Gaining a pound of lean muscle a week isn’t the hardest thing to do in the world. But if you told me that before I had ever gained a single pound, I would have called bullshit. It seemed like an impossible thing for me to do when I first started training – and for the next 7 years for that matter. However, once I gained those first few pounds as I started the new system – The PowerHowse Challenge – a light-bulb went off in my head, and I realized that this could be done.
Now that I think of it, those same ideas relate to any aspect of life, from family, to business, to school. We think
something’s impossible until we finally accomplish it. From that point on, the limitations we once “had” disappear and are forgotten forever.
In my business I have enjoyed success when I’ve incorporated certain things into my routine. My productivity shot way up when I dedicated the first hour of my day completely to learning. The same can be said for splitting my work day up into 2-hour segments, which are followed by brief breaks. Again, my productivity is increased when I do this.
As far as training, it’s all about what you make a part of your lifestyle and a part of your routine. Here are some of the changes I made to my routine that helped me gain a pound of LEAN, and athletic muscle for 32 straight weeks (emphasis on the lean – I actually dropped my bodyfat percentage considerably as well).
1. Pack A Lunch
For one, you’re going to save a ton of money by not eating out at a restaurant. If you spend $10/day on food, 5 days a week every week of the year, that’s $2400 of money wasted on foods that are most likely hindering your progress. $2400! And that’s a modest estimate. Most of us will spend much more that $10/day on food and drinks if we’re at work.
Packing a lunch also meant I knew exactly what was in my lunch and snacks. I knew that I would be getting the right amount of protein, slow carbs, and good fats. My body was guaranteed to get the nutrients I needed to recover from the INTENSE Challenge Workouts I was putting my body through 3-4 days a week.
2. Don’t Miss A Workout Unless It’s Planned
I gave myself an entire week off every 1 to 2 months. But I didn’t miss a workout unless it was planned into one of those week’s off. I knew if I missed one, it would give me an excuse to miss another, and then another and so on.
There might be times when you’re sick and will have to miss a session. But more often than not we miss sessions simply because we “don’t feel like training”. We may even convince ourselves that we need a day off or need extra rest. But a lot of the time it’s nonsense and we’re just making excuses.
Stick to the routine for a relatively brief period, then schedule a week off. It’s the best way to maintain the quality of your workouts and consistent gains.
3. Learn to Enjoy Pain
I remember reading Lance Armstrong’s biography, “It’s Not About the Bike”, where he talks about having to learn how to
enjoy pain when he was fighting cancer. The pain was inevitable, so he either dreaded it, or accepted it and thrived on it. He truly began excelling in cycling hen he brought this ‘love of pain’ to his racing after he beat cancer.
That’s what you need to have to really excel in your training. When I began to look forward to those last 3 reps before failure, my results blew up.
If you’re going to be successful at anything you’re going to have to do the grunt work. You’re going to have to do a lot of stuff that you just don’t enjoy doing. If being successful was easy, than everybody would be there. But we’re not all living the life we want to live, with the body we want to have and so forth, large in part due to the fact that we’re not willing to do the stuff we don’t like to do, or take the risks that we have to take.
Pain is a part of the process. Once I began truly lifting to failure and really pushing my body in the gym, I began seeing real and consistent gains.
4. Plan Rest and Recovery Into Your Routine
Focused work is better than slower, consistent training when it comes to gaining lean and athletic muscle mass. Work hard, then allow your body to fully recover from the beating it has just endured.
If you’re working your ass off in the gym, but not allowing your body to properly recover, you won’t see the consistent gains you want to see. I trained a maximum of 4 days a week when I was going through my transformation. I also scheduled a week off once or twice a month as I previously mentioned.
Rest and recovery have to be as much a part of your routine as the training does. You can’t have one without the other, it just doesn’t work. And if you don’t plan and schedule your rest, odds are you won’t get the right amount.
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