Performance over Aesthetics

Have you noticed that most athletes have amazing physiques? In this blog I am going to look at performance over aesthetic and show you that the more focus on your performance as an athlete, the aesthetics follow along with it. These athletes can, not only throw an amazing pitch, tackle, fight, swim, clean and jerk, run, and jump, they look like a super hero doing it! Yes, they look great but the last thing on their minds is their physical appearance. They look lean, strong and healthy. They have a six pack, ripped arms and strong legs! This is all because they need to have an optimal body to excel in their specific sport. These athletes are so passionate about their sport; they completely immerse themselves in training and winning and have amazing discipline. They don’t do this because they have to, but rather because they WANT TO. They want to be the best at their sport and get the most out of it. If you’re going to do something, you should do it the best you can, otherwise you’re not receiving its full potential.

When I started bodybuilding, I just wanted to look good and in the beginning, it was exciting to see my body grow and develop. After my initial goals were accomplished, I then had to look at what was next. At first, I could see my goals were too vague and had no measurable basis. So I started creating performance goals which I found more tangible and less subjective.

I started creating weekly, monthly and yearly goals. I would starting with recording the amount I could currently squat, dead lift and bench press, then I would create my goals from there. One of my main goals was to max out all the machines in the gym, and I did. I once even challenged myself and my girlfriend to do 200 squats which we superset with back exercises! I really wanted to see if we could do it. It was very challenging and we both almost threw up, but we did it and now we have a great story to tell and another amazing accomplishment under our belts. I have found over the years that when having performance goals to accomplish, the aesthetics just came along with it as your body is forced to adapt to the new challenges.

It’s all related; to be athletic you need to stay consistent in training and your nutrition. You will look your best all the time. You will look healthy and fit, you will be pain free and have energy and always feel great! You will be sick less and everyday physical activities will be easier to do. When these things become easier, you then start having new goals that are more challenging. Muscle is the building blocks of the body. It stabilizes your metabolism and homeostasis. It is what allows you to have a few more cheat meals and it is what keeps your body the same shape long term. It’s what makes it possible to do a chin up, power through that tackle, hit that ball and it is what gives you the strength to lift that weight.

 I challenge you to set performance goals, stick to them and watch your body change! I promise you will be amazed. Stay focused on performance and building the muscle and have fun in the sport or other activity that you love!

Until next time…

God Bless

Daniel

Extra Note: Progressive overload is manipulating the load so that it is more challenging and more effort is needed. By pushing more, your body uses more energy and breaks down more muscle fibres. Your body then rebuilds those fibres stronger and that’s how you build muscle. This is your ultimate goal, to hit the progressive overload stage. Keep you intensity high for strong muscle development.