Go into any gym in any country in the world and at least 90% of people will tell you they are there for some variation of ‘building muscle and burning fat’.

We have been programmed to pay homage to the ‘inspirational’ figure models we see on the front of magazines.

I find it quite comical how many guys take the piss out of girls who literally come to worship  or at least idolise the ‘Size Zero’s’ who make all the headlines, then slip into the downward spiral of eating disorders and the rollercoaster that is crash dieting.

The fact is boys, you are no different. You are obsessed with a similar journey, just in an opposite direction. Life becomes about what you can do to add another pound of muscle and get another 1% of your body fat.

I too have these goals but my approach has some very critical differences which I want you to explore or at least consider.

Stop for a second.

When have you EVER been satisfied with your results?

You may well have hit a target you set in terms of adding muscle or burning fat but I am willing to bet my bottom dollar you still felt the need to go out and buy more supplements, another magazine or got sucked into another ‘insane muscle building’ program on the internet.

I truly believe the reason for this is that you are well off target in terms of what you THINK you want.

The truth is, you want to look BE an athlete.

You want a muscular physique with minimal body fat all year round right?

That is fair enough.

However, you are not willing to train like an athlete and simultaneously achieve a body that performs like one.

You marvel at the Floyd Mayweather’s and ripped MMA fighters of this world but you refuse to think like them, let alone act like them.

Until you can achieve this you will never reach fulfillment with your training and will constantly be like the little girls who are obsessed with appearance only.

Not only this, but what you fail to realize is that many of these cover models are either ‘one hit wonders’ or don’t really look like or act like you think they do.

Last year I was part of the Men’s Health team that competed in the inaugural Survival of The Fittest event. Two or three of our team members were cover models. Not only did I finish ahead of all the models in the event who struggled massively when their bodies were challenged beyond a camera shot, but their bodies were nowhere near as impressive as what you seen on the magazine cover.

Yes they had more muscle than me but the definition of the photoshoot wasn’t there and if I hadn’t been told otherwise I wouldn’t have known.

I have heard many bodybuilders talk of how their abs only look great once or twice a year when they have stripped down and dangerously dehydrated themselves to get ‘stage ready’. 

You believe they look like this all year and begin to chase the dream.

It’s like Stevie Wonder walking through a minefield.

See you’re not only being sold dreams that are actually ‘photo-shop’d with clever computer trickery, but even if you do achieve a great LOOKING body, you are still aware you are just pretending to be an athlete.

You know it and it niggles at you even if people tell you how good your guns look.

It’s a built-in animal trait to want / need to be the strongest, leanest animal in the pack. 

Unfortunately many humans are trying to APPEAR this way whilst missing out the middle man of training and performing like an athlete.

As a result, they are always aware of their inferiority and so keep trying to add more muscle to APPEAR even stronger and leaner.

It’s like drinking caffeine to increase energy levels. It will give you some short term gratification but ultimately still leave you wanting.

It’s like teenagers who walk around with gold bling hanging around their necks, their trousers hanging off their arse and dropping a hip every time they take a step. They want to PRETEND their a superstar rapper without putting the effort into the steps that need to be taken to get there.

It’s like up and coming city bankers who take out loans to buy Ferrari’s so they APPEAR to be at the top of their profession and earning the nost money, before they actually get there. 

We all know where this misdirected impatience and thirst for appearance-only results has got the world’s economy. We also know these people will not learn and we will be in this situation again in a few decades.

See right now, if you are focussed on ‘build muscle, burn fat’ you have no hope of quelling the burning desires you have deep down.

These burning desires are to look AND PERFORM like an athlete; to BE strong, lean, powerful and capable of outperforming everyone else in your gym, sports arena or circle of friends. That is what makes you the leader of the pack.

Yesterday I waltzed into a hardcore gym in my area and proceeded to hammer out some kettlebell jerks for time, tyre flips and gymnastic based exercises which the other boys in the gym sat and watched from the bench press.

After being told about my forthcoming kettlebell conditioning tour by the gym owner, two of them came up to me and asked about it.

Soon, the age-old question came…

“Will it get me ripped and show my abs because I can never get them like yours even though I do loads of weights?”

I picked up my stuff and left.

Another example of someone who wasn’t concerned about trying to perform like an athlete but just wanted the body of one by lifting a few weights and finding the next magic solution to getting the cover model body.

It’s about time the world wakes up to the fact that training solely for a better looking body is  an empty, meaningless, unfulfilling way to train.

In a few weeks time I am embarking on a mission to go from complete beginner to lean, ripped Muay Thai fighter.

Not only will the desire to win my first fight drive me to PERFORM better but, training to be lean, strong and fast will bring an athletic body people will envy.

No need to pretend.

No need to go to the gym to LOOK like a fighter.

No need to constantly buy the latest muscle-monkey program.

No need to associate myself with the false, misguided BS of the commercial fitness world.

Men have an innate desire to be strong, powerful and athletic. In the years gone by, athletic physiques were earned through training to be this way.

Now we try to PRETEND we are athletic. We try to be athletes by looking like one first.

It doesn’t work.

At some point in your life you will realize how meaningless your training is – everyone does.

We get wiser and realize that life is about the experiences we have. 

The more athletic you are in terms of stamina, strength and power, the more experiences you will have that actually satisfy your inner desires to get the most out of life. 

You will much more able to make the most of a world which is being destroyed by the very greed and false cravings for appearance and pretense that has infected the fitness industry like many others.

I hope this opens your mind a little more!