A Wise Man’s Approach to Training

What if I told you there was a shape, an ideal shape you could build? Would you be interested? And what if I told you that your perception of what you think looks good to women is actually wrong? In other words I would challenge you that you have this completely wrong. Would you be interested?

Most people have such a strong belief and opinion based on what they heard and experienced that whenever someone says anything different to the way they think and perceive life, they completely disregard it and don’t even bother to think that their perception and their belief might actually be the wrong one.

And this is pretty understandable, because if you admit to yourself that what you have been lead to belief is in fact false, you will also admit that you have wasted years of your life.

A great example are guys who do the whole bulking and cutting crap. They want to build more muscles so desperately that they fall for the whole “eat big to be big” approach. And just because of this single belief they literally waste their best years being fat.

And then one day they wake up and realized that for the past ten years they have gone fat and they feel miserable, and some guys are so scared of admitting this to themselves that they just continue bulking for the rest of their life.

Beliefs are very strong foundations of our lives, so it’s a good idea to revisit them from time to time and make sure you really understand things and are on a right path.

Always keep open mind.

Here is a good quote that fits this theme:

“Belief is a trap, there will always come a situation when it’s not true.” Eben Pagan

Remember that.

Now, let’s get back to the questions from the first paragraph. And let’s dig a bit deeper into your beliefs and approaches.

What would you do if you would be told that there is an ideal shape that is almost irresistible to women?

On one hand women are completely different compared to us men, for them the strongest thing is how you make them feel, that’s what will determine whether they be attracted to you or not.

However, on the other hand they are very close to us men. They still think about sex a lot and they decide whether you are dating material or not pretty quickly. They are also affected by something called “the halo effect”, which means people associate good characteristics with good looking people.

What is undeniable is the fact that when you get in shape the way people look at you is different and it’s not like they choose it or can control it.

While they realize this on some level, it still mostly happens on a subconscious level.

When you don’t look average or just fit and you are actually at or close to your idea shape, then you stand out in a crowd.

The only place you wouldn’t really stand out would be Arnold’s Fitness Expo.

Everywhere else people will notice you, guys and girls, guys will respect you and some of them will feel threatened by you, but for the most part they will perceive you as an authority and if you behave correctly they will be making friends with you pretty quickly, women on the other hand will see you as a possible sexual partner.

You see no matter how you look, every women will always look at you and with a matter of seconds decide whether she would be interested in you as a sexual partner, relationship partner or just a friend. Or whether she even wants to talk to you. This is why looks is so important, despite the conventional perception that it doesn’t matter how you look.

While you can destroy those perceptions almost immediately if you start behaving like an idiot, let’s say you have your outer and inner game aligned, in that case looking good will mean that women will want to talk to you and if you know what you are doing, well we all know how that is gonna end.

Looks matters, it’s not everything, but it’s very important aspect of everyone lives, or at least it should be if you want to be successful.

Now, let’s say you understand all of the above and you are a guy, who knows he has to look good, but is not sure which direction to go to. Let’s say you just need to learn which shape you should build in a gym.

Don’t Waste Your Time in the Gym and Do the Research

There are many different reasons why you may have started training. But the one that 95% of the guys who step into the gym share is to get in a better shape. Not to get better at some sport, to be stronger or healthier, none of that, most guys want to look better.

Now let me ask you why.

Seriously, why do you think guys want to look better and be in shape? Why do you?

Is it because of confidence? Good feeling about yourself? Maybe, but all of this leads to one thing and one thing only.

Having leverage in social interactions and being able to choose any attractive woman you want to sleep or spend time with.

Because this is what most of the guys want, it’s pretty astonishing that only about 4% of those who go to the gym actually train specifically to improve their physical appearance and have the workout that moves them towards that goal.

And really only few know which body shape to aim for.

I found it pretty interesting that only few guys bothered finding out what body shape is truly attractive and how to structure their workouts to build such a shape.

And I was exactly the same, it took me three years until I finally started doing some research on what should I really be doing in the gym and what is the goal of training for physique.

It’s astonishing that we guys think we know it all, the truth is that we are all the same, stubborn and thinking we don’t need help.

Most women understand that they should aim for a specific shape and they even usually know what shape that is.

Guys are a bit more egoistic in this case and they don’t really understand that they should be aiming for a specific shape.

So, I before we start talking about the specific body shape you should be building, let me tell you that you are already a step ahead of 96% of guys that go to the gym on regular basis.

Seriously, How Should You Train in the Gym?

Now we are getting to the good part, right?

If your goal is to look good, your purpose should be to aim for a body shape that really strikes as dominant and masculine.

Deep down we all know how this shape looks like.

Nowadays guys are having issue with identifying a good looking shape, because their goals get hijacked by all the fitness magazines and supplement companies presenting huge bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman or Jay Cutler.

Well, let me tell you something, girls don’t really fancy Jay Cutler or Ronnie Coleman, why? Because they look like freaks.

If your goal to look good and not like a freak you have to aim for a physique that is naturally build, six pack ripped, symmetrical, and with shoulders and back that dominate the body.

It’s really about focusing on proportions, symmetry, aesthetics and shape.

However, we are a bit screwed, because it’s really hard to find a body that would be a good example for this in our society.

So, let’s go further into our history.

I believe that the Greek sculptors really understood what male body is ideal.

Greeks were pretty obsessed with aesthetics, math and proportions, so it only makes sense to go to this era for inspiration. Plus we can be pretty sure they didn’t have anything close to steroids, so we have this covered as well.

In my opinion the best sculpture for our purpose is the Doryphoros. Just take a look.

The Doryphoros is one of the best known Greek sculptures showing the perfectly harmonious and balanced proportions of the human body in the sculpted form. Could this be the ideal male's body shape?

If you look at the sculpture you will notice aesthetically pleasing muscles, good proportions, lean waist, visible abs, well-developed chest and dominant shoulders.

Does this mean this is the perfect physique?

Of course not, you can still make certain muscles bigger, improve your abs and do some minor improvements, but that’s something that shouldn’t concern you now, that’s the work after you build your ideal shape.

The idea is to build a dominant shape and then keep improving from there, but you have to build that shape first.

Most guys approach it from the opposite end, they work on their biceps and do the minor stuff first and then they end up fit, but without the dominant shape and wonder what did they do wrong.

Now with this understanding, you only have to do one thing.

Incorporate this knowledge into your strength training routine.

The muscles that make a man look dominant and not just fit are his shoulders, back and chest. Train those three groups the most of the time and you will look better than any guy you know.

The key is in structuring your training in a way to build the ideal body.

Workout is really the single most important tool for muscle building you have. You can’t build muscle by eating more chicken and drinking protein supplements four times a day that is not how it works despite what the supplement companies and your gym buddy tells you.

You need to train hard, often, with perfect technique and focus on training muscle not lifting from joints. And most importantly you absolutely have to have a well-structured plan for building more muscle and shaping your body.

Here is an example of such a workout:

Monday

-          Shoulders, Chest, Back

Tuesday

-          Shoulders, Back, Arms, Abs

Wednesday

-          Rest

Thursday

-          Shoulders, Chest, Arms, Abs

Friday

-          Shoulders, Back, Arms, Abs

Saturday

-          Shoulders, Chest, Legs

Sunday

-          Rest

Train like this for few months and you will see some insane progress. Forget what all the personal trainers say or what you have read in the magazines, if it was true, then everybody would be ripped by now. Most guys don’t realize what muscles make up for a masculine body and create that illusion of you being big and dominant.

Summary

• Be open minded to new approaches, put your ego away and try to learn as much as possible
• Focus on developing an ideal body shape
• Build a proportioned body, not just big and fit one, the shape is the key
• Structure your training in a way, so you will build your ideal body
• Focus on your shoulders, back and chest
• Build the dominant shape first and then do the tweaking and improving, not the other way around
• Do the research before you spend the next ten years aiming for some physique

Sources for deeper understanding of the topic:

Fitness Model Workout – Muscle Pyramid’s number one workout choice if you aim for the ideal body shape.

The Theory of Ideal Proportions - Mandatory reading for anyone who wishes to build his ideal body shape.

Have this article help you? How did you tweaked your workout after learning this information? What workout protocol do you currently follow, are you getting results? The Muscle Pyramid community wants to hear from you!!!