As the health and fitness industry explodes, fitness/bodybuilding competitions are becoming increasingly more popular. The idea of looking and feeling like a modern-day Arnold Schwarzenegger feels exhilarating. Having minimal body fat, glistening skin, popping muscle bellies, and skyrocketing self-confidence is secretly the dream for the majority of people.

However, this God/Goddess-like feeling doesn’t come without its disadvantages. Like anything else in life, the universe requires equilibrium. This equilibrium comes in the form of sacrifice and these sacrifices must be thought about before pulling the trigger on living the extreme lifestyle of bodybuilding competition.

This industry requires an incredible amount of time. This time, for most, comes in double-digit numbers of years. This is just for the possibility to become successful. If patience isn’t your game, then you may be in for a big surprise. You need the time to prep your food and to keep your nutrition on point every day. Sacrificing date nights, family outings, and events become a regular occurrence. You’ll find yourself hauling your food and water everywhere you go, and every day is going to seem like Groundhog Day.

Success in bodybuilding, like anything else in life, will require sacrifice.

Only for the lucky few this industry can become monetarily rewarding. For 99.9% of everyone else, it’s nothing but a financial burden. The cost of food, travel, recovery, competitions, supplements, etc. can add up to tens of thousands of dollars extra per year.

Get ready to throw your fluffy pillow out of the window because comfort is going to be a thing of the past. Pushing the body to build muscle is painful. Dieting into the low single-digit body fat percentages is mentally and physically exhausting. Learning your body’s biomechanics and nutritional requirements is going to be a whole new world and developing new daily habits is going to change the entire way you live your life.

Taking all this into consideration, this is going to have a drastic impact on your romantic and personal relationships. Personally, this industry has been the demise of many relationships because the sacrifices required don’t fit the traditional agenda. It’s very rare to see a relationship last when one person is in the industry and the other is not. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.

Success in bodybuilding, like anything else in life, will require sacrifice. That comes in forms like time, finances, relationships, comfort, patience, etc. We all need to be aware of the potential downsides this industry can dish out in order to help combat them. Like scheduling dates, improving time management, and organization, becoming more financially responsible, etc. With some little tricks and time, it can become easier to live this extreme life.

The only person stopping you is you. Be willing and prepared to sacrifice what you must to succeed. If you’re not, that’s understandable as well because it’s not easy. However, we cannot expect reward if sacrifices are not made

We all know what comfort feels like. It’s that extra 5 minutes in bed you squeeze in after you’ve hit the snooze button for the 3^rd time. It’s sitting on the couch after a hard day of work, watching your favourite show, and ordering in your over-priced, calorically dense dinner for the 3^rd time this week. It’s repeatedly complaining about the job you hate but not doing anything about it because it’s easier to do the job you already know how to do. It’s hating what you look like in the mirror on a daily basis but continue to live the same way.

Comfort feels amazing because it’s easy. It’s easy to order. It’s easy to sit on the couch and watch Netflix after work. It’s easy to sleep in. However, that euphoric, dopamine-filled rush that comforts pumps through our veins is exactly what’s preventing us from improving our lives.

It’s hard to quit the job you hate because it’s stable and safe. You know how much income is coming in and when it’s going to be there. Sometimes it’s hard to cook a healthier, cost friendlier meal after a hard day of work. Sometimes it’s hard to get up earlier in the morning to go to a fitness class or hit the gym. It’s hard because it’s new. It’s hard because new is difficult. It’s hard because difficult sometimes hurts.

Tibetan Monks have a saying “Life in pain”. This pain is what I’m speaking about. The pain of growth. In order it lives the life we desire; we must grow through pain to flourish. No pain, no reward.

The truth of the matter is the uncomfortable, difficult and sometimes painful feeling is exactly what we need to succeed and grow. That’s the magic ingredient to success in any area of our lives.

Most of us know how to ride a bike but it took practice. It took a few good falls, some blood, and maybe a broken bone or two to get the hang of things. It was difficult and painful. However, now we can ride a bike without thinking about it. This is the reward we get for enduring the pain of learning and growing.

Tibetan Monks have a saying “Life in pain”. This pain is what I’m speaking about. The pain of growth. In order it lives the life we desire; we must grow through pain to flourish. No pain, no reward.

This means if you want to change your body, you must go through the pain of not hitting the snooze butting in the morning. You must feel the lava-like burning sensation in your muscles as you work out. This requires the pain of prepping your food for the next day before you go to bed so have proper nutrition for the next day. This requires deleting any food ordering apps from your phone and learning new habits just like you’ve learned how to ride a bike.

Will you fail a few times, absolutely? Just like how you fell off that bicycle but with time, it will continue to become easier until it’s your new comfortable position. You think the feeling of comfort feels amazing, try the feeling of reward when you hit a goal you’ve been painfully working towards. That rush is one hundred times more powerful.

Time to decide. To challenge yourself and grow or to continue to live the same way until the end of your days. Let the pain of growth begin.

Photo By: Sean Davidoff

Lifting weight has come a long way over the years. From archaically lifting the biggest stones we could find to deadlifting with steel weights that have been calibrated with absolute precision. Yet, one question has remained. How much weight do we need to lift to gain the most amount of muscle?

It isn’t a secret that lifting weights can take its toll on the body. Especially, when we turn our modern logical brain off, our caveman thought processes on, and toss around the largest amount of weight around possible. This can lead to joint problems, torn tendons, broken bones, herniated disks, etc.

I’m not going to lie, I have done all of these. I was forced to learn and adapt in order to give myself longevity in the lifting game. To my surprise, I am now gaining MORE muscle than ever before.

Here are 3 ways to pack on that muscle mass while significantly preventing injury:

• Control The Tempo

I’m not talking about shaking your hips to the tunes blaring through your headphones. I’m talking about the speed at which you lift and lower your weights. For example, you may be able to bench press 225lbs for 10 reps. However, you’ll likely only be able to do 3 – 4 repetitions if I tell you to take 3 seconds to lift the weight and 5 seconds to lower it.

The loss of momentum forces maximum resistance onto the muscle tissues, activating more muscle fibres which result in increased muscle growth

• Isoholds

An isohold is when you hold the weight/resistance in a static position for a predetermined amount of time. For example, if you’re performing a bicep curl, hold one arm at a 90-degree angle while performing 5 repetitions with the other arm then immediately swap arms until you complete your designated repetitions.

This will increase the time under tension of the muscle required less weight to push the muscle to the max.

• Decreasing Rest Times

The muscle requires adequate rest in order to recover between sets to perform at its max. When we shorten the rest time the muscle requires to recover, we can reduce the weight needed to push the muscle beyond its limits. This will achieve massive progress while significantly reducing injury.

If we want longevity in the sport, and life in general, we must train smarter. We have access to an unbelievable amount of information that can help keep us safe to enjoy one of the greatest sports on earth. Time to utilize it and become the best version of ourselves possible without ending up injured.

Photo By: Sean Davidoff

When we think about investments, we usually automatically jump to stock markets, cryptocurrencies or RRSPs. Health is usually the last thing that we think of as an investment.

Why do most of the society continue to put their health on the back burner? We’re more inclined to spend 40 dollars ordering Skip the Dishes three times a week than using that income on nutrition that will provide a true benefit to our health.

So how is our health investment and how do we measure the gains or losses?

First, when we’re ignoring the signs of poor health, our quality of life slowly descends until we find ourselves in the depths of chronic illness and depression. We’re sitting in a constant state of fatigue and anxiety. We become short-tempered and impatient. Our recovery is poor, motivation is nowhere to be found, and any light has incredible difficulty breaking through the thickness of our brain fog.

Let’s take a moment and imagine how all of this is negatively affecting our lives. If we’re falling into illness on a consistent basis, we’re likely having to take time off work to recover. This means a decrease in income and those losses quickly add up.

If we’re feeling like a sundried cow patty on a consistent basis, our patience is thinner than tooth floss and the slightest inconvenience will send us into a mental tailspin. Think about how this affects our relationships. Do you think our friends, family or spouse is going to want to deal with that kind of attitude? A divorce or a broken relationship is going to cost a heck of a lot more than taking proper care of our health.

The single most important thing in life is your HEALTH.  IF you are going to invent in one thing, this is it.

How about our professional relationships? Do you think potential customers, clients, business partners, etc. want to be in business with an individual with high anxiety, brain fog, impatience, a short temper and a lack of motivation? It’s highly unlikely.

The negative ramifications are massive when we put our health on the back burner. Now this is where we can see the enormous ROI investing in our health can give us.

Less time off work from illness means minimal income loss. Increased self-esteem, confidence and lowered stress result in healthier and happier personal relationships. A clear mind, decrease anxiety, increased patience and motivation, givingusthe ability to significantly increase our potential for a raise, a promotion or to sign that whale of a client. Again, leading to increased income. With that new income you could dramatically influence your other monetary investments.

Like all other investments, investing in your health is a long-term game. We likely won’t see an immediate return but with time, the compounded returns are gargantuan. It makes you think a little bit differently about hiring a trainer or coach, like myself, for only ameasly few hundred dollars a month.

Without health, all the money in the world is worthless. Without health, our love dies. Without health, our positive impact on the world vanishes. It’s time to rethink how we view our bodies and health.

If we want to simultaneously level up in all areas of our life, we must start at the source and that source is US.

We needed off the last article on a very controversial topic. My mind was fighting between whether I stick to my beliefs and sacrifice my career or risk my health by taking the experimental Covid-19 vaccine?

After many emotional nights with my wife and some deep thought, the decision was made to proceed with my career and get the vaccination. I’ve worked too hard to get where I’m at to be strong-armed into losing it all. So now that is done, time to let it be the past and stay focused on the future.

Unfortunately, the path forward didn’t last long. I need up in Urgent Care 7 days after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine with chest pains. They started out light and hardly noticeable. Day after day, the pains continued to worsen. They reach the point where the shooting pains were taking my breath away. I was hooked up to ECG machines, had X-rays and so much blood work done. I was surprised I didn’t need a transfusion.

Although we had a little speed bump, we’re more focused than ever. There is a job that needs to be done and we’re working every day to make sure we make it happen. I’m noticing daily changes in my body composition, which is substantially helping with my motivation and pushing through the tough moments during this contest prep.

All the results came back as inconclusive and nothing wrong was found with my cardiovascular system. This, of course, was relieving news, however frustrating considering the circumstances of the situation. Since then, the chest pains have dissipated and now we’re back training to full intensity.

Although we had a little speed bump, we’re more focused than ever. There is a job that needs to be done and we’re working every day to make sure we make it happen. I’m noticing daily changes in my body composition, which is substantially helping with my motivation and pushing through the tough moments during this contest prep. Like dragging my butt out of bed in the morning to do an hour of fasted cardio or eating the same plain meals day in and day out. I’m starting to become ravenous between meals and I am having to spread them further and further apart in order to maintain some kind of satiety throughout the day.

This is starting to play its toll. The physical and mental stress of controlled starvation aka contest prep is quickly wearing me down. I couldn’t attend my family’s Thanksgiving dinner this year. One of many sacrifices that must be made during contest prep. My grandparent hosted the dinner and was leaving for Arizona soon after the gathering. Unfortunately, I was unable to see them before they left. Yet another sacrifice that had to be made for my success.

Surprisingly, they weren’t disappointed. They told me that after reading my book (The Good, The Bad, And The Heavy–The Bold Truth About Bodybuilding) that they completely understood why I couldn’t come. Experiencing that moment alone was worth publishing the book.

The relationship between my wife and me is starting to become divided. She is prepping for the same show as I am, and it’s most certainly challenging the strength of our relationship. We’re both quickly becoming increasingly more exhausted by each passing day. Our patience, even with the smallest of things, is becoming more fragile than my grandmother’s china.

Our conversations have become short with little to no emotion. We’re both starving and living in a constant state of unease. Both of us can see that one of our emotional rubber bands is about to snap. We haven’t been on a date for months. Between the amount of training, cardio, careers, food prep and exhaustion, we haven’t been able to spend any quality time together. With the persistent, almost permanent, state of exhaustion, both of our sex drives have completely tanked and we haven’t been able to have any intimacy for weeks.

As you can see, if either one of us wasn’t involved in the industry to understand exactly how it feels physically and emotionally through a high-end contest prep, how it can easily turn the strongest relationship into dust. I have become now become exhausted to the point that I have never felt before and the concern for my physical health is crossing my mind.

I have now pushed my body beyond its limits and it’s starting to shut down. I’ve crashed. With only 6 weeks left, what do I do now?