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TRUTH

8 Oct

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

Isaac Asimov

Had to post this: Top 25 Bodybuilding Tips from the Legends in Bodybuilding

7 Oct

Top 25 Bodybuilding Tips from the Legends in Bodybuilding

Posted on September 10th, 2012 by Marco

Top 25 Bodybuilding Tips

Could you use some helpful tips to improve your workouts and physique?

I’m sure you can, and what better way to help bodybuilders like you then to share my favorite bodybuilding tips from some of the legends in bodybuilding. bodybuilding tips

Below you will find my personal collection of golden nuggets from the industry’s top professional bodybuilders going all the way back to the Golden Era up to today’s top bodybuilding stars.

Now, without further ado, here they are:

  1. Ronnie Coleman. “Without letting your ego carry you away, go as heavy as your strength allows for the strict execution of each movement. Strict means no cheating on an exercise by calling secondary muscle groups into play. Your goal is to build the best physique your genetics will allow.”
  2. Franco Columbo. “Most gyms can be broken down into two segments. There are members who socialize and there are the champions. From the moment you enter the gym you should visualize what you are going to do.”
  3. Jay Cutler. “If you want to get big, you gotta learn to feel it. No exercise works if you don’t feel it in the muscle that you’re targeting. A lot of guys rely on mirrors to tell them whether or not an exercise is working, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I think about getting the ultimate contraction in the muscle I’m targeting and I don’t stop until I feel that.”
  4. Danny Padilla. “Visualize what you want to look like before a show and then come up with a plan to achieve that condition.”
  5. Dave Draper. “Be alert to the needs of your training partner and of the team. If your workout needs adjustment, talk about the changes. Share your attitudes and ideas, triumphs and injuries.”
  6. Lou Ferrigno. “Too many people are concerned with how much they can bench or how much they can squat or deadlift. You need to train like a bodybuilder, hitting all body parts equally, and know what your safety limit is. If you’re concerned about how much you can bench for one rep, go to a powerlifting competition.”
  7. Kevin Levrone. “I absolutely recommend an NO2 component for pre-workout. It warms up the machine and gets blood to the muscle. Just be careful you’re not buying garbage.”
  8. Rich Gaspari. “Training a muscle to failure is what’s going to make you basically build your body. Your body doesn’t know the weight. The body knows failure. And when you go to failure, it’s going to build up.”
  9. Kai Greene. “You make it more complicated when you start thinking we need to add more weight. The primary goal is not to lift weights. I’ll never be a weightlifter. A bodybuilder is primarily concerned with contracting his muscles.”
  10. Lee Haney. “As with all of my training, my motto for triceps is “Stimulate, don’t annihilate!” Arm muscles, in particular, are relatively small and, as such, can be easily over trained. The idea is to hit the muscles hard and fast, and then get out of the gym and enjoy your life.”
  11. Phil Heath. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to come up with any exotic movements if what you’re currently doing is working. The goal is to find out what works.”
  12. Dexter Jackson. “My motto has always been, to be better than the previous show.”
  13. Lee Labrada. “Always be learning. Believe me, if you aren’t continuously filling your mind with accurate and useful information to help you achieve your goals, all kinds of muck and garbage will “seep” into your brain and fill the void.”
  14. Ron Love. “Bodybuilding is like no other sport in the world. You got to be hardcore all the way.”
  15. Mike Mentzer. “It is the quality of the effort, not the quantity, which is responsible for growth stimulation. Don’t confuse training long with training hard. Training hard, intensely, is what is required to build muscle mass.”
  16. Sergio Oliva. “If you train hard, eat well with quality protein, and take a good vitamin and mineral, then you can achieve a good physique. And a good physique comes from about 45% of your genes, whereas the rest is from training.”
  17. Tom Platz. “After being taught sets and reps and working at it for a length of time you can’t paint by numbers anymore. It must come from within. Any artist has an emotional contact with their work. A true bodybuilder doesn’t just build muscle he creates muscle. You can’t be a robot.”
  18. Shawn Ray. “Changes in your physique will evolve not so much from your diet as from your training. What you do in the gym determines the quality of your separation, hardness and detail. Trust the mirror, not your diet chart. I look in the mirror after I’m done training, not after I’m done eating.”
  19. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “You’ll find, as I did, that building muscle builds you up in every part of your life. Bodybuilders who have to force themselves to go to the gym and work out will never achieve the kind of success possible for those who can’t wait to hit the gym and start pumping iron.”
  20. Larry Scott. “I really don’t believe there is one best training schedule. No matter how much you think you’ve designed the best system, your body will prove you wrong. It always figures it out and then you start to go stale so you have to change.”
  21. Branch Warren. “To become a great professional bodybuilder, you need to be dedicated, consistent and have the drive to want to compete. No matter what comes your way, you’ve got to be able to push past it and persevere. It’s all about reaching your goals.”
  22. Flex Wheeler. “For the average bodybuilder, I recommend balance in life, and to focus more on doing things that last and will make you and others you love happy.”
  23. Dennis Wolf. “Any muscle must recover fully between workouts to grow, and working biceps more often and with many sets is going to prevent most guys from seeing gains, the exact opposite of what they want.”
  24. Dorian Yates. “I was always meticulous about keeping a training diary, keeping records of my nutrition and everything I did so I could find exactly what worked for me. Nobody knows your body better than yourself.”
  25. Frank Zane. “Quality muscle takes time to develop, it’s better to add not more than 5 lbs of solid muscle a year by training and eating right than to gain 30-40 lbs of surplus tissue, much of which is fat and water retention.”

So there you have it: 25 of my favorite bodybuilding tips from the legends, all sharing their insights on how you can succeed in bodybuilding.

Quick Lessons from Conan the Barbarian

7 Oct

Quick Lessons from Conan the Barbarian

So I’m watching Conan the Barbarian and my readers know I’m an Arnold fan. Forget his personal drama but his story of success is mezmorizing and useful as a point of reference.

-Practice.
Conan practiced his arts regularly. Once he became a slave fighter he increased his skill set. He mastered different arts and fighting skills as well as writing, reading, and philosophy. Though only a slave he embraced these lessons to be his best.
Arnold did this to win Mr. Olympia as well. Over, and over again.
Practice makes perfect folks. Always in all ways.

-Steadfast Dedication.
Practice works but you have to commit. Steadfast dedication means you eat sleep and breathe your goals and dreams. There is no life that doesn’t stem from this mindset. Every action you take derives from it. This is the hardest obstacle. Its not making a decision, its sticking to it.

-Exercise Regularly.
Conan worked out. He practiced his grappling, sword fighting, and exercised a whole hell of a lot. So did Arnold. Any good Guru or leader knows what a true entrepreneur knows- exercise will change the paradigm of your life. It helps you grow, keeps you healthy and foments a mind that builds. Your body is a temple and as such requires you put in great effort. Yet the reward is greater. What you get out is what you put in.
As an avid body builder I’ve seen how it helps, I’ve lived it. In fact some of my best writing occurs when I’m in the gym. That’s true inspiration.

-Lead, Don’t Follow.
Conan, like Arnold lead by doing. Following is ok if you are a follower. Yet if you yearn to lead or feel its’ call- then heed it. Some of us are meant to lead. And to not heed the call leads to your failure and others failure as well. Who are we if we are not what our nature calls us to be?
I feel the call to lead. Even when I gain nothing I lead. I’ve always felt the pang of leadership in that I stand up for the weak, I fight for the confused, and now I’m a union rep simply so my co-workers have a voice of reason to reach out to. Be who you are called to be.

-Don’t beg.
In one scene Conan discovers a man chained to the wall. The man asks for food, telling Conan he hasn’t eaten in days. When asked who says he will eat the man replies ‘Give me food for energy so I can die fighting the wolves like a man and not starving like a pauper.’
See the Difference?
In one simple choice of phrasing the man sparked Conan’s interest not his pity or derision. When we approach others we must have the proper context. Begging might gain you a few bucks but sparking their intellect, making them want to join you- therein lies the path to gain and success. Christopher Columbus also knew the art of asking. He didn’t beg. He commanded attention by his audacious requirements and extreme supply list. History tells us the rest.
Never beg for that which they will give or which you deserve.

-Be Good to Friends and the Less Fortunate.
My last point leads to this one. The man who didn’t beg became Conan’s savior. Conan had not only fed this man but freed him and made him an equal. Then when he was crucified this same man freed him. Now we are not prone to being crucified or even living in such dire straights in this modern era.
Yet the lesson is the same.
When we are a good friend and champion of those who are weak and need defending we are always rewarded. Now don’t do it for the reward. Do it because it is right. But in the least, you will see gain when you I’ve morally my friends.

#thriveorsurvive.

A leader leads more by how he lives than by what he says. ~ Dr Tayo Adeyemi

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

I’m too Busy Living my life to build my business

6 Oct

I’m too busy living my life to build my business.

I’m too busy living my life to build my business.
Sadly this statement comes to mean
I’m too busy living my life to live my DREAM. Ouch. What madness- or is it fact?
A lot of people have a million reasons to fail. And a million and ten to thrive. It is simply a matter of choice and will power.

-Choose.
We make choices all the time. From second to second, hour to hour, day to day, year to year. We make more choices than smiles.
And therein lies the first issue.
Are your choices making you smile. If you work a job you hate to have things you are not sure you need. Time to start over. You made the wrong choice buddy. A lot of times life boxes us in and the fastest way out is what we take. However it never quite yields the results we hope for. It may get you second place, but it doesn’t get you where you need to be. I’ve made this mistake. Heck I’ve made it at least once this year, and that’s what’s moved me to grow this blog. Its motivated me to make a choice. One choice.
To blog to my best ability. To blog quite often with the goal being a daily output to this blog of written word. I post pics and other goodies of course, things to motivate the mind and soul. However I want to blog daily in this format. Written word or spoken/filmed word. And I encourage your feedback to get me there. Comments support, criticism, heck curse me. You see I expect this. And if you see my comments received. I have been blessed! Now this relates simply in that I made a Choice.
One choice to navigate through everything else. And I’m hitting speed bumps regularly. I won’t quit though my friends. My choice has been made and my price has been paid. Choose wisely and run the gauntlet.

-Will Power.
Will Power moves us through our choices and beyond them.
Once a choice has been made we must move forward. Fast and clear. With fluid controlled motion and decisions that lead us to success in every motion. Will Power is the force that wakes you to see the next step through on your journey to the top.
Will Power will make you a Giant amongst men. It will get you to heights you could never imagine. The smartest man and the strongest man don’t win- The man with the greatest Will Power wins.
Will Power will take you through struggles and failures.
Will Power makes you walk through the mine field to get to the gold. The man with Will Power will not stop. A lot of us meet adversity and quit within inches of our goal. Not miles, not feet- inches. Will Power when applied moves mountains. Do it my friends.

#thriveorsurvive.

Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us. -Thomas L. Holdcroft

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

FIND YOUR FUEL

5 Oct

FIND YOUR FUEL.

Life is short. Its the journey not the destination. Just do it. Have no regrets.
Well, we’ve all heard these and many more and as cute as they sound or as quick and as well as they pull our hearts strings there is a silent truth that runs even deeper.
A truth that only you will know.
Only you can find.
Anything worth doing will draw you in. Indeed you will be sucked to the very middle of the creative vortex in your search for greatness.

And in this search I urge you to Find Your Fuel. What do you love? Why do you love it?

What do you think of when you go to bed at night, and when you wake in the morning?
These questions should not require pause or thought. Indeed if you can not answer me in the blink of an eye you have wasted years I’d wager.

Finding your Fuel is about more than why you do something. Its about who you are. The collective of the infinite that is your every waking moment. When you are not of one accord- mind, heart, and flesh- you are not whole. In effect you have self-neutered. Is this what was in your dreams as a child? I’d bet not. Finding your Fuel is all about the all. To Find your Fuel eclipses even the nominal- ‘what is your why.’
Your Fuel is quite literally the stuff, the moxy, that will let you self-sacrifice. It is what the true leaders had or have. True Fuel ignites a fire and a passion so deep that it was burning before you were born and gets stronger whether you ignore it or fan its flames. The only question is will it be the wind in your sails or the breeze denying you safe passage?
Only you can decide this. Life requires you to move and move well and even if you are late to set sail there is time. Your fuel will make a lifetime pass in an instant. And it will make a lifetime worth it. Feeding your Fuel is like consumption and consummation. First you are consumed and enraptured with one idea. One goal. One pursuit. One dream. After that you consummate the deal. You commit. You love it like the wife in Proverbs 31. You are it. One flesh, one journey, one dream. That is FINDING YOUR FUEL!
It is simply about seizing the dream. There is an answer that already lies within you and you simply have to heed the call.
No purpose is served by you being less than great, and to assume your calling is not to magnificence is foolish.
Be the best. Be who you are.

#thriveorsurvive.

“It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.”. -Jim Rohn

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

This 5-Foot-5 Dunker Has Otherworldly Hops

5 Oct

This 5-Foot-5 Dunker Has Otherworldly Hops.

20 to 30 Years to be Rich- I don’t think so. (And you Shouldn’t either)

4 Oct

20 to 30 Years to be Rich- I don’t think so.
(And you Shouldn’t either)

I was watching Coming to America earlier and one guy tells the other to work hard and in 20 or 30 years he Might have what the other guys.
Sorry folks I literally cringed. I was raised to have a great work ethic. I had my first job at 11 and loved it. My parents always worked to put us in better schools and in a home and out of the projects. This is no sob story, understand they lived the American dream for their kids. They made sure we had a leg up. And that was awesome.

Times have changed though.
I hate the idea of waiting 30 years. Hell 20 years is too long. The debate last night only proved this to me. Hang in there folks I’ll make sense of all this.

The concept of school, college, advanced degree,marriages, kids and then the excellent life is a farce. I wholeheartedly believe we were made to achieve and achieve rapidly. School is being sold as the key but a trillion dollars of debt may be suggesting otherwise. I went to college. And my job, my moxy, my business cunning and connections are not related or interconnected to a bachelors degree or advanced degree. Now these things work, I’m not knocking them. I’m merely saying there is more than one way to skin a cat (sorry Peta).

As for the debate the point I’m making is that money is to be made. Romney made loot. Obama cashed in heavy on the book deals and after he leaves the White House I guarantee his speaking engagements will be many and prosperous. See where I’m going. Both men made it to the top. They are both in the 1%. Different avenues but opportunities were made.
This is my intention as well. I will make my fortune. I’m laying my foundation now. I just want it faster. Do not misconstrue me as saying I’m better than these gentlemen, I’m simply saying I can’t wait much longer. I tried the traditional path and learned it won’t work for me. Not all horses are suitable for riding. Some are free spirits.
And while bound by the laws of economics, I know the markets are fickle and that there are always new opportunities. And I will find them.

Never let yourself be told how to get to the top.
Never let others deflate your dreams.
Never say I can’t.
Never be less than you are.
Make every action a moment of gain or of executable excellence.
Every step you take should be guided by a finite goal. If you want to be a teacher- follow the path.
You dream of owning a pawnshop-do it! Intern if you have too (Shout to the recent Heavy Hitters magazine!).
20 years is along time. 30 is worse. Make moves fast, thought out, but fast. When this is your modus operandi you will eat sleep and breathe success. And you will get there sooner. And isn’t that cool? More time to live and less time to work/slave.
Meet me at the finish line.

#thriveorsurvive.

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. – Leonardo da Vinci

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

SIMPLY SAID…

3 Oct

SIMPLY SAID….

Again, thanks to Badcopnodonuts.com

they post consistently, and inspire always.

#thriveorsurvive.

 

Our Thoughts Create Our World

2 Oct

Our Thoughts Create Our World

Not much to add there honestly. However its quite deep. Our thoughts make everything we do or receive materialize. Life is a series of actions yes, but our thoughts predate all our actions. And so I ask: What are YOU Thinking about?

-Mindset.
What is your mindset?
Mine has been to have a business but not build it for years. I’ll admit it.
I wanted a business.
I wanted success.
I wanted the dream.
But my mindset dictated a minimal man. Oh I talked the talk and walked the walk- but I wasn’t making moves. Why you ask? Mindset. Mine was one of coasting. I’d take a first step, sometimes a second and then stop. Fear would set in. Or I’d get my paycheck from my union job and realize I wasn’t too hungry. My belly wasn’t quite empty. I was semi-full a little too often. Mindset when I worked freelance was that f a hungry cub, union work had made me into a gazelle. You see my thoughts had created safety out of my desire for a steady paycheck. No more. Now I want it all!

-Visualizing the end goal.
This is so integral I might call it breathing.
To win the race you have to visualize the victory. You have to see it to make it happen. Everyone says they are winners.
Everyone says they want it all. And yet and still at the end of the night they go to bed dreaming of nothing and only visualizing the rent, the car note, co-pays, and the other daily nonsense. Nonsense! Tony you are a jerk! No. Tony has the same bills, worries and needs. The difference: these items equal fuel for me. I see my cost basis as a starting point in earnings. I see the Lamborghini for sure, and I also see a life where con edison is my ally by supplying my electricity and not an enemy for charging me for it.

-Making the end goal materialize
Now that you know what you have to see in the minds eye- how the heck do you get it?!
Simple: steadfast dedication. Commitment.
Make your goal as simple and as regular as breathing. That’s it. And yes you will stumble. You will fail. However you can’t get it right without making moves. All of this starts in your mind. Let your thoughts be a compass. Thoughts can not only lead the way but create a future and blaze a path.
I promise what you think of is what you will get.
If you think you are a loser you will be.
If you think of only that one moment, that one moment that counts- you will succeed.
Bruce Jenner did this. When he won his gold medal he focused only on being better than he was. On only giving more that ne had ever given. To let that last sinew create magic. His thoughts were filled only with success. And for a dyslexic male he has triumphed beyond what he was destined for statistically.
Are you ready to commit?
Is your mind set on this one goal?
If your mind is set on creating destiny it will. If its set on mediocrity you will reap just that.
Let your world be your thoughts and your thoughts be your world.
Only let GREATNESS be your thoughts.

#thriveorsurvive.

Bold enough to believe the impossible.

#thriveorsurvive.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. -Willaim James

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

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TRUTH (Bruce Lee style)

2 Oct

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