With practice, everything becomes easier. Including carving out a magnificent physique with diet and weight training.
Whether you realize it now or not, every attempt you have ever made to transform your body, has set you up for success. No matter if the attempt only lasted one day, one week, or one month.
All of the challenges you faced and the struggles you endured, no matter how frustrating and disappointing it may have felt at the time, was mastery in making.
Three weeks into this cutting phase and at 41 years young, fat loss has never felt easier to me.
Sticking with my nutrition plan appears to be almost effortless.
Training has never been more enjoyable.
Optimal sleep habits have become automatic.
Stress is managed in a blink of an eye.
So when someone says that it’s easier for me to get ripped than it is for them, I can’t argue with it.
Today, I’ve got it good. Really good.
Trouble is, they think it’s easier for all the wrong reasons and pass judgement on me. They’ll say things such as;
“Your a genetic freak!”
“You’re probably cheating with performance enhancing drugs.”
“You’ve probably been in great shape all your life and have no idea what it’s like to be over fat.”
“You’re a fitness professional, of course it’s easy for you. You eat sleep, and breath this stuff.”
These comments don’t bother me personally.
What does bother me is that the people saying them truly want to transform their body. And what they don’t realize is that making such statements is actually shaping their mindset and could very well be the one thing that’s holding them back.
Frankly, these comments are nothing but a cop-out.
The trouble with these self limiting thoughts is that they are based on assumptions from looking at what’s on the surface.
Just because I’m lean right now doesn’t mean I’ve never been over fat.
I gain fat just as easily as most other guys. And when it comes to fat loss I’m pretty much text book. I follow the calculations and I drop the predicted weight. I guess you could say I’m an average Joe in this department.
Sure genetics have been kind to me when it comes to bone structure. I’ve got long clavicles and a narrow waist. But my muscle building genetics are less than desired. I’ve had to fight tooth and nail for every ounce of muscle gain.
In regards to steroid or PED accusations, I’m typically flattered and find great humour in it. After all, I am just a lightweight.
I sometimes jokingly think to myself that steroid use would rapidly decline if they were made legal and companies used me as the poster boy for how great they work 😉
What most don’t see are the challenges, struggles, and obstacles I have faced.
They don’t see the breakdowns, guilt, and negative self-talk I’ve overcome.
They don’t see the effort, dedication, and consistency that has gone into building my ripped and muscular physique.
It’s taken me 25 plus years to get to this point of Physique Mastery where training and nutrition appear effortless.
Physique Mastery doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s a process where the fundamentals and nuances of training, nutrition, and lifestyle become increasingly easier and enjoyable through continuous practice.
Physique Mastery may be the quickest path to your goal, but it’s not a quick fix.
Physique Mastery may be your shortcut to building a ripped and muscular physique, but it focuses on the long game.
Physique Mastery is about working WITH your body. Not AGAINST it.
Thanks to the skills I’ve developed through Physique Mastery, getting ripped for a photo shoot or beach vacation is a simple and clear process that is actually fun for me.
I embrace the hunger. I thrive from the challenge. I know how much to eat and exactly how my body will respond. I can enjoy treats without binging. I can turn down alcohol while everyone else is getting hammered. I can stick with the plan and follow it through to completion.
And I am grateful for every aspect of the process.
But 6 years ago it was a completely different story.
The Process Of Nutrition Mastery
6 years ago I would eat ‘perfect’ for 3 days and then it would happen. I would eat one cookie. Then two. Then somehow I would find myself justifying the consumption of the entire bag by saying I’ve been good and I will start again tomorrow.
I had that conversation with myself for an entire decade between the age of 25 and 35. A time in my life when I ballooned up from a scrawny 123 pound runt to a 190 pound marshmallow.
NOTE: Ironically, when I gained all that weight it was the time when I had started my career as a fitness professional. That puts the kibosh on the cop-out reason why some people think it’s easier for me to get ripped and muscular 😉
Very few people know the dark places I became lost in during that decade.
The depths of my struggles sank well into the abyss.
But amongst the despair, there was always a glimmer of light that I held onto. It was the core of my being. Everything that made me tick. And I refused to give it up.
Then, one day in February 2011 I decided enough was enough. After countless failed attempts over the course of 10 years, I was finally ready to transform my physique, reclaim my vitality, and rediscover the happy-go-lucky guy that saw the good in everything.
From that point on I began to become more aware of the conversations going on in my mind when I would grab a cookie. Instead of giving into those thoughts of starting again tomorrow I had a response. A counter-argument. That today was all that mattered. That tomorrow wasn’t promised. That the way I had been living for the past decade was incongruent with who I really am.
These conversations may sound silly, but it was a doorway to self-control.
Through the process of mastery I began to become aware of how I felt after each meal. Was I full, over stuffed, or satisfied? How did the foods I consume impact my energy, performance in the gym, vitality, and mental clarity?
I then began to become aware of the texture and taste of food as I savoured every bite.
It’s been six years in the making, but I can say that I finally have control over my cravings and indulgences. It’s not perfect. I’m still in the process of mastery. And I always will be.
The Process Of Training Mastery
6 years ago my training was nothing like today either.
I was caught up in the mainstream short burst workouts. After all, they were hyped up to be the greatest fat burning workouts ever performed by mankind.
I didn’t particularly enjoy these workouts.
Frankly, I dreaded them.
I found that going to the gym was a chore. I hate burpees. Why the hell was I doing them? Training was not congruent with who I was. And because my heart wasn’t into the training it became all too easy to skip workouts or give lacklustre effort.
That same morning in February 2011 when I decided to transform my physique by improving my nutrition, I also made the decision to get back to my true passion in the gym… bodybuilding.
The pump I felt during that first arm workout was like a time machine. Sending me back to my teenage years when I trained for the love of it.
Each time I felt the burning sensation in my muscles a switch would flip in my brain. I began to embrace the burn and took it as a challenge to see how long I could push through it.
I then began to play around with grip, stance, and intentions while taking note of where I felt the tension shift in the target muscle.
I began to slow down the movements. Feeling the stretch while lowering the weight and squeezing the contraction for everything it was worth.
The more I began to focus, the more lost I became in the moment and the greater appreciation I began to have for the human body.
I craved this heightened sense of awareness. I felt everything! The cold iron in my hands, the blood rushing through my veins, the air being sucked into my lungs. It was magical.
As I took things to the next level and began competing in bodybuilding I discovered a new level of awareness as I learned to control my physique with each pose.
I was shocked at how I struggled to open my shoulder blades and flare out my lats. I felt helpless when I couldn’t flex my hamstrings while striking a back pose. But with practice, it all came together and this enhanced mind-muscle connection transferred over to my workouts.
From that point on each rep has become an adventure. Trying to maximize the benefits every time I lift and lower a weight. Today I care less about the load on the bar than I do the quality of every rep.
I see this same light bulb go off with members of the Physique Mastery Movement group coaching experience each time they post a video update of an exercise they’ve been working on mastering while asking for a form critique and feedback on how they’ve improved.
You can see their level of focus and awareness as they perform the movement. Each week they learn to relax supporting muscles to reduce their involvement in the exercises all while shifting greater tension toward the target muscle.
To us Physique Coaches, this is poetry in motion.
That’s the real magic you should be seeking. Not some rapid fat loss or muscle building supplement.
The magic is in the excitement and joy toward continuously practicing the individual moving parts of a successful physique transformation.
With this mindset you can walk away from every workout with multiple victories to celebrate. Not because you hit a PR on a certain lift, but because you improved upon the quality of the reps in which you performed each exercise.
Transferring this practicing mindset to your sleeping habits, stress management, and overall lifestyle will put you on the clear path to Physique Mastery.
Action Steps
Put this in action today.
During your workout try to enhance your mind-muscle connection with every exercise, by blocking out all distractions and becoming grounded in the moment. Get playful with it. Alter your grip or stance and make note of how it feels.
Pay attention to how you feel after the workout. This form of mindful training is a powerful stress reliever. When you embrace this practice, the gym will become your serenity.
With every meal you eat, become aware of how you feel. Your level of satiety. Your energy.
Heighten your sense of awareness in regards to feelings of hunger. Do you enjoy going to bed with an empty stomach and waking up feeling light and ready to eat. Or do you sleep better and feel better when you go to bed with a full stomach and delay breakfast in the morning?
How long can you push hunger before you get to the point of becoming ravenous with an unquenchable hunger?
What conversations do you have with yourself when you eat something that’s unplanned? Do you feel guilty or beat yourself?
Turn off all electronic devices well before it’s time to go to bed. Instead read a book or do a brain dump about everything that’s going on in your mind. Become aware of how it impacts the quality and quantity of your sleep. And become aware of how that impacts your energy, focus, and performance throughout the day.
Go for it! And be sure to share your experience with me. I’d love to hear from you.
As always, thanks for sharing this journey with me. I appreciate you big time!
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant