To All Men Who Feel Uneasy When Focusing On Themselves

I've been training men for nearly a decade now.

And, I've discovered a certain emotion surfacing whenever they decide to spend a lil’ time on themselves. Time to improve their health, their body and well being.

That emotion is…

(drum rolls)

Guilt.

They feel guilty for spending time to improve themselves. Heck, they are conditioned to think they’re selfish. Instead, they should “man up”...focus on whatever society thinks a man should be doing (doing chores perhaps?)...and forget about improving themselves.

In my very-selfish mind, that makes zero sense.

You wanna tell me that a man useful to his family and society, is a man who is:

* weak

* overweight

* ravaged by joint pain

* so deconditioned that runs out of breath while climbing stairs

^ That’s a useful man? If so, woe betide him, his family and anyone who relies on him.

Here’s the truth:

You can always find time to improve yourself and your body, without becoming a social pariah.

My clients have time to not only train, but also enjoy some of their “guilty” pleasures as well. Those can be video games, Banhammer, pen and paper rpg’s like Dungeons and Deadlifts, and even dancing.

What epic level spell are they using to do so?

First of all, I land them on planet Earth regarding their expectations.

What do I mean?

Well, if you can train 3 times per week for 30 minutes, you *can* improve your body. But unless you're a total noob, you’ll stagnate fast. With 3 X 30, you either have to train more or be a total dicktator (added the “tator” to protect the underage-teens in my audience) with your diet.

A great equation to keep in mind is this:

Your Happiness = Reality - Your Expectations

Reality doesn’t change. The only thing affecting your happiness, are your expectations. That’s why I prefer losing clients, than having them come to work with me with the wrong expectations.

Jumping along…

Suppose a client can train 3 times/week for 60 minutes/day. And he wants to add muscle to his arms. To do so, I'll create a bang-for-his-buck training program.

In his case, the workouts can be:

* full body

* chest/back/shoulders

* arms/legs

With the above, he'll hit each muscle twice per week. And his arms will get hit thrice per week.

What about the actual structure of the workout?

The full body one could look like this:

A1) Rope bicep curlsA2) Rope tricep extensionsA3) Goblet squatsB1) Seated cable rowsB2) Weighted pushupsC1) Dumbbell lateral raisesC2) Planks

The A, B, C letters mean a superset.

So, he’ll do one set for exercise A1, rest, a set for A2, rest, a set for A3, rest and start all over again from A1. He’ll repeat this cycle until he finishes the sets.

Doing so, will save him time.

More:

Since he wants to add arm size, he starts with arm exercises.

Generally, I prefer starting with the heaviest exercise. So, in the workout’s case, he should have started with weighted pushups. That's what Fitness dogma says.

But, I hate dogma.

Since he wants to focus on arms, we start with curls and extensions. He’ll be at his “freshest” and he’ll channel all his energy into his arms.

Notice there’s no “PURFEKT!1!” workout.

There’s only a workout custom-tailored to you.

But what if you don’t custom-tailor it?

What if Feetness Eggsperts made you believe the only way to improve your body is to workout 5+ days per week, for 120+ minutes?

Then it’s normal to feel guilty.

Only youngsters can spend so much time in the gym.

So again:

Wanting to improve yourself is the best thing in the world. You shouldn't feel guilty about it. Others should feel guilty if they try shaming you.

Anyway, here's the inglorious call to action:

If you’re someone with limited time interested in bang-for-your-buck, custom-tailored workouts, I suggest starting here:

https://grecianfitness.eu/articlesfactory/

Ta leme sidoma,

Fotis Chatzinicolaou