Have you ever wondered why you are so out of shape? Why don’t you have the body of your dreams? Why don’t you feel comfortable in your own skin? Why do you constantly feel sluggish?
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, a lack of significant exercise, and secondly, poor eating habits. You must be thinking, duh! Who does not know that exercise and a proper diet are healthy? So why is it so hard for most out of shape people to build their bodies? I think your difficulties are due to a lack of motivation, discipline and know-how. To get the body of your life with the least amount of effort, cost, and risk, you must work on each of those three causes.
First you need to have the motivation. Without motivation you will never learn, this is a proven psychological theory. A human being learns through motivation. You really need to want it. You must turn it into a challenge that you will conquer with pleasure. Think of it this way, each step you take towards achieving the goal you set for yourself will give you a huge boost in self-confidence and motivation. When you look in the mirror two years later with a body people would kill themselves for, you’ll feel happier knowing that you can accomplish meaningful tasks in the long run.
Think of the satisfaction you will feel, this satisfaction leads to happiness, happiness leads to a healthy natural glow that will surround you wherever you go. Every pound you lose is a positive step toward your goal. Remember this and use positive steps as encouragement, each positive step you take will bring the end of the tunnel closer.
Now that you’ve motivated yourself, the next step is to learn discipline.
Nothing is easier than to discipline ourselves to avoid an action that our physiology does not require. How hard can it be to stop barking? Just don’t do it. How hard can it be to quit smoking? I would start barking any day before I got addicted to nicotine.
The same could be said for kicking the unhealthy habit of gorging yourself 3 times a day every day on unhealthy foods. You must learn to listen to your body. Your body will tell you when it is hungry and when it is full. I understand that it can be hard not to overeat when eating foods full of fat, MSG, artificial flavors, salt, and refined sugar, but you do have to make a conscious effort!
Discipline yourself to exercise. Start with small steps. But remember that the road to success is an upward slope. The more you take action, the more your positive results will increase. It’s all about how badly and how fast you want to get results. When I first started my exercise routine, I started with 2-3 minutes in the morning and 15-30 minutes at night. I followed this routine for over a year and lost 15 pounds of pure fat and gained an incredible amount of muscle on my chest, arms, shoulders, and back. I like to work on these parts of my body, you can always work on another. A girl can focus more on cardio while a guy can work on upper body strength and shape.
You don’t need a gym membership. Your home can be your gym for a one-time lifetime fee of $25-30. The best exercises we have are free. Why do you think the average chimpanzee is about 7 times stronger than the average Olympic bodybuilder? When was the last time you saw a monkey doing a squat in the gym?
The best free upper body shaping exercise is PUSH UPS!
This exercise will shape everything from your chest muscles, biceps, triceps, shoulders, back, and abs. It doesn’t matter how many or how well you do them. Find the position that best suits you and little by little try to improve. Listen to your body, learn to know what your limits are and try to reach them. Don’t get discouraged if you feel like you can’t do as much as your maximum. It’s not about beating a number, it’s about flexing your muscles. One flex = One step towards your ultimate goal of losing weight and shaping your body.
When I started I could only do 20 pushups, I was 5’6 and about 168 pounds. I continued with 1 set in the morning and 2-3 sets in the evening, a total of 4 sets a day, every day with a night off every Saturday night. I went from 20 push ups quickly to 50 in a couple of months and then to 100 and even 150 after half a year or so. Keep in mind I wasn’t doing slow pushups, I was doing fast sets, I’d finish 150 in about 1 and a half minutes. If I were to do slow push-ups, I couldn’t go past 70-80, which is a lot!
Nowadays I’m doing airborne one-legged pushups, a variation I started for no apparent reason! Find what you like and remember that each set is one more step towards victory. Discipline yourself with a fixed schedule, 1 series in the morning and 3 series at night every day for a month, they will give you incredible results! Now, after a year and a half, I weigh 132 pounds with highly developed upper body strength and muscle tone. I maintain this physique with just 5 minutes of exercise daily!
The next best exercise that isn’t always free is CHIN UPS and PULL UPS!
What you need is a bar, you can get one for $20 at Wal-mart, install it between one of your doors, maybe your bedroom door! This exercise focuses on the back while pushups focus more on the chest. This is one of the best exercises for our species, we are meant to climb trees to look for fruit! Look at our closest relative in the animal kingdom: primates, they are the most skilled tree climbers, and also much stronger than even the strongest human being! Depending on the position you take, you can focus on different muscles.
You can focus on your abs and arms, even your forearms. If you do not have the strength to get up, which is completely normal for an overweight person or underdeveloped muscles, you should get up with the help of a chair. Then slowly let go. This is called negative repetition, it is extremely effective in strength training. It may take you months until you can get up off the ground, that’s completely normal. The ultimate test of upper body strength is the ability to lift your own weight multiple times and manipulate your body through gravity. This is why so many bodybuilders get bloated on protein and creatine and can’t even do a proper pull up! Don’t expect to achieve this overnight!
After you’ve done push-ups and chin-ups for a couple of months, you’ll have developed all of your upper body muscles, you’ll have dramatically increased your metabolism. Muscle tissue requires more calories to function compared to fat tissue. Each muscle tissue that improves will lead to more energy needed to live! Think about it, you will burn more energy doing things like sleeping, studying and walking. All this will be of great help in your search for the perfect shape.
Your posture will also improve, as will your mental abilities. You will begin to think more clearly. You will have more energy. Your self-confidence will also improve as you see that you have stuck to a program that has led to success. You will be a very happy person. I can guarantee this, every time you see your reflection you will remember your success.
There is also nothing wrong with these exercises for girls. Have you ever noticed the excellent body shapes of female circus performers? A woman’s body has a different natural shape than a man’s, unless she is taking steroids or male hormones. What makes a man excited is not necessarily how he exercises, but what he eats.
Best of luck on your journey, check out my blog for more tips on healthy living,