36 Pounds.com » Motivational

Inspirational Quote: Squat, you Skinny Bastard!

Adrian — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:58:49 +0000

I found this quote on some Facebook profile and just had to post it!!!

Way down this road, in a gym far away, a young man was once heard to say,
“I’ve repped high and I’ve repped low, No matter what I do, my legs won’t grow.”
He tried leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses too–trying to cheat, these sissy workouts he’d do.
From the corner of the gym where the BIG men train, through a cloud of chalk and the midst of pain where the big iron rides high and threatens lives, where the noise is made with big forty-fives, A deep voice bellowed as he wrapped his knees, A very big man with legs like trees. Laughing as he snatched another plate from the stack, chalking his hands and monstrous back, said,
“Boy, stop lying and don’t say you’ve forgotten, The trouble with you is you ain’t been SQUATTIN’.

So damn true! Hope you liked it, if you did let me know buy ”Liking” it on Facebook (just below this post!)
Adrian

Great Read by Henry Rollins

Adrian — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:10:34 +0000

Here is a great great article (or maybe part of book, not sure about it) form the past written by Henry Rollins. It is very very motivating for me. A story about how skinny guy (himself) changed his life when he started lifting weights and what the Iron teaches him. Wow.. I just love it and re-read it from time to time. I think you will enjoy it too ;)

I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be
like you parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.
Completely.

When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of
all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The
humiliation of teachers calling me “garbage can” and telling me I’d be
mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow
students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and
my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I
didn’t run home crying, wondering why. I knew all too well. I was
there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was
pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every
waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some
strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.

I hated myself all the time. As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to
talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing
that I wasn’t going to get pounded in the hallway between classes.

Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a
few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the
greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his
head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and
you’ll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school
sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn’t think much of them
either.

Then came Mr. Pepperman, my adviser. He was a powerfully built Vietnam
veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class.
Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to
the blackboard.

Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he
asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He told
me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a
hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started
to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the
weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special.
My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought
the weights, but I couldn’t even drag them to my mom’s car. An
attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.

Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.’s office after school. He said
that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on
a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I
wasn’t looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were
getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or
tell anyone at school what I was doing.

In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than
I ever did in any of my classes. I didn’t want to blow it. I went home
that night and started right in. Weeks passed, and every once in a
while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my
books flying. The other students didn’t know what to think. More weeks
passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense
the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.

Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of
nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I
laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home
and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just
the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My
chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can
remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one
could ever take it away. You couldn’t say shit to me.

It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have
learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I
was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong.
When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing
it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it
wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It
tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to
resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.

It wasn’t until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I
had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes
without work and a ceratin amount of pain. When I finish a set that
leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I
know it can’t be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is
not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the
Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most
injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks
lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and spent a few months not
picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not
prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and
self-control.

I have never met a truly strong person who didn’t have self-respect. I
think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself
off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on
someone’s shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys
working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the
worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and
insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the
difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr.
Pepperman.

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and
sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical
and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the
heart.

Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he
was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a
weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most
romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a
woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was
racing through my body. Everything in me wanted her. So much so that
sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most
intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn’t see
her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the
loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.

I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate on the lessons
that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you’re made of is always
time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had
taught me how to live.

Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes
down these days, it’s some kind of miracle if you’re not insane. People
have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole. I
see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban
homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly.
And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by
that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the
Iron mind.

Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into
a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind
thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind
degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my
mind. The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is
no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and
body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn
back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all
kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron
will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference
point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in
the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It
never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two
hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.

The bolded parts I love the most!!!! Rings true so much to me (except for listening to ballads when lifting :D ..nooo I listen to House, Trance or Metal to help me focus)!! Hope you enjoyed it!

Cheers,
Adrian

Success Story: Jair (gained 15lbs in 1,5 months!)

Adrian — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:35:59 +0000

Today, I want to post a Success story of one of the blog visitors – Jair’s story. They guy gained 15lbs in 1,5 months using advice of this blog. Most importantly though, he had enough guts and determination to eat enough and actually follow the advice and stick with it. Some people just read stuff, but don’t apply it as advised.

But Jair succeeded and agreed to share his story with us. He is inspirational for me and I hope for you too ;) Give this a read! ;)

Hello everyone, my name is Jair and I’m here to tell you about my success in weight/muscle gain. Throughout my teenage years I was always your average fun, outgoing, athletic guy. You would think I was happy with how my life was
going, seeing how I was captain of the varsity soccer team and had a lot of friends but what everyone did not know about me was that I wasn’t happy about my body and was very self conscious about how I looked. Finally I got fed up with being the skinny kid being picked on and signed up for a gym. I would work out three times a week for a few months but never really saw any gains, don’t get me wrong I got some what ripped but not exactly what I wanted. My whole issue was that I thought just going to the gym alone would help me gain the weight I wanted. So I quit the gym and just tried to cope with the idea that there was nothing I could do to get where I want to be. A few years passed before I actually started to do some real research on how to gain weight the right way. Searching on my computer I came across this website, “36pounds.com” Once I read through most of the blogs on the site, I understood what I was doing wrong all along. The blog that caught my attention first was the one on creatine monohydrate and I was definitely intrigued by what I read on it so with my workout plans I added taking creatine. As long as you take it and eat the right way, you should get some major results.
This site gave me the foundation to start off fresh and on the right path to success. Thanks to all the help I got from this site I’ve gone from weighing 129lbs to 144lbs. It wasn’t easy getting to 144lbs but having the determination will get you to your goal. I highly recommend anyone with my issue of being skinny and having trouble gaining weight to follow these guidelines. Here below are a few questions Adrian sent me to answer for you guys. If you have any further questions you would like for me to answer just give them to Adrian and he can send them to me so I could answer.

Thanks,
Jair

Questions:

1. Why did you start training? What was the motivation? (Maybe some event happened that made you go “that’s it… I’m bulking up and changing my life!!!”)

- I began training because I was tired of being skinny. I wanted to be like the guys in a movie called “Never Back Down.” My motivation was knowing that my younger cousins were bigger and stronger than me. Instead of being someone they looked up to, they had someone to pick on. That’s just not how things are supposed to be and I got fed up with being bullied by my own family so I began training hard and eating right.

2. What was the hardest thing to do?

- To me the hardest part was the eating. Most of the time I would only eat about two meals a day with some snacks every now and then. Going from eating two meals to six was super difficult but my motivation and determination helped me get it done!

3. What do you enjoy most with training?
- Getting that good feeling after having an intense workout. You feel stronger, muscular, appealing! Knowing that working out will help me out with my self-esteem issues sure makes it more enjoyable to do.

4. How do you feel with your new body?

- I feel great!!! My confidence and self-esteem is through the roof. Never in a million years did I think I would ever feel this way about my body but I’m still not close to being done and knowing that my body still has a lot more transformation to go through makes me keep fighting to reach my goal!!!

5. What could you advice to fellow skinny brothers who want to repeat your success?

- Never give up!!! Even when it seems like you’ll never get to where you want to be. Nothing is impossible! Just get your mind set on your goal and don’t let anything or anyone get in your way to achieve it! Make sure to eat, eat, eat! Healthy foods that is J This website is probably the best thing that could have ever happened to us skinny guys. Take advantage of the information given to us and use it! Believe me, it really does work if you follow a good diet and have a good workout plan. I would go with the 5×5 workout plan, to me it’s the best you could go with.

6. What are your future goals with training?

- First of all to gain a few more pounds and get ripped like the guys from “Never Back Down” and after I’m fully content with how my body looks, I would like to try and help out anyone that is going through the same problems I went through.

Thanx a million Jair!!!

If anyone wants to ask Jair something, leave a comment below with a question or email me at adrian@36pounds.com and I will definitely forward them to him ;)

If you liked this story, please share it with your friends: StumbleUpon it, Digg it or share it on Facebook etc. I want this story to be seen by as many skinny guys as possible ;)

Cheers,
Adrian

How to Start and Finish Your Workout

Adrian — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:21:23 +0000

Today we have a guest on 36Pounds.com. He is an owner of The Man Revolution blog. In this guest post, Fahm discusses the problems of starting and finishing workouts and how they can be overcome. I’m sure this post will help some guys who lack motivation to workout. Thanx Fahm! Enjoy it guys!

How to Start and Finish Your Workout

We all want to work out. At least, we like the idea of working out. Problem is that a lot of times we just aren’t motivated to start or get too lazy to finish. I’ve struggled with this my whole life and I still come across it time to time these days, but there’s a way to discipline yourself and have a rewarding workout, start to finish.

Have the right mindset

Before you start, get yourself in gear. You need to be in a mindset where you WANT to work out and not because you have to. Exercise shouldn’t be a chore and if you treat it that way, you’ll be less inclined to perform well. As Tony Horton would say, you need to “Bring It”!
Tell yourself that you’re going to exercise and you intend on completing everything that you’ve got planned. Your mentality and approach is the difference between a great workout and a terrible one. When you want to do something genuinely, you tend to perform better at it.
I was jogging once and the back of one runner’s shirt said, “Go Hard or Go Home”. That kind of approach should be burned into your mind. If you aren’t going hard and genuinely trying, you’re just wasting time.

Don’t justify laziness

You know that “weak” feeling you get sometimes when you’re about to work out? You say things like “I’m just not in the mood” or “I’m too tired now” and you end up putting off your work out? That’s called procrastination and being a lazy fuck. I used to make the mistake of trying to justify my lazy ass when I first began to seriously work out. You know what that got me? Way behind in schedule that’s what.
Whenever that feeling arises, it’s best to just clear your head and start your workout. Don’t listen to any of the negativity your mind starts to feed you. Just dive right in. Your first set will be uninspired but it will get you in the swing of things and as your work out progresses, you’ll get into the groove. Whatever you do, don’t succumb to negative thoughts and feelings.

Set many small goals

Accomplishments are great motivators. Set small goals for yourself and whatever it takes, REACH THEM. Each and every time you meet a goal you’ll feel great about yourself and will tackle the next one with more vigor. These insignificant goals aren’t anything by themselves, but they contribute to an ultimately important whole. Keep yourself motivated by setting small goals for yourself and meet and exceed them each and every time.
My goals vary depending on the exercise. If I’m lifting weights, I set goals for repetitions. If I’m running the track, I set goals based on laps under a certain time. Know your body and its limitations. It’s always good to push yourself but don’t try to be a hero and do things way out of your body’s limit. Set challenging but reasonable goals that you can accomplish. Be realistic.

Keep it up

So now that you started, you have to keep it up. Whatever your plan or routine is for the day, STICK TO IT. Every now and then, you’ll start to tell yourself that you’ve had enough. It’s another sign of laziness and giving up. You’ll inevitably get tired and your reps will start to go down but you must never lose your focus! You aren’t in a race so pace yourself while you work out. Go slower if you have to, but ultimately, get it done! Trust me, it’ll feel fantastic.

A lot of the reasons we have problem working out is because we get lazy and we allow that feeling to take us over. It’s been said a million times but I’ll say it again: It’s all in your head. Resist all temptations to quit and keep pressing forward. Your body can do impressive things only if you believe that it can.

Visit Fahm’s blog at www.themanrevolution.com for advice on becoming a better and more well rounded man.

Born Skinny… Born to be Unsuccessful?

Adrian — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:44:02 +0000

You ever feel like you were born to be unsuccessful? Loser? Unhappy? And all this because of being skinny-ass weakling whose body reminds of a girl and is not attractive? Maybe you also aren’t handsome and don’t have a face of Brad Pitt? Maybe you don’t even consider yourself worth a lot (a gorgeous, sexy girl, a great career you love and lots of fun time with friends)?
Well, I’m here to say… HELL NO!!! You are not born to be so!

I’ve started this blog to prove to myself and others that change is possible! That AMAZING, life-transforming change is possible for EVERY Skinny Guy who wants it! That if you are born skinny, little, weak guy you are not doomed… If you want it BAD ENOUGH You can change! And I’m here to help you.

With starting to workout in the gym and gaining muscle you will take the first step (or already took it) towards it. Gaining muscle is so great for you that you just can not NOT use this opportunity. It will bring you attention from beautiful girls (yes, this is a part of motivation for gaining muscle, almost always! So I won’t deny it), you will look better, you will be healthier, you will get a lot more respect from people and they will stop thinking of you as a little boy and most importantly – you will feel comfortable in your own skin! And when you are comfortable in your own skin you are confident, you are happy, you are ready to take on life’s challenges head on and take whatever you can from it! And you are ready to fight for it!

And to do that, you need a good step-by-step guide, a simple and effective method to achieve that great looking, strong Beach Body. Part of the information you can already find on my blog. It’s enough to start and succeed already. But there is much more to be learned and done for you. That’s why I will combine all my knowledge and experience in gaining muscle I have into one Ebook. It will guide you to to that Transformation. I wish I had it.. I wasted lots of time at the start of training with stupid machines and not knowing how much or what to eat. This cost me about 10lbs in gains. I’d have had 32lbs instead of 22lb of muscle. But because of that I learned about training and nutrition because I had to. Now I know how to gain muscle successfully. And I want to share it with you too. My goal is to help 1000 skinny guys to go from Skinny to Buff. And Phoenix Method will help me achieve this goal.

I’m not in financial situation to give it away for free. My finances suck since I currently don’t work. Still, I don’t want to sell anything for huge load of money. I have no intent of selling Phoenix Method Ebook for 100 bucks or even 50 bucks. I’ll know the price when it’s finished. It will still take time for me to finish it and write a great, no, THE BEST Ebook for Skinny Guys.

The Blog, on the other hand, will always be free, no fees for reading the articles on it and no fees for answering your questions! I’ll even give out Phoenix Method when it is finished for some of you to try and see how it works.

Enough about it now.

In the mean time, DON’T LET yourself feel down! You can Transform your skinny body to that great looking, strong and healthy Beach Body!

Cheers,
Adrian

Secret Weapon To Keep You Motivated

Adrian — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:31:29 +0000

I will share a method with you that started a huge fire inside me, that drives me to gain muscle, workout and achieve that great looking, strong body. I already think some of you have this inside you but don’t even know this exists and that it drives you forward! Well, if you want to know what it is than read on! ;)

The Fire Inside

For me it happened probably the 1000th time I heard a comment ”God, you are skinny”. I was freakin’ pissed off!! I was angry! I felt bad! I felt disrespected every single time I had been called “skinny”… “That’s it!!” I thought, “I gotta do something with this thing, I can’t stay this skinny”. I was determined to change it. And the main fact was that I was angry!! This is what motivated me! This is what got me started on going to the gym and workout! Only after I started working out I fell in love with it and this is another reason why I work out.

Still, the main things is that something happens! Some event just makes you so angry or you feel so humiliated, that you can’t take it any longer. Something snaps inside you. A huge fire starts and burns you from the inside. That negative feeling drives you to change. For a fat guy it might be taking picture with his shirt off and seeing how fat he is, or someone insulting him, or just being ashamed of himself when going to the beach. For a skinny guy it might be comments or a girl declining his invitation to date…

As I said for me it was those comments. I believe these comments are painful for every skinny guy though! They might not have started you on this path of becoming strong and muscular, but something did. Now remember that moment, feel the anger! And tell yourself that you will change your body NO MATTER WHAT!! You will succeed!

And you wont be able to do it without this fire probably!

Keep the Fire Burning!

You know now that anger is good. But how to keep it long-term and be motivated? Well, there will be plenty of opportunities to do this. People will question you, they will doubt that you can achieve what you want. Use it as a fuel. If someone said that you wont be able to gain muscle because you are hardgainer or because you are too weak to do it. That’s great! Jut more fuel to a fire:

If a girl you like and know for a long time said no to you. USE IT! Prove her wrong, make her think that she was stupid to say no. Even if it takes a long long time to and you will only see her after 5 years, imagine how her face will look when she will see you with the new body. Every woman fears that she will miss the opportunity to catch “The Right Guy”..

If you got beat up in school for being smallest, skinniest and weakest in the class, then USE IT! Imagine yourself being strong and being able to fight back and beat the crap out of the bullies.

If you keep hearing those comments, use them too. In other words use every negative comment as a fuel. Anything bad that happens can be fuel for your fire and bring you closer to your goal!!!

I hope you understood this method. Some of you probably have experienced it probably already. If you did, please share your experience with me and others and leave a comment here!

Keep the Fire Burning,
Adrian

Useful reading

Adrian — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:40:57 +0000

Today I will give you some links to articles that I think are very good. Some will motivate you, some might insult you (which can lead to motivation too)… Read and enjoy!

1. My speech to the graduates 2009

A great article, which most likely will insult some guys! Sorry, but it has a lot of truth in it!

2. The Embarrassment of Bodybuilding

This one is for those who might be a bit embarrassed to be going to gym and be a bodybuilder (there are some, I used to be so too in the past, silly me!!)

3. Transformation of Bart

This a great example of how incredible transformations of body are made.

Gotta run! Have some problems.

Cheers

You want it? Go get it! Period!

Adrian — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:04:46 +0000

This is a short motivational video from a movie The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith. This scene is incredibly true in anyones life. It also applies for getting the body of your dreams. Some people will say you can or should be working out and going after your dream body, but that’s only becauee they are too lazy to do something similar themselves..

Going to workout now. I’ll post another post later on!

Cheers,
Adrian

4 Life Lessons the Gym can teach you!

Adrian — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:59:58 +0000

This is a guest post I have done in the past on one nice site for guys. I’m proud of it and want to share it with you guys (some have read it some haven’t). It is here:

http://www.justaguything.com/four-life-lessons-the-gym-can-teach-you/

I really believe that it’s true. The Gym can teach you a lot about life and you will be able to use it in other areas of life! Read and enjoy!

Adrian

P.S. The Nutrition Guide is coming along nicely and should be posted on this blog on Monday!

Someone says you shouldn’t be lifting and gaining muscle? Then read this!

Adrian — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:49:18 +0000

Hey guys,

just wanted to share something that was inspiring to me in the book I’m reading and that gave me more motivation to workout! I know that in your life when you start lifting, you get some strange looks from people. They might tell you that you don’t need muscles, they mind tell you that those who lift are usually dumb guys or whatever so that you just didn’t do it. DON’T LISTEN to them! Screw the haters! Read this:

With all that is out there to achieve and enjoy, to discover and see, who is to say that it is not yours? Who is to say that you don’t deserve joy in your life? Who is to say you don’t deserve the hot babes? And why do you sit on the sidelines and surrender it to others? Who’s to say all these things are not yours? You define your life. Not your grandparents, church, or friends. When you give up those rules to someone else, YOU are to blame if you don’t like where you are at. We are not raised this way. We are taught when we are young that it is noble to suffer. We are taught to not speak our mind else we might ‘offend’ someone. We are taught to be ‘quiet and good’ when your parents dragged you to places you hated. We are taught to sit through the monstrosity called education, making us confused that education comes only with pain, thus we naturally avoid pleasurable education the rest of our life. We are taught to always avoid risks when possible and embrace a nice secure life. We are taught… nothing that makes us alive.

Quoted from “The Book of Pook”

So NEVER EVER, allow someone tell you that you can’t do something! They might be jealous that you started to change for the better (some friends might do so) and they are afraid you will leave their company and wont talk to them anymore when you become muscular. Some see you taking initiative and doing something they wish they would do (like take care of your body) and that’s why they are not supportive of you. Ignore. Fuck it! If you love it, if you enjoy it, KEEP LIFTING!!

Best of luck,
Adrian