CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE July/August 2020 | Page 25

maximize your results. Know
what one thing I noticed with
99% of the people who come
to me and fall into one of the
above 5 categories is? They
all share in common that they
lack one of or more of what
I call the 5 columns of your
fitness success.
This article is not about what
diet you should follow. It is not
about what the proper macro
ratios are. It is not about what
the best exercise is. It is not
about what routine Dwayne
Johnson follows or what
the best steroids to get you
shredded are. If you are dying
to know those things, you
most likely are lacking those
5 foundational columns I talk
about. We all know nutrition
is crucial and about it's
shortcomings but that would
be another article on its own.
The 5 columns that you can
do daily are assuming you are
maximizing your nutrition.
You will not need a fancy gym
set up, or hundreds of dollars.
Sure, having a proper diet and
training program is important.
Taking the right supplements
can help you meet the
physique you want faster. If
you do not have these in check
your results will not have a
foundation to build upon.
1. Meditation- Meditate every
day. I was a non believer at
one point like most of you
are as well. I thought this was
something bogus that only
yogis and monks did. It is not
hardcore, it is not sexy, and I
could not see how this was
going to help me build big
biceps. Well I was very wrong.
I was stunned when one of
my former coaches put this in
my program. I respect him so
I gave it a shot. I saw my life
change . I was becoming more
aware with my body. I was
becoming more in tune with the
processes inside me. I saw the
importance of consciousness
and being able to fortify the
connection between mind
and the body. This is how you
contract muscles. The harder
you can contract a muscle
against resistance the more
potential for that muscle to
grow. Meditation does not
have to be doing chants
and connecting to the spirit
world. Many people have this
misconception. It is more
about being able to clear the
mind of all your stressors and
focus on one thing or nothing.
You can focus on your natural
bodily processes, you can
focus on your muscles, you can
focus on the goals you have,
or you can simply focus on
emptying your mind. Whatever
your personal meditation may
be, you have to find something
that will allow
you to grow
positively.
When you
meditate,
your breath
will slow
down, your
heart rate
will slow
down and
your blood
pressure will
decrease.
We are in a constant state of
stress between our phones,
social media, work, kids,
friends and is not conducive
to having the best possible
physique. We want to aim to be
in a restful state as much as we
can. You can start with guided
meditations which make it
very easy to do and it could
even be 10-15 minutes a day.
It can be on your lunch break
at work, it can be before bed,
it can be before your workout
or it can even be as soon as
you wake up. You will find this
will change every aspect of
your life. The best and easiest
way to begin meditating daily
is by putting a timer for 10-
15 minutes on your phone
and laying in a quiet room
with your eyes closed. Begin
focusing on your breath and
slow it down. Use a 5 second
inhale, a 2 second hold and a 5
second exhale as you breathe
through your nose into your
belly (not your chest).
2. Daily Blood Flow - It is
crucial to get the heart rate up.
Breathe through your nose and
increase your cardiovascular
abilities. No matter what your
day throws at you, make sure
you are doing something
active every day. This can be
a 30 minute walk first thing
in the morning, push ups in
front of the TV, a run with your
dog or it can be a hardcore
2 hour workouts. Whatever
it may be, never spend a day
without moving. Today you get
people so concerned about
overtraining and saying they
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