Mr. Aries’s BodyBlog

How many times have you heard the following statement?

 What you hate doing is usually what will help you the most…

I’m guessing a lot. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Now think about how many times this went in one ear and out the other.. More times than you care to remember, right? This is why I believe most people know exactly what will help their progress and blast past their plateaus… It’s evident that "knowing" and "doing" are two different things, because some of the best so-called "experts" obviously forget to follow their own advice.

If you hate running, do it tomorrow. If you hate squats, make it your next workout. If you dread the stair-climber, let it be your next cardio workout. Learn to love the things you hate doing the most. Chances are, avoiding the obvious is exactly what’s holding you back. You’ve exhausted all your likeable options, now deal with reality!

No one likes to get out of their comfort zone. Why would you, it’s safe, it’s secure.. You are good at it, you know exactly what to expect. That 500lb bench press, no matter how impressive, has long become routine. That 10 mile run , no matter how effortless, has long become mundane. We are creatures of habit, and excellence in one area often prevents us from exploring further. Know this today, and venture past that tomorrow.

You will hate it, you will suck at it, you will dread the moment you fail. Maybe you’ll be outlapped by men twice your age, or maybe you’ll be out-lifted by a girl half your experience, but so what? Who are you really competing against, them or the person you were yesterday?

I get the same questions all the time, and it’s time to clarify. Bodybuilding is not difficult, you don’t have to be smart. What you have to be, however, is smart enough to think for yourself. When you do not take the time to experiment, experience, and explore, you are merely attempting to be a clone of someone else’s experiments, experiences, and explorations. If that sounds like fun to you, good luck, keep tearing out those FLEX Magazine articles and plowing away. If you truly want to be a master of your own domain, listen to me right now and lay the ground work out for yourself using your own blueprints. Don’t be a sheep, it takes the fun out of life copying other people’s plans.

Choice is your best friend, don’t treat it like your worst enemy. I swear people are always dumbfounded when they are faced with options. Incline bench or incline barbell bench? Cable crossovers or dumbbell flies? Leg press or hack squats? Which is better? Does it matter? No, not at all. My answer to all these questions is simple: do both. Try one, when you tire of it, try the other. Rotate and revisit, it’s just that simple. No exercise is ABSOLUTE, because every exercise, when done right, serves it’s purpose. Be smart enough to know that everything can be incorporated at different phases of your training.

Eggs or beef? Fish or chicken? Turkey or pork? Who cares? Eat what you want, just make sure it fits in the overall schem of your diet! Everything can be eaten in moderation, and you don’t have to eat "clean" to lose fat.

"John, what’s your routine? What’s your diet?" … What?! Do you think I do exercises that you guys don’t know about? Sorry, I have no such knowledge. My chest is built on presses and flies just like yours, and my legs came from one squat at a time, one lunge at a time, one press at a time, just like yours.. I don’t have any magical exercises, and I don’t use any magical routines.. One rep at a time, one inch at a time, one day at a time.. You want to know the secret? Intensity with consistency plus longevity. That means if you do something intensely enough, with enough consistency, and with enough time passing by without you giving up on said goal, you will succede.

Btw, I don’t have any magical diets either.. I don’t count calories, I don’t avoid food groups, and I don’t avoid fats/carbs/protein/whatever else might exist in food.. I eat fruits in bunches, and I don’t care about fructose. I don’t micromanage, I macromanage with insight gained from years of experience. Trial and error taught me everything I need to know about my body. No scale, no science, no expert can ever hope to be of equal value to my experiences.. Results speak for themselves, and I will take my body’s ACTUAL FEEDBACK over expert opinions any day of the week..

I’m talking in circles, because everything comes down to one thing: learn YOUR body. Stop jumping on this diet and that diet, stop using this exercise routine and that exercise routine.. People ask me what I think of HST, ripptoe, doggcrap, and etc, etc… Guess what, I look at my monitor and go "wtf?"… I don’t know what they are, I trust they are excellent programs.. I have no gripe against any of these camps… I’d just rather live my own life, and be my own guiding star..

Mother nature woke up one night and erased an entire county off the map of China.

Even though bodies of flesh and blood will never withstand the overwhelming force of nature; no disaster, be it natural or man-made, can ever hope to shatter the strength of human spirit.

Hope, though frail, is hard to kill.

Thoughts and prayers goes out to all the earth quake victims of my birthplace.

Let it be known that though we fall, we will not stay fallen.

People are afraid of work these days. They see "work" as another 4 letter word. Most can’t wait to get off of "work", so they can sit with their feet propped up on Lazy Boys with a 6 pack of beer.

Work, to me, is an important part of life. I like working. If work is labor, then without the endeavor of work, we enjoy no fruits of labor. Work is what keeps our bodies in shape, that’s why the great ones look like "works of art". Work creates the success that we enjoy, that’s why an entire life’s achievements is referred to as your "body of work". Work is also a sign of improvements, hence when we are in the process of building towards something, we call it a "work in progress".

Don’t neglect the importance of work. I am, in fact, addicted to it. People will tell you to chill, to relax, to love life. They tell you to take time away to enjoy. Following their line of thinking, what is a better way to love life then finding love in the things you do in life?

I love life. I enjoy the many opportunities I’ve pursued. I will continue finding success in places others have yet to find. It is a purpose-driven life.

Too often, we are caught up in the moment of glory, and lose sight of the big picture. It’s fine if you have a great body, but don’t let it become the only focal point of your life. I see a lot of guys get caught up in their own little universe, drowning in their own egos. It’s a sinking ship, nothing more.

I love training. I love looking great and being strong. However, all of these things added together is not the reason I have gotten this far. The bottom line is, I don’t care about winning in the gym… I want to win at life.

I want to be somebody. To be somebody, you have to meanful to the people around you. I don’t want to be my #1 fan. I want to stand for something. I want to make a difference.

Training and sports brought me the self-discipline I needed to enhance myself in other areas of life. They gave me the self-confidence I needed to fight for my future. They showed me why I have to pay my dues. Even though I started off hating every minute I pushed myself, over time I learned to find love in what I do. Limit, as far as I can tell, is a boundary formed from the information we perceive to be true as of now. Limit, like our abilities, evolve over time. Something you can’t jump over today might be walked over tomorrow.

People pay too much attention to others next to them, whether it’s in the next lane, on the next bench, or across the field. It matters very little to me how fast and how strong someone is, because I know the talent pool runs deep, and someone will always be better. Great feats are admirable and owe-inspiring, but they are not my measuring stick. I just want the person looking in the mirror today to be of slightly higher quality than the one yesterday. If I’m faster by a sec, stronger by a pound, or more explosive by an inch, then my day was well worth living.

I will never think I’m good enough, but I will always know that I’m good enough to be better.

Time sure flies by, doesn’t it? Before you know it, another year has passed. I hope everyone has had a productive and fruitful year. Mine’s been some up and some down, but great overall.. The "UPs" showed me what my hard work can bring, while the "DOWNs" taught me new lessons. How can anyone complain about that?

Time for new year’s resolutions again, isn’t it? I hope yours isn’t the same one it was last year. 365 days should be long enough time to get past whatever short term goal we set up for ourselves the year prior. I don’t know what mine is this year yet.. I guess I just want to be better.

 Hope the new year brings everyone good fortune and new discoveries.

:)

Thanks to everyone who has visited my bodyspace in the past year, I’ve been nominated for Bodyspace member of the year. I was surprised at this mention, and I’m definitely up against two ladies who are definitely deserving of nominations as well. I thank everyone for the support, and I hope I can continue giving back to the community that has given me so much.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007bbsiteawards.htm

Come and find out how these new supps work as I tear up the gym

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=5411193

Strength is finally coming back, gotta love the bulks.. heh…

Military press back up to 235×7

Curls back back up to 135×8

Incline Bench back up to 275×8

Barbell Rows back up to 315×6

Watch out!!!!!!!! 

I don’t know about everyone else, but everytime I hear the national anthem sang by someone who knows what he/she’s doing, the hair on the back of my neck stands up and sometimes tears would fill my eyes..

 No other song has ever brought so much emotion to the surface for me. I’m always reminded of why, how, and because of whom that I’m able to stand here on God’s green earth, happily doing what I want, with the freedom to choose, and shielded from tyranny.

 I’m so proud to be here: the land of opportunity..