Zen and the Art of Bodybuilding

The Buddha asked his followers to hear his advise and teachings and to use what they could and to discard the rest. While I am not a Buddha, I am an athlete and do have some humble advice - feel free to use, or simply discard.

These are some of my ideas and philosophies:

1. We are all body builders
   Yep, if your on Eroids, or a gym rat, a runner, power lifter or training for a show - your a body builder. Anytime you are tuning your body to your specific desire you are body building.

2. Drop the ego and grow
   Most of us love going to the gym and getting our "swole on", but it's important to remember why we are there. I often remind myself that noone came to watch me lift. I think a lot of us are guilty of throwing on extra weight when working out when others are around. There is almost an imaginary or perceived audience. Be sure to remember why you are at the gym and who you are there for. I would encourage prefect form over swinging dumbbells or partial reps.

3. Daily weight
   I weigh myself every time I go to
   Gym which is 5 days a week. We are not obese soccer mom's trying to lose baby weight. We are fine tuning or bodies to our specific desires and daily weight is part of that dedication. Sometimes it's discouraging, but I'm here for the long haul and in the long run is empowering.

4. Eat it simple...
   I have friends that work out and train and try to do all the complicated meal plans. It works for some people and that's great. Me, well, I have 2 small children, a full time job, a business, my wife works 12 hour shifts and is also a student. Spending hours on meal plans just doesn't work. I make the best use of simple whole foods that I can while providing meals for my family. Sometimes it's boring, especially when I'm cutting, but u don't mind the Sacrifice.

5. Cheaters often win
   Ok, this applies I the kitchen. When I'm cutting I'm hard core 5 days a week. I can almost always maintain my focus Monday through Friday. Since I have children the weekdays are the days I have the most control over what foods I keep around me.
   I cheat on the weekend. Saturday and Sunday are free days for me. I have to admit, is kind of a free for all, but for me, it works. Cake, pizza, burgers, beer- whatever. I have a life beyond the gym, and food us very social. Than, Monday, back to daily weight. My goal I'd to weigh less on Friday than on the previous Friday, and this routine always works for me.

6. Pain no Gain
   I get it. It hurts at the gym. I love the burn, at 41, most of my joints hurt and my my muscles often ache. But listen to your body. Injury sets you back way more than pushing trough pain when your on the verge of injury. More often than not, you know when you're on the edge of injury. Don't push it, back off.
   Sure, acute injuries happen, but listen to your body to help reduce the risk. 4 years ago my ego got the best of me. I already had pain in my lower tap but continued to lift heavy on shrugs. DUMB! I tore my lower/medial trap and was done lifting for 5 Months. I still have problems with it today. I wish I would have backed off.

7. The rest is up to you. ..
   Again, your body is telling you something. We all know to take scheduled time off in order to recover. If I have 2-3 shitty days in a row, I skip the rest of the week and usually come back stronger. Sure, we all have bad days now and then, but when they start to stack up it could be over training or poor diet. I'm not a pro, I do this for me, so I rest. It works.

8. Give more, get more.
   In other parts of my life I educate and mentor. I learned a long time ago that the best way to grasp a concept is to become educated enough to teach and share that concept. Many of the members of this forum, even the rookies and the noobs, have something to share. So share it! The thought process of teaching is actually a big part of learning.

Anyway, these are some of my philosophies. Use then if you like them, disregard if you don't.

Happy Lifting!