Follow these tips to aesthetic bliss!

With all the current controversy on gear, and bodybuilders posting their steroid cycles (we’re looking at you Rich Piano Piana), it’s kind of hard not to talk about it. What is gear, and why is it making such a big stink in the bodybuilding world? Anabolic steroids are synthetic variations of the male sex hormone testosterone. The proper term for these compounds is anabolic-androgenic steroids. “Anabolic” refers to muscle building, and “androgenic” refers to increased male sex characteristics. This is why some of the most common side effects are increased appetite and hair growth, because it turns a mere man into a…more man? You get the picture.

Steroids are usually ingested orally or injected straight into the muscle using a syringe (Yikes, I hate needles). But what if you’re not interested in turning your perfectly good genetic mass into a (further) science project? That’s a good question. Well for you my friend, I prescribe to you the hard pill to swallow of hard work. Don’t worry, we’ll give you a spoonful of sugar to wash it down.

Body Fat

We know we know, you got into the game to get “cut” and “shredded”, so you could look like the dude on the magazine covers. The thing about that “dude” is that he’s probably around 10% body fat while you’re hovering around 20. See the issue?

To lower body fat you want to adhere to a strict diet that limits the consumption of simple sugars or low quality carbs. Contrary to common knowledge it’s not fat that makes you fat. Low quality carbs pump glucose into your bloodstream at a high rate, which increases insulin. The more insulin we secrete the more active LPL ( lipoprotein lipase) is on our fat cells – this pulls fat into cells.

Read our article on the Keto-friendly kitchen for a fat shredding low carb diet.

High Intensity cardio also helps, so things like the stair climb, sprints, and the rowing machine should be part of your regular arsenal.

Vascularity

So you want to be an aesthetic God…there’s a special club for that, it’s called EVERYBODY! Besides shredding body fat *points to the section above* a large part of what’s missing in vascularity is the pump. What you know as the “pump” is really just the term coined to describe cell swelling and metabolite accumulation, both of which are known to produce muscular growth. By consistently chasing the pump via a combination of high-intensity lifting techniques and short rest breaks, you drive a significant amount of blood into your muscles.

Mass, mass, mass…did we say mass?

Yep, besides being shredded you need to be swole. You’ve got to have a solid mass of healthy muscle if you want people to say “That guy’s gotta be on gear”.

Obliterate your comfort zone

You’re not growing because you’re not putting enough strain on the muscle. The body will only do what it needs to do, so if you put in the same amount of effort you’ll only be treading water. If you’re use to working out by yourself take a friend along that will push you and watch your gainz soar.

Eat calorie dense foods

Prepare a daily meal plan that ensures you’re consuming the necessary daily macros and daily caloric surplus to support muscle growth. Time spent in the kitchen preparing your meals is a smart investment that supports muscle growth. Tip – add an additional bedtime meal of cottage cheese or a casein protein shake. Tip 2 – add 5 grams of protein to your workout shake. Long term use has been linked to 5-15% increase in strength gains.

Death of the machines

Stick with free weights for mass building! Consider machines as assisted weight. When you’re training with free weights, your muscles have to carry the full force of the movement, and that makes you work harder.

Combination and Isolation Exercises

Instead of choosing one or the other, do both. Start with compound movement exercises such as the deadlift, and the squat and then do isolation movements top it off such as the bicep curl. Voila!

Implement all the techniques listed above and you’ll have people talking Sh#t about you in no time! But seriously, there is no shortcut to long term gains. If you want to take gear, take gear. But either way you’re to need a focused plan for what you want to achieve. We’ve give you the blocks, now build it!

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