Jacked Physique for all of us (Pt. 2)

Hey ya’ll,

I’m back for a follow up on creating your best physique.

Last post, I told you that creating an aesthetic physique is actually simple. Gain muscle by slowly overloading your muscles. Keep your body fat percentage low enough by taking control of your diet.

But at the end of the email, there was a big catch…. If you become too obsessed with these things, it can be unhealthy for our minds.

Here’s my view on a healthy way to go about getting a jacked physique:

From the time I stepped in the gym at 17 into my mid-20's, I was constantly feeling disappointed. I'd look in the mirror and wonder why I couldn't get bigger or leaner.

My head was filled with images of guys I’d seen in magazines and on TV.

I constantly changed my training, going from bodybuilding to crossfit-style workouts to powerlifting. I couldn't stick with one thing because...

I wasn't happy with myself.

I thought that the next training modality would fix my problems.

Maybe not so coincidentally, my early 20's were filled with anxiety and self-consciousness. I just didn’t feel right in the world.

This all changed when I had a knee injury and couldn't train the same way. I had to find something I could do...

I'd always been fascinated by people who could stand on their hands and I decided to take on the challenge to learn a handstand.

I mean how long could it take? A month maybe?

It took me closer to a year to hold a 30-second handstand.

But that year was transformational.

I switched modes from desiring an aesthetic physique to falling in love with...

THE PROCESS.

I can remember days feeling so frustrated like my handstand wasn't improving at all, BUT I’d wake up the next morning excited to work on it again.

I stopped going out for late nights with my friends because I wanted to feel fresh for practice in the mornings.

No longer was I concerned about my physique.

My interest was piqued by new goals…now let’s learn a muscle up! Now the front splits. Now a backflip.

Suddenly, I woke up one day with an athletic lean physique... the one I was trying to get for years.

This is when I realized that it was much healthier for me to focus on performance rather than aesthetics or some type of other outcome result.

If you focus on pushing yourself for something you can’t do right now… whether that’s more strength, a skill like a muscle up or getting better at a sport…

You get a better physique as a byproduct of your performance improving.

I started to notice my peers in the same field who were focused on getting better at a sport seemed to have really healthy relationships with their body and exercise practice.

And friends that were mostly focused on trying to get bigger muscles and a six pack... usually stopped working out all together.

Don’t worry, I’m not saying you need to learn a handstand or a muscle up. These goals are time-consuming and should only be taken on if you have the appropriate energy for them.

All I'm suggesting is that the most healthy way to end up with a great physique is...

By seeking to improve yourself. Getting a bit stronger, a little more flexible, adding some athleticism.

The right intentions mixed with progressive overload and a healthy diet is a rocketship to your best physique.

The main reason I like to talk about this topic is because I see a lot of young men tie their self worth to their physique. And social media only perpetuates this cycle. We end up in a glass-ceiling situation where you’re never satisfied.

I’d like to make it more common knowledge that muscles and shredded abs aren’t the only thing worth training for. Being skillful and athletic is a more gratifying option. We are currently working on a Youtube video diving even deeper into this concept :)

In this week's YouTube video, Trevor lays out a plan to get to a solid one-arm hang. This is a great example of getting in the process of achieving something new with your body. Something that we all could once do!

If you want a training program that will zap you right into a performance mindset. Move Strong Now will have you training to get better at flexibility, movement, and strength.

You can still get 25% off by using code: ANIMALMOVEMENT

That's $62 off!

And if you missed the first email for this follow-up, you can access it here.

Josh