24 tips to help you acheive your fitness related goals

In my last post I asked all of you to hold off on your New Year’s Resolutions (and with good reason I might add) I don’t believe we need to wait for January 1st to make fitness related goals. As fellow fitness enthusiast and Hardgainers our lives should be goal oriented already. Each day we should strive to be a step better than the previous day. If this is the case New Year’s should just be another day in our journey to attain the bodies we want.

I don’t want to be a total pessimist because I know a lot of you still value January 1st as a day to start fresh with new goals and aspirations. To help in your preparation for your new upcoming challenges I’ve prepared 24 tips to help you achieve your fitness related goals for 2009. Good Luck!

24 tips to help you achieve your fitness related goals

1. Define your goals (Very cliché) – You’ve seen this message time and time again but this is usually where you create your downfall. Having vague goals will confuse and not give you a sense of direction. For an example of a vague goal compared a better one read the following: (1) I want to be big this year (2) I’d like to put on 15 pounds while maintaining 12% body fat. When setting goals always use these rules of thumb: Make sure you goal is CLEAR (above example), Realistic (you aren’t going to gain 75lbs in 6 months), Specific (when) and Measurable (self explanatory right?). If you are still having a problem check this article out.
   
   
2. Make necessary Lifestyle adjustments – These lifestyle adjustments are sacrifices that help optimize the amount of success you can have with your hardgainer bodybuilding routine, diet, and how much rest and recovery you manage to get on a daily basis. These changes can be as easy as simply going to bed 1 hour ahead of your usual bed time or as hard as giving up some of your favourite junk food.  You can sulk later these are important changes you’ll need to make in order to succeed.
3. Take some before pictures – If you have a camera handy take a few pictures of yourself. These pictures are something you’ll be able to use to remind yourself of what you “used” to look like. The picture will also act as a reminder of how much hard work you’ve put in to achieve your goal. I highly recommend taking pictures bi weekly but if that’s too much try to take at least one set of pictures each month.


Progress one step at a time

4. If you are just starting out choose a workout and STICK TO IT FOR AT LEAST 12 WEEKS – I needed to emphasize this because this is the problem with most hardgainers. We are so desperate for results that if we don’t see them right away we start looking for new workout routines. Some guys at my gym call this syndrome “Workout A.D.D.”. Constantly switching workouts will never allow you to see if your body is responding. If you make it to 12 weeks, assess how much you’ve improved and then think about changing things up. NOTE: If you are still looking for the right type of workout subscribe to this website I will cover several hardgainer specific workout routines in the near future.
5. Find Supplements that are right for you – If you’ve managed workout consistently, eat properly and maintain proper sleep for at least 8 weeks it might be time to add supplements to maximize your gains. Exercise Supplementation and Physiology is something that I currently study in my free time and in school so I’m going to be sharing many supplements that help Hardgainers break through plateaus and help us make muscle gains like never before.
6. Prepare meals 1-3 days ahead of time – Make this a Habit. Knowing what you going to be eating and having it readily available gives you no excuse not to eat correctly.
7. Find a gym that is right for YOU – Don’t just sign up to any gym because you want to get into shape. Find one that’s right for you. You can go to a commercial gym, a private gym, or even create your home gym. Pick the environment that suits your personality. If you’re timid around big crowds of people you might not opt for a commercial gym and go the private or home gym route. You need to feel comfortable in your environment because you are going to be spending a lot of time in the gym this year.
   
   
8. When you fail don’t beat yourself up (and YES you will fail sooner or later) – Making a misstep is inevitable. How you react to these missteps will determine your success. I used to beat myself up when I’d miss a meal and this resulted in me scraping the whole day and trying to start fresh the next day. What eventually happened was I’d mess up a few days in a row and just fall back into my bad habits of under eating. If you miss a gym session or a meal or whatever INTERNALIZE your mistake UNDERSTAND why you made it MOVE ON knowing that you’ll try your best not to make the same mistake again.
9. Track your progress in and outside of the gym – Run over to your local dollar store and grab a couple of note books. Label one book “Workout” and the other book “Progression”. In your workout notebook, log all the events the happened during your work out. (eg. How many sets and reps you completed, new personal bests, how you felt during lifts, any signs of pain, amount of cardio etc.) In your Progression book paste your before pictures and progression pictures, record how much sleep you’ve gotten each night, and the approximate amount of the daily calorie intake each day, etc. Why are we doing this? WHY NOT! How the heck are you going to know if you’re improving without any record of it?
10. Take Measurements – Have you mom, dad, girlfriend/boyfriend, or friend help you with taking measurements of your body. You can be really scientific and take measures of each part of your body but to make life simple just stick to this rule: Men: Take measurements of your Chest, Arm, Waist, Thigh, and the Calf. Record all your results to the nearest 0.5 inches (round down when you can’t tell) Women: Take the same measurements but add your Hip measurement too.  Take these measurements every 4 weeks to see if you’re progressing.

    
    Measure to the Nearest 0.5 inches

    
    

11. Subscribe to this Website (and similar websites) – Websites like Hardgainer-Transformation.com can be used for motivation, guidance, hardgainer specific information, to make contacts with other Hardgainers and a great time killer while you’re waiting on your next meal! But in all seriousness this website was made for you by a person who is enduring the same struggles. I want this community to grow into something the fitness and bodybuilding world has never seen but I’ll need your help.
12. Get some new gym clothes/equipment – Lacking motivation? Buy something to make yourself feel better! Sometimes buying something as simple as a new t shirt, a weight belt, or some lifting straps will be enough to get you motivated to hit the gym harder.
13. Find a Training Partner – There is no better feeling than knowing that you are going to war with someone on your side. Ask a friend with similar goals to come workout with you, or maybe AFTER a workout socialize a little and see if you can workout with someone who has the same schedule as you. This isn’t for everyone some (like myself) don’t mind working out alone.
14. When you are at the gym Concentrate on your workout - Don’t be on of those people who hits on girls, or critiques other lifters or just wastes time. It’s strictly business when you step into the front doors of your gym. Head to the locker room put on your gear and get your business done and then out of the door.
15. Visit my transformation page – If you need an example of how you can record your transformation visit my transformation page. I’ve kept it simple and really to the point: I want to gain weight and this is how I’m going to do it. If you ever have questions just send me an email.
    
    
16. Avoid using workout routines from Popular Muscle Magazines - I collect a lot of the popular bodybuilding magazines because I’m a fan of the sport. BUT I’m not crazy enough to use any of the workout routine they provide (again). The majority of the workouts they provide are meant for highly experienced athletes that are usually using a few special anabolic aids to help them get through and recover from their workouts. To make a long story short: I once used a 6 day split from one of those magazine and my body broke down and its one of the reasons why I’m suffering with elbow tendinitis (silly me)
17. Try your best to maintain you social life – I don’t want to contradict myself and tell you to go loose yourself partying and making new friends but I really feel that having some form of social life can be beneficial. Working out can be very lonely because for the most part you have to rely on yourself and only yourself. I’ve gone though stretches where I’ve been to myself for weeks at a time just focusing on what I had to do to continue getting stronger and bigger. THAT IS NOT HEALTHY. Try to maintain a normal life but don’t go astray keep your eye on the prize.

    
    There is nothing wrong with a little fun

18. Head over to this website (Link) and learn some new exercises each month – This is one of the better exercise databases I’ve seen in a long time. If you’re new to certain exercises run through this database to for a visual example of how it should be performed. Additionally you can send me an email if you’d like to talk about certain exercises that I haven’t already covered.
19. Use visual images or quotes to help you stay focused on what you need to do - sometimes when my motivation is low or when I start to doubt myself I take a few famous quotes and I paste them all over my room. I also take my old before pictures and I use them as my desktop wallpaper on my laptop. Basically use anything to help remind yourself that you are making all these sacrifices and working hard in the gym FOR A REASON.
20. Have a daily timetable – YES I SAID IT. I know a lot of us don’t like structure but having a timetable really makes the day less stressful. You don’t have to follow it to a tee but knowing what’s going on each day will help you plan your workouts and your meals.
21. Make working out, proper nutrition and proper sleep a HABIT – It can be debated whether or not it takes 21 days to make a habit. According to Dr Maxwell Maltz: Brain circuits take engrams (memory traces), and produce neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept ‘new’ data for a change of habit unless it is repeated each day for 21 days (without missing a day). Try the theory out. Challenge yourself to follow a strict workout routine, diet and sleep habits for 3 weeks and let me know if it worked for you.
22. Start EVERY morning off right – Starting the morning right can really make or break your day. Check out this article for more on how to get off to the right start.
23. Be a Teacher and a Student – We are ALL in this struggle together. We have to teach each other and learn from each other. This is my primary reason for creating this website. I don’t have all the answers that’s why I rely on people from this and other communities for help to help build on my knowledge base. In return I share the things I know and in this we can both mutually benefit.
24. Deadlines, Deadlines, Deadlines – This somewhat ties into the first tip from this list. Setting up deadlines help put a little positive pressure on yourself. This pressure will help you focus on getting to your goal on time

Well there you have it, 24 fine tips to help you get started along the path to muscle gain. Did I leave any important tips out? If so let me know and I’ll be sure to mention them in my next mega post.