32 Things I Learned in 2011 That Can Help You

We learn from our mistakes. We also learn from our successes and failures alike. 2011 has been a year filled with failures, successes, mistakes, and a whole lot of lessons.

It often takes time to learn from our mistakes. A step back to gain the necessary perspective needed to learn what we need to learn. Sometimes it’s a painful lesson. A lesson that shows us something about ourselves that me might not be proud of or willing to admit.

I’m a stubborn, driven, focused, and flawed man. I learn everyday because I fail and I make mistakes every day. Learning never ends. This year was filled with lessons that will stick with me for a lifetime.

This site is a resource. I put a lot of hours in to learning about the human body. Testing theories and methods on my own body so you don’t have to. Here are 32 lessons I learned in 2011 that you too can learn from.

For the comments section: What things did you learn in 2011? Read the rest of this entry »

What I’ve Learned

Blue steel? Lesson #1: don’t take yourself too seriously.

I’m not ‘naturally’ like this

If you’re frustrated because you feel like you can’t build muscle or lose fat, and you feel like no matter how hard you work and train, you can’t build the body you want. Know that I was born with a body that was the furthest thing from my ideal.

For my first 7 years in the gym I gained ZERO pounds of lean muscle. Had minimal strength gains and was about the most frustrated human being on the face of the earth. But, things happen for a reason. When I finally figured out what I was doing wrong, my gains skyrocketed and I haven’t looked back since. The thing is, without those years of failure, feeling like I was cursed by shitty genetics, I wouldn’t be able to help other guys with the same problems, reach their goals.

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20 Things Chad Howse Learned in 2010

Answering emails, drinking green tea (3 cups a day helps repair muscle tissue). I love what I do.

Over the past year I have learned a lot from many different people, different situations, tribulations, and… books. It’s been a year that I’ll never forget because it was a year of constantly moving forward, but also a year spent in the presence of people that I love and admire.

What I learned in 2010:

Training

1. A week off does the body good. If I’m adding lean muscle mass I’ll train for 3-4 weeks, then take a week off. The mental and physical recovery actually improves gains, limits plateaus and overtraining. We need more recovery time than we realise

2. Change is a good thing. Strategic change in reps, sets, exercises and tempos results in consistent gains that don’t slow down and workouts that don’t get boring.

3. Talking is the enemy. Probably the #1 thing holding people back from building their ideal body is a lack of intensity in the gym. With more time spent talking than training.

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3 Lesson’s Learned from a Great Weekend

This past weekend I traveled to Niagara Falls and Toronto, Ontario with my lovely girlfriend for the wedding of a good friend of mine, Vince DelMonte, who married his beautiful bride in Flavia Dragos. Vince and Flavia are great people and I couldn’t be happier for them.

As for the wedding, it was filled to the brim with lots of laughs, great food and even greater collection of people. I went there to support my friend, his family and to celebrate his marriage. And, yes to have a good time and enjoy the festivities. But in the middle of the great party I ended up learning a few lessons.

1. You’re only as good as the company you keep.

Happy and successful people hang out with other happy and successful people, much like people with little or no ambition hang out with people who share a similar mentality. Read the rest of this entry »