The 3 Key Principles To An Impressive Physique…
When it comes down to training, dieting and supplementation there’s hundreds of different principles out there that companies, individuals and professional athletes will be quick to preach should you decide to listen to them.
The warrior diet, FST-7 training to stretch the muscle tissue, consuming simple sugars in the form of dextrose immediately after your workout to ensure your muscles are receiving nutrients shuttled to them in the quickest possible timeframe…
The list goes on and on.
If you’re doing things ad-hoc you’re never going to set yourself up for proper success, to build an impressive physique you will need to implement and follow principles – while at the same time not allowing yourself to get sucked in to placing 100% of your focus on a dieting principle or two while neglecting and forgetting to put the actual work in where it counts, in the gym.
So what training principles should you follow? I recommend the 3 below which I followed throughout my transformation and continue to until this day…
Principle 1 – Work Towards A Calorie Goal
At the end of the day the dolche diet, the ketogenic diet, any and every fat loss or mass gaining diet out there that works does so because it targets a caloric number which is either placing your body in a caloric surplus (for bulking) or a caloric deficit (for cutting).
‘fat loss foods’ and foods that ‘increase your metabolism’ simply do not exist, the longer you spend wasting both your time and money buying into this should instead be used on caloric manipulation based upon your goals.
Principle 2 – Focus On Heavy Compound Exercises
Pin and plate loaded machines that utilize a single plain of movement are not going to get you too far in terms of size or strength gains (you’ll find that machine based strength does not transfer over to free-weight based strength, however the opposite is true).
The bench press, the deadlift, the overhead press and the barbell squat will 100% transform your physique provided you’re performing them with correct form and you’re going heavy (think 4 – 6 rep range per set per compound exercise).
Principle 3 – Make A Little Bit Of Progress Each & Every Workout
When I’m talking about making a little bit of progress each and every workout most guys assume they need to slam an additional weight plate onto the bar, change out their exercises or double their rep range…
Unfortunately these extreme changes (when done consistently) will ensure you see little to no progress.
Building an impressive physique comes down to playing the long game, an additional rep on 1 set each workout may not seem like much now, but over weeks, months and years this adds up.
Strive to push yourself to get at least one additional rep each workout, once you hit the top of your rep range (in the case of the 4 – 6 range when you’re hitting multiple sets of 6 reps it’s time to up the weight).