The majority of us have 2 primary struggles:
1. Figuring out how to eat well on a busy schedule.
2. Figuring our how to train the right and most effective way on a busy schedule.
The reality is, most of us don’t have a lot of time to prepare meals. We have to eat out every now and then just to get something in our stomach. We also have jobs that wear us down. They make us tired, and as a result, training is just about the last thing we want to do, or have time for.
I’ve worked a 9-5, actually I’ve worked many 9-5’s. I worked in sales where I got to work at 6 am and left the office at 5:30pm. I’ve worked in warehouses where I was moving fridges all day, then had to muster up the energy to go to boxing. I’ve obviously worked in personal training gyms where I was expected to maintain a smile and an energetic disposition for the entire day, then find time to train myself.
I’m by no means complaining. Every job I’ve worked, from being a mechanic at a garage, to doing corporate and business sales have given me the skills I needed to start my own business and make it work. I’m just saying that I know where you’re coming from when you struggle to find the time or the energy to make a training routine work.
I’ve struggled with the same things, but I’ve had one program that worked better than all the rest because it allowed me to work around my work schedule, and even my social life.
Yes, building your ideal body takes dedication. It will end up in you saying “no” to certain things. But that’s life. The thing is, it doesn’t mean that you have to go through hell to get a six-pack, to get stronger, or to build a sexy, strong, and powerful body.
Here are some of the principles that I have incorporated into the PowerHowse Challenge that helped me gain 32 pounds of ripped, and athletic muscle, while working a job that left me with little time, and little energy.
1. You have to identify an emotional reason as to “why” you’re training.
Before you set any goals. Before you start a program. You have to truly understand why you want to do embark on the journey you’re about to take. Without an emotional reason why you want to build muscle, lose fat, and/or become a better athlete, your willingness to get to the gym and train is going to fade away.
There has to be something emotional, some burning desire that will bring you to the gym when it’s the last thing in the world you want to do. Maybe you were picked on as a kid, maybe you need confidence around girls, or maybe you can see yourself heading down a dark path that will result in you having a heart attack when you’re 45, leaving your wife and kids to fend for themselves.
Make it real. Make it matter to you. You might think you’re just a casual gym-goer. Someone who isn’t trying to be a world renowned fitness model or an athlete. And you’re not. But you need a similar dedication – albeit less time-consuming. You need that desire to dominate every session, and to kick your own ass or you’re simply going to stop and go back to the life you’re living today.
2. Your sessions have to be focused, and intense.
Once you have your emotional reason why, you need to find a program. Buy one, download one for free, or get a personal trainer. Just make sure you’re following something that was made by someone who has gone through what you’ve gone through, and who really know’s what they’re talking about.
Make sure the sessions last no longer than 45 minutes. They should be intense workouts. You should be training a maximum of 4 days a week in the weight room. A workout plan shouldn’t consume your life. It should add to it in the way of giving you more energy, a hell of a lot more confidence, and making you a healthier person.
Don’t get distracted when you’re in the gym either. Wear head phones so people don’t talk to you, or minimize your rest periods so you don’t allow yourself to get caught watching TV. I’m so damn worn down in between sets that I don’t have any energy to talk to anybody. That’s another way to go.
Even though you make consider yourself an average joe, walk into the gym like a man possessed. You’re a different person when you’re training. You’re intense. Focused. You’re an animal. Break your body down as fast and as focused as you can. Then go back to your everyday life and start the recovery process.
3. Short goals are a must.
Long goals can be very disheartening. A goal of gaining 50 pounds in a year isn’t within your sight or grasp. Set shorter goals that are focused more on the process than the end result. As a result of following the process, you’ll get the results.
Get your program, then set a 2-week goal of not missing a single workout over that period. Set another 2-week goal of having only 3 cheat days or 9 cheat meals over that period as well. Start small, then make your goals longer, and more difficult.
By having goals that are in your sight and focused on the process rather than the result, you’re able to focus on things that you can control. If you mess up, it’s your fault and you’re the only one that can be held accountable. Not your genetics, or anything else you’ve blamed in the past. Just you.
4. You have to understand how to eat out at restaurants.
Yes you should be cooking a big meal on Sundays and using those as leftovers for the rest of the week. That’s a must. But what are you going to do on a work lunch? Not order, and bring your tupperware-encased meal to a fine establishement? No you won’t. You’ll look like an idiot.
When you’re eating at a restaurant you have to understand how to eat to reach your goals. If the meal is close to a workout, have more carbs than you would otherwise.
If your meal isn’t close to a workout. Make sure you keep your meals high in protein, fats are okay as well, but make sure the meal is low on the glycemic index. This means no breads, no trans fats and fried foods. In a restaurant they’re going to cook with more butter and use more oil. So embrace the fats, but don’t give them a partner in crime like fast carbs.
5. You’re going to have to make some sacrifices.
You’re going to have to create a schedule and a list of things you’re going to say yes to, and a list of things that you’re going to say no to. You don’t have to miss the beer with the buddies on friday nights. But don’t make it a daily thing.
Having short goals that are focused on the process rather than on the results will help with this in a big way. Try going 2 weeks following a program, then take a weekend off and enjoy life. Reward yourself. As you start to change your lifestyle day by day, you’ll find the desire to cheat, or to miss a workout will dissipate simply because of how great you feel about yourself and the results you’re seeing in the mirror and with your strength and health.
Sacrifices are a part of anything that you deem important. If you have found your emotional reason why you’re transforming your body in some way or another, then making a few sacrifices shouldn’t be the end of the world.
What’s the #1 thing standing in the way of you and your dream body?
Want to Build Ripped, Athletic Muscle, but Don’t Think You Have the Time to do it?
Here’s What You Do:
1. Download the PowerHowse Challenge ebook – FREE
See what kind of shape you’re really in.
2. Do the PowerHowse Challenge Program. You’ll get in AMAZING shape in 3 hours/week or less.
