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How to Change Your Mindset

March 10, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Developing the right mindset is crucial for succeeding at anything in life. Bodybuilding and fitness are no different. You need to change your mindset in order to succeed.

What is Mindset Anyway?

Your mindset is the sum of all your knowledge. It includes beliefs and thoughts about the world and where you fit in it. It is your filter you use for information both in and out. Mindset determines how you receive and process information.

It’s often used for a specific part in your life, as in “the mindset of a champion” or “the growth mindset”. Having the right mindset for what you go for is often the biggest factor in whether or not you succeed.

Developing the right mindset is the way of learning something new and stripping out the most relevant information. You develop the beliefs that are most helpful for where you want to go or how you want to be. This belief-system is called your mindset.

A good mindset will reflect reality and will help you, but not in that order. I think the order has to be like this:

Find the beliefs that are most supportive
Check if the beliefs are in harmony with (a potential) reality
You want to use your mindset to make a positive change. That’s why your beliefs don’t necessarily have to reflect your current reality. But of course the reality you believe in should be possible. That’s like a catch-22, but not really.

If you believe “I am a successful bodybuilder”, you will act in that way.
If you believe “I want to be a successful bodybuilder”, you will act in this way too: like you are NOT a successful bodybuilder.

I personally found adopting beliefs that seem slightly out of reach is very powerful. It changes your mindset and therefore how you behave. It let’s you grow.

How Do You Change Your Mindset?

  1. Get Only the Best Information. Your job is to find the best information about what you want to accomplish and then focus on learning only that information.
  2. Use Only the Best People as Role Models. Find the best people in the are you want to accomplish things and model your behavior after their behavior.
  3. Take a Close Look at Your Current Beliefs. You have to determine what changes are required. You do this by taking a critical look at your current beliefs. Look for and change self-limiting beliefs.
  4. Shape Your Mindset with Vision and Goals. Create a vision that describes your end result. Once you have that, break your vision into goals. Now go to work achieving those goals.
  5. Protect Your Mindset. Don't allow other people to shake your confidence. Protect your belief system from the negative people in this world.

Changing your mindset will help you lose weight, gain muscle, get stronger, etc. It works. Give it a shot!

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Filed Under: Experiment of One

Competing for Yourself

March 8, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Competing for yourself is the only way to even think of competing. Competition preparation can be a grueling process and if you are not doing it for you and only you, the failure rate is extremely high. This is important to remember. In keeping with this concept, here are some tips for getting ready for a competition.

Focus on Your Actions, Results Will Follow

Do not focus on what you will get or where you will end up. Focus yourself on daily actions you can take and the results will follow. This is guaranteed.

Practice Perfectly

I have seen so many competitors practice posing, but do it wrong. They continue to practice wrong and all that does is create problems. Don't just practice, but practice perfectly. This touches on all areas of bodybuilding–training, nutrition, posing, etc. If you are unsure of something, ask someone who has more knowledge than you.

Follow Those Who Came Before You

Do not try to reinvent the wheel. There are coaches available who can properly guide you through contest preparation. Take advantage of this by hiring one. Yes, you can probably get there yourself, but you will go crazy trying to decide what the right choices are. Let a professional coach help you and that problem is solved.

Be Grateful for What You Have Accomplished

It is very easy to be negative when preparing for a contest. Instead, focus on what you are grateful for. This will cause your mindset to be more positive. Write down everything you are grateful for. Remind yourself that there are positive things to strive for during preparation.

You are going to learn a lot of things during prep. Make sure you note those things that you learn. They will go a long way in helping you in future preparation cycles. Never discount anything you learn. This is how we get better and better–learning.

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Filed Under: Contest Preparation, Experiment of One

Monday Madness: My New Strategies

March 6, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

As I've learned more and more about training I have been able to do a better job conducting the Experiment of One and the stragtegies required. I have learned the things that work well and the things that don't work as well–all personalized to how my own body responds.

It came time for me to start Mission Lifesaver and I carefully examined the options available to me. I analyzed what my goals were and how to accomplish them. The analysis brought me places that ultimately enabled me to get the plan in place.

I immediately knew that a big part of my problem is my failure to get the cardio work done. No matter how diligent I am about it, I always let cardio slip by without getting done. I knew that I had to change this as fat loss was a major goal for this mission. I also knew that eating too many carbs immediately adds fat to my frame, making it counter-productive to what my goals ultimately are.

Upon making these two realizations I was able to make some plans that work. The first thing I did was choose the program Shortcut to Shred by Jim Stoppani. This program consisted of a weight training plan coupled with cardio during the workout. It was a 6 week plan, so the program would take up half of the mission. For the second half of the mission I decided to start lifting heavy weights, going back to the basics. I also decided to do a low carb eating style.

By taking the time to analyze my goals and come up with a strategy that would help me achieve them, I ultimately saved a lot of time. I didn't have to worry about the outcome. I knew the approaches I picked would work. So far, so good.

In the first half of the mission I lost 14 pounds and dropped about 4% body fat. In the first few days of the second half of the mission I have already dropped 4.5 pounds. The strategies are working!

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Filed Under: Experiment of One

Monday Madness: My Mean Leg Torture Training

June 13, 2016 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Leg training

Leg training is neglected by so many. I believe you need to train all body parts to maintain symmetry. Today we present a torturous leg training workout that will have you crying by the end.

The Workout

Exercise Sets Reps
Leg extensions 3 15
Single Leg extensions 4 20
Hack squats 4 15
Back Squats 5 8
Lying hamstring curls 4 15
Seated hamstring curls 4 15
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 5 8
Front Squats 2 15
Back Squats 2 15
Leg press 3 50

The Workout Described

This training will hit your hamstrings and your quads. It is going to be brutal because the approach is to kill those quads and hamstrings with volume. Starting out with leg extensions at a high rep range will mean using light weight and warming up the muscle. Follow this up with single leg extensions, again with high reps, but this time aimed at pumping blood into the quads. The hack squats will continue to pump blood into the quads. Next up is 5 sets of 8 repetitions for back squats. The weight should be moderately heavy. Push hard to get all the repetitions. Now you should feel like your quads are balloons.

Next we hit the hamstrings. We start out with lying leg curls to warm up the muscle. We then go to seated hamstring curls to start the pump. We finish off the hamstrings with heavy stiff legged deadlifts. We then return to the quads with front squats, back squats and leg press. When finished your legs will be engorged with blood. The pump should be insane!

Leg training like this is aimed at pushing blood into the muscle to help the muscle grow. You have to really push hard to get your legs to grow.

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Filed Under: Featured, Training

Toronto Pro Supershow 2016

June 12, 2016 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

2016TorontoProHeaderFaceBook

The Toronto Pro took place on June 4, 2016 in Toronto. The lineup was pretty decent. Nathan DeAsha finally got a well deserved #1 spot. The top 5 look really good.

Top 5 at the Toronto Pro
Top 5 at the Toronto Pro

The battle was real. In the end this is what constituted the Top 5 in order:

Nathan DeAsha

Maxx Charles

Fouid Abiad

Ben Pakulski

Jon Delarosa

It appears to me that Ben Pakulski won't ever be in the shape he needs to win an Olympia. All I can think of is his comments in the movie Generation Iron about winning the Olympia. It just isn't going to happen if this is the best he can do.  This is like the third show in a row that Nathan DeAsha has come in shredded and looking like a winner. Congrats to him on his victory!

If you want the complete official scoresheets from the Toronto Pro click the image below to download them!

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Filed Under: Featured, News

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