How To Follow Through With Your Goals

When you decide to make important changes in your life whether it be weight loss or muscle growth, you will write down a list of goals as a guide to achieve them. Having goals is an important step to reaching an end destination. Without them you can so easy sway off course and get side tracked.

Many people fail mid to long term in reaching their goals. They end up losing their enthusiasm and will power to carry on. Often because events going on in their lives may have distracted them. Or they no longer feel the urge to chase their goal any more because they found interest in something else  or even lost interest because they expected quick results.

If you find a goal in life and you want to achieve it, you need to first have the mind-set to accept failure. You must be willing to accept that you will fail along the way. However this doesn't have to end your goal. The mere realisation of being able to allow yourself to fail numerous times gives you the ability to pick yourself up and continue on without having to end the entire goal completely.

When you set out a goal, let’s say it is to lose weight. Make yourself understand that while you’ll do well in the first week or two, you will eventually relapse and have a day where you let yourself down by indulging. However, because you've accepted that you will fail at some points down the road you’ll find it easier to get back on track later. Your goal should be lined with little pit stops of failures. But ultimately you reach the end destination.

To sum up, succeeding with your goals is purely a mind-set. Accepting that you will fail at certain points allows you the freedom to jump straight back on track.

What Exercises/Routine Is Best For Developing Forearms?

People underestimate developing forearms and I hardly ever see them being trained in the gym. It's not just about how your biceps are, having developed forearms are just as important and boast several benefits, from a stronger grip to sex appeal, plus they just look downright intimidating.

So I ask, do you want to develop your forearms but not sure how to approach them? If yes then I’ve put together this rather simple training routine that you can follow next time you’re at the gym. These following three exercises are the best at working your forearms.

Close-grip front pull-ups (bodyweight)

Start with close-grip front pull ups. Reason being that these will be the hardest since you’re pulling up your own bodyweight. As this is a bodyweight exercise, how many reps you do depends on your current strength but aim for five reps to start.

Three sets at five reps each

Forearm curls (barbell)

Once you’re finished with the close-grip pull-ups move onto forearm curls. Use a light to moderate weight here because we really want to pump the forearms now seeing that the close-grip pull-ups were low in reps.

Three sets at twenty reps

Hammer curls (dumbbells)

We’re at the finish now. Now we’re aiming for moderate to heavy weight for hammer curls to finish off and destroy the forearms. Look to do ten reps but they need to be tough, not a easy ten

Three sets at ten reps

That’s it, forearm workout completed. You’re forearms should be pump and feel like stuffed sausages. Of course this isn’t a once off routine. To develop massive forearms you need to keep training them. Just remember to incorporate forearms whenever it is arm day at the gym.

Tips For Bigger More Massive Arms

Doing correct form for bicep curls
Proper form is needed to effectively train your bicep muscles. To do this you should choose a lighter weight, locking the elbows at the side of the body and pulling up the weight without moving your elbows at all.

Don’t neglect triceps
Your triceps make up two thirds of your upper arm; therefore train them equally if not more so than biceps.

Don’t neglect forearms too
Get the complete look by gaining massive forearms. Train them just as much as you would biceps and triceps. Hammer curls, forearm curls and close-grip pull-ups are the best exercises that work to build up forearms.

Compound exercises
Compound exercises such as pull-ups, lat pull-downs and shoulder presses also engage the arms. In addition a lot heavier weight is used with compound movements therefore it encourages more muscle growth.

Food and rest
Muscle isn't created out of thin air. The body requires substance to build it i.e. food. So make sure you eating and resting enough to encourage growth.

Got The Physique? Now Finish The Look

Good posture
Having poor posture portrays low confidence and self-esteem. It's not a good look so straighten your back, pull back your shoulders and keep your head up and looking forward.

Wear fitted clothing
Wear clothing too tight and you're trying to hard, too baggy and your physique is hidden. Clothing should fit comfortably and flow seamlessly with your body. Try before you buy.

Simple dress style
Keep it simple, let your body do the talking. Too much graphics distracts the focus away from your physique.

Attitude
Don’t ruin your look by portraying yourself as arrogant. Walk with confidence, look people in the eye and smile. Be approachable.

Four Calorie Counting Tips

Having a notepad in the kitchen
It's easier to track the calories you consume by keeping a notepad at hand in the kitchen. This way you can easily log down ingredients as you use them.

Don’t always rely on kitchen scales
Use ingredients divided in halves and quarters instead of always weighing them (full onion, half onion, quarter onion) This saves time and makes cooking more hassle free.

Know the calorie content of staple foods
Keeping a list in the kitchen of everyday staple foods along with how many calories they contain saves time from having to research them online.

Add up calories later in the day
Eliminate the boredom of adding up calories multiple times throughout the day by doing it all in one go later when you have sufficient free time.

Frozen Chocolate Mint Smoothie

This shake is very thick and filling so I tend to use it as a meal replacement. Best stick to the measurements exactly on this recipe as it really turns out really thick; it gave my blender a hard time.

Characteristics
High in fibre
High in protein
High in carbohydrates
Contains antioxidants
Thick in texture
Served ice cold

Ingredients
One and a half banana (must be frozen)
Dark chocolate 25g
Fresh mint leaves (a few)
Milk 300ml
One scoop chocolate whey
Dry oats 100g

Method
I blended all the ingredients in a blender on full power for a minute.

Nutrition
Calories 942
Protein 53
Carbohydrates 131
Fat 25

Advice For Beginners Wanting To Get Bigger And Stronger

If you're skinny and want to gain size and strength, then keep in mind the below three points. It's what I followed throughout the years and it got me results.

Keep it simple

Stick to compound movement exercises when you first start lifting weights (exercises that engage more than one muscle) These require greater effort and force to execute and are the best way to build up size and strength.

Eat more

Muscle isn't created out of thin air. The body requires substance to build it i.e. food. So you’ll need to eat more and train hard at the same time to encourage your body to grow.

Stay motivated / don’t get discouraged

Everyone wants and expects fast results. Unfortunately this is not the case when body-building. It takes months for your body to adapt and strengthen. Just keep at it and remember that getting bigger and stronger is a lifestyle choice; stick with it and you’ll win in the end.

Adjusting The Texture Of Your Protein Shakes

I vary the consistency of my protein shakes to three kinds depending on how I feel on the day; if I'm hungry I want my shake to be dense so that it fills me up. Other times I want my shake to be loose so I can consume it quickly and there are times when I’d prefer a creamy shake that I can sip and enjoy. Below I share some of the ingredients I use to achieve these various textures.

Thicker shakes

To thicken protein shakes I add dry oats; typically about 100 grams into the blender. Dry oats don’t alter the flavour but gives a thick texture as well as increasing the protein and fibre content in the shake.

Creamier shakes

To make a shake creamy I use either low fat cottage cheese or plain Greek style yoghurt. Both ingredients don’t deviate from the main flavour of the shake. I always use frozen ingredients, a cold creamy shake is a lot better to enjoy than one at room temperature.

Loose/runny shakes

Whatever the main liquid ingredient of the shake is, whether it is water, almond milk or milk itself; I just add a lot more of it into the blender. Typically I end up with enough liquid in the blender to make two shakes but that’s fine by me as I can have one pre-workout and easily refrigerate one for post workout.

These are just some of the ingredients that I add to change up the consistency of my shakes. There are a lot more ingredients out there that I've yet to try but in the meantime these work for me.

My Approach To A Cheat Day

The way I approach a cheat day is to first look ahead and plan where I can fit one into my schedule. I normally try fitting them in on birthdays, special occasions or weekend nights.

My approach is to little by little reduce my daily calorie intake leading up to a cheat day (about 100-150 calories per day) Once my cheat day arrives, I would have built up a deficit of a couple hundred calories to be used on the day, without affecting my normal weekly average consumption of calories if I had not had a cheat day.

Sometimes, depending on how overboard I went on my cheat day; I might still reduce my calorie intake for a day or two after to bring my weekly calorie consumption back to an average. I also make sure I consume lots of water and get some healthy nutrients on the day besides all the sweets, cakes and alcohol.

To summarise, I reduce slightly my daily calories leading up to and sometimes after a cheat day. This way it hardly makes a dent in my weekly and monthly average of calories consumed and, best of all no guilty feeling.

Bodybuilding Snack: Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds

I got bored of eating plain almonds as a snack so one day I decided to cover my almonds in dark chocolate for a change; the result was surprisingly good. I used dark chocolate (90% coco) which is low in sugar and high in antioxidants. The whole process took less then five minutes to make.

Recipe
Almonds
Dark chocolate

Method

I melted the dark chocolate in a bowl inside of a saucepan of boiling water. Once the chocolate had melted I took the bowl out of the saucepan; put in the almonds and mixed around. Using a spoon I picked each almond out and placed onto a plate. I then chilled in the fridge until the chocolate hardened.

Tip

To know exactly how much dark chocolate I've used once it has melted; I first weighed the empty bowl before putting anything in it. The chocolate that is left stuck in the bowl after the recipe I weighed again and deducted to find out how much chocolate had been used on the almonds to keep track of my calories

Covering almonds in chocolate