Category Archives: My thoughts

Music: The Anabolic, The Catabolic and the Bio-Energetic

  By Spartan Living | 05/05/2013 - 1:10 PM | ,
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More than a year ago I posted a brief article about a new concept I had stumbled upon, about music and it’s possible anabolic and catabolic effects. Looking back it was highly inadequate, especially now that I’ve heavily refined the idea. Here’s the original, if you wish to look back.

I’m going into more detail today, so let me define a few terms I will be using:

  • Anabolic: Building up of energy or using energy to make complex objects out of simple ones (building up)
  • Catabolic: Unleashing/usage of energy or breaking complex objects down into simple ones (tearing down)
  • Bio-energetic: A balance between anabolic and catabolic.
  • Potential energy: The… potential energy… something has to use. It’s so simple I don’t know how to explain it. Think of a bomb that hasn’t exploded. It has lots of potential energy. There you go.

I expect you to act smart with me today, so hold on.

Music has very powerful effects on the mind and body.

We all have some music we love, and others we hate. Personally, I think whatever I like is the best and what I don’t like is the worst, and if you don’t agree with me your opinion is wrong. Now moving on.

For years I was perplexed trying to understand why certain people react certain ways to certain music. That question was pushed even harder on me when at 15 and 16 my dad asked me why I blasted stuff like Linkin Park and Breaking Benjamin while doing chores. Well here’s the answer.

Younger people have more potential energy. That is why they get into so much mischief (at age 2) and trouble (at age 20). There is more possible energy to be used, and more intense music is often desired because it unleashes that energy. It facilitates in the expression of the aggressive emotion all humans have, but younger ones naturally have more of.

This doesn’t mean it makes us break stuff. If anything, the music burns up that energy and passion, lessening the possible damage (unless they damage stuff while the energy is being released). This is also why hard music is popular when lifting weights. It unleashes energy to be used in exercise.

In short, catabolic music taken to it’s utmost is aggressive, explosive, and destructive.

Very much male energy (that’s a completely different concept to explain which I picked up from Elliott Hulse).

Anabolic music, on the other hand, is obviously very different. It is popular amongst the older crowd who’s already had their days being stupid and expelling such high level of energy. They have lower potential energy, and tend to favor the gentle, empowering and graceful feel of music expressing more anabolism.

It helps to express deep, powerful emotions we all have, such as sadness and passion. Not passion as in the roaring inferno we feel from catabolic music, but as in the massive energy held at the bottom of even the calmest ocean. Where catabolic energy is physically high (loud noises, jumping, etc.) anabolic energy is low (deep resonating noises, sleep, etc.)

Anabolic music is empowering, calming, and nurturing.

It is the female energy.

Where heavily catabolic music can be archetypically seen in a heavy metal or screamo concert with thousands of raving kids, anabolic music can be archetypically seen in a concert hull with a full symphony in process.

Both side have their legitimate uses. Especially when combined.

Right in the middle we have bio-energetic music. The stuff that makes you feel like you own the world. Not that makes you feel you can conquer the world, or makes you feel like the whole world gives you energy, but the stuff right in the middle.

If catabolic music is fire and anabolic music is water, bio-energetic music would be the Avatar

Awesome show. I wish they made a movie about it.

For a long time I actually had trouble labeling the stuff near the middle, because I didn’t understand the term bio-energetic. I recognized that many of my favorite songs had lots of dramatic contrast between anabolic and catabolic in the same piece, but didn’t know what to call it. Until I took biology and studied the metabolism. Then all my weird ideas made sense, so I  could make them weirder.

Now what’s the significance of this? I don’t know. I’ll just tell you what I do with this knowledge. Then you can go do something with. Change the world, grow a beard, adopt a gorilla. I don’t care.

With Anabolic Music:

  • I listen to this after very intense workouts where my mind is to tired to hear anything catabolic. I also listen to it when I am in a very calm, peaceful mood or am emotionally drained. It builds my energy back up and allows me to recovery very quickly.

With Catabolic Music:

  • I use it to get psyched up for something or when I’m really angry and just need that energy to get burned up doing something. Also since I’m still young, I tend to lean more in this direction anyway (though surprising less than most).

With Bio-energetic music:

  • This is my favorite area to be in. My favorite band, Red, feels very balanced and bio-energetic to me. Also I’ve been listening to lots of neo-classical music, which has orchestras plus dubsteb, or electric guitar, or other modern/catabolic amenities to the classic anabolism. Here’s a playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDisK5c9JSmPD6S8C1ZCP3ohnjJvprpYb

Well that’s all folks. Now go do something!

Oldschool Training: Like a Sir

  By Spartan Living | 02/22/2013 - 3:50 PM | , , , ,
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Normally I decide days or even weeks ahead of time that I want to write a particular post or write about a particular topic.

But an hour before writing this post, the idea of it didn’t even exist.

Writing something this spontaneous isn’t normal for me.

However, while checking my facebook newsfeed, I saw this picture:

Oldschool Logic

It was humorous on the surface, but as I kept on scrolling down my feed, I kept thinking about it. I realized that there is some “truth” to that statement.

Oldschool trainers, strongmen, and bodybuilders (early 1900′s and before) achieved very impressive physiques and did many impressive feats of strength that we still strive for. What has changed in the time since is they way we do so.

It is now in vogue to focus on isolation exercises, low fat diets, protein shakes, supplements, and more weird stuff I can’t even recall.

The irony of this situation is that many people are trying to repeat results done by someone else, by using different methods, and expecting the same results. While certain oldschool trainers (that’s the general term I use) would eat lots of meat, drink every night, lift using heavy compound movements, and live a healthy lifestyle, people try to do just the exact opposite and expect to gain similar results.

That is where the humor in the above photo comes from. Where a modern trainer would worry about getting his protein drink in, an oldschool trainer would simply poor himself a drink knowing he had trained hard that day and eaten well.

Where a modern trainer would focus on the right machines, blasting the biceps, leg curls, bulking and cutting, supplement cycling, etc. The oldschool trainer would simply lift heavy things and eat good food; some of their most popular lifts included the deadlift, bent press, overhead press, picking up heavy/odd objects, and many bodyweight movements (the period I’m referencing was before and during the popularity of the squat, so it’s not on the list).

Oldschool trainers didn’t worry the way we do. They were much stronger and healthier than us. They were also more productive than most of us. So if you want a healthy, maintainable physique like an oldschool trainer, study what they did! They would laugh at how most of us try to become “healthy” and build good looking physiques.

Like a sirTrain like a Sir!

Battling Anxiety

  By Spartan Living | 02/06/2013 - 5:24 PM | ,
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We’ve all heard of the “fight or flight response”.

It’s what happens when we encounter a stressful situation and our body/mind either decides to face the problem or retreat from it. This is how we also are able to respond to anxiety, either by facing what’s causing the anxiety or ignoring the problem.

My Biology professor actually made a nice little image which sums up this process, so I promptly stole a picture of it:

We naturally try to find equilibrium,

or our “comfort cycle” as it’s called in the illustration. When something tries to take us out of this (good or bad), anxiety can build up. Once we reach a threshold (which we all have), we try to decrease anxiety to bring us back to our comfort cycle.

I’ll use an example that happened to me right before writing this.

I needed to go to the bank and deposit a check, but I didn’t want to disrupt my daily norm, my comfort cycle, in order to do so. This went on for a couple weeks, with me always finding something else to do.

Eventually anxiety began to build up over this situation, especially since I needed to pay for my Aweber service soon and my account didn’t have the money. My response had been “flight” for so long, that I had just one day left to get the money in. Knowing this, anxiety built up more (over such a little thing!)

I did finally decide to step out of my comfort cycle and take care of the problem, which put me into the “growth cycle” (by making my bank account grow), which then had the anxiety quickly decrease. And it didn’t even take two minutes!

Driving home I remembered that picture and illustration, and also realized what I had just done. I had used the fight or flight as a way to decrease anxiety, but without solving the problem, instead of actually taking care of the problem, which also would have decreased anxiety.

Being aware of the problem can go a long ways in helping fix it. That is how you can battle anxiety. Know that anxiety will come, and that you will experience it one way or another. However, if you choose to solve the problem that’s giving you anxiety, moving yourself from the “comfort” to “growth” cycle, the anxiety will decrease and your problem will be solved. Avoiding the problem simply causes the stress to build up, until finally you do decide to take care of it or the event passes and you suffer the consequences (which causes more anxiety and problems).

This principle works the same with a healthy lifestyle.

You acknowledge you will go through pain in your life no matter what you do or don’t do, so you take things into your own hands. Saying no to tasty yet unhealthy foods and exercising until you feel like dropping may hurt, but it’s pain you chose so it’s “under your control”, so to speak. However, if you don’t do anything, you will feel the pain of sickness, weakness, and basically being a pushover.

Our lives will have highs and lows no matter what, we can’t do anything about that. What we can do is take it upon ourselves to choose when many of those lows happen (solving a problem causing you anxiety, exercising, saying no to parties so you can get proper sleep, etc.), which eliminate a vast amount of the lows that can come without warning and are outside of our control and may even be more painful anyway (missing a deadline, getting sick, failing a class, etc.)

You will have anxiety no matter what. Instead of fearing it, use it. Have it push you to the growth cycle, which will make your new equilibrium better then your previous.

That is how you battle anxiety!

Embrace pain!

Gifts for Spartans

  By Spartan Living | 12/01/2012 - 11:30 AM | ,
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Christmas is right around the corner…

Yes, even a Spartan can go along with internet memes and a few laughs

…and it is customary to buy/make gifts for others to give to them on Christmas day.

Chances are if you’re trying to buy something for someone, they already have a list of things they want. That is fine. However, here is a list I made of a few programs you could get to give to any “health freaks” you know, or fellow Spartans.

I’ll give a summary of each program along with a mini review. And yes, I am affiliated with some of these programs, so if me making money of these recommendations offends you, I don’t much care.

I only recommend programs I have either done myself, or programs made by people I trust and would use myself. So without further ado…

How To Get a Classic Physique:

This is amongst my personal favorites…

…and one I have used myself. I’ve written a previous review about it, so I won’t stay long on it here. The focus of this program is to build a body similar to that of old school strongmen and bodybuilders.

Left: Eugen Sandow, Famous Strongman and Bodybuilder
Right: Matt Marshall, Author of How To Get a Classic Physique

Main focuses are on diet, strength training, lifestyle and conditioning. Also mentions other Spartan principles that I have grown to love, such as meditation and cold showers. Great for someone who already has a passion for strength training, has access to equipment, and knows how to do the basic lifts.

Body of a Spartan:

The name itself is good. Simple and to the point. That’s what this program is.  Focuses primarily on lifting, going in excellent detail how to perform each lift (the program is worth it just for that alone). The workouts seem very modular, allowing you to decide which exercises to do on which day depending on a few basic criteria. By focusing on strength and size, it is also a great base for any aspiring bodybuilder.

Author Victor Pride Before and After. He sure got big and strong.

Costing only $14, with pages upon pages of pictures showing how to perform the lifts, and  simple, flexible, modular workouts, it’s a great program to get for cheap. Especially for those new to lifting. This would probably be my recommendation for anyone new to weightlifting, strength training and bodybuilding.

 The Grow Stronger Method:

The shortest and simplest program on the list. Workouts are also very modular, presenting a few choices that you work on hard. Strength is the primary focus here, in order to build a solid foundation for everything else. It’s designed to be plugged into whatever other routine a person is doing in order to, well, grow stronger.

The principles outlined in this program allow for you to gain strength and not size or gain strength and size. Excellent for athletes to build a base of solid, useful strength, especially for those that want to get strong while not putting on weight. Also very useful for the more bodybuilding types who want to get big but remain strong, all they need to do is plug some of these techniques into their current workouts. As a strength training program for an athlete, or as a program for a pumper to use to build dense and strong muscle, I would recommend it for sure.

So there you have it.

Three simple ideas for gifts to give to a Spartan in your life, or just to grab yourself for your own personal development. Any one of these can be used on their own, or information from them and others can be combined. The principles in each individual one of these programs can keep a person in good shape making progress for years.

Remember above all, these programs are only for those who want to fight through pain and suffering to reap the rewards of their hard work. Don’t get these for sissies who just want to push light weight, not sweat, and take things easy.

These gifts are only for Spartans.

Greeks and Spartans

  By Spartan Living | 05/22/2012 - 8:31 AM | , ,
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You are aware that all Spartans were Greeks, right? But not all Greeks were Spartans. Whenever you hear the word “Greek” you probably think about vase paintings, or cool stories about gods and monsters, or music, or Olympic games, or art and fancy stuff in general. When you hear the word “Spartan”, none of that comes to mind.

The reason for this is the Spartans made an effort to separate themselves from the rest of the world in the way they lived. They may have been surrounded by other Greeks, but they were far, far different. That is why when referring to non-Spartan Greeks, we say “the Greeks”. We we refer to all Greeks, we must say “Greeks and Spartans”.

Why do I even bring this up? This blog is called Spartan Living. We should separate ourselves in a similar way. We me live in a world filled with normal people, they may be our friends and family, but we should live, act, and be so different that we are not associated with everyone else as equals, like the Spartans. The Spartans were almost a different world, a completely different culture.

Each one of us has the choice to be different then everyone else. We each have a choice to be a “Spartan” in a world of “Greeks”. When a stranger sees you, make it impossible for them to associate you with normal people. Stand out.

Standing out that much can take awhile, and it can hurt. At first you may be mocked or discriminated against. Take it.

People may think you’re weird and might avoid you, or have trouble knowing what to do with you. Take it. They’re just like any other “Greek”. You’re not.

You may be the only one lifting so hard and heavy in the gym that when you’re done all you can do is collapse (I’ve done that). You might skip Thanksgiving dinner because you’ve eaten to much food recently and your body needs a break (done that too). You may take cold showers all year long, even in winter (a word of experience: start the water warm BEFORE you turn it to cold!).

Whatever it may be, do it. Own who you are in order to become the best you can be. If you pick a style of clothes, music, or whatever, own your choice in such a way that no one will question it. There was a time when the other Greeks would cut their hair shorter for easier maintenance and additional safety while in war. At this same time, the Spartans let their hair grow out long, even if it meant more danger in battle.

Another example is of the tortoise and the hare. Heard that one? In this old story, the tortoise owned who he was, even though he was slow and he withstood mockery from the hare, and eventually won the race he was challenged to.

Or of course what the Spartans may be most famous for, the battle of Thermopylae. Leonidas and his 300 leading approximately 7,000 Greeks total against a force I’ve heard might have been anywhere from 100,000 to 800,000 Persians (the more reasonable estimates). The Spartans owned who they were so well, that they drove the Persians to a dead stop, until they were betrayed by a normal Greek. They may have lost that battle, but it left such an impression on the Persians that when the Persian army later encountered an army of 10,000 Spartans, they just gave up. The lines never even met!

So choose to stand out. It may be hard, you may lose a few “battles” at first, but if you stick to it no one will question you, and all will respect you.

We live in a world of normal people. In a world of “Greeks”. Will you be a Spartan?

Inspiration Series Part 1: Elliott Hulse

  By Spartan Living | 05/21/2012 - 1:00 PM | ,
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We all need inspiration in our lives. Something to get us up in the morning, something to make us train hard, something that drives us. This is the first post of many in a series where I tell you about what inspires me. I encourage all of you to find inspiration somewhere, whether it’s a song, a person, a memory, doesn’t matter. As long as it inspires you.

So today, I will talk about someone who inspires me in the health and fitness world, Elliott Hulse. In my previous post, I reviewed his Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded system. In that post, I also recommended it, and I only do that to systems I truly recommend. Especially from people who I highly respect, such as Elliott. He gives out lots of great information for free, wanting to help everyone become the strongest version of yourself.

From reading his emails, watching his “Yo Elliott” question videos, and just looking at all the info he puts out to help others, he has inspired me to do the same. That’s why I started this blog! He encourages to do what you love, and if you can make money while you do it. It was his words that really pushed me, inspired me, to take the risk I’ve mentioned before, starting this site.

And when it comes to training, seeing Elliott at his strongman competitions and training in his gym (lifting some pretty heavy weights like a boss) inspire me to train harder, as well as make me think over what my training goals really are. My goals have changed a lot in that regard, caring a lot more about strength then I have in the past.

I am also inspired in the business world by Elliott. He runs his own gym from which he trains his clients, and makes all his videos. One of my goals is to have my own gym to train and help people.

That is why I’m starting here, by telling people about me. Why I do what I do, and why they should listen to me long enough to become “subscribers” to my ideas. Like Elliott, I sometimes have weird ideas, but I have them to further strengthen myself and others.

Expect more of my inspiration series, and tell me what some of your inspirations are. Are they people? Real, fictional, dead, alive, doesn’t matter. A song? A book? Find an inspiration, and run with it. Take a chance.

Why I Recommend Lean Hybrid Muscle (Reloaded)

  By Spartan Living | 05/17/2012 - 9:30 AM | , ,
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First off, I must say that Elliott Hulse, one of the creators of this system, is probably one of my biggest inspirations and has lots of knowledge and experience in the fitness world. If my little review can get him a few more sales, it’s the least I could do for all the information he’s given me.

He knows what he’s talking about, wouldn’t you say?

Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded. The program that does a little bit of everything. That’s what hybrid means after all, right? This program is designed primarily for anyone with the goal of being athletic, functional, strong and good looking. Sounds like most everyone, doesn’t it?

The idea behind this program is building what is referred to as “type III muscle fiber”, a hybrid that is both strong and has lots of endurance (which also burns fat). Getting yourself to that point isn’t easy, and I’ll be honest, I haven’t been able to push myself that hard yet, but listening to Elliott’s info has still done a lot nonetheless.

This is a goal that is general enough to apply to lots of people. Have a healthy amount of muscle mass (as a natural bodybuilder should) while at the same time being as strong as you look (powerlifter and strongman).

And one very important part, avoiding what Elliott calls “P.M.S.” or Puffy Muscle Syndrome. This is muscle seen from normal bodybuilders (natural and otherwise) or from anyone who follows the normal bodybuilding idea of bulking and cutting. It makes you look big… but look soft as well.

If you want an example of what I’m talking about, the hard, real muscle, just look at the picture of Elliott I posted above. He follows the very routine he has his clients go through. As a matter of fact, this program is simply a written form of what he’s been doing for years!

Something excellent about this program is it’s flexibility. If you are already big (perhaps a bodybuilder) then you change/add certain things to your current routine to gain the strength and endurance necessary for this hybrid muscle.

Already a strongman? Change/add to your routine to give you the muscular, athletic, lean look of a bodybuilder while remaining brutally strong.

Or just an average Joe? Then prepare for the beating of a lifetime, because this is built to get results.

Here’s a page where Elliott goes through creating your own personal hybrid workout (for free!). Who doesn’t love free info? And here’s a page that shows an already done example workout Elliott made for his clients at his personal gym. More free info!

What you can expect to do if you get his system (or even follow his free info) is “resistance cardio”, also known as conditioning, high rep bodybuilding work, intense strength training, and lots of sleeping, eating, and aching.

If you have a goal in the fitness realm (gain some weight, lose some weight, look good with your shirt off) this program can help you achieve that goal (or at least supplement it) while at the same time giving you an all around healthy physical strength base.

But before you’re done, and decide to be on your merry way either with or without purchasing this excellent program, here’s more free stuff! Download this free PDF that you can share with anyone.

Visual Impact Muscle Building, A Simple Review

  By Spartan Living | 05/15/2012 - 12:02 PM | , ,
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Visual Impact Muscle Building.

A more sophisticated book designed to get a very specific look. If you’re goal is to achieve the very lean and cut look seen in the examples shown, then this book is for you.

Visual Impact Muscle Building isn’t about achieving a 500lb bench press, or adding 60lbs of muscle onto your frame (although who knows what could happen). No, it’s about becoming very lean and looking good no matter what you wear. Only buy this if it fits your goal, because it is very specific. If your goal is NOT to achieve a very lean, cut look and have a very defined six pack and body, don’t bother reading on. Read another post. If this super cut look IS your goal, read on.

Something Rusty Moore, the author of this book, mentions that I’ve never heard before is called the “shrink wrap effect”. What is the shink wrap effect? The secret he uses for getting this lean. It is a rather simple idea, which I found revolutionary. With this strategy, you get to a low body fat level, then actually build muscle at a weight lighter then your goal. After your skin shrinks down, you begin “sarcoplasmic” training for size, which causes your muscles to fill out the skin. This creates a very lean, cut look. A shrink wrapped look, as it is called here.

Does it work? It does if you do. I say that with just about everything here, don’t I? Anyway, if used correctly it certainly does work. It doesn’t fit my personal goals, so because of that one reason it doesn’t work for ME. And that is only because I don’t stick to things that don’t fit my goals. But if you’re reading this far, it is most likely because this is YOUR goal, or it at least catches your fancy.

This routine is very customizable depending on your training preferences and where you are physically. Do you prefer machines or free weights? Bodyweight exercises? Any of those will work to get the lean look, the “Hollywood” look, Rusty Moore is focused on. It just matters how you use those exercises. And that is exactly what he covers.

The “shrink wrap” effect, the “Hollywood” look. Just what is this though? Yes, I’ve already said how it is achieved, but what is it actually like?

Have you ever finished an exercise and felt an amazing pump? Did your body look bigger and fill our skin more, causing you to look more cut? This is very similar to what can be achieves 24/7 when this book is used properly.

But the real question is, should you bother buying the book? It costs close to $50. There are cheaper programs out there, and there are more expensive ones. Ask yourself this, “is this the look I want?” Do you want the shrink wrapped, hollywood, super lean look that this book is specifically about achieving? If not, why are you still reading this?

If so, check it out for yourself. Click here and to check out the sales page, and decide for yourself if you are willing to spend the money to get the look.

Take a chance. Be a Man. Be a Spartan.

  By Spartan Living | 05/14/2012 - 12:52 PM | , ,
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When I woke up this morning I read this post from Art of Manliness, and when I sat down to work on this site, I was inspired write about it.

That post also further inspired me to continue what I began by purchasing this domain and hosting with my measly funds. Take chances, take risks. In that post, Want to feel like a man? Then act like one, it is said that in order to be the man you want to be, you must be (act like) the man you want to be.

I want to be a courageous man willing to take chances for potential benefit. And out of my many inspirations, the Spartans of course should be mentioned here. After all, they are the inspiration for naming this blog.

The Spartans were willing to sacrifice safety and comfort to become elite fighters. They took a chance every day in training. It is even said of the Spartans that to them, war was a break from training.

So then, if I want to be the man I want to  be, if I want to continue this effort of Spartan Living, it makes sense I should act it out.

That’s why I spent about half of the money I had saved in this small savings account on web domains, hosting, and ebooks. That’s why I’m not working at some fast food restaurant where I’ll be miserable and surrounded by food I don’t want to touch. Heck, that’s why I take cold showers! I have to act like the man I want to become. A tough risk taker.

So when was the last time you took a chance? How big was it? Did you spend money on this chance? Did you risk injury? Did you risk a relationship?

I know I’ve risked all those things and more in my attempts to be the man I want to be. And guess what? It’s worked. Sometimes taking the chance may not get the results I wanted, even be deemed a failure, but regardless of the result I become better.

So what if this venture in online money making fails? Well, that’s a chance I’ll have to take. And already have.

So go ahead, take a chance. Find a better job. Talk to a stranger. Grab a bag and start walking. Whether other people would consider it big or small, find something that would put you out of your comfort zone, that would require effort, that would make you risk something, and go do it.

Take a chance. Become someone new.

How To Build a Classic Physique, My Recommendation and Review

  By Spartan Living | 05/11/2012 - 9:29 AM | , ,
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A short and simple paper back book. That’s what this product is physically. However, the information it holds is incredibly useful. Even on his site, Tried and True Fitness, The information Matt Marshall gives out for free is better then I hear from most anywhere else.

When I paid for some of this information, it just got better. What is it I paid for? How to Build a Classic Physique. A very useful and simple book, with a focus on strength and health, while still looking good.

Immediately after receiving this book, I read and reread it for about four hours straight. Maybe longer. It contains lots of good information that I was able to begin applying easily.

My favorite part about this book is it’s emphasis on strength training. Personally, I don’t enjoy bodybuilding type training where you do high reps with short rests and pound the muscles to death. Instead, I prefer to lift a heavy weight a few times then take a long break. That’s the backbone of this book (was that a pun?).

On a matter of preference alone, I really enjoy this book. It fits right along with the way I enjoy training. An average of three days a week, focus on strength training while gaining size. Lifting heavy weights. Full body workouts. Compound movements. I learned to love deadlifting after reading this book.

Beyond just preference, How to Build a Classic Physique also delivers. At least if you do…

The workouts are hard. They have to be to get good results. The only results you’ll notice at first are probably being tired and sore. But when used consistently with constant progression, you begin to get bigger and stronger.

Now beyond just the workouts. Matt actually has an entire section of the book dedicated to lifestyle. He knows that there is more to health then what you eat and what you lift. In this section, along with other parts of the book, Matt discusses the importance of sleep, discipline, even the need to take cold showers. Now, to build serious strength and health the lifestyle you live will not be easy, but it will be simple and sustainable.

Along with lifestyle he does discuss diet. Not a typical “I need to lose 30 pounds for a beach party” diet that can only be sustained for a month or two because of calorie counting and all that crap. No, instead he talks about diet in a simple, sustainable way. I’m talking about for your entire lifetime here. And unlike the bodybuilding diets you hear today where you eat 6 times a day, Matt recommends as little as one or two meals a day. That doesn’t take to much time out of your day, does it?

Using basic equipment, buying simple foods, eating only a few times a day, doing simple workouts, and training hard, this book has excellent information which deliver results as long as you stay focused and determined. This book is not for the faint of heart. I’ve had trouble walking some days because of the intense training. I’ve gone hungry while others ate cake or feasted on breakfast because I was waiting for my big meal of healthy foods. I’ve slept with the window open on cold nights and taken only cold showers.

Because I did this, I get the results I want that are promised in this book. Were I to work harder with the principles given in this book, I would see better results even faster.

If you work diligently, you can too. So, if you heard about this book and are sitting on the sidelines about purchasing it, hopefully my review will help you decide (…to get it).

If you’ve never heard about this before, but are looking for a simple, sustainable, effective means of health, click here to check out the sales page for How to Build a Classic Physique by Matt Marshall.

Note: This also makes an excellent Christmas/Birthday gift if you know someone who enjoys training and health. I got this as a little Christmas gift myself.