Author: Brad Borland

Cancer Survivor, Military Veteran, University Lecturer, Strength Coach, Natural Drug-Free Bodybuilder, Husband, Father

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Blog Training Workouts

Build Your Best Physique Weeks 13 to 18

If you’ve been following along for the past few months you’re well entrenched in the Build Your Best Physique programs weeks 1 to 6 and weeks 7 to 12. If it’s been working for you and you’ve enjoyed the program then by all means don’t change a thing. Keep going. But if you’re ready to shift gears or have hit a plateau then this phase is for you.

After a week of either downshifting your intensity or a few days entirely off from training altogether you’ll be ready to go to the next level. This phase is unique in the way of intensity and pace. You’ll be supersetting exercises in such a way to maximize your time and effort.

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Blog Training Workouts

Build Your Best Physique Weeks 7 to 12

So by now you’ve been on the first six weeks of the Build Your Best Physique Program (weeks 1 to 6). You should have a firm grasp of the basics and have built a bit of a foundation of strength. By focusing on the big compound movements for six weeks and taken either a break or downshifted your intensity for a week or so, you’ll be ready to ramp up into this next phase. 

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Blog Training Workouts

Build Your Best Physique: Bodyweight Workout

Phase 1 of Build Your Best Physique workout has you mainly performing traditional, no-frills exercises easily done in most gyms. But I often get questions pertaining to how to modify workouts when certain equipment isn’t available or because of crowded gyms. Additionally, many want bodyweight alternatives when on the road or training at home.

With all that said, a common follow-up question is if one could actually build any significant amount of muscle with bodyweight training. Will it be worth your while to perform a few bodyweight moves in order to shore-up your training when the availability of weight training equipment just isn’t a reality? Can bodyweight training be challenging enough to overload the muscle or muscle group in order to induce a substantial training effect?

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Blog Training

Your Training Should Be Generic (Not Complicated)

What does it take to get a college degree? How do you improve your distance while running? How can you gain more muscle or lose body fat?

The answers to these questions aren’t all that complicated. Concepts such as putting in the hours, having focus, and possessing discipline, consistency, and a hard-work ethic are just a few that come to mind when wanting to accomplish most things. These attributes are universal tools that can be applied to what we want to get out of ourselves. Even when you talk to those who’ve accomplished so much in life will mention how they just put in the work, day after day, week after week, and month after month.

Do you notice what’s not on that list? The minutiae, the tiny details, and nitpicking that we ironically seek out so badly. Rarely do you hear a story about sweating the small stuff. They aren’t obsessed with the small, unimportant things that really don’t have much bearing in the big picture of success.

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Blog Training Workouts

Build Your Best Physique Weeks 1 to 6

If you’re needing a new beginning, coming back to training after a long layoff, or are 30 or 40 something and want to follow a no B.S. plan then this is for you.

We’ve already listed a few principles to establish a foundation, but now it’s time to get down to business. The following program starts the “Best Physique” training plan with weeks one through six. It will establish a base for building a muscular, lean physique. Pure and simple. What isn’t included are trendy techniques, unrealistic requirements, and cool-sounding titles (unless you want to call Best Physique super cool or not).

The purpose here is to avoid complicating the muscle building process. Try this plan out for the first six weeks and let me know how you do in the comments below.

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Blog Training Workouts

Build Your Best Physique for Life

“Blasting,” “killing,” “destroying,” “pummeling”, and “crushing” training sessions seems to be the accepted vernacular in your common, big-box gyms these days. If you’re not “killing it” every day then don’t even show up until you’re ready to show your mettle. You need extreme intensity mustered from the depths of your soul.
Best recipe, right?

Building our physique for the long-term should be the goal for most of us. By building I mean all aspects of the word: strength, healthy muscle, mobility, wellness/health, and eating habits as well as stress management and recovery/injury prevention.

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Blog Podcasts Training

The Essentialists Podcast: Brad Borland

Listen to my latest interview with Shane Trotter for Breaking Muscle. We talk plenty of shop such as drug-free muscle gain, the FOMO effect, and my attempt at life advice. Oh, and stick around for the rapid fire round of question near the end.

Listen here

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Blog Motivation Podcasts

Over Divorce Podcast: How to Use Exercise to Fight Through

Together with Tom and Adrian of OverDivorce.com I discuss ways health, fitness, and nutrition can help anyone through tough situations. From depression and endorphins to discipline and a healthy lifestyle we tackle all aspects of getting results.

 

Listen here

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Blog Motivation Training

Why Every Man Should Do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

The following is a guest post from Brock McGoff at The Modest Man. Every now and again we all need to try new and uncomfortable things. Read on for Brock’s own experience…

A couple of years ago, I was working in a small company in downtown Washington, DC. Like many other young guys, I was working 8+ hours a day and enjoying at least one happy hour every week. I was also going out on the weekends, drinking sugary lattes every morning and eating out a lot.

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Blog Motivation

Surviving Cancer with a Lot of Help

“Bring your shoulder around…flex those deltoids…keep the abs tight.” It was late on Thursday night June 2nd, 2005, and my workout partners were critiquing my posing after hours at my workplace. It had seemed like an eternity and yesterday at the same time that I was in the middle of chemotherapy treatments just last year at this exact time.

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