The Fitness Masochistic Paradox

Posted on December 13, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

I’m thinking that getting bulky was exceptionally easy for me. However, getting lean is an entirely different story.

It seems that there’s a reason why people are always wanting to give up when they are attempting to lose weight on shows like “The Biggest Loser”. Losing weight takes a lot of discipline! The reason why gaining weight was so easy for me? It took consistency and dedication, but no discipline for me.

I would eat whatever I wanted to gain weight. I’d eat a lot, and gaining weight just depended on me lifting weights at a progressive overload. Of course, I didn’t care as much about the cardio because I was trying to get big! That’s not to say I didn’t do cardio to minimize the fat gains. It just wasn’t top priority, and it was a lot more challenging.

Doing cardio and eating clean? That sounded brutal. I’ve done it before, and I honestly thought it sucked. Oddly enough, that could be because I get addicted to crap foods and not because eating clean is actually horrible.

It does feel like a mission, though, and while bulking required the consistency, cutting is requiring a lot of discipline. I am doing my best to develop the discipline needed to lose weight, and honestly it feels like some weird masochistic effort. That is, I’m inflicting all of this pain on myself in the moment during my training and I’m depriving myself of the crap foods.

..the crap I used to eat provided by FreeImages.Com

So why do I call this masochism? I like doing it! It’s a challenge. I’m putting myself into challenge and I’m going to come out of this a lot stronger than I was when I started..

It’s a paradox because it may be hard now, but it only gets easier as I continue to push myself and succeed at my goals. Before too long, I will be bigger, faster, stronger and as lean as can be! I believe I can achieve my goals through a little pain and hardship now…

and you can too!

My mile times are speeding up, I’m eating fewer calories, and I’m beginning to feel like a healthy individual. Progress is, as always, a matter of consistency and discipline. I’ll keep grinding, and I hope you do too.

Go Out And Get What You Are Worth

Posted on October 31, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

Yesterday, we talked about how discipline is so much more important than motivation. While motivation is great to get you started on something, discipline is what carries you through the good times and the bad times.

Discipline is getting things done even when you don’t want to, because you know you need to. So I suppose a rational thought is to say if you’re passionate about something, choose to discipline yourself in your pursuit of that passion.

Honestly, sometimes I don’t even want to work out and sometimes I don’t want to write posts. However, day after day I still work out and write my posts. This is because I’m disciplining myself. Above is a picture of me in a shirt I bought from brosciencelife and I honestly love the way my physique is shaping out.

..and I love the way this website is turning out.

..and in the end, I have a lot of reasons to thank for all this success but the most important is discipline. If I quit, I wouldn’t have received any results. I probably would have fallen into a vicious pattern of complacency.

Which leads me to believe something,

Life runs off momentum.

So don’t be complacent. Don’t slow down! Have a fire in you that won’t die and keep pushing forward.

You know that you’re worth something and that you can do great things. Go out and get what you’re worth.

Forget Motivation And Develop Discipline

Posted on October 31, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

Motivation – (noun) the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

While motivation is great, it can often be fleeting. You may be willing to do something one day, and not want to on another day. Motivation is simply wanting to do it! For a little while you’re driven, and if you have no discipline you crash and burn.

Discipline – (noun) the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.

Discipline is doing something whether you want to or not. It’s sticking to a set plan, or something you said you’d do, whether you’re still motivated or not. This is self-discipline. You don’t have to punish yourself if you don’t finish things, but you know that self-discipline is important if you want to have the habit of getting things done.

In the video above, Elliott Hulse talks about his timeline for success. He explains how he worked fruitlessly for five years on creating his youtube channel before he ever got the viewership he has now. It goes to show how you have to stay dedicated, even when things don’t seem like they’re paying off. Even when you have doubts. Even when you don’t know if you really feel like it.

Often times, I think to myself

“What would I gain if I quit working out right now?”

“What would I gain if I quit working on Maxed Out Muscles?”

The answer is nothing. There is nothing to gain from quitting. If I continue working hard I can assume that maybe someday I’ll be successful. I can also assume that I’ll become a different person as I’m working hard to become the person I need to be in order to succeed.

My questions today are

Have you personally felt like giving up?

Whether it be on your fitness regime or something you’re passionate about?

Have you ever been highly motivated to do something and then wavered?

What do you think of today’s post? Do you agree that discipline is extremely important?

Please let me know in the comments down below. I want read your opinions.