For those of you who are unaware of it, super body builder, Dave Draper has a free newsletter. I find it to be very creative and inspiring reading......and from a perspective you rarely see anywhere else. Dave Draper is a one-of-a-kind, for sure! I've been getting his newsletter for six or eight months now.....look forward to getting it.
(I'm not affiliated in any way.....just appreciate his input on subjects some of you will enjoy. His web page is:
http://davedraper.com )
I think some of you will find his writing to be very good advice, as well as inspirational.
Here's an example of his writing:
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I'm sitting in the gym minding my own business and a guy comes over and
asks what I'd do if I wanted to gain some bodyweight, say 10 pounds over
the next month. The inquiry is an easy one. He's 40, healthy, knows how to
lift, has the discipline and the time and 200 has been his goal for years.
"I just never put my mind to it and now I'm ready."
I'm never just sitting unless I'm about to do my next set or I'm gasping
for air from my last set; and I'm never minding my own business, my eyes
and ears are secretly in motion picking up stray sights and sounds.
Business is slow; the gym's empty, and I just finished the last amazing
set of another phenomenal workout.
Seated at the bench press within earshot is a high school kid, 160, amped
and lean. He, too, wants to gain 10 pounds in 30 days. "I'm ready, too."
This is not an easy one. He looks like a toppled can of question marks and
exclamation points.
They're ready. I'm thinkin' I'm not. Beyond hi, I don't say much at the
gym. Come to think of it, I don't say much at home or on the street,
either. What's to say, nice day, I'm fine or some other dumb thing? And
the telephone -- forget about it.
The answers to the questions are clear in my mind, but before I say a
word, I want them to be clear in my mouth as well. Have you ever
considered how much damage we cause when the mind and mouth are not in
sync: wars between nations, marriages, divorces, failed business
partnerships and broken hearts? I feel like a time bomb.
Another thing: Perhaps, you noticed I referenced questions and answers in
the plural, whereas only a single question was asked. Therein lies another
dilemma. One question, two inquiring minds (and bodies), two very
different answers. I'm beginning to lose my pump.
Where do I begin? Eat more, train harder and pray is the fundamental
answer and I magnanimously throw it out there -- a stink bomb when they
were expecting dynamite. Disappointment fills their faces and I wonder
which of the three instructions they don't understand? They want details.
10 pounds in a month... First of all, men, you can do this, but I don't
advise it. You'll be eating all day long, ice cream, soda and fries will
be your staples. The weight will ring your waist like an inner tube and
glaze your skin like lard. Your legs will rub and you'll waddle when you
walk and your face will resemble a pumpkin. Your heart will pound, your
lungs will gasp and your arteries will squeal. People will not call you
big guy; they'll call you fatso.
A 10-pound increase in bodyweight in 30 days is ambitious; it is also
gluttonous, frantic, unhealthy, all-consuming, expensive, wasteful and
dumb. What's the rush? Instead, think of 10 pounds in three months, or
about a pound of sound bodyweight a week. This can be done wisely and
well.
Here's what I would do if I were you, you two:
Don't approach the endeavor to gain weight as a whim. Only whimsical
things will happen (or minor disasters). Make it a mission to which you
are committed. It's serious business and serious things will happen. You
have hard and joyful work ahead of you; you will apply and develop
discipline and muscle; you'll enjoy steps forward and endure steps back;
you'll be consistent and thorough, eating and training whether you want to
or not; you'll nurture a positive spirit as you focus on your sound and
exciting goals. Be who you are becoming, a stronger, bigger, more muscular
lifter with more courage and character, savvy and spirit. Why wait? And,
most of all, be humble, or humility will bind your ankles while you dance
like a clown.
You're gonna eat more of the right food. Listen closely, guys, especially
you, lucky young high school teenager with your whole life before you
who's crossing the bridge too few adults have the brains to notice or
approach. You are attending your muscle- and might-building nutrition by
increasing your protein intake and limiting your fat and carbohydrate
intake to those that are valuable and needed, and not excessive or
noxious. I prefer a 50, 25, 25 balance of protein, fat and carbs. Some
smart lifters advise a 40, 30, 30 ratio. Either is good, and you determine
your favorite ratio as you become familiar with your metabolic and mental
idiosyncrasies. We're all a little crazy, ya know, and no two metabolisms
are alike.
Eat regularly throughout the day, six smaller meals rather than one or two
snack-supplemented larger meals. This affords much better nutrient
absorption, a consistent feeding of the tissues for repair and building
and a regular supply of fuel for energy, and it prevents catabolism. You
can do this, men of steel, though it will require some daring sacrifice:
preparing meals ahead of time and storing them in Tupperware for travel,
eating tuna (did he say, tuna?) from the can and stirring Bomber Blend in
water (yummo!) while on the road or at school. And there's no going about
the busy day without breakfast, unless you want to perform like a slug and
leach your existing muscle tissue as a source of energy.
Protein builds muscle and just about everything else in the body, from
huge biceps to healthy hormones. You want all you can get and the best
musclebuilding sources are red meat, chicken, fish, eggs and milk
products. You can take out a pencil and underline red meat. It does it
best! Of course, there are some folks who would rather eat a moss-covered
rock. I understand. Vegetarians head for the nuts, legumes, grains and soy
and anything else that's healthy and edible and grows from the earth's
soil. It works. Lacto-ovo vegetarians do a better job, including milk
products and eggs in their vegetarian menu.
Balance your meals sensibly throughout the day. Some meals, by their
timing will be larger - lunch and dinner time, for example. A protein
drink can have as much protein as 60 to 75 grams of the golden ingredient
with plenty of EFAs and complex carbs, yet it's a simple, convenient and
easy to digest meal. Shakes ideally serve bodybuilders for breakfast,
before and after a workout, when on the run or before retiring -- key
times for musclebuilding, weight-gaining meals. Yes!
Remember: The robust eating supported by basic and sound training does put
on healthy, hard and strong weight. The undertaking must not be
occasional, hit or miss, part-time or in any way short of devoted. If so,
the undertaking is no undertaking at all, but another half-hearted passing
fancy. I think of the color pink. I also think of persistence and patience
producing power and promise, and powerful, promising people.
Do this: make a total of the food you eat in one average day and using a
simple food conversion chart, calculate the calories, protein,
carbohydrate and fat values. You want to know the ratio between protein,
carbs and fat and the total calories ingested. With this basic information
you can intelligently decide where you are lacking, or excessive, in your
daily food balance. And you can balance the arrangement accordingly. Smart
stuff. You can also determine how many calories you want to increase your
food intake and of what food groups it should be comprised - protein,
carbs or fats -- fish, vegetables and fruit or nuts and creamed corn.
This is a bit heady for a kid with a skateboard and a pierced ear. I can
dig it. I've always taken the shoot-from-the-hit approach, myself; that
is, I...
~ increase the protein intake from all sources
~ reduce -- big time -- the sugar and junk food and don't eat fried stuff
(pimples, thick skin, agitating, useless and probably toxic)
~ eat lots of fruit and loads of salad
~ eat some good bread and grain and nuts
~ take a daily vitamin and mineral supplement -- Super Spectrim vitamin
and mineral is A-1
~ eat some more protein. This works wonders. Bomber Blend before and
after a workout, for breakfast and an evening growth meal -- zoom
~ weigh the growing body on the same scale at the same time daily -- an
impartial gauge helps regulate progress. Don't fret -- it goes up and down
as it goes up
~ drink water regularly till you float.. and eat a little more protein
I could go on and on, but I'd go alone. Your training needs close
attention and we can talk about that next week. Knock out some squats and
deadlifts before we meet again, and carry a pair of heavy dumbbells around
the gym till you drop. Get in the mood.
Are you ready for this conversation? Hey, dude, long time, no see. You're
looking -- I dunno -- bigger, fuller, healthier. I can see it in your
shoulders... thicker, more power. You been hittin' the juice? Just
kiddin'! Make a bicep. Golly. You're also calmer, cooler and more
sensational.
Listen to me, guys. By summer you'll have your wings and you can fly with
us. We're authentic bombers. We do lots of loopty loops. You ever do
loopty loops?
Go with God's strength... Dave
Linear Mode
