So you’ve budgeted your money for the month and the year and you’ve come up with an amount that you want to spend on your health, fitness, and becoming a stronger man. Where should you spend this money to maximize your results, ensuring you get the results you’ve set out to get this year? Assuming, of course, you’re going to work hard and stay disciplined, this brief guide will help you spend money on the things that will actually aid you in your quest, not empty your pockets.
1. Guidance.
First, you need to have a plan. Whether you’re setting out to accomplish something grand in the business world, or with your body, you need a plan. The man who lacks a plan lacks focus, and will fail to accomplish what he wants.
Most guys don’t stick to a good program. They go to the gym and simply “workout”. Alas, most guys are walking around with the body that you have or want to build. I follow a plan, always. Whether I’ve developed it or a friend has, I’m following some kind of program because I don’t want to waste any time in the gym. The same goes for nutrition.
You have to know what you’re eating, why you’re eating it, and when to eat it, to get the best bang for your food buck (more on food next).
So what plan should you follow to get the best results possible?
Nutrition.
Whether you want to build muscle or burn fat, if you’re a guy, the Man Diet is the best plan you can follow because it’ll help you naturally optimize the most important hormone in your body: testosterone. There are 2 categories within the meal guide: fat loss/health, and lean muscle gains/strength. Within those two categories there are 4 options each that will help you structure how to eat to accomplish the best results possible.
To learn more about the Man Diet, and how you may, currently, be eating like a lady, read this:
How You’re Eating Like a Woman!
Building Lean Muscle.
Bang for your buck-wise, there isn’t a better muscle building program that the PowerHowse Challenge. Am I biased? Certainly, but it is a killer program that over-delivers for a few reasons:
1. Most programs are 3 months long. The PHC is 9 months long, packed with some of the best, most challenging workouts you’ll do in your life. It isn’t a program for the feint of heart, but it is a program for guys who are in the “beginner” category, to the advanced end of the training spectrum.
2. There’s also a muscle-building nutrition program that comes along with it, as well as a cardio program that’ll help you keep your gains lean, avoiding fat gains in the process.
Learn more about the PHC, as well as my story, and how I gained 32 pounds of lean muscle in 32 weeks here:
How I gained 32 pounds of lean muscle in 32 weeks (and how you can too).
Strength
Strength training is much, much different than training for lean muscle gains. Especially strength training in the athletic, functional sense. I’m a good strength coach, but I partnered up with an awesome one to create the Strong Like a Warrior program.
I actually just finished doing this program and reached new PR’s in the bench press, squat, deadlift (strapless), and have increase the amount of weight I lift in basically every exercise I do. If you want to become a better athlete or improve your strength, go here:
How to become Strong Like a Warrior.
Fat Loss
The best fat loss program and guide that I’ve come across, isn’t made by me, rather, by a friend of mine, John Romaniello. It’s called Final Phase Fat Loss, and it’ll help you burn the last 10 pounds of body fat. It’s the last bunch of pounds that are, as you know, the hardest to get rid of. It’s not your average program. The training is whacky and way different than anything you’ve ever done before, probably why it yields such incredible results.
Learn how to burn your last 10 pounds of fat:
2. Nutrition.
Figure out what you need to eat and how to train, then spend money on quality food rather than on quantity. The quality of your food is incredibly important to your recovery, your health, and your results for both muscle gains, strength gains, and fat loss.
A few rules:
- Buy produce at a farmer’s market, and choose organic produce.
- Buy grass-fed meat. When possible, eat wild game as much as possible.
The guidelines in the Man Diet will help you determine the foods you should be eating, just make sure to buy a lot of veggies, meats, and eggs. Breads and wheat, while they can taste great, should come third on that list or not at all.
3. Facility.
I like training in a gym. If you’re a bodyweight guy, you can gloss over this section, or if you have a gym at home the same can be done. I like going somewhere to train though. It gets me out of my office to a place where I won’t be distracted. It’s my escape, that place where I go to in order to forge a stronger, healthier, better-performing body.
I only spend $30 a month on a gym membership. But my gym has squat racks, platforms, Olympic bars and plates, and enough room to get everything I want to get done. Find a good deal, by all means, but make sure it’s a good gym. That could mean it’s a garage gym, not a big box gym, and it may even be cheaper. Just make sure you have plenty of dumbbells and barbells. Machines aren’t necessary.
4. Supplements.
Supplements are last on the list because they’re the least necessary. There are those that will help you become healthier, stronger, and aid you in recovery. They’re filled with nutrients you won’t find in your food, or that you won’t find enough of in your food. Here’s a quick list of what to stock up on for the year in the way of supplements, no matter what your goals are.
1. Athletic Greens.
