The Iron Guru, Vince Gironda was legend in the world of Physical Culture. Here are seven of his best tips.
1) Get sufficient sleep each night. Growth can only take place after recuperation. Get plenty of rest.
2) Build up enthusiasm for each workout. Going through the motions of training will not produce results. You would be better off not training.
3) Cycle your training. Never do today what you can’t supersede tomorrow. Don’t perform more exercises or more intensity than necessary to maintain an upward growth pattern.
4) Never continue your workout so you run out of steam before the end. Work your muscles and do not over work your nerves. Doing so will actually result in muscle loss.
5) Take an occasional layoff. You can for a new plateau if the body is rested and willing. Make your layoffs planned and not a result of being lazy.
6) Don’t forget about the importance of diet. Diet is the major factor for all bodybuilding success.
7) Watch your stress level. Stress is one of the bodybuilder’s greatest enemies. Stress will alter your entire physical and mental state and cause progress to halt or even reverse.
As I’m sure you noticed there’s nothing on that list that you haven’t heard me say a million times before.
But if you’re like me you like and need regular reminders to stick with what works. We can all get too caught up from time to time and lose sight of what really matters when it comes to producing results.
For years I was as guilty as anyone of never getting enough sleep. I also sometimes train for too many weeks in a row at high intensity without taking a deload week or a layoff.
That’s another huge mistake that can kill your progress. I’ve had to learn that one the hard way. As much as you may love to train hard you really do need to back off every 4-12 weeks (depending on your chronological age and training age and a few other factors) otherwise you will hit a plateau and start getting weaker and possibly injured.
And of course, stress will kill your progress on all fronts so we all need a daily reminder to cut it down, no matter what it takes.
Vince was ahead of his time and had so many ideas that were considered unique and novel back in the 60’s.
For more muscle building tips from the Iron Guru click HERE.
Keep it old school.
