Winners Free Coaching & 10 Tips on How to Build Muscle, Lose Fat & Strength Training
Nov 10th, 2007 by Mehdi Tags: Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Strength Training
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Image credit: Strongman Short Story
I received a lot of applications for the free coaching contest. It wasn’t an easy task to select 3 people. Here’s what I based my choice on:
- Information. Some applications were short. This made it hard to get a profile, putting these submissions automatically at a disadvantage. I also believe that if you answer with one sentence or 3 words, you’re trying to win the easy way. This tells something about your attitude.
- Equipment. You need access to strength training equipment. Which means a Squat Rack, barbells, bench & plates. Some hadn’t figured yet where they were going to workout.
- Goals. You need to be specific with your goals. I want to build muscle, to lose fat, to get stronger, … is too broad. How much muscle do you want to gain? How much fat do you need to lose? On what lifts do you want to get stronger? And most important: why do you want it?
- Motivation. Several wrote “You could help me by motivating me”. I’m not the one to motivate you. I’m the one that gives you advice. Why do you want to achieve your goal? That’s your motivation: a strong desire.
- Experience. If you just started or haven’t started yet to lift weights: get on the Beginner Strength Training Program. Follow the program & you’ll get results. Learn exercise technique reading the articles or starting strength and read the articles on building muscle & losing fat.
- Fun. I’m doing this for myself too after all. You have to give me a fun & interesting story. Something that would make me enjoy working with you & that would allow me to learn something in the meanwhile.
The above is meant as constructive feedback. Draw your conclusions & refer to the personal reply I sent to every single email.
Start a training log in the forum. It doesn’t matter if you’re weak, skinny or overweight: we all started somewhere. Nobody is here to laugh, we’re here to help. Go the forums, make an account, start your log. Take action.
The Winners. The three people I selected:
- Garry. 18, 165lbs at 6′1″. Wants to get stronger while improving flexibility. Wants to build muscle without gaining weight: he can’t get over 167lbs for Tae Kwan Do. Likes barbell exercises, doesn’t like machines. Has access to the necessary equipment. He can do +200 body-weight Squats & +70 push-ups. I liked the idea that he actually tried to do that many squats, says something about him.
- Kabir. 21, 176lbs at 6′1″. Wants maximal strength for his weight class in Brazilian Jujutsu. Wants to bring his Squat & Deadlift up. Can provide me with videos of his lift so I can check his technique. Needs mobility & flexibility work for Jujutsu. Has a home gym with Squat stands, broomstick, 400lbs weight. I liked the videos.
- Tarun. 16, 220lbs at 6′2″. Wants to lose fat, build muscle & get stronger. Has access to a gym with Squat Rack, Bench & Barbells. I’m leaving out the details but he sent me a great story of why he wants to achieve his goals. His motivation.
Image credit: Strongman Short Story
10 Tips on How To Build Muscle, Lose Fat & Strength Training. Here are some of the replies I sent to the people who didn’t win the free coaching. I’ll probably go more in detail about these in the future.
Mobility. For extra mobility in the hips, try Front Squats & Overhead Squats. For upper-body mobility do shoulder dislocations. Overhead Squats is probably the best overall postural realignment exercise.
You Are What You Do. You control your actions, your actions do not control you. You control your actions, your actions do not control you.
Choose Your Environment. “I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” Frank Costello, The Departed.
When I started strength training I had no friends who lifted weights. Today the majority of my friends lift weights. I have different friends now than I had years ago. And those who I get friend with, start strength training after a while.
If your friends don’t care about you improving your health or are unsupportive: they’re not your friends. If your partner doesn’t let you do what you need to do to be happy, you need to find somebody else. Choose your environment.
A lot of people exercise, lift weights, eat healthy, etc. You just need to connect with them. Most people who lift weights enjoy helping out beginners because they were beginners once. Ask them if you can join sometimes. Take action.
Make Goals. This is one of the best tricks to keep yourself motivated. Make goals, set a deadline, look at goals daily, review weekly. Track your progress using a training journal. Know where you are & where you’re going to.
By the way, make big & small goals. If you want to lose 40lbs in one year go for 10 lbs the first 4 months, another 10lbs the next 4 month, etc. This is more motivating than wanting to drop 40lbs. Little goals toward big goals.
Illness. The condition you’ve been diagnosed with doesn’t matter. You can get what you want if you keep working at it. Lance Armstrong had cancer then won the Tour De France several times. If he can do it you can do it. It’s a mind game.
“My teacher Philip S. Colee passed away after a long - and let me assure you, a very hard-fought - battle with cancer. You have not witnessed determination until you have seen a man wearing an oxygen bottle to do deep squats for sets of five across.
In the process of telling metastatic cancer to Go To Hell - that it was not going to prevent him from living his remaining days as he saw fit - he taught many of us here at the gym what was possibly the most valuable lesson of his long career in education: no matter what your personal circumstances might be (the universe is unconcerned with such details), you get out of life exactly what you have contributed to the effort.
It is my honor to have been his student. He will be missed. This book is dedicated to him. “ Mark Rippetoe. Foreword Starting Strength 2nd Edition.
Physical Attraction. For a man, being attracted to his woman is important. I believe it’s also necessary to stay faithful. I wouldn’t allow my girl to become overweight. I’d tell her I’m not pleased with it & that I’m losing attraction.
It’s your choice as a woman to change or not. If you’re fine with your weight, stay how you are. If you want to change for him, then do it. Don’t feel forced to fill someone else’s expectations. But be ready to face the consequences.
Food Addictions. Cravings are a self-fullfilling prophecy. Stop eating junk food & the cravings will stop. Next time you binge, watch your behavior as if you were watching someone else. Don’t judge. Just ask yourself why you’re doing this.
A quick cure for everything is understanding. Once you understand why you’re doing something, quitting gets easy. It takes time, but eventually you’ll wake up. Awareness. Eye-opening book.
Books on Exercise & Diet. Starting strength has the technique for 30 barbell exercises & the muscles involved. Read Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle &you’ll know everything on how to lose fat using strength training, diet & cardio.
Progress. If you’ve been training for 2 years & don’t seem to progress on some exercises, there’s something wrong with your approach. It’s your job to find out what: training program, nutrition, lifestyle, etc.
Track everything. Fitday & training journal. Best way to burst through plateaus is the one step back, 2 step forward approach. Trying endlessly with the same weight doesn’t help at all. Neither physically nor mentally. Deload.
Safety. Safety depends on technique. Start light. Focus on technique. Add weight progressively. Read a lot about exercise technique. Starting Strength.
Changes on StrongLifts.com. There was no post last Wednesday & no post Friday. However there was one today. From now on I’ll publish articles as it fits me. I don’t want to restrict creativity & quality by having to write on fixed days.
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Some of Next Week’s Articles:
- Training Program for Intermediates
- Easy breakfast recipes that build muscle
- Rounding of the Lower Back on Squats.
Tired of the way you look? You want to build muscle & lose fat while getting stronger? Click here to download my 52 pages 100% FREE eBook.
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Mehdi, this is one of the most useful posts you’ve written - and that’s saying a lot. Thanks for this! Definitely bookmarked.
“I wouldn’t allow my girl to become overweight. I’d tell her I’m not pleased with it & that I’m losing attraction.”
This statement of yours is very disturbing. I hope that your attraction to your “girl” is more than just based on her looks. Whether or not you “allow” her to do anything is immaterial. She is her own person and does not require your permission to be anything other than what she chooses for herself.
Please think carefully about making comments that may make you look misogynistic and shallow.
awesome photos for this article (which was also good)
@James & Brent. Thanks!
@Katiep. Of course it’s more than physical attraction alone. Like I wrote: it’s her choice to change or not. And your responsibility to draw your conclusions based on that. If her choice is incompatible with your expectations: find someone else. Makes both your lifes easier.
this is great!
How many responses did you get?
If the trainees would like, how about posting the person’s stories and progress under mehdi’s guidance.
About 30 responses Jack. Which shows there’s a need. Therefore it’s very probable more coaching will given in the future.
I’ll see with the 3 winners how they feel about posting stats/progress/etc online. Definitely something that would inspire other readers.