self confidence Archives

Power Posture Jacks Your Mass and Testosterone

Many bodybuilders live by the “no pain, no gain” credo. But some types of pain can smother hypertrophy.

In fact, one minor nagging ache derailed Steve’s muscle-building progress for months…

Steve was having neck pain. It was low-grade, throbbing, and consistent—so much so that he had trouble sleeping and even got frequent headaches.

In the gym, it affected almost every exercise. It wasn’t so severe that he couldn’t train—it was just annoying enough to feel it on almost every rep of every exercise.

And that type of low-grade pain derails focus and intensity, which means less muscle stimulation at every workout.That’s not good.

He thought he had pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve and that it would eventually heal. It didn’t…

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Muscle-Morphing Motivation

Q: Help! I train hard for a couple of workouts, and then I start slacking off. I hate that! How do you guys stay motivated to keep pushing?

A: Motivation does ebb and flow, but we’re pretty good at keeping the intensity switched to “on” most of the year. Why? Let’s be honest: It’s mostly vanity. The big reason we work out is to look great when we’re out and about. Nobody likes to be embarrassed when they take off their shirt at the beach or the pool.

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Fast Fat Loss

Q: Do you think I could lose 15 to 20 pounds in a month? I have a reunion coming up, and I want to be in a somewhat healthy looking condition. I was 250 last night. I want the fat off. It’s killing me to see this gut—you have no idea!

A: Yes, you could technically lose that much weight, but most of it would be water and muscle—and you probably wouldn’t look much better or feel healthy. We all want fast fat loss, and we’re all impatient when it comes to changing our bodies, but the best strategy is slow and steady…

You’d be better off shooting to lose about 10 pounds of fat and lifting hard to build muscle. You’ll be amazed at what losing some ugly fat and gaining some rock-hard muscle will do for your total look and how you feel (from health and self-confidence standpoints).

And remember, if you do it right you’ll be adding muscle and losing fat, so the scale isn’t something you should pay attention to very closely. In other words, if you lose 10 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle, you’ll look completely different (so much better), but the scale will read exactly the same. Always keep that in mind. [For more fat-to-muscle tips, meal-by-meal diets, and training programs geared for growth hormone release, see the X-treme Lean e-book]

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

Instant Muscle-Building Motivation

Q: I really, really want a muscular physique like you guys have. I just can’t seem to stick with it. I’ve read books on motivation, but nothing seems to help. Any words of wisdom? Am I just a dreamer who will never get up and go after it?

A: Dreaming is the first step to getting what you’re after, but lack of motivation is the number-one goal killer. Even if you do manage to get to the gym regularly, if you’re not motivated to push hard and surpass previous bests, you won’t get results. You need to light a fire and keep it lit. (That’s one reason we put out daily newsletters—to try and keep our readers stoked.)

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