JohnBarban.com

It seems that many guys who are trying to build bigger muscles and ‘bulk up’ really don’t know what they’re talking about and don’t even know what it is that they want. I think any statement about building bigger muscles or bulking up needs to be qualified.

If you hear a guy say: “I want to bulk up and put on muscle” what he should be saying is: “I want to bulk up and put on as much muscle as possible without using steroids”

The qualification of steroid use or not dramatically changes what “bulk up” and “put on muscle” even means.

And this is where the breakdown occurs between many guys expectation of how much muscle they think they can build vs what they actually experience.

Many novice, intermediate and even some advanced lifters are reading magazines and taking supplements but looking at pictures and idolizing athletes and bodybuilders who all take steroids. The false assumption is that you can get steroid like gains without using steroids.

So the following two lists are the priority lists, thoughts and decisions that go through the head of two different guys: one who does and one who doesn’t use steroids:

Guy who uses steroids

1. I want to get as big as possible

2. I want to get as strong as possible

3. I’ll take whatever drugs get the job done

Guy who doesn’t use steroids

1. I want to be as big as possible without drugs

2. I want to be as strong as possible without drugs

3. I’m scared of drugs and want to recreate drug like gains without using them

4. I’ll try to recreate drug like gains with supplements

5.  I’m worried what others will think of me if I use drugs

6. I’m still really scared about side effects

7. I’ve been training for years and still can’t grow as fast as ‘big guys’

I must need more protein and supplements

8. I’m scared of drugs and their side effects

9. I must not be eating enough to gain like the ‘big guys’ so I’ll eat more

10. There must be some special workout technique I’m missing that will make me gain muscle faster so I will subscribe to dozens of ‘muscle building’ newsletters

11. I’m scared of drugs and their side effects.

And thats it. That is the real difference between guys who do what it takes to be really big, and guys who think they want to be that big.

I’m not saying that every guy who lifts weights must use steroids. What I am saying is that if your goal is steroid like size, then the only way to achieve it is with steroids. <– this seems pretty obvious.

Many of the muscle building and strength building marketing that you see uses models, bodybuilders and athletes who are using drugs. And you as the reader end up believing that a special workout or supplement can give you the gains that only drugs can produce. Eventually you blame yourself for lousy genetics, not enough protein in your diet, the wrong supplement routine or simply not pushing hard enough in the gym. All of these things are false.

The real problem was setting an unattainable goal in the first place. (this preys on the male body dysmorphia complex that we all have even slight twinges of: the need to be bigger and stronger than the next guy over)

Until the fitness/nutrition/diet/supplement industry lets you in on the secret that all of their models use drugs, you will always be left guessing and wondering what amount of muscle size and conditioning is truly possible without them.

John

As some of you may or may not know, Brad Pilon and I are building a new home based gym that is designed around the use of chains for weights. No dumbbells or barbells.

We’re in the process of building up a stock of different sized chains and we’re developing a fully Adonis Index compatible workout around the chains.

The chains are very easy to use and create new exercise options that simply don’t exist in a regular gym.

For example: here are some pics of me doing push ups with varying amounts of chains that add up to almost 100 extra pounds added to my bodyweight.

Exta 40 pounds added with Light Chains

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With approx 100 pounds added

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Tired! Push ups are't supposed to be this hard!

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It’s pretty simple to make a push up workout into a maximum strength and muscle building workout with the addition of a few chains.

We actually have enough chains to mimick the weight of a 300 pound bench press. I can say that there really is no need for bench pressing if you’ve got enough chains around.

I’ll be updating you periodically with new chain workout photo’s and video’s as we develop this new workout system.

It’s project name is called ADONIS CHAINS (as you might have guessed)

John

I was just chatting with a client the other day about weight loss and the challenges he is facing with it.

It seemed that most of his issues with weight loss had to do with things like the social atmosphere at work, going out for lunch with his co-workers, eating dinner with his family and other people who are not interested in trying to lose weight, passing by his favorite coffee shop in the morning and stopping in for a coffee and a muffin. Social events on the weekend and going out for dinner and a few drinks.

Sounds pretty standard to me. These seem like the same issues most people would have with weight loss. They sure are the same hurdles I’ve had to overcome to ever cut down my body fat so I can certainly relate.

But when we started to talk about muscle building the story seemed to change direction.

When it came to muscle building he was doing everything he could to try and build up muscle. He was hitting the gym faithfully 3-4 times per week, lifting heavy weights, doing the ‘big lifts’, taking a post workout shake, eating plenty of protein, even timing his protein, shakes and creatine doses etc…

But none of this fancy stuff seemed to matter and did very little for helping him build muscle faster.

And then I realized there is a huge misconception with fat loss vs muscle building.

Fat loss (or fat gain) is largely controlled and influenced by your environment.

Building Muscle (or not) is largely controlled by your genetics.

Following a well designed weight training program is about all you can do for building muscle. The gains come slow, and are determined by your genetics and your age. There really is nothing else that can influence muscle gaining (besides steroids).

Arnold and the boys knew that the workout was king for muscle building

On the other hand fat gain or fat loss is hugely impacted by your surroundings, who you eat with on a day to day basis, the eating and food culture in your country, your city, your place of work, and especially your family and house.

I think many of us recognize how much our environment can influence our ability to gain or lose fat, and assume it also has the same ability to influence our ability to gain muscle. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

If you’ve ever tried to lose a significant amount of fat you’ll know exactly what I am talking about. The workout or your genetics plays an insignificant role in weight loss compared to your ability to avoid going to that coffee shop for the muffin, or out with your buddies for wings and beer, or have a second helping of food at dinner, or go out for lunch with your co workers etc.

To sum it up, successful weight loss seems to be a matter of controlling and overcoming the influences of your environment.

Building muscle successfully without gaining fat is a matter of accepting the limited control you have over this process and accepting that hard work in the gym is all you need to do, and have the patience to let the gains come over time.

John

P.S. I have found Eat Stop Eat to be the easiest way to lose body fat and get control over the food environment that I live in.