Do you want to get as big and strong as you can naturally get? Not everyone has this as their goal, I know I haven’t for a while. But if you are an athlete in high school or competing in any sport where you need to be as big and as strong as you can get, then you are probably wondering how to go about doing this naturally. Well the truth is that there is no 4 minute a day workout or magic supplement that can get you there.
The formula to get strong
There is a formula that has worked for me in the past, and it is not complicated.
In fact this formula has worked for me for most of my training goals, whether it was getting big and strong, or losing weight. You basically need to do the following to get strong:
- Work out hard! Lift with a purpose.
- Have a clean diet.
- Sleep, rest, and rebuild.
- Be Consistent, but change it up.
Simple right? Follow those steps and get huge. Let me tell you though, rarely have I been able to get all 4 nailed down at the same time. For me the hardest ones are clean diet, followed by sleep. Let’s talk about these steps a little more.
“Please don’t keep track of your PR’s to start a pissing contest, instead, add 5-10% to them and set them as goals.”
Work out Hard
This should come as no surprise, it takes hard work to be your best. Of course, lifting with a purpose always helps. Yet there are always people looking for shortcuts by taking the latest supplements and buying the latest workout gadget. 4 min abs wont get you ripped, a UFC workout dvd won’t develop your strength, and the latest exercise fad won’t tone you up if you don’t work your ass off.
Have a clean diet
Oh boy, I am the worst person to talk about this topic. So let me tell you what my biggest mistakes have been, and hopefully you can avoid them.
1. Failing to plan. When I take the time to plan out my meals it is easier for me to stick to them. When I get my calendar looking like some sort of school cafeteria menu, that’s when I do best.
2. Planning on using will power. I LOVE cheese. I love it on pizza, I love it on my scrambled eggs, I love it on quesadilla’s, I’ll eat cheese with more cheese if you let me. So if I am trying to lose weight I can’t count on will power, it’s best to not buy it. Whether it’s chips, cheese, chocolate, ice cream, whatever your will breaker is… it can’t break your diet if it’s not in the house.
3. Not having a cheat meal/day. The last time I had a clean diet for 3 weeks straight, I got great results. However 1 slice of pizza is all it took to trigger a weekend of binging. I find that scheduling a cheat meal or day, especially as a reward for a clean week, helps me stay on track.
I’m sure there are countless other mistakes I can go into like not reading labels, not paying attention to portion sizes, etc, but you get the point.
By the way, if your goal IS to get big and strong, you should consider taking protein and creatine supplements. I won’t get into any formula’s, but I will definitely recommend Dymatize protein drinks. They taste good and the iso-100 line is low in calories/carbs. Dymatize, Universal and EAS are some of the few supplement brands that have worked well for me in the past.
Sleep, Rest, Rebuild
Your body rebuilds itself when it’s at rest. In fact when you sleep, your body releases hormones that help your muscle’s rebuild and grow. So I really hate it when I bust my butt in the gym, eat a clean diet, and only get 4 hours of sleep because of work. That’s the perfect way to sabotage my efforts, and I hope you are smarter than me and are getting your 6-8 hours a day. Eight plus hours, if you are in High School.
Here are some links that elaborate a little more on how important rest is:
The twins point of view
Long Explanation, but pretty accurate
Be Consistent, but change it up
This is probably the most important step of the formula. Being consistent means you don’t take a month off. You can take a couple of days if you are beat up, and it’s even a good idea to take a slow week every two months or so, but you need to be consistent most of the time. You can have everything else nailed down 100%, but it will do nothing for you if you only do it for a week.
The change it up part is meant to keep it fun and fresh, and break through plateaus. I’ll incorporate sandbags and ropes for a couple of weeks, then switch to Olympic lifts for a couple weeks. Sometimes I will lift with a target heart rate in mind, at others I’ll lift as heavy as I can. The point is to not let it get boring. Sometimes it’s good to just go for a walk or a bike ride instead.
So that’s what has worked for me. At different times in my life when I have been able to follow all those steps, I have been able to see good results. During these times, I have had the following PR’s (Personal Records) in what I call the big 3:
- Back Squat (legs parallel): 495 lbs
- DeadLifts: 365 lbs
- Bench: 365 lbs
My version of biggest and strongest self is definitely different than what yours will be. I know that there is always someone bigger and stronger around the corner, I see such people all the time at the local gym. That does not bother me because I don’t compete against them, I compete against myself to be the biggest and strongest that I can be.
So please don’t keep track of your PR’s to start a pissing contest, instead, add 5-10% to them and set them as goals. Personally, I plan on breaking some of my PR’s this year.
I’m sure I missed some obvious things, please share any tips you have on being the biggest and strongest self you can be.