HerveDuchemin’s BodyBlog

If you want to have a top-notch physique, you need to put in top-notch effort.  You need to be disciplined and say no to foods that the average person wouldn’t think twice about.  You need to focus your time and energy around making sure that your meals are carefully planned out in advance, and you need to put in the time toward sculpting your body in the gym with resistance training and cardiovascular exercise.  Putting aside all excuses about genetics and “naturals”, you will understand that the level of greatness you achieve with your physique is directly proportional to the amount of properly executed exercise, and days you remain on a strict and fulfilling eating regiment.  Furthermore, the time it takes to achieve a lean physique is much less than the time it takes to do a lot of other things!  A pre-contest bodybuilder can get completely ripped between 8 and 16 weeks, whereas a concert pianist takes between 10 and 20 years to reach his or her status!  Even someone very overweight can achieve a great physique in 1-3 years!  Yet, as simple as it sounds, most people simply cannot control themselves for that 8 to 16 week time period.  It is just too difficult.  The temptation to cheat on one’s diet is just too great to resist.  The desire for junk food eventually puts all goals to rest, causing you to abandon your goals for the sake of fulfilling your taste buds. 

            William Horowitz, an acclaimed concert pianist, said the following: “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it.  If I don’t practice for two days, my wife knows it.  If I don’t practice for three days, the world knows it”.  If you want a physique that soars above 95% of the people in any gym you walk into, then BE more disciplined than 95% of the people in the gym in regard to your diet and exercise plan.  BE more disciplined day in and day out.  Plan out your meals on paper for the week, and then cook them ahead of time.  Have your food ready to go, and make sure that you are taking in the proper amount of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fat.  STICK WITH IT.   Make sure that a day doesn’t go by where you aren’t drinking water all day.  Carry that jug with you like a mother carries her newborn, and DRINK from it!  It should be your way of life regardless of what anyone else says or thinks.  Let them live how they want.  You live how YOU want:  like a LEAN and HEALHY individual.  Be sure you are taking a multi-vitamin to ensure you are getting the proper minerals in your diet.  Snack on green vegetables while everyone else snacks on junk.  Drink club soda / diet soda and lemon/lime at parties while everyone else chugs mixed drinks.  Or have some shots or red wine if you want a buzz.  But don’t eat into your sleep, unless you are hard at work, or doing something that will prove to be productive in your life.  If people don’t understand, then eliminate them from your life.  You are doing what you are doing for a reason.  STICK WITH IT.

            If you see someone at the gym whose physique you admire, befriend him or her.  Don’t be afraid to ask them what they do.  Don’t ever be afraid of criticism.  Welcome it.  Let it drive you to be better.  Feedback from the right person is crucial.  Without it, you don’t get any better, and then you eventually stop caring.  If you aren’t fortunate enough to get feedback, seek it out, quick.  Or else, set out regular, attainable goals for yourself that you strive to reach each day and week.  See yourself reaching your goal, and then when you hit it, set another one.  STICK WITH IT.

            Soon you’ll start to admire your discipline.  You will begin to see that all the hard work is paying off.  But don’t let it fool you.  If you slip up repeatedly, you’ll soon be right back where you started.  Stay strong.  Keep focused.  Day in and day out.  You will eventually rise above and beyond the level of leanness of the average person, and if you stick with it long enough, at the same level and beyond what most people will ever achieve and see in front of their eyes.  Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.  You’ve made it at least once in your lifetime.  Then it’s up to you to decide whether or not you wish to take it even farther, or relax for a bit.  But always remember what it takes to get there, and what sacrifices you need to make to be great at anything.  There are no naturals.  STICK WITH IT.

  “You’re born with a spark. … to search for the truth, for the best you can be. Practice. Disipline. Preparation. Try and try again. Then one day you‘re on top and they say you‘re an overnight success, ”a“natural.” You smile, you know.”” 

-Anonymous
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”               
                                    — Calvin Coolidge, The 30th. President[1923-1929]
 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 at 8:27 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.