5 Reasons You've Stopped Building Muscle

Common Mistakes That Halt Your Gains

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Tip: What 2 Weeks Off Really Does to Your Body

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Affirmations

For affirmations, please check out this blog: http://affirmationsstation.blogspot.com

Quote on Success

“Success is usually the culmination of controlling failure.”

- Sylvester Stallone, actor

Quote on Hard Work

“You shall gain, but you shall pay with sweat, blood, and vomit.”

- Pavel Tsatsouline, chairman of StrongFirst and father of the modern kettlebell movement

Quote on Success

“If something stands between you and your success, move it. Never be denied.”

- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, professional wrestler and actor

Don't settle or be denied by an obstacle! Work harder and overcome it!

Tip: 2 Exercises to Correct Forward Head Posture

It can wreck your training... and it makes you look weird. Try these simple drills to fix FHP.

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The 6 Foundational Movement Patterns

Are you training them all?

Quote on Achievement

Don't fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”
― Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living

Quote on Limits

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
― Bruce Lee

Practice doesn't make perfect...it makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Practice doesn't make perfect...it makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Just practicing something over and over again doesn't mean you are doing it correctly. Take for instance a weight lifting move. You may use improper form for years thus learning that form...but it may be wrong. In many cases, it is a lot more work tearing a movement down and building it up right than it would be to just learn it right in the beginning.

Quote on Health

“If you don’t do what’s best for your body, you’re the one who comes up on the short end.” ~ Julius Erving

The Ideal Amount of Time to Hold a Plank

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Champions Are Built in the Mind First

Tip: Good Salmon, Bad Salmon

There's a big difference between Pacific and Atlantic salmon. Are you choosing the right one? Info here.

Practice proper nutrition

Remember the GIGO principle: Garbage in, garbage out! Drinking a whey protein shake right after working out helps your body build muscle (without enough protein you can’t build muscle mass) but nutritional supplements won’t replace eating right and doing the hard work of doing the lifting itself.

Keep proper posture

If you’re doing lots of lifting, but using poor technique, you’re wasting your time. Ask your training partner to critique your technique, or work out in front of a mirror.

Don’t forget to work your legs!

Many beginners are so focused on having large arms and abs that they neglect other parts of their body. Who wants a huge upper body with tiny little chicken legs? That just looks weird!

Keep increasing the weight

Although you’ll have to start off with lighter weights, don’t get stuck in a routine where you keep lifting the same amount. Gradually increase the amount you lift. As a rough guide, try working towards adding 10 pounds per month to your bench presses.

Training with Intention

Here is a great video on How to Train with Intention by Ben Bergeron:

Simplifying Nutrition

Here is a great video on simplifying nutrition by Ben Bergeron:

Quote on Healthy Lifestyle

“Living a healthy lifestyle will only deprive you of poor health, lethargy, and fat.” ~ Jill Johnson

Quote on Health

“A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs.” ~ Joan Welsh

Quote on Working Hard

“There’s no secret formula. I lift heavy, work hard, and aim to be the best.”

- Ronnie Coleman, eight-time Mr. Olympia

Bulletproof Your Lower Back

There's not a movement you do that doesn't involve your lower back in some way. So if you've managed to tweak it recently, fear not. Use this five-step process to get your back strong, pain-free, and ready to lift.

https://www.t-nation.com/training/bulletproof-your-lower-back

Tip: Write it Down

WRITE IT DOWN When it comes to increasing strength, you might hear the phrase "progressive resistance." This means "do more work as time goes on" -- lift heavier weights or do more reps of the same exercise to see results. Keep yourself on the path to success with a workout journal. Research shows that those who record their progress are more compliant and see better results than those who wing it.

Tip: Run Hills to Burn Fat Faster and Reduce Injury

RUN HILLS TO BURN FAT FASTER AND REDUCE INJURY More muscle means more results, and uphill running activates nine percent more muscle per stride than trotting at the same pace on level ground. It can also save your knees. Increasing the grade to just three percent can reduce the shock on your legs by up to 24 percent.

Tip: Lift Heavier Weights

LIFT HEAVIER WEIGHTS Packing more weight on the bar won't make you "bulky." It will make you stronger and protect you from osteoporosis by increasing bone density. To get the greatest benefits, lift at least 60 to 70 percent of your one-rep maximum for each exercise. Instead of going for complicated calculations, choose a weight with which you can perform eight to 12 reps, with the last rep being a struggle but not impossible.

Tip - Do Push-Ups

DO PUSH-UPS The pushup is one of the world's greatest exercises, and doing it with proper form is as simple as this cue: Maintain a rigid body line from the top of your head to your heels throughout the push. With this in mind, you won't sag your hips, hump your back, or bubble up your butt. Keep your elbows tucked in towards your sides as you lower your body, and push back up, strong as steel from head to heels.

Tip: Tuck Your Shoulder Blades Back and Down

TUCK YOUR SHOULDER BLADES DOWN AND BACK This tip is great for chin-ups, but it's more than that. By sliding your shoulder blades down and back before an exercise -- like you're tucking them into your back pockets -- can improve your results and protect from injury. It helps activate your lats for pulling exercises, work your pecs more completely in pushing exercises, keeps your chest up during a squat and can reduce painful impingement on your rotator cuff during biceps curls.

Tip: Trade Machine Exercises for Free Weights

TRADE MACHINE EXERCISES FOR FREE WEIGHTS Machines are built with a specific path the weight has to travel -- one that wasn't designed for you. If you're too tall, too short or your arms or legs aren't the same length, that fixed path won't match your physiology, and you'll increase the likelihood of injury and develop weaknesses. Trade your machine exercises for dumbbells, barbells and medicine balls to build strength in ways more specific to your body, while also working all the smaller stabilizing muscles that machines miss.

Quote on Purpose

Don’t count the days; make the days count! -Muhammad Ali

Quote on Goals

The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. Michelangelo

Quote on Habits

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle

Gym Psychology: The 6 Types Of Motivation

Everyone is motivated a little differently. Learn what type of motivation best suits you and then use that knowledge to attack your awesome fitness goals! One of my favorite topics to speak and write about is motivation. I like talking about motivation because it's so personal. Everybody has his or her own brand of self-encouragement and determination. Each of us is motivated a little differently. During a recent webinar for Gold's Gym, I discussed the six types of motivation. I spoke about this topic because knowing which type of motivation best compels you can be a really important factor in achieving your fitness goals. It went over so well that I thought I would share it with you! As you read through these motivation types, you may realize that you fall into more than one category?that's a good thing! You can use various techniques to ensure that you make it through those rough days and move onto bigger and better things. Continue Reading Here: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/gym-psychology-the-6-types-of-motivation.html

Setting Goals: A Realistic Approach to Consistent Gains

Everywhere I look, I see training information geared towards the hardcore. There’s nothing wrong with this – we all need motivation. The problem comes when examining the population of people who are actually reading and taking this information to heart. 9 times out of 10, they’re novice lifters who don’t know the first thing about proper training, and taking advice intended for people 3 steps ahead of them in their development and experience. When it really comes down to it, they’d benefit just fine from simplistic advice that can actually stand the test of time. Truth be told, that can actually apply to us all. Setting Goals: Back to the Basics https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/setting-goals

Quote on Comfort

“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable!” ― Jillian Michaels

Building Mental Toughness

Mental toughness is simple: Block out distractions like pain, results, competitors, your past, fears, and peers.

For a great book on building mental toughness and other traits:

Mental Toughness Quote

“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 

Tip: The Number One Bench Press Mistake

Tip: The Number One Bench Press Mistake

The Big 5 of Getting Big

Want to gain size and strength? The following article is for you:

The Big 5 of Getting Big

Quote on Change

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. -Carol Burnett

Quote on Goals

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. -Tony Robbins

5/3/1: How to Build Pure Strength

Follow this program 3-4 days a week to build pure strength:

https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/531-how-to-build-pure-strength