By Vince DelMonte

Attention To Bodybuilders Sick Of Being Stuck In A Rut…

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and said, “Why am I not growing fast enough?” or “Why have I stopped growing even though I’m training my butt off?” then the next week is completely dedicated to YOU.

On August 31st, 2010, I’ll be re-releasing my masterpiece – Blow Beyond Your Genetic Potential.  It’s the same system that has helped me climb from 190-lbs (which was my old plateau) to 210-lbs this past 2-years.

Note: Blow Beyond Your Genetic Potential is primarily geared towards intermediate and advanced bodybuilders.  Stay involved in the conversation if you’re goals are fat burning or you’re a beginner because this information will help you maximize 2010 either way.

Please take a moment to read the personal message I’ve written to you and then I have a personal question for YOU that needs a response before midnight tonight.  You’ll see a big red headline that says “What Are Your Options?”

I want to know what you think your #1 option is for blowing BEYOND your genetic potential for muscle growth (and fat burning) in the remainder of 2010.   How do you plan on finishing out 2010 strong?

Blowing Beyond Your Genetic Potential

I don’t know if you’ve been working out for just a few months or a few years, but I can tell you this; I know you better than you might think.

You work out HARD.

You have a burning desire to move beyond the body you have right NOW — the one that seems to have hit a rut and you can’t seem to improve, even just a little bit.

You’re not an ordinary body builder: you’ve worked hard to make progress and you’re not a typical no-nothing gym rat who socializes at the water cooler. Instead, you know more than the basic…but you’ve hit a frustrating plateau.

To this point you’ve been told that your genetics is what separates the best from the rest and the truth of the matter is that your genetics do play a significant role in how big and muscular you become.

Unfortunately our bodies DO have limits — that’s just the crappy reality.

Certain bodies are just designed to grow in certain ways. Gorillas grow to look like gorillas, lions grow to look like lions and men grow to look like men. But you know what?

Men look different from one another—some look very different; BETTER, bigger and stronger than other men.

In fact, some men get to look exactly the way they want to look like. They walk around with the physique of a Greek God – complete with jaw-dropping, gawking stares and virtually endless attention from anyone they want to get attention from.

You, on the other hand have already approached or exhausted your genetic potential and are not sure if your body is capable of any more physique-altering improvements.

Genetics are cruel, eh? I know because I’ve been there too.

If you were to hire a personal trainer just like me to train with you every day, you would pay at least $75 per session. If you work out 3 times a week, for just 6 months, that would cost you more than $5,800.

If you think hiring a trainer is your best option to blowing beyond your genetic potential for muscle growth (and fat burning) then please explain why, in a few short sentences, why this is your vote.

Well, you can use overpriced supplements — the pills, powders and potions that hide behind the fancy term proprietary blend. But really they are the same old, rice flour and other miscellaneous ingredients that have left you feeling bloated and sick.

Most supplements have the same crap in it that the last supplement had but with different marketing “science” and new digitally enhanced before and after pictures.

If you think supplements are your best option to blowing beyond your genetic potential for muscle growth (and fat burning) then please explain why, in a few short sentences, why this is your vote.

Supercede your genetics by taking steroids and while these powerful drugs will have a positive effect, (assuming it’s even legit and not something tainted, dangerous, and unhealthy made in a bathtub), the negative side effects are well documented.

Hey, if you’re willing to budget $500/month (that’s on the soft stuff) and are ready to watch your gains disappear quicker than ice cream cake at fat camp, be my guest.

If you think steroids is your best option to blowing beyond your genetic potential for muscle growth (and fat burning) then please explain why, in a few short sentences, why this is your vote.

Come on, do you really think legendary physiques were built on silky smooth machines and bogus exercise equipment like the Bowflex, Total Gym 100 or the Weider Max 5000?

Not only will those things drain your bank account and cost you hours of frustration setting up but they’ll take weeks trying to figure out how to use them and then the next thing you know they are collecting dust!

If you think new equipement is your best option to blowing beyond your genetic potential for muscle growth (and fat burning) then please explain why, in a few short sentences, why this is your vote.

My question for you below:

“If You Believe These Options That Try To Betray Your Genetics – Are NOT Necessary – Tell Me WHY and Share Your Alternative Solution For 2010.  How Do You Plan On Blowing Beyond Your Genetic Potential in what’s left of 2010?”

By Brandon Cook

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” - Harvey MacKay

“Everything you now do is something you have chosen to do. Some people don’t want to believe that. But if you’re over age twenty-one, your life is what you’re making of it. To change your life, you need to change your priorities.” -John C. Maxwell

Well, we’re two weeks into the New Year 2010. For many people the motivation has started to fade to black. Their new habits are beginning to seem like false hopes, while their old habits are beckoning them back into the shadows and comforts of their former selves.

In another week they’ll be dropping like flies from gyms around the nation…. as Metallica used to scream “Sad but true.”

However, just because the mass majority of people are lacking the strength of mind, the will, the shear determination and perserverance to make it the 21-30 days it takes to form a new habit… doesn’t mean we do. No, not me and certainly not YOU!

We’re willing, both you and I, to wade through the swamp that is seperating us from the dream life… the life they would live if only they had the stones to. Yet, for us…. failure is no longer an option. To us… failure doesn’t exist. It’s simply an illusion.

I can’t speak for you, but I’m tired of illusions. I desire the truth. And if not THE truth… then at least MY truth.

After all this a fairly subjective world we live in. Everybody is living in their own reality. They see the world filtered through their own eyes and minds, their own thoughts, feelings, and their own perceptions of the world.

Thus, how many of us are trapped living in a life and reality that is on some level an illusion? Maybe we’re not seeing clearly enough. Are we wasting our time and our lives focusing on the wrong things? Maybe “things” that may not even matter in the end?

It’s important for us to see the BIG picture, beyond the egoic fallacies of our own creation and get to the HEART of reality as quickly as possible. In other words, the Essence of our Life.

In reality  I believe fear, doubt, and failure are illusions. Tests that we must overcome to live the life of our dreams. Fear, doubt, and failure are evolutionary mechanisms designed to test the heart of our character. To see what we’re made of. To be radically honest, I know I’ve been held back by these illusions in the past and in some ways still am. Like you I’m working to overcome them.

If we give into these scary illusions and allow them to overcome us, then we’re not only giving up on ourselves, our families, and our friends, but on the dream life we REALLY wanted to live. We forsake the achievement of our desires and goals for the safety of our own cave of comfort and security. The fierce snarl of fear… the bite of doubt… the sharp pain of failure… scares us back into the cave of mediocrity. 

If we’re not careful. We’ll die in that cave. Scared and alone. Too afraid to really live. It’s as William Wallace says in the movie Braveheart ”Every man dies, not every man really lives.”

The Top Five Regrets of the Dying

The other day I stumbled upon an article written by Bronnie Ware, who is a writer, singer/songwriter and speaker from Australia.

The article was titled “Regrets of the Dying” and was based off of her experience of working in palliative care. Basically her patients were people who were dying and forced to come to terms with their own mortality.

Here is a condensed version of that article (you can read the full article by clicking the link above):

Start of Article—————–

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship.  All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

End of Article—————–

I guess in the end, there’s not really much to add to this post.

As we enter the third week of the new year, freshly embarking on the journey to change and transform our lives, we are going to encounter resistance. We now realize that this resistance will come in the form of fear, doubt, and failure.

As our old patterns beckon for us to give up on these “stupid goals and resolutions” and return back to our old ways let us imagine the time of our death. Just for a moment imagine yourself dying and contemplating the life you have lived.

Did you REALLY LIVE while you were on this planet?

Did you DO all the things you desired and wanted to do in your heart?

Did you make the most of each day you were alive?

Did you build healthy, positive relationships with those in your life?

Did you ALLOW yourself to be happy and embrace life?

Or did you get caught up in the illusion of fear, doubt, and failure?

Do YOU have any regrets that you will have to take to the grave?

Consider this BEFORE you give up on your goals and resolutions this year. Decide NOW to make 2010 the best year of your life.

Live it up, while time is still on your side!

Brandon Cook

——————————————————
About the Author:

Brandon Cook is author of The Awakened Warrior Blog, and co-creator of HardgainerMuscleBuilding.com, a website specifically designed to teach hardgainers how to build muscle fast using the laws and scientific principles of body transformation.

HargainerMuscleBuilding.com features a free email class covering the basic principles of training naturally, eating a nutritious, muscle-building diet, and understanding the truth about supplements. The website is filled with free articles, videos, and the programs you need to create your ideal body.
Please visit us at http://hardgainermusclebuilding.com

© 2010 Hardgainer Muscle Building. All rights in all media reserved.

By Brandon Cook

“We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There’s really an attitude to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger

“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.”
-Bruce Lee

The New Year is RISING and my plan for how to gain muscle mass in 2010 is already underway…. I’ve made up my mind to DO THIS and to increase accountability I’m documenting the whole thing on my body transformation page. Stop by and leave me a few words of encouragement and support.

The pressure’s on and I can already tell a BIG difference in my approach to making a transformation this year just knowing that people are watching. I’m fully commited. 

That being said I believe there are 4 Pillars you must study and master if you want to learn how to gain muscle mass:

1. Proper Mindset: You have to fully believe in yourself 100%. Drop any fear and doubt as soon as it arises and eliminate any negative self talk. Focus on your abilty to succeed and KNOW that your success is inevitable.

• Practice meditation and learn to focus your mind on the present moment. This is your only true point of power.

• Use positive self-talk and affirmations with strong positive emotions to train your mind to support your efforts.

• Visualize the achievement of your goals right before going to bed. How does it feel to be living the life of your dreams?

• Read books, listen to audio programs, watch educational programs. Continue to learn, grow and evolve. Never stop this.

• Be confident, optimistic, disciplined, persistent, grateful, and enthusiastic in your approach to achieving your goals.

• Be a real man (or woman) and take 100% responsiblity for how your life turns out. You become what YOU believe.

2. Optimal Training: If you don’t know the proper training methods to break your plateaus you MUST educate yourself by absorbing all you can from guys like Vince DelMonte, Jason Ferruggia, Sean Nalewanyj, Jeff Anderson, Nick Nilsson and other competent coaches.

• Use compound exercises like Squats, Dead Lifts, Military Press, Pull-ups, Dips, Chin-ups, Push-Ups, Rows, Planks, etc.

• Do a couple warm-up sets gradually increasing the weight and then do 1-2 working sets per exercise.

• Stay within the 5-8 rep range and work to do another rep or add weight to the bar each week.

• Keep your training short and intense. No more than 45 minutes after doing a 15-20 minute dynamic warm-up.

• Do three workouts per week while allowing a day of rest and recovery between each training session.

• Lift the weight explosively while controlling the lowering portion of the lift. Rest 60-120 seconds between sets.

• Here’s your first workout: Squats, Military Press, Pull-ups. Now get going!

3. Quality Nutrition: You are what you eat. You can’t build your best body now, unless you are eating the best foods that will nourish, strengthen and rebuild it. Just like you can’t build your dream house out of scrap materials… your body is the same way.

• Know where you food comes from and how it got to your plate. Just because it looks like food or says “All Natural” doesn’t mean that it actually is.

• Eat the highest quality food you can afford. There IS a difference! If you got the money go for organic fruits and vegetables, free range, grass fed beef and chicken, cage-free, organic, omega 3 eggs, wild caught fish like salmon.

• Eat 5-6 meals a day. Eat every three to four hours.

• Make breakfast and your post-workout meals the biggest meals of the day. Eat most of your carbohydrates around these meals. Eat mostly protein, fats and vegetables during the other meals.

• Eat like a cave man: fruits, vegetables, lean meats like beef, chicken, fish, whole eggs, nuts and seeds, some grains like brown rice, quinoia, oatmeal.

• Master your peri-workout nutrition. Consume liquid carbs + protein before, during, and after your intense weight training sessions.

• Use time-tested supplements like creatine, fish oils, multivitamin, protein powder, branch chained amino acids.

• Eat enough food to support your muscle growth. You must be in a caloric surplus by 500 calories or so.

4. Rest and Recovery: This is where the magic happens… that’s right… in the bedroom.  Sleep is when the muscles are repairing themselves and actually growing. Neglect this and you are doomed to be scrawny.

• Do everything in your power to get 7-9 hours of sleep or more each night. This is vital to your success.

• If possible take a power nap during the day or after training to speed recovery

• Buy a foam roller and tennis ball and use these tools to massage your body and improve your muscle tissue quality.

• Pay to get a massage, use a hot tub, sauna and/or soak in a hot bath.

• Use ice packs to sooth sore muscles and joints or heal from injuries. Use a heating pad on sore muscles only. No heat on injuries with swelling and inflammation. Ice is the miracle healer. Use it.

• Practice Tai Chi, Meditation, or Yoga to relax and circulate healing energy (chi.)

• Stretch your muscles on recovery days. You should be stretching at least as much as you are lifting to prevent tightness and injuries.

If you’re not growing or achieving your goals… the problem is within one of these four pillars. Make sure you understand and are following these tips on how to gain muscle mass. When you have the four pillars in place and they will support your progress and growth in 2010. You can dooooo it! 

Brandon

——————————————————
About the Author:

Brandon Cook is creator of The Awakened Warrior Blog, and co-creator of HardgainerMuscleBuilding.com, a website specifically designed to teach hardgainers how to build muscle fast using the laws and scientific principles of body transformation.

HargainerMuscleBuilding.com features a free email class covering the basic principles of training naturally, eating a nutritious, muscle-building diet, and understanding the truth about supplements. The website is filled with free articles, videos, and the programs you need to create your ideal body.
Please visit us at http://hardgainermusclebuilding.com

© 2009 Hardgainer Muscle Building. All rights in all media reserved.