Hey, it's Brad again with another addition to your special Adonis newsletter...
We've already talked about goal hijacking and how it's easy to get side tracked from your main
goal.
It's a definite problem for sure.
However, today, there's another "trap" most guys get locked into without even knowing it when it comes to getting the body they want...And truthfully, it is one particular trap that many guys fall into and never seem to get out of.
The trap of training for strength instead of look.
(you're gonna want to read this one all the way through, I guarantee what you're thinking now will
change as you get to the bottom, it's a little "different")
Here's the deal:
You may feel tempted to train for strength and not worry about the look of your body for the 'meantime' right now… while you build this "strength".
You may tell yourself that "I'll just bulk up for a bit, get real strong, and then cut down"...
I can tell you this is a bad idea and it's a path you don't want to go down.
For starters there is no such thing as 'in the meantime'...
Training for strength never ends and if you ignore the look and shape of your body for the sake of gaining strength you may never actually get to a point where you're satisfied with your strength.
It can quickly become a destructive obsession.
I know many guys who've spent all of their best years throughout their 20's and 30's being overweight, constantly fighting injuries from lifting too heavy, and looking like crap all in the name of gaining strength.
And for what, just to say to someone they can lift slightly more weight than they could a year ago.
Who cares?
Sadly they let all of their best years go by being out shape and missing out on what life could have been if there were in their ideal golden shape.
No one ever built a successful life, career, and relationships based on having a big squat and bench press.
However, many bodybuilders and fitness pro's went on to big time careers based on having a great proportioned bodies...the biggest and best example of this is obvious:
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold wasn't the strongest man in the world but he had a 'look' that hollywood wanted. Granted, Arnold might have been the only game in town back then, and he was pretty big, maybe even a bit too big. Nowadays, Hollywood has gone for much more of a true Adonis Golden Ratio look with the new breed of action stars including:
- Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
- Chris Hemsworth (Thor)
- Daniel Craig (James Bond)
- Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern/Deadpool)
- Chris Evans (Captain America/Human Torch)
- Brad Pitt (pick any of his movies)
This is obviously just a short list but I'm sure you see where I'm going with it.
These men exemplify the look of dominance, power, and respect.
The point is that it's a look, not a number of weight and reps each guy can bench press or squat……because nobody cares how strong they are.
(Think about it, have you ever read an article about how much Brad Pitt benches?)
What people care about is the look.
Hollywood wants it,
women want it,
men want it.
women want it,
men want it.
We all want it.
Strength itself is a false goal and it's one you should work on removing from your mind if you think it'll have any real impact on your life or on the look, shape and feel of your body.
NOW… this doesn't mean that you should expect to be weak, far from it.
Many of our clients and past contest winners report gaining the most strength of their life doing my program.
I don't tell people it's a 'strength' program but you will certainly get strong on it no doubt.
Aggregate Strength vs Specific Strength
Aggregate strength means the total strength of all the lifts you can do overall instead of focusing on the specific strength of one or two lifts.
For example, when I was powerlifting with a world class powerlifting team we focused almost entirely on squats, bench press and deadlifts.
After about 2 years I got really strong…… specifically in these 3 lifts.
I could squat over 400 lbs, deadlift over 500 lbs, and bench press over 350 lbs.
BUT I looked like hell, and I was easily 40 lbs over weight. In other words I was just fat.
(you've seen my pics in the AGR video… this is what training for "strength" got me)
Did any of this strength do anything for my social life?
Hell no.
Was I attracting women because of my squat strength?
Another hell no… And actually, thinking about it now, I'd even say it was clearly HOLDING ME BACK from career success because I was so focused on STRENGTH, I really never focused on anything ELSE!
It was just a lot of wasted effort with no real payoff.
Now that I'm in my golden Adonis proportion I'm still plenty strong enough.
The strength goes hand in hand with the training it takes to get to this shape.
- I can press 100 lb dumbbells for flat or incline presses
- I can bench press 225 lbs for reps
- I can still squat around 300 lbs
- I don't do deadlifts anymore
- I can curl 60 lb dumbbells for reps
- Shoulder press 80 lb dumbbells
- Chin up my bodyweight + 50 lbs, etc.
Make no mistake - none of these are 'world class' lifts.
But it's a good measure of Aggregate Strength and I'm definitely above average strength in any gym I train in.
It's this Aggregate Strength that will increase as you work towards your ideal body.
The point is that you're going to build plenty of strength as you work towards your ideal body shape.
Just remember it's your 'Aggregate Strength' you should be paying attention to, not Specific Strength in one lift.
Brad
p.s. Next time, we'll talk more about strength and what goes
into it. Why some guys are stronger in some lifts than
others, etc.
It's all about leverage points. And you can't do ANYTHING
about them.
Hopefully, you're finding that many of these topics we're
covering are decluttering a lot of your thoughts about what
you need to do and what really matters…
… and what most certainly doesn't.
10 Slim Secrets from Various Countries
References:
id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoni
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonis
www.pantheon.org › ... › Greek mythology
www.maicar.com/GML/Adonis.html
groupeadonis.ca/en/
References:
id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoni
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonis
www.pantheon.org › ... › Greek mythology
www.maicar.com/GML/Adonis.html
groupeadonis.ca/en/
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