The Extra Mile

[GetOutOfMyFace]

Let’s cut the shit. You are bigger today than you ever imagined possible. Odds are 99% of the dudes you bump into on a regular basis would swap their left nut to have your physique. But that just doesn’t do it for you, because after all, you didn’t get into this game for anybody else. Not for the respect of others, not to pull honeys, not to strike fear into the hearts of men.

You live this life for the raw challenge. The pursuit. The never-ending battle against yourself, against the weights, against the voice in your head that says enough is enough. This is entirely your own bizarre quest, and you’re on the road alone. Even though it never fails to baffle others, you want more. You demand more. But considering how far you’ve come, is it really possible to take it up a notch, to go that extra mile? Mutherfuckin' right it is.

To get really big, you need to concentrate on the little things. The details. The stuff that often gets brushed aside or shrugged off as unimportant. The Freak must be a stickler for the minutiae, because in his heart he knows that is where he can find that elusive next rep. The next five pounds are concealed in the fine print, the shit the next guy ain’t willing to read.

Nutrition & Supplementation

1. Add a Shake.
Sounds simple enough. How difficult could that really be? The truly committed know the importance of supplemental protein and are not above slamming down a shake three or more times daily. But after a while, the body adapts to its current nutrient intake and growth is stagnated. That is where throwing in another liquid protein feeding comes in handy. Bang. There you have another “meal” supplying 40, 50, maybe 60 grams of protein and hundreds of nutrient-dense calories. Something so small as drinking another shake each day can really make difference over a short period of time.

2. Be Meticulous About Supplementation.
Don’t approach your supplements as an afterthought. Consider them an integral part of your daily routine. Chart out a schedule for what you need to be taking and when: multi vitamins, protein shakes, glutamine, creatine, BCAAs, etc. Keep a detailed log and adhere to it stringently. If you need to take your supps with you to work or school, do it. Save the excuses for your mama.

3. Prepare Your Meals.
Whole food is the backbone of your gains. The Freak cannot grow on supplement packs alone. To ensure you are getting in adequate, healthy nutrition each day, try cooking all of your food a day ahead of time, and then store each portioned meal in tupperware, ready to be nuked and devoured. This will ensure steady progress and make the fast food binges less frequent and more difficult to justify. Plus, it won’t be such a sin to hit up the golden arches when you have already consumed three clean meals today.

Training

1. The Big Three.
Try to structure your workouts around the basics: squats, deads, and benchpresses. These need to be at the heart of every real mass assault. Make the machine movements and isolation work the icing on your physique cake. The real shit, the grimy free weight basics, are the tools you used to get so damn big in the first place. It is time to return to your roots, freak. Get back to the basics and focus on getting stupid strong on these powerlifting favorites and just watch your physique explode with new growth. Yeah they’re hard. Yeah they suck. And that is why they work so fucking well.

2. Train Everything
You are not a partial bodybuilder. Your whole physique needs to be freaky and huge from head to toe. That’s why you need to do the detail work. Train your forearms after bis and tris. Hit your neck and traps after delts. Murder your calves when you finish quads and hammies. And don’t forget to train those abs. Neglect nothing. Strive to be complete. Do that detail work and watch how much the rest of you physique improves.

3. Stretch
Stretching is another fundamental that’s often cast aside as pointless. Stretching is vital to new growth and muscle health. The addition of stretching can tear down muscle fascia and deep muscle fibers, allowing for new growth and a further influx of post workout nutrients. None of us in this iron game are half as limber as we need to be, and that can be a serious obstacle in the road to progress, not to mention how important an element of injury prevention regular stretching can be. Try stretching between sets and incorporate some deep, high intensity stretching after you train a body part and see what a difference it can make in your overall physique.

Now you’ve got it. You are now armed with new weapons, new tools to allow you to ascend to the next level. Go that extra mile. The fact that you are a thinking man, that you are constantly examining and observing and striving for that edge, will be what makes all the difference in the long run. Remember: the freak inside your physique is hiding in the details. It’s time to let him out.

[Gee]

Thanks for the post.

[paul]

i hope you mean dynamic stretching between sets right?

[JonHarris40]

I have read a few of your posts...you lean much more towards bodybuilding, am I right?

Not that there is anything wrong with that but it doesn't seem as though all of your advice really goes along with the strength training aspect of this site. Most of us here are here to be strong, not necessarily big muscle men.I could care less how big I look, in fact i would rather not look big if at all possible, I know as for myself I am here to gain strength that I can use in my daily life and in my athletic endevours.

just curious...

[GetOutOfMyFace]

i'm a powerlifter.

[JonHarris40]

ok, that makes sense then too. I was not trying to slight you in any way I was just curious.

[mjh]

i'm a powerlifter.

But a lot of your writing is for bodybuilders?

[GetOutOfMyFace]

it's for both.

[Rugger]

After all, powerlifting is really about getting fucking huge.

[Young Athlete]

After all, powerlifting is really about getting fucking huge.

Not really it's about being the strongest you possibly can pound for pound but a side effect is being big