A sense of accomplishment - building muscle


There are a lot of reasons to build muscle - you may want to star in the next superhero movie, you may want to impress girls, you may want to fill out a sports coat better at a future job interview (especially if you're a skinny guy), you may want a life with less pain and with more mobility (if you're an older guy like I am), the list goes on and on. But what I really recommend that you do it for is the feeling of accomplishment, which you can get from just about anything that brings you closer to your goal.

I started to try to add muscle to my body at age 27, which was about forty years ago. My goal was never to be a big muscley guy, I just hated being so skinny, and scrawny (insert skinny joke here). It made me self-conscious, and I knew that it was holding me back from the life I wanted, including getting the job, and getting the girl (both of which happened). Looking back, my body hadn't changed that much, but the sense of accomplishment that I got from doing it made a huge difference in my life. I like that feeling, and I'm willing to work for it, and pursue it, every day.

And if you've never tried to add muscle, you may be surprised that training is just a tiny part of it. Yes, of course you have to train, but an hour a day at the gym is plenty, which still leaves you with 23 hours to work on your goal. And even though the expression wasn't so popular in the 1980s, I said to myself, "Challenge accepted!".

As I write this I'm getting ready to eat my last meal of the day, which will help replenish my muscles and also help me to get a good night's sleep. It's a high-protein meal, but also carbs and fat, and most importantly I like the taste of it. Eating that meal will give me a sense of accomplishment.

Even writing here in this blog gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Avoiding heartburn, and digestive problems during weight loss

Image
I just woke up a little while ago, have fed the dogs, and as usual early in the morning I don't have much of an appetite, but I did have a breakfast biscuit and am drinking plenty of water, including 16 ounces of decaf coffee. My goal nowadays is weight loss, but my goal always is to not make myself feel miserable. A couple of years ago I started feeling some heartburn (I'm not as young as I used to be!) and a good friend of mine recommended some over-the-counter meds that have been helping me to sleep (which was when my heartburn was at its worst, lying down). During the day I haven't been troubled much, until this past month when I started dieting. To my suprise, simply "putting a little bit on my stomach" does the trick for me. I don't have the appetite first thing in the morning to wolf down stacks of pancakes, but luckily it's not necessary. I have some breakfast biscuits in my kitchen, and I also carry some on my trike. They're called "Belvi...
Read more

Doing ring-assisted lunges at home

Image
Yesterday I saw an inspiring video of a young man doing pistol squats while holding onto rings, and it got me to thinking that I'd like to be able to do lunges, and could adapt the idea. Here's how I'm doing it. Here's the video version of this blog post if you prefer: I have some adjustable cables (kind of a poor man's TRX) which I can hook to a chin-up bar. Actually they aren't really connected, they just loop over it, but they're very sturdy. I have the handles adjusted at about chest height, and I'm starting each lunge in the down position, with one knee gently resting on the floor (my nice soft carpet). The idea is to push myself up with the one leg, with an assist (especially balance) with my arms. This is the first time I've used this technique, and I'm really trying to keep the emphasis on my legs, not on my back and arms. Still, it's a nice back stretch going "ass to grass", so I'm including that with this workout. I...
Read more

Beginning a lean bulk

Image
It's December 13th and I've officially decided to do a lean bulk through the end of this month and on through January and February. This may, or may not be right for you, I'll see if I can explain. For reference, there are two ways to gain muscle (or to "bulk up"), the first one being what's usually called a "dirty bulk", which is what I did very successfully at age 27. And it was wonderful because I gained weight very quickly (which was my goal as a skinny guy) and got to eat a LOT of wonderful food. It was the best of times - I discovered Mexican Food, and Prime Rib, among other things. My weight skyrocketed, and I went from "skinny" to "lean and mean" in a matter of months. I can still remember the magical moment when the scale went over 150 pounds, and I was able to hit my goal weight of 165 soon afterwards. I don't have any written records of my weight when I started, but my best guess was that I was a little under 130 - ...
Read more