Thursday, December 07, 2006

What the good news is


Arnold states, and I also saw it appear in Men's Health twice, that it takes at least a year of heavy persistent training, rest, and nutrition to even find out if one has "good" genetics for building muscle.

I'll give you the shorthand version:

If you can make even one muscle look good when it's flexed, you can do the same thing across your entire body; whether or not you get there depends on how much you want it.

(If you want an overly simple indication right away, look at the "cheekbones" while smiling big. If there's too much of a fat layer to see them, then it's time to do something about it. Don't do what most tend to do and blame or criticize yourself and feel bad; just act. The self-loathing does zero and will only hold you back.)
The consciousness of "self" is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action[6] - This is actually a Zen or Chan maxim which means to "be in the moment" and NOT be distracted by your own thought process. The Zen quote is: "If you seek it, you will NOT find it". The "Western" counterpart to this is the term "Being in the Zone".

Which muscle is worth shooting for then, if you had to pick one? The quadriceps. There are so many good, second-hand benefits that I don't know if I can list them again. Nevertheless, most guys go for the "mirror" muscles first--the pecs or biceps, the muscles that impress other guys, which is fine too.

When they were planning to film Superman, they tried to fill the costume with padding to make Christopher Reeve look more muscular. He made it much, much easier for the producer and for himself by unleashing himself against the weights for a year. It does not take years to get "big" if one goes about it with a bit of forethought.

The results, in terms of muscle, come in months, not years. The good feelings come immediately. (At least do enough to break a sweat each time) People tend to not even bring up the issue and talk about it, until they are certain that lifting in specific ways makes one's muscles bigger; it takes a year to feel certain about changes that begin in weeks, months.

If it's been a year and not much has happened, I can break it down to what you're doing "wrong," what most likely holds many back from getting the best results, is either:

1 nutrition
2 posture
3 lifting form and/or neglecting the legs or back
4 intensity

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