The Importance of Body Inventory

To create a perfectly symmetrical body you must routinely take a body inventory.  The first time I heard of the concept was while reading Arnold's "Education of a Bodybuilder".  The approach is two fold.

First, you want to asses the damage.  Where are you the sorest and where have your joints been taking a beating.  The second assessment is on weak points.  Take pictures and look to see where you need EXTRA work.  Weak point training does not mean ignoring everything else.  Be smart and think like a sculptor 

In July when we decided on the 12/3 contest we took pictures and had a complete inventory.  I looked for weak points and one was tricep development.  While I never stopped working biceps, I added extra reps, sets, or posing holds for triceps. After 6 weeks the proof was trully evident and now relaxed, my triceps stand out.

If you take a good assessment you will find that your energies will be shifted properly and you will avoid plateauing.

Train hard
-Alex

Goal Setting Part Two - Ignorance and Confidence

Mark Twain stated that to succeed in life you need two things; "ignorance and confidence".  This is very true, however the success part of the equation, comes from balancing between the two.  Let's look at both.

Ignorance- Obviously this is the one you want in the smallest capacity.  You do not want an ignorance against learning.  Life is about lessons and failure.  Each happens to us every day.  Someone is teaching us a lesson and we fail at something everyday.  It is how we react to this acquired knowledge and how we respond to our failures.  I have told my two sons that failure is part of life, ignorance to adapt and overcome failures, will lead to more failure.  You can apply ignorance here.  Be ignorant of failure.  Take it as a lesson; then adapt and overcome.  Also be ignorant of negative forces. If someone is constantly telling you that you cannot do something, it is your choice to accept their belief.   Confidence from others cannot ever outweigh your own self-confidence.


Confidence- Confidence is not conceit.  If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish something special.  It shows in your every mannerism. You will carry yourself with pride and conviction.  Also, you will have the diligence to learn from every failure with a renewed since of accomplishment.  And that is exactly what failure is, an accomplishment.  You have achieved a ceiling in your mind, body or soul.  The character of a man is how he build confidence from within and challenges those ceilings to rise above his failures.

To conclude, simply be ignorant of others confidence in you and be confident in yourself.  You will find that learning from your failures will allow you to reach your goals much faster.

-Alex

Goal Setting Part One - Will Power and Failure

Will Power

Friedrich Nietzsche believed: "that Will Power is the main driving force in man; achievement, ambition, the striving to reach the highest possible position in life; these are all manifestations of the will to power."

It is with this in mind that I set my goals.  Simply put, I believe that I am the only road block to my success.  Therefore when I set a goal I do it with a Will that Powers my ambition and achievement.  I visualize success and make sure that when I am in the gym my mind is focused on the task at hand.  So make sure you are fixed on your athletic goals when you train.  Do not be thinking about a football game, a movie or a girl.  It is only an hour or two a day, so don't cheat your self and concentrate.  

FAILURE

Nietzsche also said "that which does not kill us, only makes us stronger".

This is the best way to view failure.  We need to fail every day.  We learn from failure and our bodies do as well.  Do not always think about numbers when doing sets, instead push yourself to failure.  If you do this everyday you will break down barriers you thought were impossible.

Train to Failure and Will yourself to success

-Alex