I love this NIKE slogan …. my favourite of all time)

 

All the best!

 

Until next time,

The Old Cap’n Viking Pirate …. & essential workout Hacks/Lessons … for willing participants

Explaining the fine points of re-engineering the physique and increased self-awareness through enhanced ‘mind-muscle’ connection..

Belief in God has helped me represent Australia at two consecutive World Natural Bodybuilding Championships and achieve those dreams.
Never stop believin’.
Vv.

Standard
a better life, attitude, awareness, basics of training, better choices, body, choices, courage, decisions, ego, Energy, game of life, Leader, life, long-term perspective, mind-muscle connection, muscle building, muscles, patience, perspective, risk, safe training, self discipline, strengths, success, you, your life

Leave your ego at the door.

 

Slay your ego!

Principle of muscle building 

The title of this blog could be applied to many areas of life but in this case, it relates to working out in the gym.

A very important principle of muscle building and I have followed it since I learned of it in my late teens, slowly accumulated my hours in the gym.

There are many variables to building muscles and many principles to training. Leaving your ego at the door would have to be one of the most important philosophies because aside from allowing me to get the most out of each workout and get maximum gains in muscle building, it would also be a significant reason why I have stayed injury-free for over two decades of training with weights in the gym.

Well, I tell all the youth that I see training with less than ideal technique in the gym, “to get muscle gains you need to leave your ego at the door”.

Drop the weight down and use something you can handle safely. What I mean by this is that if its muscle-maximization you’re after, then, lose the thought that if you lift very heavy weights, you will automatically get bigger muscles. True but not true. Firstly, accept that you’re not a weight-lifter or power-lifter. How strong you are does not build the biggest muscles.

Maintain control & feel when you’re containing the Lion within you. Leave the ego at the door.

Control and feel

Strength does correlate to muscle-size but only to a point. So, to build muscles one must try to focus on control and feel for any exercise one is doing. You need to keep it simple and have continuous tension on the muscle group throughout the range of motion with good form.

If you load up the weight and sacrifice good form, you’re unlikely to build muscle but instead increase your risk of injury. This could then keep you from the gym which then may get you down and de-motivated. You take one step forward, four steps back in your quest to build muscle and transform your physique.

End result: mediocre muscle development. Not what you desired.

Its not how much you lift that matters but how you lift. Ask yourself the question “how well am I doing this exercise?” each time you perform it. Keep it simple. Focus on the feel of the exercise and maintain control throughout the execution of the exercise. It is highly likely that you are using a weight that is too heavy for you if you lose control and feel while performing a ‘set’ of  your exercise and not completing the required number of repetitions at a specific tempo. Instead of building muscle, you’re only working your ego.

Find the courage to keep going.
Right.
The courage rests in you.
Take Lead, be the Leader that YOU are.

Say No to “No Pain, No Gain “ Maxim


Now if that is your intention then fine but if you’re serious about getting good results, stay away from the old, hard-core maxim: No pain, no gain! Seems to only apply when you’re using excessive weights. Instead keep my maxim below in mind: “Work the muscle, not the joint!”

Working out in the gym is a great way to transform your physique from the person you see in the mirror now to the person you imagine yourself to be. To do so, keep your ego in check, leave your ego at the door and instead be patient and make incremental steps towards your ultimate strength and body re-engineering goals.

Learn proper technique. Practise it religiously. Be patient with your progress. Become a better master of your instrument ‘your body’, just like a musician would with practise.

Eat nutritionally-balanced meals aligned with your goals and give your body adequate rest and recovery time to adapt and develop.

Train well. Eat well. Rest well.

Repeat.

Until next time, best of vitality to you.

yours in iron, mind & muscles 💪,

 

Paul e 💝alentine

It is a great feeling to do this … but make sure it isn’t your ego that is leading. I made 2 World Championships partly because others said I couldn’t. A great feeling to prove people wrong. 
If it is Stubbornness & not ego leading … well that’s ok.

Me & Mr Fuzzy/Fussy cuddles at my favourite beach 🏖 here in beautiful Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺

Standard
a better life, awareness, Beliefs, better choices, body, dreams, game of life, Goals, habits, Imagination, life, long-term perspective, love, mind, muscle building, muscles, perseverance, responsibility, safe training, skills, Strength training, time, workout, your life

Hard Yakka: Please Apply.

It’s ok to enjoy a treat once in a while. Fruit is great after a meal; it satisfies your desire for something sweet but has fewer calories, then, say, ice-cream.

Having dedication is critical.

Even the best training advice and know-how amounts to nothing unless it is catalyzed and fused with dedication to consistent action.

Read that again – dedication to consistent action or like I have summarized to many gym goers over the years, one of the secrets to maximizing benefits from efforts in the gym is simply being CONSISTENT and PERSISTENT. Many people don’t like hearing these words because they think there is some magic formula, some magic supplement portion, some magical new way of training. Well, I have news for you: there isn’t!

Some training enthusiasts have consistency but are not persistent. Some are persistent but not consistent. To be successful in training or muscle-building you need both traits repeatedly practiced. I believe you need the same two traits to be successful in any other area of life. If you strive to be a better person and getting success out of your training is one of your priorities, then having dedication is critical.

Dedication to anything worthwhile achieving takes a lot of mental, physical and emotional discipline.

Dedication is the unsung virtue in today’s world.

With regards to training success in the gym, dedication alone will be wasted if it is combined with poor training and recovery. Many people look at dedication as painful and a slog but this is far from the truth, which is that dedication is an unsung virtue in today’s world.

It is a virtue because dedication involves and includes discipline which can be seen as doing what needs to be done with consistency and persistence. Many successful people in their respective fields of interest have become successful because for some of them, they have practiced mental and physical discipline, day-in, day-out. Along with talent, we cannot discount all the ‘yakka’ and discipline to deliberately practise their craft over many years in most cases, to get them to where they are. Some of you may not be familiar with the term – yakka, and that is perfectly understandable. It simply is an old Australian word that means ‘hard work’. Please apply. Having the opportunity to apply discipline in your chosen field is a BLESSING. This is exactly what is needed to successful training: discipline or in other words – consistency and persistence.

10kg dumbells will always be 10kg wherever you are on this planet. Keeps you grounded.

Not tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come.

Everyone who has ever lifted weights to get stronger, bigger, smaller, more toned, fitter, healthier and so forth is by definition, a bodybuilder. Muscle-building is not just for competitive bodybuilders, it is an activity for everyone who wants to take charge of their physical appearance and conditioning, regardless of age, sex, culture, race or background. It is for you and everyone in your family, for Everyone you know.

Real bodybuilding is a fantastic goal to have and deserves your best efforts.

The benefits go far beyond mere cosmetics. The training, nutritional and recuperative areas of bodybuilding when implemented in a structured and safe manner, can and will produce extensive health benefits. Like I have said before, by improving your health and vitality you can add more life to your years and possibly years to your life. So, don’t wait any more and ‘get off the fence’ and do something about your training and making strength training a part of your lifestyle, today.

Not tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come.

Your are your brain neuro-pathways

A Healthy Brain is a Happy Life.

Everything we do and feel is governed by how our brain cells, or neurons, connect to one another. What most people think of as psychological makeup is rooted in the biology of these connections. The brain is constantly being rewired and exercise helps keep your brain healthy and balanced.

Exercising with the right intensity, especially like weight-training, is like taking a little bit of Prozac or a little bit of Ritalin, as it elevates the same neurotransmitters, like the drugs do. A useful analogy to make but the main point is that lifting weights and exercising helps balance neurotransmitters – along with the rest of the neurochemicals in the brain.

Keeping your brain in balance can change your life. A healthy brain is a happy life.

I love mathematics and here is a little formula I have come up summarizing success in training or body re-engineering. I have shared this with the many clients I have helped over the years:

Conceptualization/Imagination(dreams and desired outcome) + Effort (know-how and dedication) + Heart (determination of purpose) + Belief (passion) == > SUCCESS in training

So, don’t delay, put hard yakka in to your strength and health training and make it a priority in your life – today!

 

Until next time,

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Building a World Class Natural Physique takes patience and deliberate practise of key daily habits.

 

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Standard
Energy, life, time, Vitality, you

Make the complex simple.

I have heard many reasons for people not making time to exercise over the last 20 plus years in they gym. Believe me, many. One of the reasons is I think that people work hard to complicate their lives even further.

Every one of us, when you think about it, lives within constraints – of time, of politics, of budget, of growing legislation and so on. It is hard to make time for ‘you’ even if you wanted to. It can be difficult to make time to exercise. We are never perfectly free.

Life is complex. True.

We are constrained by its complexity in all its forms. In today’s world where work can be done remotely, almost anywhere and any time, the line between individual’s work life and private time is blurred. Very blurred, sometimes. With a click of a button, you can be doing work for the organization you work for in an instant, anywhere, anytime. Advances in technology does not free us, it just adds another constraint to our lives. “How can I go to the gym, when I am on call 24/7 … I take my work home with me?” some may say.

There are many other constraints people say stop them from going to a gym, some of which are project deadlines; peoples’ moods which can be frequently bad or individual’s confidence which could be frequently low. There are the children screaming and all the other much more urgent things in life to be done and so forth.

But there in lies the answer – that is life. Real life!

Maybe, change your philosophy a little and accept that life comes with constraints. These are just the constraints within which one must try to make time for his or her health and strength training and make it a priority and accept that these are the circumstances in which we live.

We should all be trying to make the complex things in life simple – not the other way round. If you do make the courageous decision to step in to a gym, ask for help from a fitness professional and make sure your training program include these 4 simple things:

  1. Do a general warm up – spend 5 minutes on a low-impact piece of cardio equipment. Aim here: to raise your body’s core temperature a little.
  2. Weights work (strength training)
  3. Stretching (during and after weights work)
  4. Cardio work (15 – 20 minutes)

Don’t let real life be an excuse for failing to make time for your strength, health and vitality.

Good health, strength and vitality are not negotiable.

 

Until next time,

Standard