Weight-lifting is what we’re told to do. It’s what we read grows the muscles and transforms our bodies. The more weight you lift, the bigger you are. Bodybuilding is only the name of what people who compete in shows do, not the casual lifter. Of course, that’s what we’re told and that’s what we come to believe. Nobody ever tells us all of this is completely wrong.

If you’re trying to build a great body, you have to sculpt that body. You have to train in the gym in a way that maximizes your ability to build that muscle. That method of training is vital to your ability to build an aesthetically pleasing physique, and weight-lifting simply won’t cut it. It’s not about the weight you can move with your muscle, it’s about your ability to tax the intended muscle to a point it has no choice but to grow. In other words, to reach muscle fatigue.

Now, can weight-lifting give you what you need to reach muscle fatigue? Of course it can. However, the problem with weight-lifting isn’t its ability to tax your muscles. After all, if you load up on the weight and push yourself to the limit, it’s hard to imagine you wouldn’t destroy your muscles enough for them to grow. The problem with weight-lifting, then, is the sloppy set of consequences and unnecessary complications that come with it. All of which do nothing but impede an individual’s goal of attaining an aesthetically pleasing physique. Let’s examine a few of the things weight-lifting promotes:

1) Muscle Asymmetry – to be aesthetic, you require symmetry and proportionality. Flinging weights around and simply “doing the movement” brings all sorts of troubles. It allows any muscle group involved in the exercise to take over, and hinder the primary muscle group from getting hit the way you intend it to be hit. Let’s take a very common example to illustrate this point. If an individual is bench pressing, they are doing so presumably to develop their chest. Considering both the triceps and shoulders are heavily involved in benching, an individual who loads up as much weight as possible will be using all 3 muscle groups to push the weight up. Their ability to control how much shoulder/tricep involvement is present is severely limited. As a result, not only are those other groups getting more stimulation than is necessary, but they will also be trained on their own. When you do them, however, your chest is not involved (Close Grip Bench excluded). With this then, the shoulders and triceps are worked much more than the chest on a particular individual’s weekly routine. Unless their triceps and/or shoulders are lagging behind, this will only stimulate that individual’s muscle groups to grow at a different pace instead of equally. Instead of muscle symmetry, there will be muscle asymmetry. The exact opposite of what someone looking to build an aesthetically pleasing physique wants.

2) Inefficient Muscle Fatigue – for the same reasons stated above, often individuals struggle to develop a particular body part. Weight-lifting is the root cause of this failure because other stronger body parts overpower the weaker body parts and do not lead that muscle to muscle fatigue. When that happens, you walk out of the gym thinking you had a great chest day, when in fact your chest wasn’t as punished as you thought it’d be. Your shoulders and triceps did too much of the work. This insufficient level of stimulation of that body part in the gym means there’s going to be no growth, and over time the muscle group will lag behind. This is especially the case when people use a certain routine long-term, their inability to realize they’re not taxing that body part enough to grow is compounded over time as they stick to the same routine happy that they are increasing in weight. Those shoulders or triceps could be handling that extra weight increase, while that chest stays struggling and isn’t growing. They’re left to wonder why!

3) Injury – nothing quite like pulling a muscle because you wanted to push more weight. Can’t get the weight up in a controlled manner? No problem, jerk your body, use every muscle imaginable to get it up. Besides running into the two problems mentioned above, this obviously also creates a much greater risk of injury. If that risk is realized, you’re not building any physique for a while. Keep that in mind.

In order to avoid these problems and focus on aesthetics, the most important component of body building is using the mind muscle connection. Instead of grabbing the most maximal weight you think you can do with your body, use a weight you can do solely with the body part you are targeting. Exclude every other body part as much as you physically can, and do your exercises in a slow and controlled manner. No jerking, no pushing of weight. If you can’t get the weight up on your last rep or two, either get a spot or stop. Take a couple seconds rest, and go back up and do an extra rep to finish off the set. In other words, if you wanted to get 8 reps but only got 6 on your first try, wait a few seconds and try to get 3 more reps (last one to make up for the time-off you took).

You have to understand, if your goal is to be aesthetically pleasing, your goal is to develop and sculpt each and every muscle in your body. The best way to do this is to target that muscle, and that muscle only on its specific training day. If you come in to do chest, you’re not coming in to do bench press, incline press, and chest flyes just do to them. You are coming in to do chest, chest, and more chest – hitting it at varying angles and in varying ways. Do not let your shoulders take over, try to minimize tricep involvement. Your objective for that day is chest, that’s it. All those other muscle groups have their own time. With that said, I don’t want to confuse people into thinking they shouldn’t be doing compound movements that hit multiple muscle groups. They are fantastic and should be an integral part of your workout, however, each and every one of those compound exercises still has the main muscle group it is supposed to target. So when you do bench press on chest day, use that chest. That’s what you came in the gym for, even though the exercise as a whole will benefit more than just your chest. For more information on how you can hit your muscles in different ways to help achieve muscle fatigue, check out our Weight Training Tips article. Good Luck!

*Common Mistakes During Certain Exercises

1) Bench Press – minimize shoulder/tricep involvement

2) Lat Pulldown/Pullups – minimize bicep involvement

3) Squats – minimize lower back involvement

4) Lateral Raises – minimize trap involvement

Also for those interested, here’s a list of the best exercises based on an EMG study.

Incoming search terms:

• fitnfly

The post Aesthetically Pleasing: Chapter 4 (Don’t Weightlift, Bodybuild!) appeared first on FitnFly - Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.

The fitness taboo: steroids. No man would dare admit they are using, otherwise they could kiss any potential career in the fitness industry goodbye. After all, who could sell products and preach about hard work and diet when they have been dosing on something most individuals won’t be? It’s career suicide, and everybody knows it. With that said, this article is not about the impact steroids will have on an individual’s career. Nor is the article about whether people are using steroids. What I’m hoping to accomplish here is to put forth a solid answer, based on a real study, of the impact (muscle growth/fat loss) steroids actually have on an individual using them. There has been an eternal war between two sides in the fitness industry: those that believe steroids produce magical results and those that believe steroids are only a boost that works best with hard work and diet. It’s quite the heated argument, and there are plenty of proponents on both sides. Naturally (!), steroid users will claim the latter and preach about how much dedication and hard work is required to obtain great results. In fact, many go over the top and proclaim that it takes even more hard work and dedication than when training natural, because you don’t want to “waste” the steroid’s potential. On the other hand, others will claim one can be a couch potato administering steroids and wind up looking like a tank. It’s time to put some medical research into the mix, and figure out who stands the better ground.

Before we start, I understand I’m using the term ‘steroids’ loosely, as there are many varying in potency and effect. However, the most obvious, and the one used in the medical study, is testosterone (‘test’) dosing. Therefore, it is a fairly accurate generalization of steroids and their effects. Now, the study used in this article is entitled, “Testosterone dose-response relationships in healthy young men.” Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 281: E1172–E1181, 2001. The primary objective of this study was to observe the changes in muscle mass associated with dose-dependent administrations of testosterone. In other words, different individuals would receive different doses of testosterone, and the effects on muscle mass would be observed. 61 men were split into 5 groups, and the groups (in order of 1-5) received: 25mg, 50mg, 125mg, 300mg, 600mg.

The absolutely crucial element of this study was the following: The participants were asked not to undertake strength training or moderate-to-heavy endurance exercise during the study. Yes, they were told to be couch potatoes. There was also no significant change in daily caloric, protein, carbohydrate, or fat intake in any group during treatment. The results were startling: (if you want to read the full study, please go here).

Those individuals who were administered 125mg, 300mg, and 600mg doses of test per week increased their free-to-fat mass ratio by 5%, 15%, 37% respectively. In other words, these couch potatoes were able to increase their lean muscle mass while decreasing their body fat levels by doing nothing other than injecting these doses of testosterone. The smaller 25mg and 50mg doses were not significant enough to cause any major changes. Although the study admits there were differences between individuals WITHIN a group (for example, there was an average 15% boost in the 300mg group…however, certain individuals within that group could have had a 10% increase, while others could have had a 20% increase), across the board each group averaged very significant increases starting with the 125mg group. Again, these individuals were explicitly told not to engage in any training. It is the equivalent of being told to sit on the couch, while getting injected with test and hoping the results come anyway.

Sure enough, the results did come (I’m referring to results throughout this article as being the muscle growth/fat loss that occurs throughout a period of time – not results with regards to building a certain type of physique). They are quite extraordinary, in fact. An individual could do nothing but live his life, and if he injects a significant enough dose of test, he will be able to accomplish what any natural individual is not able to do (lose fat and gain muscle at the same time). An individual training naturally could have the strictest diet, the greatest workout routine, and it all won’t come close to matching up with someone on a 125mg dose of test who is not even training. This is the unfortunate truth. What little a natural individual can do during a re-composition comes nowhere close to these results.

Now, with that said, that doesn’t mean those who do use steroids achieve their physiques by doing nothing. The study shows the amazing results that come from taking test, however, achieving an incredible physique still requires absolute dedication and hard work. It’s important to note the distinction here. Neither the study, nor this article, claims that you can achieve any particular physique by simply injecting some test. Building a particular physique obviously requires hard work and dedication, and with steroids mixed in, allows new boundaries to be reached that were previously not available. However, what this study does show, is that the power of a proper steroid dose is quite magical. An individual who does no physical activity and is taking at least a 125mg dose of test weekly will not only grow bigger, but leaner. Now, imagine throwing a halfway decent gym routine and diet plan into that equation.

With an ability to grow bigger while becoming leaner, as a result of doing nothing but injecting a specific dose of test, nobody can honestly claim steroids are not a magical supplement. Yes, you will receive better results the better your routine and diet is. Yes, you will receive better results the more dedicated and hard working you are in pushing your boundaries in the gym and eating right. However, this does not negate the fact that steroids are so powerful you can actually make significant changes to your body by simply taking them. Sure, this won’t bring optimal results, and someone would probably not take steroids just to sit on a couch and explore what happens. Nonetheless, that’s exactly what these subjects did, and the results have been documented. Theoretically, if an individual simply wanted to get a little bigger while leaning out, they could skip going to the gym and take a weekly test dose of at least 125mg. Some would get slightly better results than others, but on average, they would make rather significant changes to their body with no change in their diet. In other words, they could decide to live their lives and achieve more than the hard working natural going all out at the gym and in the kitchen. Why? Because the natural won’t be recomping at the same speed, it’s just not possible. Recomping is a slow process, but the most comparable to the one the couch potato cycling a good dose of test would be experiencing. Otherwise, the natural would take even more time using a traditional cutting/bulking cycle.

Keeping all this in mind, I don’t believe it’s a stretch of the imagination to actually claim steroids can do the work for you. Certainly, if you’re looking to build an amazing physique, this statement does not apply. However, as mentioned previously, theoretically an individual just looking to look better without dedicating a whole lot of time to the gym can jump on a test cycle and improve the way his body looks quite drastically. Not accounting for proportionality, an individual cannot claim that simultaneously building muscle mass while losing fat will not result in at least a semi-decent physique (unless you’re quite obese). Because this is the case, steroids can, in fact, be magical. Would it be the wisest choice? No, but the main point here is that it is possible for steroids to give an individual a much better looking physique on their own. You might not be carved out of stone, but you’ll be bigger and leaner, even without hitting the gym (this whole article assumes an individual doing this would know what they are doing, of course).

It’s quite amazing what can be achieved nowadays. Of course, we won’t go into all the possible side effects and problems that may arise when taking illegal steroids. However, assuming we are in an ideal world where steroids are legal and there are absolutely no side effects, it’s quite extraordinary to see an individual could simply take some doses to get bigger. This makes the usual speal about how steroids require hard work and dedication to be truly effective a farce. There’s no other way around it. You can bend this information and claim they won’t be as effective if not followed with proper training and nutrition, but you cannot deny they are effective on their own. Being effective, but not optimal, does not make them ineffective, no matter how you try and spin it. With that said, imagine the realistic scenario. Knowing what a solid dose of test can do for an individual who does nothing, apply that dose to the average joe who does actually work out at the gym when he decides to run a cycle. Even a weak gym routine and flaky dedication could lead to even better results (again, we’re assuming an individual doing this knows what they are doing, which includes proper PCT).

So folks, if any individual who took steroids attempts to tell you how hard they worked to achieve their physique, don’t automatically roll your eyes. They very well might have, but keep in mind that an extremely crucial component of their physique came as a result of a magic supplement. A magic supplement that can make significant physical changes to an individual’s body just off its own potency. Without sounding too absolute, at the very least a magic supplement that can make up for a lot of potential inconsistencies that a dedicated natural has no room to make. With that tool in their shed, they can’t exactly claim it was all due to hard work and dedication, as often is the case. Again, the moral of the story here is simple. Steroids will not give you the body you’re looking for by themselves. Nonetheless, they certainly are unmatched, as they are able to produce significant bodily changes on their own if dosed correctly. This ability, in and of itself, can’t really be termed anything other than magic. The folks supporting that side of the war certainly have a point.

P.S. -> For those interested in things you can do to try and maximize your natural testosterone production, visit our Increase Testosterone article!

Incoming search terms:

• fitnfly

The post Steroids and Muscle Growth: Are Steroids a Magical Supplement? appeared first on FitnFly - Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.

Reaching aesthetics requires extreme diet make overs, as an aesthetically pleasing body is not created by playing around and not keeping serious about what you eat. The good news is that you certainly don’t need to be eating every 3 hours, the tougher news is that you will have to be counting calories, and well. What’s vital is figuring out your maintenance, and tailoring your calories per day to within proper limits. As someone working their way down by cutting to eliminate fat loss, it’s imperative that your calories are within around 500 calories under your maintenance to make sure muscle loss is kept to an absolute minimum. If you are an ectomorph attempting to put on size without adding too much extra fat, the same rules apply with regards to eating over maintenance. The calorie counts, however, are simple math. What many people forget is that as you drop weight, or gain it, you have to constantly be adjusting those numbers. Many make the mistake of working hard to find out their calorie counts, only to stick with that number as they make changes. You’ll quickly stagnate this way and realize your errors, but that’s a few weeks wasted. With the grind that’s necessary to become aesthetically pleasing, there can be no wasted weeks.

Although dedicated individuals will be able to stick to their numbers, a major obstacle often faced by people is the motivation to eat the same or similar foods constantly. Yes, it’s possible to go ahead and indulge in some fast food as long as you hit your calorie and macro-nutrient goals for the day, but you have to remember what you’re aiming to accomplish. If you want to be aesthetically pleasing, you have to adapt a boot camp mentality. See the goal in front of you any time you crave something unnecessary, and bring yourself back to the task. Although IIFYM is great, the warning with it is that it often makes people lax and prone to cheat on their calories more often. There’s a greater willingness to go over your limit based on the food choices you make, and when you tell yourself you’ll eat less later to make up the difference, it often doesn’t happen. Not only, but eating simple carbohydrates (found in many of our favorite fast food places and the like) makes you hungrier faster (partly explains the notion that you’re more prone to fail to eat less later). Now, we can never speak in absolutes. If you can pull off IIFYM without any of these psychological limitations that come with it, more power to you. Just be aware that they exist.

Often times, what people do instead is allow themselves one cheat meal a week to satisfy their cravings, this works well. The limitation here is that when people refer to a “cheat meal” what they really mean is a binge-session. If you’re truly serious, a happy medium is to incorporate an IIFYM-esque method on a particular day of the week (or however often you feel you’ll need to satisfy your cravings). You’re not having a binge session, but enjoying the food you like while still attempting to meet some form of your daily macro ratios and overall calorie intake. It’s worth it, remember that.

Although this should be common knowledge, basic foods you should be focused on include: eggs, chicken, red meat, fish, brown rice, whole wheat bread, potatoes. Plenty of variety can be found in our Healthy Foods to Eat to Lose Weight article. There’s also a diet tips and tweaks for aesthetics version by the name of Lose Body Fat: Tips for Aesthetics. A great way to mix things up is also to switch up how you tackle the different macro-nutrients. The fad lately is to go low-carb, but that’s only one way of doing things. You could also carb-cycle (eat carbs only on days you workout, for example) or go on a high carb/low fat split (as long as you understand the importance of good fats and still get an appropriate amount in per day).

What’s most important for developing an aesthetically pleasing physique, of course, is that you actually apply these principles and apply them well. Good physiques and aesthetically pleasing physiques are not one in the same, so how hard you grind will determine how great your physique becomes. Diet is key, and if you don’t know, it makes up about 70-80% of your results. The gym is the stimulant, but your body is made in the kitchen. What’s all that muscle going to do from those great gym sessions if it’s covered by a layer of fat? Always stay motivated, always play around with your eating options to keep from going crazy, but know that at the end of the day, the upper echelon of aesthetically pleasing physiques belongs only to the few. The question is, are you one of them? Good luck.

Incoming search terms:

• fitnfly

The post Aesthetically Pleasing: Chapter 5 (Keeping Diet in Check) appeared first on FitnFly - Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.

In this world, there are three tiers of people, and they are all very easy to differentiate. Which one are you?

1. The first, and the vast majority, are wishers and hopers. They dream of success because they see it, they want it, but it simply feels out of reach. To describe their ambitions they use phrases like “I can” – “It’s possible” – “That’d be nice” – “I could see myself doing that.” But while they dream big, they fall exceptionally short. The idea remains in their heads, and they remain bathing in mediocrity. Just because they can, doesn’t mean they will. Just because it is possible, doesn’t mean it is plausible. Seeing themselves doing what they want is irrelevant when they are not doing it. These are their greatest pitfalls. To some, perhaps, mediocrity is acceptable. After all, mediocrity is average and most people by definition must fall into this pool. However, it’s the fact that they have hopes, but live as if they are stuck in quick sand that is so unfortunate.

2. The second, and the minority, have a set plan and pursue it. They dream of success and make attempts. The key to them falling short, however, is merely their decision to pursue and not achieve. In many respects, they are above average because they’ve sat down and realized what they want. They talk about their ideas, they try here and there to make something happen, but often times things get in the way. ‘Life’ consistently gets in the way, legitimately or not. Therefore, although they make some progress, there’s enough of them out there that they drown each other out. They are above average, but they are not exceptional. This is where the serious lifter, with the abover average physique, steps in. They occupy this role. Sure, there’s dedication and drive, there’s ambition and gym motivation. There’s a set schedule, there’s food restrictions based on calories per day. But it is not enough. To some, again, this level of achievement may be enough to let them be content with their status. However, for those wishing to achieve aesthetics this mentality once again falls short. They underestimate the target they have set out, they do not realize that to be aesthetically pleasing requires absolutely everything above and beyond what they are doing, it requires precedence. They use phrases like “I’m getting there” – “Only a bit more” – “Pretty good so far.” But these phrases show their complacency, their ability to justify their slowed progress. Although applauded for their drive and hard work, they still lack the ability to think in a way that releases them from any inhibitions. It is their Achilles heel.

3. The third, and the very rare, have a completely different mentality. They are the exceptionals. They have a completely different outlook on life, attitude, and desire for success. These very few, largely due to this mentality, have what it takes to break free from the shackles and freely pursue what is required of them to achieve the beautiful, sculpted, and symmetrical masterpiece body. Unlike the above average, they’re not “getting there” because they wake up feeling like they are already there. There’s never only a “bit more,” because every day is a success. And most importantly, they never feel “pretty good so far” because every minute is a new step forward. Gym motivation unlocked. This are their 10 Commandments:

1. There are no dreams, only goals. Dreams don’t satisfy but annoy, because they automatically (if only subconsciously) smell of implausibility. There is only a goal, and goals must be accomplished.
2. Every day, you envision what you desire. You wake up feeling like a ‘Greek God’ and you go to sleep feeling the same. There is no minute of the day, of the week, or the year where you do not believe each and every one of those minutes brings you closer to perfection.
3. No act is random, all are calculated. Everything you do has an intent behind it, it serves a purpose. Will it help you achieve perfection? It’s acceptable. Will it impede your goal? It has no place in your life.
4. There are no obstacles to your success. Obstacles do not exist, unless you let them. You have tunnel vision, there is one clear path and you are on it. No amount of turbulence will sway you from your goal.
5. Going to the limit is the only gym objective. Progressive Overload is essential to muscle fatigue, and therefore, muscle growth. When you’re struggling to get that last rep, imagine a stadium of people are watching you succeed. Imagine they are all betting for you to fail, and it is your duty to succeed. Remember: Pain is temporary, Glory is eternal.
6. You eat what you must, not what you want. You’re not mediocre, and you’re not above average. You are one of the few, and there’s a reason the amount of sacrifice required drains away the other 99.9% out there. You know exactly what you must eat, based on your maintenance.
7. Legions of negative opinions hold no value, your path is clear. If almost all cannot do it, almost all will want to see you fall. No matter how close or how strange these people are in relation to you. Each and every opinion is nothing but fuel to your fire. You are unstoppable.
8. It is not the weight that matters, the focus is muscle symmetry. Each and every rep requires absolute Mind Muscle Connection. Remember, you are shaping your body in complete proportion. There is no room for weight jerking, swinging, or over-emphasis on using other body parts to help move a weight. This solves nothing, and creates unproportionality. Focus on the targeted muscle, you are the sculptor. The sculptor does not slap some unnecessary clay on another body part while shaping the target, why would you?
9. Your motivation comes from within, it is not external. You do not lift for girls, you do not lift to impress other guys. You are there to achieve perfection, a physique only the few have ever been able to achieve. Your motivation is the elegance of symmetry, proportionality, ideal. Your motivation is the rarity of achieving what so very few are capable of achieving, the beauty of the human body.
10. You are constantly improving, there is no stagnation. Whether it is the gym, diet, knowledge, or anything else, you are always open-minded and experimenting with new methods. Tradition grows stale, robotic routines quickly breed complacency. Every day is a new day, every day brings something new to the table. You are a champion.

There is a reason breaking the barrier is so hard, and yet so coveted. Which side do you wish to be on? For those stuck being above average but wanting more, wanting the ultimate, now is your turn to transform yourselves into what you know you can become. The words you use are “I am” – “I must” – “I will.” There is no try, try doesn’t exist. Leave the try for the lower tiers. There is no attempt, attempt doesn’t exist. Leave the attempts for the lower tiers. There is only one mission, and it is yours for the taking. You are your own gym motivation. You are exceptional. Whether you are a nobody swimming in mediocrity with no prior gym experience, or a serious lifter with a great physique, this goal is yours. There are no barriers, you are free. You are the only tool necessary to achieve aesthetics. Wake up, no more dreaming. Remember, it is impossible to fail.

Incoming search terms:

• fitnfly

The post Aesthetically Pleasing: Chapter 6 (Gym Motivation – Mentality Is #1) appeared first on FitnFly - Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.

In this article: aesthetically pleasing = aesthetic (they are interchangeable).

I’ve started off this article with the dictionary.com definition of aesthetics because the words used to describe the term play a big role in the overall understanding of what it means to be aesthetically pleasing. To begin, I’d like to point out the obvious. The fitness goals of individuals vary, in the same way that their traits and personalities do. One person’s perspective is different than that of another, and it’s no different when it comes to working out. The facts are simple, everybody has their own perception of what a dream body looks like, regardless of whether they actually do something to make that dream body come true or not. Some people may prefer a lean figure with some muscle mass, while others may want to look like a bodybuilding professional, that’s nothing new.

Aesthetics, however, are in a realm of their own. They do not fit into the traditional generalizations, you know…that everybody feels different, and that taste varies from individual to individual. They do not fit simply because they can’t fit, as aesthetics are not defined by choice (individual taste), but by nature (inherent attractiveness in us as a species). From the very beginning, people have admired amazing physiques, and our fellow Greeks even created the “perfect” measurements an individual must possess for them to be universally accepted as beautiful. No, I’m not talking about beautiful in the traditional sense, but beautiful in the sense that they are indisputably accepted as attractive on an objective scale. Let’s break that down a bit further and see exactly what this means:

In traditional terms, when one is beautiful we are referring to them as such because we are attracted to them sexually. However, when it comes to aesthetics, I’m referring to the beauty of the body in terms of its universally pleasing nature. The Greeks developed the proper measurements, and those measurements are correct to this day (they won’t change). They studied the body, they studied the art of creation that physical stress allows the body to undergo, and they produced paintings and sculptures that represented the human species in its finest form. Those paintings and sculptures represented the perfection that the human body may achieve: the human species’ finest physical limit. Although we are now equipped with much more knowledge and resources to attempt to recreate this perfect specimen, the quest for achieving such a result has not disappeared.

When it comes to fitness, aesthetics refer to the beauty of the human body with respect to the proportionality, balance, and symmetry of the muscles on the frame of a particular individual. This perfect mixture of characteristics creates a visual appearance of a frame that looks like perfection. In other words, when an individual is aesthetically pleasing, it is at the moment when the body of that individual is proportional, lean, and with “just the right” amount of muscle to be considered universally pleasing to the eye.

Moving away from the talk of the perfect specimen, many people have achieved aesthetics, and many more continue on their quest to do so. However, in comparison to the amount of people who workout, the pinnacle result of being aesthetically pleasing is the cream of the crop (5-10% of the fitness population). It is not a universal “look” in regards to one particular measurement, but rather universal in the sense that it occurs in relation to that particular individual’s proportions (height/weight ratio, bone structure, etc.). Someone who is 5’6 is not going to have the same aesthetics as someone who is 6’2, however, for their proportions, they can achieve aesthetically pleasing physiques. Although many have arguably achieved aesthetics, the word “many” in this context means nothing because the pool of those trying is so large. Relative to fitness community, and even more so to the human population, those who have achieved this universal appeal are few and far between. It is not just about looking great, it is much more than that: looking perfect. Few understand the dedication required, but that does not mean many don’t do their best to try.

The point of attaining aesthetics is not to be considered the perfect specimen (although some may be motivated by such particular goals), but to achieve a body that no one can truly say is “weak, fragile, small, underdeveloped, useless, ugly” or just “okay.” Aesthetics means automatic head-turning, the ability to look like the gods themselves carved you out of stone. I’ve mentioned extremes at the start of this article, and all the different tastes people have. When it comes to aesthetics, if someone has an aesthetically pleasing physique, no matter what your tastes are, deep down you won’t deny their body is pleasing to the eye. Seeing an aesthetically pleasing physique forces you to give credit where credit is due, and often, motivates you to strive for personal improvement. It is the ability to reach proportionality and size that is universally liked, found inherently attractive. Now, do you have what it takes to be aesthetically pleasing?

This article is just the opening volume of our Aesthetically Pleasing Series, so follow along as we touch on various aspects of improving the body for the ultimate goal of achieving aesthetics.

Incoming search terms:

• aesthetically pleasing definition
• aesthetically pleasing
• perfect man body
• frank zane measurements
• frank zane workout
• No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable
• fitnfly
• define aesthetically pleasing
• What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old
• aesthetically

The post Aesthetically Pleasing: Chapter 1 (Aesthetics). appeared first on FitnFly - Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.

After reading Chapter 1, it should be well known that the overall goal of reaching aesthetics is not an easy task, we can confirm this simply by looking at the people walking among us in our every day lives. The amount of people that lift is rather minimal, and the amount that have achieved aesthetics is a minimal portion of that minimality. However, last time I checked, you’re here because you’re in the pursuit of achieving the pinnacle of muscular perfection (or at least learning about it, in which case, understand for the sake of understanding), so how hard the task is is quite irrelevant. Powerful legs that are well built in proportion with your upper body resonate beauty, symbolize perfection, and allow you to enter the rare realm of aesthetics of those so very few (this sentence might seem…well, anyway, it won’t unless you haven’t read Chapter 1!).

It’s quite a shame when you see an individual with a great upper body, who looks like he’s on the right track, only to add legs into the equation and see misfortune. Now, take note here, when it comes to aesthetics, it does not have to mean the legs are small. Legs can be too big for the upper body as well, and since it’s quite hard to build legs that are muscularly too big without realizing (…yea, right), it often is the case that they are simply too fat. Even with a lowered body fat percentage and the muscle required to build a great upper body, the legs can dampen the situation because some people who don’t work them believe their legs are naturally on the bigger side, which is fine until they immerse themselves in the pursuit of aesthetics and have to catch up later because their leg size is a result of natural higher body fat and bone density (makes it appear thicker) as opposed to larger muscle size (which is also in the equation, but not to the extent imagined). Therefore, the leg disease can work both ways, if we’re dealing with aesthetics.

For those reading this article who have recently started lifting, or for those who have been lifting for a while (it’s never too late!), I’m going to explain something very important to you in regards to legs. Whether you wish to achieve aesthetics or not (I don’t see why you wouldn’t if you’re lifting, but hey, everyone lifts for different reasons right?), it’s important to work out legs not only so that they are in proportion with your upper body, but for the following:

1) Legs are half of your body – I’m sure this is common sense, but it’s rarely applied in the gym. Imagine working out your entire upper body in one day (for those that have never tried a Upper/Lower body split or Full Body Workouts), can you imagine the exhaustion? That’s how you should feel on leg day, if you do it. If you don’t feel exhausted, you have not taxed your legs hard enough and are wasting your time convincing yourself that you are working out legs so you don’t feel bad. For those who haven’t worked out their legs yet, think how ridiculous it seems to work out half of your body, while ignoring the entire other half. Sure, you don’t see guys flexing their quads on Men’s Health, but if you pay attention to the pictures of those showing you how to do exercises, you won’t find a guy with legs that look like they haven’t been worked.

2) Muscle burns calories just to maintain itself – perhaps you know this, perhaps you don’t. Now that you do for sure, it’s pretty simple to understand that the more muscle you have, the more calories you’re going to be burning per day. Might not seem like much if we look at it on a daily basis, but if we start accounting for weeks at a time, and looking at the total extra calories burned for doing nothing all day except maintaining that muscle, I’d say that’s a pretty good trade-off that gives you the benefit of helping you stay even more lean if your diet is in check. It’s half of your body’s muscle mass (if you do it right and train them equally), come on!

3) Leg workouts hit your core like nothing else – Wow, so you’ve finally finished exhausting your “obliques” with some side twists at the end of your chest workout, wphew…good for you. You realize that doesn’t compare to hitting Squats hard, right? Imagine doing even a set of body weight squats with proper form, your core has to work really hard just to keep you balance as you go up and down, do you think any of your epic ab exercises can come close? No. Now add some weight to the bar, go all the way down, and you’ll see how much your core is going to improve (core includes abs…just sayin’).

4) Leg strength is unmatched – you’ve watched Martial Arts movies, you’ve seen people getting kicked. Well this has nothing to do with it, we’re all for non-violence. The point is, you can do more with your legs in terms of power, than any upper body part, that’s for sure. If you’re really hitting legs hard and your strength is up, imagine how useful that is in every day life. Whether you need to carry something or pick it off the ground, or simply move something that is heavy enough to force you to stay in position by grounding your feet, nothing’s going to help you more than leg power. With strength comes size, so naturally they’ll be growing just as well as your upper body to keep you in proportion, if you do it right. The great thing is, you’ll be twice as strong as many others who are the same “size” as you (upper body…cause that’s what matters, right?). Probably more, since your legs (if all else is equal), are the strongest.

5) More mass on your legs means more mass overall – no, I’m not even referring to the obvious fact that if your legs grow in size that adds to your total lean body mass. I’m talking about the fact that so many upper body movements require leg drive that it’d be ridiculous to believe leg power doesn’t help with upper body strength. If you know how to properly use the Mind-Muscle-Connection to enhance training (now you will), you realize that you need to use it in each major lift, whether it’d be the bench press or any DB variety of it, shoulder press, and heavy variations of rows that require leg strength to keep you perfect balance (instead of broken form leading to weak results).

The reasons could go on, but it’s quite easy to see that besides the fact that nobody truly deep down wants to look top heavy, there’s many reasons why legs are important. Aesthetics are #1, however, and you can’t achieve them without proportional legs. Plus, legs that are in tune with your upper body make you look twice as good, strong, and powerful even if you’re not worried about aesthetics (sure, buddy…not at all). So do the right thing, don’t start late cause you’ll be behind, and keep legs in the equation. Perhaps you’re truly not attempting to reach the pinnacle of physique perfection, but you’re still trying to look pretty good, right? Trust me, no matter how good you might look upstairs, the ironic part about it will be the fact that your top heavy physique will result in your bottom weighing you down, visually. Good Luck!

Incoming search terms:

• fitnfly
• aesthetic workout
• how to get aesthetic body

The post Aesthetically Pleasing: Chapter 2 (Legs). appeared first on FitnFly - Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.

Let’s begin by clarifying what muscle symmetry is. We are not referring to one bicep muscle being slightly bigger than the other, for example (which is a smaller scale version of this problem). When we deal with muscle symmetry, we’re dealing with muscle groups as a whole when compared to other muscle groups. In other words, is your chest significantly larger than your shoulders and arms? Are your arms significantly larger than the rest of your body? (Think Situation from the Jersey Shore). Although they might not seem like the gravest mistakes you can fall into making (they aren’t), they still throw off your entire physique and often times make you look goofy. Since we’re not transforming our bodies so that they can be labeled as looking goofy, muscle asymmetry will certainly impede our overall goals and ambitions. So let’s make sure it doesn’t happen.

Often times, when people first begin going to the gym, they do not realize the importance of the Mind Muscle Connection. As a matter of fact, many experienced gym-goers also have trouble with this. This is the process of trying to isolate the muscle group you are targeting with that particular exercise, limiting the involvement of secondary muscle groups that help out. For a quick example, if you’re bench pressing to hit your chest, your shoulders and triceps can take the brunt of the weight if you don’t really try to focus on using your chest to lift the weight. This, over time, can lead to minimal chest growth but great shoulder/triceps growth. Was that your intended result? Probably not, but now your chest is lagging behind and you have to catch it up. Muscle asymmetry is easiest to bring about when you’re doing exercises by simply “moving the weight” instead of focusing on the proper muscle to do the work. Learn this key concept.

To look aesthetically pleasing instead of asymmetrical, it is also important to stop constantly favoring certain muscle groups over others. Someone who comes into the gym to work their chest and biceps every other day is not going to build an impressive physique when their other body parts get 1/3rd of the workout time. The only time favoring of particular muscle groups should occur is if they are lagging behind the rest of your body (usually a smaller scale natural problem that most people deal with as long as it isn’t ignored and doesn’t get out of control). This can happen even if you’re doing everything correctly because some muscles just require you to hit them more than others to grow at the same rate. Therefore, an individual on a training schedule hitting everything once a week (as an example) might develop imbalances because some muscles may only require one workout a week to grow while others need more. Once you’re able to figure out what grows faster and what doesn’t, adjust your workouts accordingly to prevent this from happening and preserve muscle symmetry.

Another problem that develops when muscle symmetry is ignored is the impact that occurs on your posture. Those people who do more pushing movements than pulling movements (more chest than back, in this case) may develop a forward-slanting posture where their shoulders droop down forward. Usually the body part that is most ignored in this popular version is the rear delt, which gets disproportionately less stimulation than the front delt and the chest. Many people experience this problem, which not only puts your physique in a bad light but further impacts your training. Those muscles which are stronger and create this imbalance will continue to get used more than the weaker muscles, and if the Mind-Muscle-Connection is not instituted it will continue to create a larger disparity between these muscles.

Muscle Symmetry is best tackled from the very beginning by learning your body and figuring out which muscle groups grow faster than the others. Adjusting your workout schedule to fix these growing imbalances will help keep all muscle groups growing at a steady rate and make sure that you don’t end up with asymmetry and unfortunate posture problems. Aesthetically Pleasing physiques require intricate tweaks and constant hard work and attention to the finest of details to build. These particular tweaks are very often ignored, and many people don’t realize until it indeed starts looking goofy. Pay attention from the start, so you don’t have to do catching-up work later. For more information on how to maximize training, check out our Bodybuild, Don’t Weightlift! article. Good luck!

Incoming search terms:

• fitnfly
• aesthetics muscle

The post Aesthetically Pleasing: Chapter 3 (Muscle Symmetry) appeared first on FitnFly - Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.