30 Days Muscle Intelligence Written Content

Why is it that I can do a bench press and get huge pecs, you can do the same bench press and get only sore shoulders?

The answer is, you and I are built differently. Very differently.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in fitness is watching what others do and assuming it will work for you too. Epic mistake.

So today I want to teach you a simple tip to optimize workouts for YOUR specific body structure.

There are so many variables that play into how individuals respond to specific exercise: height, weight, arm and leg length, clavicle length, rib cage and pelvis shape and size, relative proportion of upper leg to lower leg, etc.

You get the picture. We’re all different.

Therefore, when I do an exercise, it will yield a much different result than when you do the exact same exercise.

So why then do people assume that all exercises that work for one person will work for the next?

Then when they don’t get results, they just assume they don’t have “the right genetics”, or they “just need to work harder.”

The reality is, some people get results by accident.

Others, like us, need an intelligent approach.

This doesn’t mean you can’t build muscle, it just means you MUST learn to pick exercises to fit your body or you don’t stand a chance at building a body you love without tons of gear and joint pain.

Here’s the solution:

How you SET UP for an exercise will determine whether you’re going to build muscle like a pro, or destroy your joints and complain about how “hard” muscle building is for you.

ESSENTIAL MUSCLE INTELLIGENCE:

> A muscle pulls in a straight line.

> Every muscle has two ends.

> One end should be completely immovable, the other end moves closer to the stable end.

THAT’S IT.

Now add resistance against this and you win muscle building.

No one is teaching this information because everyone is focused on exercises, not muscles.

If you’re trying to get bigger muscles, train the muscles.

If you’re trying to get better at a lift, train the lift.

Make sense?

Check out the video if you want to know more.

The term genetics gets thrown around and misused quite a bit.

When it comes to your ability to build muscle, the truth is that if you can build any muscle, you can build them all.

There is NO such thing as “weak bodyparts”.

It’s a myth.

You have the same internal chemistry and muscle fiber composition around your whole body.

The ONLY difference is how much tension your body places through specific muscles when you pick up a weight.

TO BUILD MUSCLE:

> Pick better exercises and setup correctly for your body.

> Eliminate extra/unnecessary movement (lock it down).

> Make sure the muscle you’re training initiates the movement.

I call this SSI:

Setup, Stabilize, Initiate.

You must pick the right exercises with the right setup to actually make a muscle do work.

This is a much bigger problem than you realize, and the exact reason why you can build some parts while others suffer.

Some exercises fit your structure while others do not.

Muscles respond to tension. Put tension through a muscle and it WILL grow.

STOP doing the exercises most people label as the best when you’re not built the same as everyone else.

You’ve got to pick exercises for you.

Bench presses, squats, barbell rows, barbell curls, skull crushers are all TERRIBLE exercises for most people.

Gym monkeys all over the world right now are turning red with anger at the very blasphemy I’ve uttered.

Sorry, it’s true.

They just don’t fit most people.

Want to learn more steps to build your greatest body?

Good, cause its so much fun when you’re good at something. (And sucks when you’re not).

See the video to get started.

Good morning sunshine!

If you want to have a great body, start to take massive personal responsibility for your body and your life.

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!

Including building an awesome body, but you’ve got to set that goal, and then you need the right steps.

Ownership for your current state is the first and most important step in changing your body.

Set yourself up for WINNING EVERY DAY.

Create a plan and stick to it.

Make your daily disciplines = Progress, happiness, Freedom.

Just how to do this?

See the video for a brand new video with 4 simple ways I implement discipline my life:

> Meditation

> Following a nutrition plan

> Following an Intelligently designed workout program

> Keeping a journal.

Check it out in the video.

I’ll be back tomorrow to show you why the best program in the world for building muscle might be the exact thing killing your gains.

Best part is, it wont cost you a thing (except 2 minutes of your time and maybe having to hear some more of my bad jokes).

Ben

Here’s a secret:

The best program in the world is…

(Wait for it….)

(Building anticipation…..)

Utterly useless unless that program is properly executed: sets, reps, volume, frequency, weight, etc.

It’s a harsh reality that many don’t want to hear, but it is indeed ALL USELESS unless its directed to the right place where you’re purposefully causing the right response INSIDE your body.

So how do you make sure you’re not wasting your current workouts?

The key is to stop focusing on what is happening outside your body and focus on what is happening inside your body. (The Internal Response)

The external stimulus (exercise, weights, cardio) is only useful if its creating the correct internal response you’re looking for. Such as “build muscle” or “burn fat”.

The best workouts in the world CAN’T work without proper execution, no matter how “hard” you work.

In order to get yourself to the point where sets, reps, volume and load matter:

You’ve got to “standardize the stimulus”.

Meaning that every rep must be identical.

Same form, same stability, same speed, same distance.

Check out the video where I explain a bit more.

I share these hard facts with you because I want you to stop wasting time and help you learn how to maximize results for your body.

Hopefully it was worth the 2 minutes of your time and you’re able to make it through my bad jokes. 😉

Ben

This is the simplest, yet MOST IMPORTANT thing to know about exercise.

If someone had told me this when I was 17, my life would be completely different.

Are you ready for it?

Muscle Building Simplified:

> ALL a muscle does… is pull one end closer to the midline of the body.

> One end is called the Origin, the other the insertion.

> The Origin must be locked in stone, the muscle contracts (shortens) and the insertion is pulled closer to the midline.

> Add resistance to that, and you build muscle.

THAT. IS. IT.

Where people go wrong is focusing on exercises rather than muscles and allowing both ends of a muscle to move.

If both ends move, you CAN’T create tension in a muscle.

You must have one end anchored, fixed, and immoveable. Then the other end has a stable surface to pull on.

It’s quite simple, but it makes perfect sense when you really think about it.

(I touched upon this in yesterday’s video in case you missed it)

Live your greatest life, in your greatest body.

The Muscle Intelligence way of life.

BP

I’m going to simplify muscle building again for you today by providing you with the 3 key principles you should be implementing in every single workout you do.

3 Keys To Great Workouts:

> Setup

> Stabilize

> Initiate

Here at MI40 we refer to these three as “SSI” for short.

Most importantly, if you’re not using this framework in your workouts, you’re leaving a lot of muscle in the table.

Let’s go over them together:

1. Setup – If you’re not setting up for YOUR body, you don’t stand a chance at building muscle. 
Everything else after this doesn’t matter if you miss this one. See the videos at the bottom to learn how to set up each primary body part.

2. Stabilize – You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe. Even 10% instability will destroy your ability to contract muscle hard and create substantial force output.

This is why when people begin to train properly their weights often go down.

They can’t produce enough stability to contract a muscle hard.

If I want to contract my pecs, I need everything to be anchored in stone.

My back, traps, trunk, even my glutes if I want to maximally contract my pecs.

3. Initiate – Pushing a car from stopped is much harder than pushing it once its already moving.


And the same is true for muscle.


Your body will look for any way possible to launch a weight with other muscles to avoid doing work. It’s also your greatest opportunity to challenge a muscle.

Start implementing these within each and every workout and I promise your physique will thank me for it.

Ben

Anatomy & Setup Videos

I’m going to simplify muscle building again for you today by providing you with the 3 key principles you should be implementing in every single workout you do.

3 Keys To Great Workouts:

> Setup

> Stabilize

> Initiate

Here at MI40 we refer to these three as “SSI” for short.

Most importantly, if you’re not using this framework in your workouts, you’re leaving a lot of muscle in the table.

Let’s go over them together:

1. Setup – If you’re not setting up for YOUR body, you don’t stand a chance at building muscle. 
Everything else after this doesn’t matter if you miss this one. See the videos to learn how to set up each primary body part.

2. Stabilize – You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe. Even 10% instability will destroy your ability to contract muscle hard and create substantial force output.

This is why when people begin to train properly their weights often go down.

They can’t produce enough stability to contract a muscle hard.

If I want to contract my pecs, I need everything to be anchored in stone.

My back, traps, trunk, even my glutes if I want to maximally contract my pecs.

3. Initiate – Pushing a car from stopped is much harder than pushing it once its already moving.


And the same is true for muscle.


Your body will look for any way possible to launch a weight with other muscles to avoid doing work. It’s also your greatest opportunity to challenge a muscle.

Start implementing these within each and every workout and I promise your physique will thank me for it.

Ben

Anatomy & Setup

How many exercises do you need to build your chest?
 Or legs? Or back?

The answer of course is that depends who is doing them and how well they’re done!

If your goal is to build muscle, your focus should be to challenge a muscle, NOT complete reps.

Muscle Intelligence Tip to Remember: All reps are not created equal.

Sets and reps can only matter if they’re standardized.

In other words, each rep in each of those sets, is executed exactly the same.

And the unfortunate reality is, 99.9% of people are nowhere close to this.

See today’s video where I explain this for you.

Blindly focusing on the number of sets and reps is one of the biggest mistakes people make.

Think about it, just because I lay down into a bench press and do reps, doesn’t mean my pecs are doing work.

Some people will get great results (often by accident), whereas others will get nothing but sore joints from the exact same number of sets and reps.

Hopefully this is starting to make sense, but simply put:

Sets and Reps DO NOT Matter until you’re sure the muscle you’re attempting to work is the primary muscle actually working.

Learn to set up for YOUR body and results will seem to become easier.

Actually results will be inevitable!

Coach BPak

Yesterday I discussed a little bit about the dangers in focusing solely on the number of sets and reps, so today I want to help you understand exactly how you should be approaching the concept of progressive overload to build muscle.

For most people adding more weight to the bar, dumbbell, or machine, will often lead to changes in exercise execution or “cheating”.

This is why its so important to be mindful of your execution and is a big reason why I developed our new Hypertrophy Execution Mastery workout program – because your body is designed to “cheat”.

If you let it, it will cheat you right out of your muscle gains!

Cheating may come in the form of unnecessary movement, unwanted shorting of the distance from the joint you’re trying to influence, or in the form of acceleration to propel the weight using momentum instead of the target muscle.

In order to make progressive overload a very relevant and powerful concept, there are a few simple ways to utilize it:

> Improve Execution

> Increase Distance From Axis

> Increased Time Under Tension

> Increased Load

Most people only ever consider load, and load is ALWAYS secondary to execution.

Adding more load without concern for where it’s being placed is futile and will only get you sore joints and injuries, NOT bigger muscles.

Today’s video is on how to approach progressive overload for those of you that want to learn more.

I’ll see you tomorrow where I’ll show you exactly what a “full range of motion” looks like and why its important to understand and apply.

Ben

If you want fully developed muscles, you must use a full range of motion on exercises, but unfortunately most people have NO IDEA what that actually looks like in application.

Let me ask you:

1. Do you know how to FULLY shorten your lat?

2. How about fully lengthen your pecs?

I bet you think you have the answer, and I’d also be willing to bet that 99% of you would be inaccurate.

Today’s quick video will help you to figure it out.

Remember, if you’re not fully shortening and lengthening your muscles through their complete range of motion, then you’re not leaving the gym having maximally stimulated the muscle and thus no new growth will be initiated.

This is one of the major reasons you’re getting less than average results.

I would say, of the last 1000 people I’ve encountered in the gym, only ONE has known what a full range actually means for any of the major muscle groups!

The reason is this knowledge is not taught in the generic websites and magazines.

Heck, many pros don’t even know about most of these things.

Many then ask the question, “why are there guys with great physiques but train with poor form or do not use a full ROM?

Or, “how did these freaky bodybuilders build their bodies with horrible technique?”.

The truth of the matter is there are probably about 10 guys in the entire world that train with terrible form and grow immense muscles.

TEN.

That’s 10… Out of the millions that train regularly.

They are the tiny, tiny EXCEPTION, not the rule.

So how are you supposed to train with a full range for optimal muscle growth?

Basically, it boils down to learning the proper anatomical function of each of the muscles and using this to your advantage.

Today’s video will give you a little bit to help you understand this for your chest and back.

If you want to learn proper anatomy and execution for the rest of the body, this is exactly why I created the Hypertrophy Execution Mastery program.

My goal was to simplify EVERYTHING for you and guide you through an insane 4 full months of workouts as your coach making sure you are doing everything right to make massive, lasting muscle gains.

For those of you confused on where to start, for those of you that have stubborn body parts, or for those of you who are fighting to break through a plateau, HEM is the best resource I can give you to crush all of the above.

In the meantime, hope you are finding these Muscle Intelligence tips helpful.

See you tomorrow when we’ll get into another important muscle building concept!

Coach Bpak

Learning to create an internal focus in one of the most important steps you can take to maximizing your muscle building potential.

Since stepping back from bodybuilding, I don’t really have a reason to train anymore (at least not in terms of specific “outcome”). I train now because I enjoy it.

This has really allowed me to observe things from a different perspective. It’s reinforced how important having an internal focus is during training, but what exactly does that really mean?

Watch today’s short vlog where I explain what I’m talking about.

It’s very easy to get caught up on what’s going on outside your body…

How much weight is on the bar.

The weight going up and down.

But all that stuff is irrelevant.

Why do we lift a weight?

Well we don’t lift a weight to lift a weight.

We lift a weight to create an internal response.

So, when I’m training, what am I thinking about?

I’m doing my best to focus internally on the muscle(s) I’m working.

I’m mindfully focusing on creating massive muscular tension to ensure I have a focused stimulus.

To help maintain that internal focus, I do my best to filter out any external noise.

Learn to lose attachment to what’s happening outside the body.

I’ve found a great way is to help internalize your focus is to close your eyes during your sets to help eliminate external focus (provided the exercise is safe of course – obviously don’t do it while squatting heavy for example).

With every rep focus on what the muscle is doing.

Another way to help yourself keep an internal focus is to make sure you’re always implementing the SIX ESSENTIALS OF EXERCISE during your workouts:

1. Set up, stand proud, lock it down

2. Initiate with the working muscle

3. Maintain continuous tension

4. Maintain continuous tempo

5. Train a muscle through its entire contractile range

6. Get a muscle fully shortened and fully lengthened.

Stay mindful of these, and make sure you’re implementing the six essentials in every workout.

The more you do, the better chance you’ll be executing each rep in a way that allows you to focus internally on what’s going on inside your muscle to create maximum tension and spark new growth.

I know this isn’t easy, especially at first.

But if it was easy, everyone would be walking around jacked.

Effectively maintaining an internal focus is a skill that needs to be learned just like anything else, but the more mindful you are of these things, the faster the gains will come!

Coach BPak

When I was a teenager I used to write down my workouts after they were done.

I felt this would let me keep track of what i did.

People told me that was important so I blindly following.

This is what I call the training like a monkey.

Monkey see, monkey do.

And everyone in fitness seems to be guilty of it because people hate to think so they mindlessly follow what others do.

If this is you…. STOP!

Even as recently as 2010, I had no idea how to progress a workout other than adding more weight or reps.

It can be confusing right?

Well, it can be until you understand a few basic truths:

1) More weight and reps DOES NOT mean more muscle.

2) The goal is NOT to work harder, or do “more”, the goal is to challenge a muscle, and then slowly progress the amount of work that muscle is doing.

3) You’re focused on adding more load.

Stop adding more load until you’ve mastered execution. Improving execution is your greatest opportunity for progress. You have a massive opportunity to make progress and build a ton of muscle without ever working hard or even adding more weight.

4) You’re moving.

If you’re not completely stable, you’re leaving muscle on the table.

For a muscle to grow you need hard contractions. For a muscle to contract hard, one end must be completely stabilized while the other moves.

5) You have no idea how to progress.

Plateaus should not exist.

It’s as simple as having an intelligent planned out workout program and plateaus become a thing of the past.

6) You don’t know how to select exercises for YOUR body.

You assume that because your favorite athlete does an exercise, you should too.

7) You’re watching others to learn how to exercise.

Who did Arnold watch to learn to train? Answer: HIMSELF.

And the same is true for every great bodybuilder of the 70s and 80s.

They had no models… so they had to LEARN what worked for their body.

The only way you will build muscle is to learn how to properly execute for your body.

8) You think you have bad genetics.

BS. You can build muscle, you just don’t know how. (Yet!)

9) You’re not motivated.

We LOVE the things we’re great at, and dread the things we suck at.

I get it.

Imagine picking up a weight, and getting results as fast as any of your friends or role models.

How would that feel?

Do you think you’d be motivated?

Darn right you would!

Well the truth is that when you learn to do things the right way for YOUR body, it’s going to feel like you’ve never truly worked out before and the gains will flow.

You’ll be putting more tension through the right places, and none to the wrong places (joints, ligaments, tendons).

Helping make sure you never make these common mistakes again is a big reason why I created the Hypertrophy Execution Mastery course.

HEM is all about helping to empower yourself with the skill set to build your greatest body, and gives you 4 months of custom MI40 workouts to do so!

Remember, learning proper execution is just like learning any new skill, it takes a bit of practice, but its a skill set that will pay dividends for your physique for the rest of your life.

Ben

For today’s tip, I want to share a quick story about a top pro who was training here at MI40 Gym the other day.

(Today’s video goes into this if you’d prefer to watch, rather than read.)

He was complaining to me about having a “weak chest”…and you know how I feel about people complaining they have “weak body parts”.

He’d fallen victim to the same thing most of you do in following the advice of someone who had a big chest thinking, “if it worked for them, well then it must work for me!”

So I observed as he went through his workout routine of what was “supposed” to build his chest, but the truth was all the exercises were doing everything BUT work his chest.

This is the case for so many of you.

It’s not that you’re not working hard enough, you just have to be smarter and more mindful about how you work so that your hard work is going to the right place.

The very first step is to make sure you understand your anatomy and how you’re setting up for each exercise, which will have a MASSIVE influence over what muscle is doing the work.

If you haven’t seen them yet, the Hypertrophy Execution Mastery Anatomy & Setup videos from Day 6 will help you to learn exactly that.

As you’ll know if you’re one of the thousands enrolled in the Hypertrophy Execution Mastery course, these videos contain just a small sample of the information I’ve laid out in that, and they will help get you on the right track.

Learn your anatomy.

Learn how to set up for YOUR body as while these are basic skills, they are HUGE in their potential to aid your growth (arguably the entire foundation of your success).

Once you’ve learned them, you’ll understand exactly how to disadvantage those surrounding “stronger” body parts that want to take over so you can direct MAXIMUM tension to those target body parts you WANT to build.

This is a major key to building any body part you want.

Get it down now and you’ll experience gains like you’ve never trained before!

Ben

Let me ask you something and be honest, do you know what the intended stimulus of your current training program is?

Are you following a plan specifically laid out to make sure the external work you’re doing in the gym is creating that intended internal stimulus?

Unless you’re currently following one of my MI40 programs, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess the answer is “no.”

One of the most common questions I get asked is, “Ben, what’s the best program?”, and aside from the obvious answer of, “it doesn’t matter unless your exercise execution is on point,” the answer is, “the one you’ve never subjected yourself to.”

What does that mean?

Well in general, there are three different types of training that you can subject your body to:

> Neurological (Strength) – from a muscle building perspective, the aim is to increase the efficiency at which you can contract more muscle fibers, more intensely, through the use of heavier loads.

> Hypertrophy (Muscle-building) – where we focus on activating one or more of the important mechanisms by which muscle size is increased (increases in training volume for example).

> Metabolic – this is about training your energy systems, forcing them to adapt and become more efficient at producing energy – thereby enhancing workout performance as well as improving nutrient utilization / uptake.

Today’s video touches a little bit upon this and how it relates to your training.

Not taking advantage of these three stimuli is a HUGE reason a lot of you hit plateaus.

You’re following the same training program day in and day out trying to work harder and harder, but just spinning your wheels in the process and putting yourself at risk for injury.

As I often say, you’ve got to work smarter.

To avoid plateaus, you need to be intelligently laying out your training so you’re not driving the same stimulus for too long.

If you want something that not only teaches you all of this, but lays it all out for you through 4 months of custom MI40 workouts, check our newest program ‘Hypertrophy Execution Mastery‘ if you haven’t already.

Start intelligently varying your training stimulus and make plateaus a thing of the past!

Coach Bpak

One of the most debated subjects within the fitness world is the age old question of: “free weights or machines, which one is better?”

Check out today’s video for the answer.

I’d be willing to bet that many of you will say, “free weights are better”, because you’ve probably been told something like, “the old school basics are the only way to build muscle, bro!”

Some of you might say, “machines are better”, because you’ve been told, “they’re safer.”

But the answer really should be BOTH free weights AND machines if your objective is to build the most muscle as humanly possible.

And let me tell you why:

Your body doesn’t know the difference between the two.

They both do the exact same thing.

They allow you to direct tension through your muscles.

The only difference may be, machines are built to fit the “average person” which may be a lot different than you and me.

Just like some free weight exercises might feel perfect for you, certain machines will fit you well and feel great and some just won’t.

You’ve heard me say this before but it’s an important point that deserves repeating:

Don’t be attached to any exercise, machine or free weight just because your favorite Instagram athlete tells you to do so.

You need to know how to set up for YOUR body type whether its free weights, or a machine!

Free weights and machines are ultimately doing the same thing, it’s all subjecting your body to a greater amount of tension.

Just keep in mind machines are a guided path of motion and if you don’t fit that path, you’re not going to be working the target muscle as intended and you could be setting yourself up for injury.

Remember to stay mindful of what’s happening INSIDE the body, regardless of whether it’s a free weight or machine.

Are you directing maximum tension through the muscle mindfully contracting that target muscle against load?

This should be your goal regardless of free weight, cables, machines, or whatever it may be.

Create tension inside muscle and maximize the amount of work that muscle is doing against load.

A perfect recipe to build muscle regardless of whether it’s a free weight or machine.

Ben

Take out a pen.

Seriously.

If you’re on your phone you can do this later.

I want you to try writing your name with the wrong hand…but you have to do it perfectly. Zero Mistakes. Go.

Even if you didn’t give this a try, I’m sure you can imagine how awkward with the wrong hand would feel.

Weird right?

Especially knowing you have to writing it perfectly.

It’s also likely to be extremely slow at first, and take quite a bit of thought, isn’t it?

This is because it is NEW.

And anything new takes attention, focus, and perfect practice to be able to acquire enough skill to move ultimately to the point where you don’t have to think about it.

See todays video on how this applies to building muscle.

The fact is, if you can’t build it, it’s not because your genetics suck, it’s because your execution sucks.

Here’s a Muscle Intelligence Tip to remember:

Only after you master exercise execution does the concept of progressive overload become the holy grail of building muscle.

Why is this?

Well, when you master execution, you effectively standardize the stimulus you’re subjecting your body to.

Then, and only then, can you start shifting your focus towards manipulating the amount of tension, load, sets and reps, etc.

Remember doing more of the wrong thing is never going to get you a better result.

Coach BPak

P.S. If you haven’t already joined the 1000’s of intelligent men and women who are building their greatest body every day, in half the time, what are you waiting for?

Join the Muscle Intelligence Movement in our brand new industry changing masterpiece: Hypertrophy Execution Mastery!

Let’s do this!

Want bigger legs?

Today I’d like to share with you one of my best tips that will govern your leg growth.

If you don’t implement this one, no amount of “hard work” will get you anywhere.

If you’d rather watch explain than read, check out today’s video.

I’ve spent 20 years building what some called the best legs on the planet and it was never easy.

I made mistakes, caused sore knees, sore low back, and had many workouts where I would bring in one training partner for the first hour, then bring in a fresh one for the second hour.

But none of that would matter or even be possible if I hadn’t learned of the most important things in leg development.

Actually this is one of the most important points in building any body part:

Stabilize the pelvis

> Lay on the floor, cross one leg over the other, squeeze your legs together as hard as you can so that your glutes and inner thighs contract as hard as you can. I’m talking so hard it hurts and makes every fiber in your body contract.

> Now add to that and think about pulling your pelvic floor (basically your balls for the men) up to your throat. As hard as you can.

This is supposed to be hard, but by doing so you’re doing two very important things:

1. Creating a bridge between your lower half and your upper body.

2. Anchoring the pelvis in stone so the lower body muscles have something stable to contract off of.

One end of a muscle must be completely anchored to create an intense contraction.

Muscle Intelligence Tip to remember:

No stability, no hard contractions. No muscle building.

Think about standing on ice, would you be strong?

Not a chance.

The intensity of muscle contractions are governed by stability.

It’s that simple.

Now go practice! 😉

Have an awesome workout and enjoy the growth!

Ben

Today I want to share my top two back training tips.

For a long time I struggled to build my back.

I fell victim to the same thing a lot of you do, which is following the advice of the guy with the big back thinking, “I have to train just like him if I want a big back too.”

I trained hard and heavy as possible and what did it get me?

Sore elbows, a sore lower back, and NO growth in my back.

If I knew what I know now about back training when I was competing, who knows what kind of back I could have built?!

Don’t make the mistakes I made.

Check out today’s video with my 2 best tips for growing a thick and wide back.

Once I learned how to do things correctly for my body, I didn’t even have to work as hard but got WAY more growth out of my back.

Muscle Intelligence Back Tip #1: To begin, set up and create as much length in the lat as you can.

Muscle Intelligence Back Tip #2: Initiate the movement with the lat by thinking, “down”, instead of, “back”.

More specifically:

Whether you’re training in a vertical plane with a pull down, or in a horizontal plane with a row, always set up properly for your body and first create as much length in the lat as possible.

To avoid removing the ability of the lats to create mechanical tension, it’s really important to maintain this fully lengthened position when initiating the movement – so instead of pulling the lat “back”, pull it in a downward motion!

We don’t want to pull back because the rear delts pull the arm back, you need to be thinking about driving down to fully engage the lats.

As you move through the rep, focus us, “down, down, down”, while making a conscious effort to keep the lat as far forward as you can throughout the entire range.

Once the insertion of the lat is about inline with the ribcage, start to “wrap around” pulling towards the spine.

(Go watch the video for visual cues to make sure you fully understand and nail all this!).

You also want avoid the mistake of trying to shove yourself into an exercise or machine just because someone else tells you to do it or because it’s labeled as a back machine.

When you try to contort yourself into an exercise or machine that doesn’t suit your body, you’re going to lose tension in the muscle you’re trying to train and you’re probably setting yourself up for injury.

Look for machines and exercises that cater to YOUR active range of motion.

Make the machine or exercise fit YOU.

Put these tips into practice and watch as your back begins to grow!

Coach BPak

Well-developed delts give your physique width and accentuate that v-taper everybody wants, creating the illusion of an even smaller waist.

To help you get the most out of your delt training, check out today’s video with my top two delt training tips.

A lot of you might think you’re cursed with bad delt “genetics”, but the reality is, you’re probably not training them correctly for YOUR body.

Muscle Intelligence Delt Tip #1: What’s on top, works most.

For example, if you’re doing side laterals, but your front delt is on top, are you working your side delt? The answer is no, you’re actually working your front delt.

Why?

Because gravity exerts a force straight down – the muscle on top is therefore the muscle directly opposing the resistance.

No matter the delt exercise, you need to set up so that the part of your shoulder you’re trying to work lines-up with the plane of resistance.

Meaning what?

That’s right… your side delts MUST be on top when performing side lateral raises if your goal is to work the side delts.

Next, lock it down.

For side laterals this means stand tall and proud with abs / core tight – maintain this position throughout the movement.

This will help ensure you create maximum tension in the target muscle.

Muscle Intelligence Delt Tip #2: Make sure the target muscle works first!

Don’t focus on simply, “completing reps”, but on initiating the movement by mindfully contracting the target muscle to begin each and every rep.

Got it?

Good!

If not, go watch the video!

Time to build some HUGE boulder-shoulders!

Coach BPak

One of the things that most people forget about when trying to train a particular body part, is knowing the answer to the the following question: “what is my objective?”

Is it completing an exercise?

Is it completing a movement?

Watch today’s video to find out and also learn my two best tips for building massive arms.

Your objective for training any body part should be: to challenge a muscle by creating internal tension within that muscle.

You’ve heard me say it before, without tension, growth doesn’t happen.

So how do you create the most amount of tension when training arms?

Muscle Intelligence Tip #1: Create a stable environment for that muscle to contract.

Muscle Intelligence Tip #2: Find complete length of that muscle and initiate with the working muscle.

You should be able to create a tremendous amount of tension within your muscle before you even move, without any load.

Then by adding load, you’re adding resistance against contraction through the whole rep.

Master these two tips and watch your arms explode with growth!

Ben

The last few of days I’ve shared with you some of my best tips for training legs, back, delts, and arms, so let’s complete the body part tips today with my two best tips to build big and powerful pecs…

Check out today’s short video to start building a better chest NOW!

Muscle Intelligence Tip #1: Create distance from the top of your sternum to the insertion of your pec.

The greater the distance we create, the greater the opportunity for that muscle to create mechanical tension.

Muscle Intelligence Tip #2: Once you’ve created distance, lock it down and initiate with the working muscle.

Too many times, I see guys start to move their shoulders forward when things get hard taking tension of the chest and putting onto the front delts.

This is why you see these guys rubbing their shoulders after each set of presses.

Once you’ve created that distance, lock it down so only the pecs do the work throughout the movement.

Bonus Tip: A third tip for you would be to make sure you’re setting up correctly for your body type by lining up the forces to train the area of chest you want to be training.

Just because I do a particular exercise, doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

All our bodies are very different.

Your rib cage and sternum angle plays a MASSIVE role in determining what part of your chest is working.

As with delt training, what’s on top will work most.

If you’ve got a very flat sternum angle, you might need a slight decline to work the middle of your chest as opposed to flat.

Alternately, if your sternum angle is like mine, you can sit in a moderate incline press and almost hit your entire chest.

Check out the videos from day 6 taken from our new Hypertrophy Execution Mastery program to make sure you’re setting up correctly for YOUR body.

Implement these muscle intelligence tips, make sure your set up is on point, and let’s start building a massive chest!

Ben

Today I’d like to share with you one extremely important tip that will help you to not only prevent injury, but maximize your growth potential.

Watch today’s short video to learn what it is, or keep reading.

One of the concepts we frequently mention here at MI40 is the idea of Active Range of Motion, and its also one of the most common topics I get asked about.

To clarify, here is a difference between ACTIVE range of motion and PASSIVE range of motion:

Passive range of motion is the range your joint is able to go through with no effort or with assistance from say a trainer or therapist.

Active range of motion is the range of motion your joint is able to go through actively using your muscles with no assistance.

So what does this all mean for growth and avoiding injury?

Muscle Intelligence Tip #1: There’s very often a difference between active and passive range of motion and its in that disparity where injuries often occur.

If you’re going outside of your active range of motion, or allowing a weight to put you outside of your active range of motion, that load is no longer going to be supported primarily with the target muscle you’re trying to train, but by your ligaments, tendons, and bones.

Muscle Intelligence Tip #2: Going beyond your active range of motion reduces tension on the target muscle reducing its potential for growth.

And keep in mind, not only are you cheating yourself out of potential gains when you do this, its also increasing your risk of injury by dispersing that tension to areas that you don’t want it to be in!

For example, if you can’t get your knee to your chest, you have NO business squatting to full depth until you’ve actively increased your active range of motion to do so.

So I’m sure now the next question you have for me (or should have for me) is, “so how to I determine my active range of motion?”

To simplify it and make it easy for you, I’ve put together active range of motion assessment videos for each body part.

Check these videos out when you have a second, then make sure you stay mindful of your active range of motion during training.

Again, understand this will not only keep the tension where you want it leading to better gains, but dramatically decrease your risk of injury.

Coach BPak

If there’s ONE thing I want you to know about muscle building it’s this:

Muscle Building is simple, and you CAN do it!

No matter what excuses you’re telling yourself as to why you don’t have the body you want, the reality is, they’re just excuses.

When I started bodybuilding, I had what I call negative muscle.

By that I mean I’m pretty sure my bones stood up further than my muscles, and my biggest body part was my love handles.

I grew up on Snickers bars and Pepsi.

McDonald’s was more or less a daily occurrence, and by the time I was 8, I was already experiencing pretty severe learning disabilities.

I just assumed I was dumb, and because my family was fat, I’d be fat too.

Here’s the key, stop the BS you’re telling yourself and starting manning (or womaning) up and create what’s called an INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL.

Meaning, “if other’s can do it, so can I”.

This is a quote I’ve had in my mind since I was 13.

When it comes to muscle building, people have the wrong impression of what is necessary:

> It’s not about completing reps.

> It’s not about certain exercises being mass builders vs shapers (that’s just stupidity).

> It’s not about heavy weights building mass and light weights toning (also stupid).

> It’s not even about adding more weight to the bar or, “working harder” (If that’s your only solution you’re in trouble).

It’s about challenging a muscle.

THAT’S ALL.

Which does NOT just mean, “working hard.”

You’ve got to work smart, before you work hard.

You’ve probably heard me say it before, but running as fast as you can in the wrong direction, isn’t going to get you where you want to go.

This is even more true when it comes to exercise because working hard on the wrong things, will actually hurt your ability to grow.

Muscle building is really a simple concept when it comes down to it.

Ideally, it’s challenging a muscle in isolation (if hypertrophy is your goal).

It’s literally just contracting a muscle, taking it through the range of motion against resistance, and then manipulating the amount of time you do this.

THAT. IS. ALL.

Think about this as you head off to train today and start taking ownership of your muscle building process.

Coach BPak

P.S. Here are a few useful questions to ask during your training to effectively implement this concept:

1. Where are the two ends of this muscle?

2. How can i pull one end far away, then get it as close as possible to the opposite end.

3.How can i set up to make sure this muscle is the first thing to contract and the last thing to contract in every rep.

And if you’re tired of wasting time, spinning your wheels, and you want to kick your results into high gear, I’ve put together the baddest program in the world, with all my best execution tips for YOUR body.

Check it out here and start making gains again!

If you want to build your upper body to its fullest potential, you’ve got to create stability in your scapula.

Check out today’s video to learn how.

The reason many of you have trouble building your chest or back is because you lack the ability to retract and lock your scapula in place when executing movements.

So how do you start improving your scapula stability?

Here is a quick step by step exercise to practice (if it’s too hard to follow, watch the video as it’s much easier to do when you see me demonstrate while explaining).

1. Extend your thoracic spine, roll your shoulders back, then pull then down so you depress your scapula.

2. Once you’ve done that, flex your core so that your thoracic spine is extended but your lumbar spine is neutral.

3. Next, keeping your scapula pulled back, down, and locked into place, I want you to hold your scapula there while bringing your hands over your head.

If you start practicing this before every upper body workout, you’ll start developing better stability in your scapula and allow you be start seeing better growth and gains in your entire upper body.

Put this into place today and lets start building a bigger upper body!

Ben

One of the biggest keys to building big legs, is being able to stabilize your pelvis.

So why is this so important in building big legs?

Because one of end the muscle you’re trying to train has to be absolutely anchored, if you’re going to create maximum tension, torque, and force output on the other end.

If your pelvis is moving even just a little bit, you’re losing force production capability along with the ability to maximally contract that muscle.

I can almost guarantee, if you’re lacking leg development, it’s because you have an unstable pelvis.

So how do you create a stable pelvis?

Watch today’s video to learn how or keep reading below:

If you implement this regularly before your leg training, I can guarantee you’ll start to get better pelvic stability and your output on legs will start to go up dramatically.

Put this into practice today and lets start building some monster legs!

Ben

Over the past two days I’ve taught you how to stabilize your scapula and how to stabilize your pelvis.

If you haven’t watched those videos yet, go do that now because this next tip won’t matter until you do!

Today I’m going to teach you how to prime your muscles for growth!

Watch the video to learn how!

Start implementing what I discuss in your training and watch your output sky rocket!

Ben

Most people attach to this idea of “warming up” on a bike or treadmill, which is really just increasing your body temperature and does nothing to prepare your body for what it has to do during training.

Watch today’s quick video to learn what your warm up should ACTUALLY look like!

Start implementing this to properly prepare your body for your training and watch your training start to improve.

Ben

Training for the New York Pro in 2010, I did a minimum of 2 back workouts a week, many of them lasting nearly 3 hours.

I did all the typical recommended things to bring up weak parts:

> Lift Heavy

> Train Harder

> Heavy compound movements

> Increase the frequency

I was rowing 455 lbs with “strict” form, deadlifting 700+ for reps, dumbbell rowing 180lb DBs for 17 sets some days, and NOTHING happened.

My back didn’t seem to grow at all.

At least not as much as I thought I had earned.

That was the hardest year of my life.

I put everything into training for that show, and I failed.

Walking off that stage after placing an abysmal 7th place, I thought that would be my last competition.

”Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to be great” I thought in my mind.

Two weeks later I looked at pictures and it dawned on me:

“If I can build all that muscle in certain parts, I MUST be able to build muscle everywhere!”

It’s the same internal environment everywhere in my body.

Same hormones, same muscle fibers.

Had I given up at that point, I would’ve never found my true passion in life.

Rather than accepting failure and defeat, I discovered what I know now is the secret to muscle growth for ANY body.

And the best part is that it’s really simple, but so many people get lost in the confusion of sets, reps, progressive overload, speed, volume, frequency, and even “hard work”.

I’ve touched upon this before, but the truth is, for ANY of that stuff to matter, you’ve got to first learn how to do the following three basics.

The 3 most important things to build muscle:

1. Setup

How you set up for an exercise determines what works. Most people fail to recognize how massively individual differences are in determining how you build muscle. If you have ever said things like: “weak body part,” “poor genetics,” “hard gainer,” then you better pay attention. If you miss this, everything after this doesn’t matter.

2. Stabilize:

Stability governs contraction. If a muscle isn’t stable at one end, it can’t contract maximally.

3. Initiate:

To make a muscle work as hard as possible: eliminate ALL momentum and make sure that muscle is the first to move and the last to move.

Then, once you’ve got all this down and have become a master of your body, the program you use can FINALLY become important.

Every month of my new Muscle Building Course is designed with this in mind.

4 full months of the best body part programming for:

> Month 1 – Chest and Back

> Month 2 – Arms

> Month 3 – Delts and Quads

> Month 4 – Hams, Calves, Glutes

If you want to begin to master your body, don’t waste another minute.

This is the way to do it.

Click here to get started today!

Ben

For today’s Muscle Intelligence Tip, I’m going to give you 20 deep insights instead of just one!

To celebrate the 100th episode of my Muscle Expert Podcast, I’m sharing with you the biggest takeaways from the world’s leading experts across several fields.

Click below to listen as I recap the 20 most important things that I’ve learned through our first 100 episodes.

Start putting these insight and tips into practice and you’ll see improvements in not only training, but all areas of your life.

Ben

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Implementing daily discipline is one of the first steps in changing your life.

This begins the process of shifting your unconscious mind to knowing that you’re someone that gets stuff done, and that you have the internal discipline to accomplish any goal.

It all starts with small daily victories.

1. Meditate every morning.

2. Breathe:

Learning to slow down and reconnect through breath is your greatest gift.

3. Read one chapter a day.

4. Create a gratitude practice to start your day:

This one is non negotiable. Every morning the first thing out of your mind should be thank you.

5. Practice being grateful for everything and everyone. Even those that are most challenging. Our struggles develop our character.

6. Do Yoga:

This is an incredible way to see where your unconscious mind loves to avoid doing what is really beneficial. Learning how to do those things that are most uncomfortable or that are difficult, and actually relaxing into it and being grateful for it is a great opportunity for daily progress.

7. Look for where you cut corners. Awareness is step one to progress.

8. Always follow through on your word. To others and just as importantly to yourself.

9. Write a daily journal of reflection.

10. Always bring your best.

11. Slow down when training in the gym. Its harder, more beneficial, and will allow you to see where you want to cheat and avoid the hard stuff.

12. Plan your day.

13. Say no:

We mindlessly say yes to too many things that end up preventing us from living our greatness. If it’s taking time from your highest and best, it’s ultimately stealing from you and your contribution to the universe.

14. Make your bed.

15. Floss your teeth.

16. When you cant, you must.

17. When you’re addicted, stop.

18. Resist social media.

19. Have the conversations you don’t want to have.

20. See the world through someone else’s eyes.

21. Master a skill or topic:

Most people dabble, and never get an understanding of anything. Our world is overwhelming and learning to place your focus on one thing for a while is a huge gift.

22. Be ruthless with your time.

23. Be present.

24. Sauna.

25. Do more than is asked of you.

26. Cryotherapy:

It requires mental fortitude and is amazing for your parasympathetic nervous system.

27. Be kind to everyone.

28. Give selflessly.

29. When it hurts, smile, and keep going.

30. Fast once a month.

31. Create a plan and stick to it.

32. Take 5 minutes every hour to breathe or connect with nature.

33. Don’t train for completion, train for maximize challenge.

34. Slow down, Eliminate all momentum. Use your muscles.

35. Perfect practice.

36. Set rules for your life. No email before 9am, no electronics after 8pm.

37. Listen more than you talk:

When the day is done, take time to reflect on 5 things you’ve done to implement daily discipline in your life, note them, and celebrate them.

Also take time to reflect where you could implement them tomorrow where you might have missed the opportunity today.

Ben

One of the first things you should be doing in your process to build muscle is optimizing your breathing.

In todays video, I show you just how to practice your breathing to enhance your training and show you how it can even enhance the aesthetics of your physique.

Remember, if building a great physique is something you’re interested in, you absolutely MUST start every workout with some type of expansive breathing.

Ben