You need three things to be able to feel dapper and look stylish: Confidence, a stylish wardrobe and a fit body. Grab a hold of these 3 things fellas and you'll be ready to take the world by storm. No questions asked! I'll be bringing my advice on how to get fit and stay fit based on my experience and experimentation over the years, hopefully it'll be a great help to you guys. Stay tuned...
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7/16/11
I'm no gym rat but I do enjoy hitting the gym at least 3 times per week to keep my body in such a condition that I deem acceptable. I have what's known as a 'swimmer's physique' which basically refers to the body type that has muscular definition but is lean rather than bulky (such a body type works for swimmers as it allows for more agility and speed) and I have absolutely NO intentions of developing a thick, husky, NFL worthy phasique.. I love my body type. When I work out, the areas that I've chosen to really focus on are my chest, abs, calves and biceps and the workouts that I've incorporated into my regimen have given me really great results. However, the latter muscle group has given me nothing but grief since the very first time I picked up a dumbell. I swear I would gnash my teeth in frustration every time I stood in front of my mirror during my private 'flex time' (come on fellas, we all have those private moments lol) and realized my biceps had little to no muscular definition and were just barely visible in comparison to the rest of my nicely sculpted body parts. I've spent years doing basic bicep curls where my upper and lower body were at a 90 degree angle, even adding on extra weights, but it never gave the results I wanted. A few months ago I happened to be reading Men's Health magazine and came across an article on building bigger biceps and the article has literally changed my life, or at least my biceps. It had a diagram laid out detailing what are called incline bicep curls which are curls that you perform while sitting on a bench with your back on an incline. The very first set of reps that I performed I could feel the intense burn in my entire bicep, such a burn I'd never felt while doing a basic curl and I thought to myself, "ok, this is gonna be interesting!" Since adding these curls to my workout I have seen tremendous improvement in the fullness and definition of my biceps. The below link will show you a video which provides full instructions on how to go about doing incline curls and also gives a few cool tips that I never knew about, and trust me, you'll never go back to basic curls after giving these baby's a try!
(Note: In now way am I encouraging any of you to seek to develop the massively bulky physique of the dude in this vid. If you've been blessed with such a physique, cool. But for the rest of you, focus on the instructions and tips he provides because they will make great improvements to your biceps. Work it out!)
11/5/10
This month's issue of Details magazine featured a rather interesting article on physical fitness, it was all about building lean muscle. Being a naturally lean dude thanks to both genetics and an outrageously fast metabolism, I used to get sort of bummed out when my body didn't look as bulky as those of the Incredible Hulk-esque type dudes who frequent my gym. Over the years I became comfortable enough with what God gave me and decided to work with the lean body-type that I have and according to Details, today this lower body mass, greater muscle definition, aka the "swimmer's build," is what's "in" for men. Think about it, the fast-paced lifestyle that most working men live (especially men working executive level positions) requires that they have the ability to go for the long haul, therefore lugging around a huge, vein-ladened, bodybuilder-type physique is going to weigh you down and slow you down.
Not only does lean muscle mass allow for easier day-to-day activity, it also affords you the ability to easily fit into most of the slim, fitted clothes that are slowly becoming the norm. If you flip through the photo spreads in any mens fashion magazine or watch a mens runway show you'll notice that most of the male models are tall and slim while still having muscle definition. Why is this the case? Well, most mens fashion designers are designing clothes that closely skim the body thus creating a much neater silhouette. I can guarantee you, it would be extremely difficult to fit Deion Sanders' or Reggie Bush's bulky bodies into a Verace suit without tearing every seam and thus requiring some major expert tailoring. So, If you're like me and aren't a member of the stocky breed count it a blessing then make a trip to your nearest H&M or Express and enjoy the glory of being able to fit into EVERYTHING right off the rack! It's a beautiful feeling!
- Eat a diet consisting of high-protein (tuna, nuts & grains, eggs) and carbohydrates (whole wheat bread, rice, pasta). Protein aids in proper muscle growth while carbohydrates or "carbs" give you energy.
- Eat smaller portions more frequently (4-5 small meals per day) to keep your body energized and allow for easier digestion. Eating fewer and larger portions are what cause weight gain because such large portions take longer for your body to digest.
- Engage in exercises that combine cardio and weights. According to Details such exercises work the more intricate muscle groups that weight training alone won't target.
- Quit looking at those oversized gym rats who spend their entire workout in front of the gym mirror and whose necks look like tree stumps, they'll just contiue to make you feel inferior!
