There is a new year coming up and I know many of us have high ambition . But, without the right mindsets and actions, we are doomed for failure. Here are 12 Ways To Get Strong & Build Muscle in 2024

12 Ways To Get Strong & Build Muscle

#1 Pain is our biggest motivator. Use it to drive you towards the actions, you need to take. Anger, fear and insecurities can be productive drivers. Just don’t use these to beat yourself up.

#2 Forever or don’t bother. Getting into fitness is a life long journey and every goal takes more work, time, effort and patience, then you probably think. If you’re not going to workout forever, don’t bother.

#3 Short sighted people fail. People who play the short game, fail and get burned very quickly. Play, the long game. Do things you can do forever. Stay clear from fads and extreme solutions . Play the long game. Make working out as normal as brushing your teeth

#4 Strength training is the foundation of all physical qualities . If you want to change your body, lifting weights needs to be the bulk of your workout routine. Follow the basics of building strength.

#5 Nutrition is simple but not easy. Eat enough protein, fruit and veggies. Drink enough water. Then adjust your portions of carbs and fat for your desired goals.

#6 Recognize your wins big or small. Although, using some pain to drive action power works great. Don’t forget to stop to recognize all the wins, you’re making. No matter how small. Simple things like showing up to do hard work, is a win. Show your self some love.

#7 Going to bed before 10pm and eating enough protein is going to be the best way you can recover from hard training.

#8 The condition of your aerobic fitness, can add years to your live and control how fast you recover.

#9 Doing a well written program , will always out perform random workouts. Need a workout program customized for you, go here

#10 Don’t underestimate the power of walking, for helping with fat loss , promoting overall better health and aiding in recovery. 1-3 , 15-20 minute walks can be a game changer.

#11 The best supplements are the ones, that you have a hard time getting in every day diet. For me my staples are

• Vitamin D
• Fish Oil
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Whey protein supplement

#12 Your workouts do not have to look like your sport, to improve your sport performance. Actually, if they do it will be counter productive.

Here are 4 Common BJJ Strength Misconceptions, because being strong in BJJ gets a bad rap.

It is looked down on and I’m told by the internet, when someone calls you strong. It’s an insult.

Being strong in BJJ, is a game changer and is essential, if I want to stay on the mat for life.

I’m going talk to you about 4 Common BJJ Strength Misconceptions .

4 Common BJJ Strength Misconceptions

#1 Weak things break

The number 1 reason you should strength train for BJJ is not so you can muscle through everything. But, strength training and building muscle is protective.

Having more strength and muscle around our most vulnerable areas. You know the area you and your teammates are always getting beat up .

• Neck
• shoulders
• Ribs
• Low back
• Knees

When you build that strength and muscle mass, you tend to get hurt and beat up less. But, even when you do, you will bounce back quicker.

Not to mention, more muscle and a higher levels of fitness, means training doesn’t beat you up as much.

You’ll recover from BJJ faster.

If you can recover faster, your session will be better, you can train more frequently and be able to do this awesome sport for a long time

If you tend to get beat up often, get strong. Weak things break

#2 Better Endurance

I remember a few guys asking how my conditioning was so good.

I would tell them, it has a lot to do with my strength training.

Because to me, strength training is more like BJJ, than jogging or going on the elliptical.

BJJ is series of iso metric strength holds.

If you have a well designed strength program, (if you need one you should join my coaching program)

Your fitness becomes less of a liability in your BJJ journey.

Another thing people don’t think about. Is being weak, destroys your cardio on the mat.

If you’re weak and every technique you do, takes a high percentage of the maximum strength you have, your heart rate will shoot up, you’ll build lactic acid fast and muscles will get more damaged.

All this will kill your cardio and make it harder to recover from your BJJ sessions.

Strength training will:

• Transfer over to BJJ, better than just hours of cardio .
• Improve your cardio on the mat.
• Help you recover better between training and rounds too.

#3 All movement is strength

Every move we make is a display strength.

So every technique we do, we are utilizing a certain level of strength.

So, when people say, don’t use strength. What they mean is don’t use too much strength.

or don’t use so much strength, that you miss out on critical details of the move.

Strength will supercharge your technique .

People act like you are either strong or you have great technique.

They can’t fathom, that you can do both. When you have both, you become a problem.

Here are few examples my strength seem to really pay off, for me while using fundamental BJJ technique

• Arm bars, using my hamstring to control their head, so they can’t sit up or shuck my leg off them.
• Collar and sleeve, using my upper body pull strength and leg press strength, to keep their posture broken, so I can set up sweeps.
• Over, under pass, using my arms and legs to , apply a ton pressure on them and making it hard for them push my head off their hip.

#4 Don’t Be An Ass, Get Better

It seems to me , the ideas of people saying “your strong”as an insult.

It’s really an excuse, that ones Jiu jitsu is not effective.

If you’re decent and have a good understanding of basic principles, you would be able to counter most guys who are using too much strength, with out good technique .

It seems like an excuse.

I don’t know many good guys, that actually complain about someone being too strong.

Next, time you want give a backwards compliment .

Maybe, focus on getting better at BJJ and picking up some weights instead.

Hopefully, I gave you a better understanding of strength training role in BJJ.

If would like daily BJJ strength tips, follow me here

Hi ! Bobby here.. Today I’m going to go over the idea of a Weight Loss & Muscle Building Meal Plan

I’ve been a trainer for 15 years but into fitness for 20 years.

In this time diet and nutrition have gone through fad after fad.

• Paleo
• Keto
• Low carbs
• Low fat
• Fasting
• Carnivore

I’m not trying to crap on these because they do work. But, they are also can be incredibly restrictive for some.

Now if you are cool with that, good for you.

But, if you want a more balanced lifestyle and don’t want to give up carbs or some of your favorite foods.

Then this article is for you.

I’ve done a handful of these things, and they worked. But, they are hard to do when life is stressful and crazy.

For most people, that is an all-the-time occurrence.

I have 3 things, I strive to do all the time.

The great thing about these things is they work in the frame work of most diets I, talked about earlier.

But, they also don’t have to.

It is simple enough to do all year, without much stress or willpower.

They are foundational for almost any goals

• Fat loss or weight loss
• Muscle Building
• Performance
• Better recovery
• More energy and vitality

Weight Loss & Muscle Building Meal Plan

The 3 Core habits for a solid Weight Loss & Muscle Building Meal Plan

Keep in mind, these are super simple. I’m sure you’ve heard them before.

Simple doesn’t mean easy, but if you commit to these.

This can drastically change your health and body.

Eat protein (20-40g of protein) 3-4 x a day

The basic recommendation is .7-1g per pound of body weight. But, a simpler way to think of it, is to hit at least 20-40g with each meal and consume 3-4 meals.

Or maybe 2-3 meals and 2 shakes per day.

If you are a female shoot for the 20-30g range and guys should shoot 30-40g of protein.

Consuming protein 4x day will be better for muscle-building.

Focus on protein sources you like to consume.

Here is a basic list of high protein sources

• Chicken
• Fish
• Lean Beef
• Pork
• Greek yogurt
• Cottage Cheese
• Protein Shake

Eating a higher protein diet can help you:

• Controls hunger
• Build Muscle and Strength
• Improved Recovery from your workouts and life

Drink Water or 0-calorie beverages

Another simple one. But, you might be surprised how much walking around under hydrated affects your food choices and performance in the gym.

Not to mention, if you are someone who drinks their calories. This can be a big culprit of gaining weight.

Lack of hydration can also make muscles tighter, so if you are stiff. Drinking more water can help you get those, muscles to relax.

At a minimum everyone should shoot for 60 oz of water or 0 calorie beverages, most guys would be better off with around 100 oz.

But, 60 is better than no water.

When I say 0 calories beverages, you can have a hydration effect from other liquids. So, if you want to mix in things like

• seltzer water
• Diet soda or drinks
• Flavored your water with low to 0 calorie sweetners

That works

Stay hydrated my friends.

Fruits and vegetables

I know you have heard this forever.

But, by adding some fruits and veggies into your diet.

• Will improve your health by providing your body, with the vitamins and minerals your body needs to thrive.
• Increase your fiber intake to control your hunger and cravings
• Improve digestion

A rule I like to follow , is to try to hit 5 servings per day total.

It doesn’t matter what combination of fruits and veggies. Just, get them in.

A serving size of fruit is 1 cup or a medium piece of fruit

A serving of veggies is 1 cup .

Things that have helped my clients get these, are big salads and/or smoothies. You can bang out 2-3 servings of them in one sitting.

Let’s, be honest sometimes these, don’t taste the best.

Don’t force-feed anything you hate, but try a wide variety and see what you like.

Regarding veggies, experiment with preparation methods like raw, roasted, saute, steamed or air fryer.

See what you like best.

Add them to your meal, and they easily be tolerated. For example, I don’t love peppers. But, throwing them in a burrito or rice bowl. They are easier for me to consume.

Here are some of my favorites to get you started

• Vegetables
• asparagus
• Cauliflower
• Spinach
• Green beans
• Butternut squash

Fruits

• Frozen mixed berries
• Watermelon
• Pears
• Banana
• Mangoes
• Peaches

Adjusting for your particular goals

If you can pull off those three 90% of the time, you are in an amazing spot.

You’re to be getting healthier, and stronger and probably burn fat, as well improve your performance and energy in your life.

If you don’t quite feel as good as you want or you are looking to lose weight.

All there is to do, is a little fine-tuning.

More energy, performance and Muscle

If you want better performance and/or looking to build muscle, we need to fine-tune in the way of eating more.

For performance, it makes the most sense, to bump up your carbohydrate intake. I would bump them up around your training sessions and at night. To improve performance and recovery.

We are trying to bump our calories here, for those goals. I would start with 250-500 cal boost per day and then give it two weeks and re asses.

If you haven’t tracked calories, I would track them for 2 weeks but, not change much. Then add from there.

Want to lose weight or fat

We want to reduce our calories. We don’t want to lower our protein, but we are going to cut calories from carbs, fat or both.

This means smaller portions of carbs and fats in your meals. If you have some treats, you may want to reduce those.

You would want to reduce enough to drop about 250-500 calories per day.

If you are not tracking calories, I would track for 2 weeks to see where your average calories are. If you still haven’t lost weight or seen progress. Then cut those calories.

For females I would go with a smaller cut of 250 and guys you can go as high 500.

This is due to the fact girls are usually working with fewer calories overall and 500 cal drop is very big.

All to nothing

Before I leave you, I want to talk about something very important.

If you don’t address this, nothing you ever do, will work.

This is all or nothing. This can be thought of as a person who

• Does a very restrictive diet or they eat what ever they want. There is no in between.
• Eats great during the week but goes off the rails on the weekends
• Who messes up once and throws the whole day away or week away.

The biggest issue with this, is you end up doing mostly nothing.

As we get older life is pure chaos.

You have to be good with rolling with punches.

That can mean being ok, messing up for breakfast but then getting back on track for the next meal.

or when you’re going to a holiday party, you still can have some protein and fruit in the morning. Don’t use it as an excuse to eat crappy food all day.

Work on developing a mind set, of always doing something every day instead……

Big or small, make sure you do something positive every day. It’s easier to go from eating 1 healthy meal to 2-3 healthy meals. Then it is from going from 0 to 2-3 healthy meals

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