Training Cycles for Physical Weaponry

How to never get bored of training again (and become a phenom in the process)

Gm Gents

I accidentally just got into the best shape of my life. I've always been in shape, but I feel like a specimen right now.

• Elite cardio (for my standards)

• Low body fat %

• Muscle mass (especially arms & shoulders)

• Mobile & injury-free

It’s tough to balance aesthetics, athletics, mobility, and sanity. Especially as a natural who has a life outside of fitness (double whammy)

But I'm the closest I've ever been to having all 4 (give or take the last one)

If you're like me, you want to be an absolute specimen. Look like a bodybuilder, move like an athlete. Strong like ox. Built like a demi-god. We all want to be specimens like Yoel Romero

This is what I look like in my head

Unless you're a genetic phenom, your most aesthetic physique & most athletic physique are pitted against one another.

Muscle is metabolically taxing. It wastes a lot of calories and oxygen. It slows you down. High-intensity athletic training will not get you your best physique.

Now this is fine. Muscles are mainly optic. But you can have your cake and eat it too. You can be a physical weapon AND have a top 1% physique. This requires 3 things:

• Cycling Training Priorities

• Proper Programming

• Elite Recovery

Pick your Priority

To be a physical specimen (well-rounded, multidisciplinary, adaptive), you need to cycle your training priorities. We grow fastest in the face of new stimuli. Newbie gains are real. Pick a primary pursuit and commit to it as long as you’re progressing.

This helps you learn faster, adapt quicker, and always be interested in training

They'll tell you the secret to success is consistency, but that doesn't mean you should train the same month after month. Your only focus should be to make training consistently enjoyable. If training feels like a chore, you're fighting an uphill battle. 

Your life is a video game, you are the main character, and your training styles are skill trees. Level them up one-by-one and combine them all to create an OP character.

I was a single-handed weapon guy, wby?

"But why not train all styles at once?" 

Because recovery is a finite resource. There is only so much you can demand out of your body before it starts hindering your life. Overtraining is real, but its like a frog in a pot of boiling water. It creeps up on you. 

There’s a reason ultra-endurance athletes always look like Prisoners of War

One day you’re an elite specimen, the next you look like you're not training at all 

Training is a stressor. One of the strongest stressors. Over do it and you're in for a bad time:

- Weakened immune system

- More injuries

- Hormone issues

- Muscle loss

- Insomnia

- Chronic fatigue

Excess Physical activity produces reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Oxidation → inflammation → cell death

Weightlifting causes literal muscle damage which creates a pro-oxidant immune response. There's a reason high-volume athletes look so aged. 

I fell into this trap. Training 3 hours/day 6 days a week. Striking, Grappling, Weightlifting. On paper I should have been a phenom but this amount of volume RUINED me

What training 18 hours a week does to a mf

Hormonal issues, dry hair, frail skin. Lost muscle, weird body fat deposition, brain fog.

I had the best cardio in my gym. 10 rounds back to back. Squatting 300 pounds. But I was flatlined in my intellectual, professional, and personal pursuits. 

Find your Balance

There is a sacred balance between training and recovery. Train more than you recover and you're in for a bad time.

To be a physical specimen, you must train with intention

No junk volume. Get in & get out. Quality over quantity. Make every rep count. Don’t let ego get in your way. You will find your happy medium

And that’s on Mentzer

Double down on recovery. No unnecessary stressors. Live like a primal athlete: