Find What You Love and Attack!
Some might call me a sellout. Some might call me a hypocrite. But, it’s time I came out of the closet. Wait, errrm, that might have come out wrong…
I meant…
It’s time for me to come clean.
Bodybuilding sucks.
After years of dedicating my life to the quest of size, conditioning, and pushing heavy-a$$ weight, I've had enough. I still want to look the part, but my body cannot take it anymore.
Sore knees, sore elbows, lack of mobility. I looked fit, but I just couldn’t live my life like that anymore. I was all show and no go.
Bodybuilding is a heel-based sport. Static. Fixed planes. It also requires years and years of placing the same stress on your joints and ligaments. The wear and tear when competing at a high level catches up.
With a sport like boxing, you're on your toes, moving laterally and linearly. This gets your body moving in all planes and prevents imbalances.
Bodybuilders tend to think balancing out the body takes only concentration curls. They are wrong. To fully engage your core and balance it all out, you need to focus on more “functional” (I hate this word, but cannot think of another one) movements.
Get off of the barbell. Hit the dumbbells. Better yet, hit them with one arm.
Forget the leg press and leg extension – even your sh*t out! Do lunges with a kettlebell overhead. Do single-leg Romanian deadlifts.
I started boxing. Movement, reaction, TOE-BASED stance balancing out the heel-dominant bodybuilding movements. The sport was perfect for making me a more rounded athlete and person.
I kept lifting but moved to a more functional split. And the results have been epic – here are my pics from this week at 225lbs.
So what was my secret? ADHERENCE!
I fell out of love with the training part of bodybuilding, so I changed it up. Was it optimal for muscle growth? Who cares. If I would have kept up with my previous plan, I would have hated it and might have given up.
The key is to MOVE! Once you find what you love, then optimize it. And when you stop loving it? Change it up!
Steve Shaw, the guy who is editing this bad boy and TigerFitness Editorial Director went from being a HUGE AND OVERWEIGHT powerlifter to a weight loss maven… and now the crazy f#cker is running EXTREME endurance trail runs - I am talking 50k and more crazy sh!t like that! The results?
Steve’s diabetes is in check, his work output at the office is optimized (I can testify to this), and he looks freaking great. He found a love, a challenge, and alongside his wife Fiona, is breaking PRs daily!
You don’t have to be a bodybuilder to be sexy and healthy. Find an activity you love and attack it. Adherence is everything!
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