Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

by Michael Matthews

You see, once you become aware of an opportunity to score a reward, your brain squirts out dopamine to tell us that this indeed is the droid we’re looking for. It plays up the sweet song of immediate gratification and plays down any chatter about long-term consequences.6

If we’re to succeed in this new world, we must learn to distinguish between the false, distracting, and addicting “rewards” we’re enticed with every day, everywhere we go, and the real rewards that give us true fulfillment and that bring meaning to our lives.

You see, research has conclusively proven that nothing undermines willpower like stress—and

So, with comfort foods, alcohol, video games, shopping, and television off the list as a way of coping with stress,

Research has shown that there are various ways to enter this state, such as going for a walk outside, reading, drinking a cup of tea, listening to soothing music, doing yoga, lying down and focusing on breathing and relaxing your muscles, and even gardening.

Another important part of keeping stress levels low is getting adequate sleep.

In fact, research shows that sleep deprivation causes symptoms similar to ADHD: distractibility, forgetfulness, impulsivity, poor planning, and hyperactivity.

Reducing your consumption of pessimistic, fear-mongering media can reduce stress levels as well.

Those words were sung by Veruca in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and many people sing along every day, regardless of whether they realize it.

And the more someone engages in this behavior, the worse his self-control is and the more likely he is to behave impulsively and even have problems with addiction.27

For example, if I gave you a $200 check postdated a couple of months from now and then tried to buy it back for $100 today, would you accept the deal? Probably not. What if I gave you $100 now and tried to buy it back with the $200 postdated check? Would you make that deal? Again, probably not. Why is that? Simple: we don’t want to lose something we have, even if we’re going to gain something of greater value later. It’s just human nature, and it’s why we tend to gravitate toward choosing smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed ones. When you’re hovering over it, a doughnut now sure feels a lot more desirable than some weight loss later.

The silver lining, however, is that good behaviors and moods are contagious as well. If we hang around people who are generally goal-driven and happy with high levels of self-control, we too can “catch” these traits.

Simply thinking about people with high levels of self-control—self-control role models, if you will—has been shown to increase willpower.37

moral licensing,

Whenever you’re struggling with a willpower challenge, review your whys. What will you get in the end by staying strong? What’s the big payoff? Who else will benefit from it? What will your life be like when these things are a reality? Are you willing to delay gratification to get there? To experience some discomfort in the present to have that future?

Pride is another effective weapon that we can use to overcome our willpower challenges. Research shows that imagining how proud you will be once you’ve accomplished your goals, who you’ll tell, and what their reactions will be can increase your willpower and make you more likely to do what it takes to make those goals a reality.

One of our favorite ways to abandon our self-control is to justify our sins of the present with planned virtues of the future. For example, research shows that simply planning on exercising later can increase the likelihood of cheating on a diet.52

Today I will binge on my favorite TV shows, but I won’t watch anymore for the rest of the week.

We simply give our future selves too much credit,

As you get better at this, you’ll be improving what scientists call your “future self-continuity,” which is your ability to connect future consequences with present actions.53 High future-self continuity will not only help you get into shape, but it will also improve many other areas of your life as well.

Modern life bombards us with willpower challenges that require us to call on our self-control mechanisms to successfully avoid distractions and do the things we need to do and not do what we shouldn’t.

Scientists have observed that, regardless of the types of tasks performed, people’s self-control is at its highest in the morning and that it steadily declines as the day wears on.

Research backs this up too. We can increase our overall willpower by performing regular, small acts of self-control like eating fewer sweets, tracking spending, correcting our posture, refraining from swearing, squeezing a handgrip every day, and using our nondominant hand for various tasks.64

What we’re really training when we do these “trivial” things is what psychologists call the “pause-and-plan response,” which involves pausing before we act, noticing what we’re about to do, and choosing differently instead.

For example, you can build your “I won’t” power by refraining from slouching when you sit, committing to not eating a junk food indulgence every day, or not swearing. You can build your “I will” power by committing to some new daily habit like doing five minutes of breathing exercises, going for a walk outside, doing 20 push-ups after waking up, finding something that needs cleaning in your house and cleaning it, or tracking something in your life that you don’t usually pay attention to, such as how many calories you take in and expend daily, how much coffee you drink, or how much time you spend surfing the Internet.

For many people, the best way to beat temptation is to simply avoid facing it in the first place.

NOTHING FAILS LIKE SUCCESS

It turns out that progress comes with a risk: complacency. Research has shown that some people use progress toward a goal as an excuse to let off the gas and indulge in some self-sabotage.67

Proper nutrition boils down to just two things: 1. Supplying your body with the nutrients needed to efficiently recover from your workouts. 2. Manipulating your energy intake to lose, maintain, or gain weight as desired.

If you’re not sure how to determine your body fat percentage, most experts agree that hydrostatic and DEXA X-ray are the most accurate methods. The downside, however, is inconvenience and cost.