Quinn the Mighty

If you want to succeed at any sport or challenge, you should look at what the most successful people do.  Ask yourself: what qualities separate the winners from the losers?  I present five traits that all champions possess.  If you work to develop these qualities, you too can improve yourself and become a champion.

1. Champions are highly motivated and committed. Champions set goals and then dedicate themselves to accomplishing those goals. Often you will hear champions say things like “I wasn’t the most gifted, but I was willing to work the hardest.” Great champions are motivated by an internal desire to succeed and to accomplish their goals not by external rewards such as money. Not only do champions set goals, but they can also create a plan on how to accomplish those goals and then follow through with their plan.
2. Champions are positive thinkers. Whenever faced with a difficult task, a champion stays focused and optimistic. Champions will find the positive no matter how bleak the situation looks. This allows the athlete to perform better and to rebound faster from a failure. For example, while inventing the light bulb, it took Thomas Edison 10,000 tries to find a filament that would burn correctly. When asked how it felt to fail this many times, Edison replied “I didn’t fail, I learned 9,999 ways that wouldn’t work.”



3. Champions learn from failure. If you ever attempt anything difficult, you will at some point experience failure. Champions, however, remain positive and learn from their failures. They do not let their failures determine their fate. A champion will learn everything they can from a failure and then completely move on and begin anew. Michael Jordan once said
   

   I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.



4. Champions visualize success. Champions have the ability to “dial in” and focus on the task at hand. Champions will visualize their success before they even step out on the court. If you watch sports, you may have seen an athlete walk onto the court and you knew before they even took the shot that they were going to miss. When an athlete visualizes success their confidence rises and you can read it from their body language. Often champions will visualize their success in games, meets, and practices hundreds and even thousands of times.
5. Champions love what they do. Many people would find it tedious to take several hundred thousand shots or throw millions of kicks, but to an athlete this is what they genuinely love to do. They do not consider it work; they call it fun.

In my 7 Nutrition Tips to Build Muscle and Burn Fat article, I explain how to set up a healthy diet.  One problem many people encounter is that eating healthy can often be more expensive than eating fast food and junk food. Below, I present ten tips to help you eat healthy on a budget.

1. Buy bulk. Buying in bulk is any easy way to cut costs. Stores such as Costco offer bulk items at reduced prices. I buy as much as I can in bulk and freeze or store any extra items until I need them.
2. Buy frozen. Frozen vegetables are often cheaper than fresh produce and contain the same nutrients. Frozen vegetables can also be stored and last longer in your freezer



3. Shop locally. Try purchasing fresh meat and produce at a local produce stand or a farmers market. The products sold are usually organic and often the prices are competitive with or better than any organic products you can find at the supermarket.
4. Buy generic. Generic brands or store brand products are often cheaper than brand name products. The quality and nutritional value of the food is the same.
5. Buy sale items. If you take some time and look around your local supermarket, you will be able to find which items and brands are on sale. Each week you will need to purchase different items, but you can save some money by purchasing the brands and items that are currently on sale.
6. Buy produce in-season. Purchasing fresh produce when it is in-season will save money. Out of season items typically cost much more than when they are available in-season. Produce also tastes better when purchased in-season.
7. Grocery list. Make a grocery list and stick with it. Many people will make impulsive purchases when they are at the supermarket and will spend more money than they planned to.
8. Buy calorie dense food. Some foods will give your more calories for each dollar you spend. Foods such as milk, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and eggs contain a lot of calories and are very filling.
9. Avoid eating out. Eating out is expensive and you cannot control the nutritional content of the food. Instead, try preparing your food at home each week and cooking all your meals. For some tips on how to save time and still prepare your meals each day see my article: How to Eat 5-6 Small Meals per Day.



10. Grow your own food. Although not everyone has the resources, growing your own food is a great way to save money. You can choose how much of each fruit or vegetable to grow and many people find gardening to be fun and relaxing. If you do not have a the room to grow your own food, you may still be able to rent a garden plot. Check with your city to see if they offer garden plots or community gardens.

Many people complain that they do not have enough time to exercise. They say they are busy with work, family, school, sports, etc. Most of the time this is just an excuse.

You do not need to spend countless hours at the gym to transform yourself and get great results. Many great strength training routines only require exercising three times per week for an hour each workout. In this articles, I present five tips to help you make time for exercise.

1. Make an appointment. Schedule your workout each week by adding it to your business calendar just as you would any other meeting.  This way you cannot schedule another meeting or activity at the same time. Making your workout an appointment each week will also provide more motivation to get to the gym.
2. Wake up earlier.  An early morning workout is a great way to wake yourself up and start the day.  All you need to do is wake up half an hour earlier and shower at the gym, and you will free up about an hour of time for working out.
3. Watch less TV and spend less time on the computer.   Many people waste countless hours in front of the television and on the computer.  Limit the amount of time you spend in front of the television by only watching your favorite show each day.  Avoid channel surfing.  Whenever you go on the computer, set a time limit and stick to it.  If you are having trouble, try keeping a timer on your desk next to your computer.



4. Home gym.  A home gym can be a time saver because you do not have to commute to the gym and can workout any time you want.  Additionally, you do not have to wait for or share any equipment.
5. Make your workouts efficient.  Strength training with isolation movements and performing low-intensity steady state cardio–such as long distance running–is inefficient and wastes your time. 
   • When strength training, use mult-joint, compound exercises. Movements such as the squat, deadlift, overhead press, power clean, chin-ups, and bench press work all the major muscles in your body and will give you the most bang for your buck.
   • Perform high intensity cardio. High intensity forms of cardio, such as interval training and Crossfit workouts, will burn more fat and can be performed in less time than traditional low intensity cardio.

Leave a comment and let me know your tips to help make time for exercise.

In my How Many Calories to Eat to Build Muscle and Burn Fat article, I recommend eating at least 20 times your body weight in calories each day to gain weight. Some people – such as those who have a fast metabolism or those who are naturally skinny – will need to eat even more calories.

It can be difficult to eat so many calories and so much food each day. Here’s a list of a few tips that can make it easier to eat more calories.

1. Eat more meals. In my 7 Nutrition Tips to Build Muscle and Burn Fat article, I recommend eating 5-6 meals per day. If you are trying to gain weight, you may need to add more meals. Eating 6-8 meals per day allows each meal to be smaller and thus easier to eat.
2. Track your calories. Most people who struggle to gain weight think they are eating enough calories, but actually are not. Use a food log or web sites such as Fitday and Nutrition Data, which are free resources to track the number of calories you are eating each day.
3. Eat calorie dense food. Some foods are more calorically dense than others. For example, one cup of spinach contains 7 calories while one cup of almonds provides 815 calories. Here are some healthy, calorically dense food choices:
   • Nuts. Nuts are good sources of healthy fats and protein. They are also easy to take with you and eat as a snack.
   • Brown rice and whole wheat pasta. Both brown rice and whole wheat pasta are calorically dense and are healthy sources of complex carbohydrates.
   • Avocados. Avocados are a great source of healthy fats and each avocado is almost 300 calories.
   • Olive oil. Olive oil is another healthy fat and can be used while cooking or added to salads and vegetables. One tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories.
4. Plan. You can make it easier to eat more calories by planning ahead.
   • Grocery list. Prepare a grocery list of all the foods you need for the week before you go to the supermarket. Make sure you always have food available at home.
   • Cook your food in advance. Choose a day or two each week to cook most of your food. I usually cook all my food on Sundays and Wednesdays. I will prepare all the chicken breast, rice, pasta, and hard boiled eggs I need for the next few days.
   • Carry food with you. When you go to work or school, you will need to take food with you. Also, make sure you have at least one backup food item in case a meeting runs long or you get stuck at school.
5. Eat protein. In my 7 Nutrition Tips to Build Muscle and Burn Fat article, I recommend eating 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. So if you weight 185 lbs, you should aim for 185 grams of protein per day. Good sources of protein include ground beef, steak, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and cottage cheese.



6. A gallon of milk per day. If you are having trouble eating enough calories and gaining weight, try drinking a gallon of whole milk per day. A gallon of whole milk has over 2300 calories and is easier to consume than the same amount of calories in whole food.
7. Monitor your progress. Weigh yourself each week in order to make sure you are gaining weight. If you are have not gained any weight, try increasing your daily intake by 200-500 calories. Wait another week and see if you have gained weight. If not, continue increasing your calories until you gain weight.

Pull-ups are one of the oldest resistance exercises known to the human race.  The pull-up is a great upper body exercise, but it is also one of the more difficult exercises for beginners.  In fact, many novices cannot do a single pull-up.  This raises the question: how can you get better at pull-ups when you cannot do any?  In order to answer this question, I will present two methods to improve your pull-ups.

Pull-up overview. The pull-up is an upper body exercise that involves the lattissimus dorsi muscles (the “lats”), the rhombodius, the teres major, the serratus group, and the rotator cuff muscles as well as your forearms and grip.  In order to do a pull-up, you will need a pull-up bar set to the correct height.  Many gyms have them on the crossbars at the top of the power racks.  You can also purchase a pull-up bar to install in a doorway for a home gym.

Pull-ups and chin-ups.  There are two versions of the pull-up.  The first is simply referred to as the “pull-up” and refers to the version when your palms are facing away from you.  The term “chin-up” refers to the version when your palms are facing towards you.  The chin-up has more bicep involvement and hence is easier to do.

Getting started.  The first thing you need to do is stop using the lat pull-down machine and the pull-up assistance machine.  The former is not as efficient as the methods I present below and the later changes the exercise completely.  Since the chin-up is easier to do than the pull-up, you should start with it.

Jumping chin-ups.  The first method is known as a jumping chin-up.  You should lower the bar or use a high enough stool so you can reach the bar with your feet still in contact with the ground/stool.  You will use a jump to get the movement started.  Only use as little jump as necessary to do the movement.  You should lower yourself slowly and under control to get the most out of the negative portion of the exercise.  Repeat the exercise for as many reps as you can properly lower yourself under control.

Band assisted chin-ups.  The second method will use elastic fitness bands to help you complete a chin-up.  Some gyms carry these, but you may need to purchase some at your local sports store or online.  You attach one side of the band to yourself or your belt and the other side to the chin-up bar.  The band will be stretched and you will feel it pulling you up.  Now grab the bar with your palms facing toward you and complete a chin-up.  If you are still not able to complete a chin-up, you will need to use a stronger band.

I prefer the jumping chin-up method for most people, but if you feel you are cheating too much with the jump, the band assisted method can be useful.  Use these methods until you are able to complete a single chin-up on your own.

Moving away from assisted chin-ups.  Once you reach the level where you can do at least one complete chin-up without any assistance or jumping, you should modify the workout.  Start with as many unassisted chin-ups as you can do and then use the jumping or band assisted methods to complete the remaining reps you are aiming to complete.

Once you can do five complete chin-ups without any assistance or jumping, you no longer need to use these methods for chin-ups.  You should focus on doing more chin-ups, doing weighted chin-ups, and start improving your pull-ups.  However, you may need to use the methods listed above when you first start doing pull-ups.

There are days when you will wake up and not feel like going to the gym.  You may not even feel like getting out of bed.  Everyone has days like this.  It is important, though, to force yourself to get up and get going.  You are not going to accomplish your goals by staying in bed and skipping workouts.  I think Vince Lombardi said it best when he declared

Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.

In order to help you accomplish your goals, you need to go to the gym and work hard.  So, I have prepared the following tips to help you motivate yourself.

Routine.  Setting up a routine before you head out to the gym can help you get psyched up for your workout.  Every time I go to the gym, I run through my routine which includes eating something to fuel my workout, listening to music to pump me up, and doing mobility work. By the time I finish my mobility work, I feel more awake and ready to workout.

Workout partner.  Having a workout partner will keep you accountable because you do not want to let them down.  Some days you will need a partner to get you to the gym and other days your partner will be relying on you.

Rewards.  Set up a reward system for yourself.  If you make all your workouts this week/month, treat yourself to something you have been wanting to purchase.

Goals.  Review your goals each day before you go to the gym.  Remember, each workout is moving you closer to your end goal.

Getting started.  The hardest part for most people is actually getting to the gym.  Once you are there, you will feel more awake and motivated.  I have never had a workout where afterwards I wished I had not come to the gym.

One of the most common nutrition questions people ask is “how many calories should I eat?”.  The answer is based on what your current goals are.  Someone looking to build strength and muscle mass will need to eat more than someone looking to burn fat.

Take a look at the three goals below and determine which one is your current goal:

1. Building strength and muscle mass.  When building strength and muscle mass, you will need to be eating more calories than you are burning.  Often, with this goal, you will want to be gaining weight.
2. Re-composition.  During re-composition, you attempt to lower your body fat percentage while still building muscle and burning fat.  You will not be able to lose fat as quickly as if that were your main goal; nor can you build strength and muscle mass as fast as if it were your main goal.  During a re-composition phase, people typically maintain their current weight.
3. Losing fat.  If your goal is to burn fat, then you will need to be burning more calories than you are eating.  During a fat lose phase, most people end up losing weight.

Formulas.  Once you determine your goal, you can calculate the number of calories you need to eat each day using the simple formulas below.  In each formula, you will multiply your current body weight (BW) by the given number to determine the number of calories to eat each day.

Remember, these formulas are just estimates for the number of calories you should be eating.  Start with whatever result you get with the formula.  Try this for a week or two and see if are making progress toward your goals.  If you are, continue with the current number of calories.  If you are not making progress towards your goals, add or subtract 200-500 calories and try again for another week or two.  It may take a few weeks to find the correct number of calories.

In the formulas below, BW stands for your current body weight.

Gain weight with BWx20. For example, if you weigh 185 lbs and are trying to build muscle mass, you will want to eat 185×20 = 3700 calories each day.

Maintain weight with BWx18.  If you wish to maintain your weight of 185 lbs, you will want to eat 185×18 = 3330 calories each day.

Lose weight with BWx16.  In order to lose weight at a body weight of 185 lbs, you will need to eat 185×16 = 2960 calories each day.

Making adjustments.  As you progress towards your goal, you will need to adjust your calories every so often.  For example, if you are working towards losing fat, you may plateau or reach a point where you are no longer making progress.  After a week or two of no progress, you will need to readjust your caloric intake by 200-500 calories.

Tracking calories.  Now that you know how many calories to eat, you need an easy way to keep track of how many calories you are eating each day.  The best approach is to keep a food journal of everything that you eat.  There are several websites that can help with this. Both Fitday and Nutrition Data are free resources to track the number of calories you are eating each day.

Several readers have contacted me and asked for a list of healthy foods to build muscle and burn fat.  Although I gave several tips in my 7 Nutrition Tips to Build Muscle and Burn Fat article, I do not list many specific foods.  So I decided to write this article to list most of the healthy foods I keep in my kitchen.

When you go to the supermarket, there are two things you should keep in mind:

1. The healthiest foods are typically found along the perimeter of the store.  For example, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, eggs, meat, and fish all appear along the perimeter of my local supermarket.
2. If a food is brought into your house, you will eventually eat it.  This means that in order to eat healthy, you should only bring healthy foods into your household.

Fruits and Vegetables.  With fruits and vegetables, I like to purchase whatever is in season.  Right now I have the following fruits in my kitchen:

• Oranges
• Clementines
• Apples
• Bananas
• Tomatoes
• Apricots
• Peaches
• Blueberries
• Strawberries

I also keep the following vegetables:

• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Sweet potatoes

Meat, poultry, and fish.  There are plenty of other meat options besides chicken breast when eating healthy.  Here are a few I purchase:

• Lean ground beef
• Eye of round roast
• Bison
• Chicken breast
• Salmon
• Tilapia
• Tuna
• Shrimp

Dairy and eggs.  When purchasing dairy products, you will notice several versions available based on the amount of fat.  I purchase non-fat and low-fat versions when my goal is to burn fat and I buy the higher fat versions when I am building muscle and need more calories.  Here are a few dairy and egg products I keep in my refrigerator:

• Milk
• Cheese
• Cottage cheese
• Omega-3 Cage free eggs
• Egg whites

Grains, breads, and oats.  I only keep grains, breads, and oats that are complex carbohydrates.  I avoid products that contain added sugar and high fructose corn syrup.  Here is what I keep in my cabinets:

• Brown rice
• Lentils
• Bulgur wheat
• Whole grain tortillas
• Rolled oats

Nuts and oils.  Nuts and oils are a good source of healthy fat.  Oils are also useful for cooking and adding some extra flavor to your vegetables.  I keep the following in my kitchen at all times:

• Almonds
• Cashews
• Olive oil
• Natural peanut butter
• Pam cooking spray

Beverages.  As I mentioned in my 7 Nutrition Tips to Build Muscle and Burn Fat article, I try to avoid non-calorie containing beverages.  I currently consume the following beverages:

• Water
• Green tea

Fill your kitchen with the healthy foods listed above and you will be on your way to building muscle and burning fat.