Just about any personal trainer, bodybuilder, or serious lifter can give advice about which exercises to do, figure out weights, reps, training splits, understand the role of nutrition and supplements, and all the usual aspects of setting up an effective training plan. I'm happy to offer suggestions about all these usual aspects of training, if that's what you need to get started with a serious workout program, or to take your workouts to the next level.
However, there are limits to the conventional way that most people approach workouts and bodybuilding, that aren't often addressed. For example, the emphasis on competitiveness, being an ‘alpha male’, or showing off can lead to injuries from using too much weight, unhealthy obsession with body image or never being happy with yourself, low self-esteem, and many other types of issues. Even if we try to keep a balanced attitude about our bodies and working out, conventional approaches still miss out on what is really possible.
As an example, do several sets of your favorite exercise, whether it's bench press, standing biceps curl, squats, or any other weightlifting exercise. As you do the exercise, try to pay as much attention as you can to whatever you notice. No matter what exercise we do, there are a huge number of things we could pay attention to, as in everything we could feel, see, hear, smell, think, etc. If we focus on the sensations in the target muscle, rather than paying attention to the weight rising and falling, that can make subtle shifts in how we hold our body that result in much better form. If we pay attention to the sensations in other parts of our body, we may notice we hold too much tension, such as triceps and shoulders held too tight while doing biceps curls, essentially fighting ourselves. When we stop fighting ourselves, but still support ourselves as needed, we can lift more weight with less effort. By paying deep attention to our experience while working out, flexing, and connecting with our bodies, we can explore each part of our body until entire universes come alive within us, we fall completely in love with ourselves in the best way possible, and we make more gains in muscle, mind, and our whole being than we could hope for.
While bodybuilding and working out can sometimes be used as a way to act unconsciously, or to become obsessively unbalanced, they can also be done in ways that increase our consciousness and awareness. The body is not an obstacle on the path of personal and spiritual development, it can be our strongest tool, and lessons learned from bodybuilding can carry over to the rest of our lives. For example, if we learn how to focus deeply during workouts, or to isolate certain muscles while working out or flexing (e.g., pec bouncing, or learning to isolate the hip flexors), that can help us focus more deeply in other parts of our life. Or, if we learn the importance of balancing various body parts (even if we want to intentionally exaggerate certain muscles like having overdeveloped pecs or biceps, we need to develop the opposing muscles, namely back and triceps in this example, to avoid having serious muscular imbalances), that can help us learn to buckle down and address any parts of our life that we're ignoring (e.g. if we're not good at finances, or dealing with emotions, remaining focused, or whatever challenges we haven't been able to address). Body, mind, and our whole selves are deeply interconnected, so strengths and weaknesses in one area always affect the others, for better and for worse.
Over time, we can learn to pay deep attention to the body in all aspects of our lives. For example, we may notice that we hold tension in our pelvis and butt, at a subtle level that we usually don't notice, but that can significantly restrict the amount of energy that flows down our legs, keeping the legs and hips artificially tight, resulting in a stiff walk and not moving fluidly. Or, we might notice that we carry our weight too high in their body (i.e., being 'upwardly organizing', such as keeping our chest high and out, shoulders slightly shrugged), or that we have a lot of tension in our throat (which results in a higher-pitched voice). There is no limit to the insights we can get by paying deep attention to our bodies.
Another aspect of Conscious Bodybuilding is to work with body image. No matter how good shape we're in, it's natural to feel bad about ourselves, often from a combination of how we felt about our bodies when growing up, together with comparing ourselves to images of literally-impossible perfection. When we see countless images of perfectly-sculpted bodies, not realizing that models and bodybuilders know how to flex and pose at just the right angles, with just the right lighting, often with entire teams of people involved to make them look their best. We see ourselves, however, all the time, including all the unflattering angles, times when we happen to see ourselves in the mirror without posing. Basically, we need to give ourselves a break, stop comparing ourselves at our worst with others at their best, and deeply accept ourselves as we are right now. If we can't change what led up to this moment, why not accept it fully, and focus our energy where it's needed?
Yet another aspect of Conscious Bodybuilding, if needed, is to more fully integrate Eros into the process. For example, a pre-workout routine of arousing the libido can be a great way to supercharge the process -- just compare how you lift when you're feeling blah and unmotivated, vs. if you are majorly turned on by someone, and you want to have your best workout ever to look great for them (or yourself).
For home workouts, or whenever these techniques wouldn’t be too scandalous or obscene, consider incorporating your libido into the process, such as by wearing a cock ring, wearing clothes that make you feel sexy (or go naked, whatever works for you), or wear a butt plug while working out. While some exercises can be inconvenient to do while plugged (e.g., squats) or with an erection (e.g. lat pulldowns), when feasible it can really supercharge a workout. When fully warmed up, hanging leg raises while wearing a butt plug can stimulate the prostate so directly that I can't do more than a few reps without getting near the edge of cumming.
The more directly we incorporate the libido into workouts, the more important it is to make sure we don't get distracted and unfocused. Using a workout journal to track exercises, weights, and reps is one way to stay on track, and if need be set a timer to make sure you don't rest too long between sets. If you tend to get distracted by something during workouts, whether it’s by our thoughts, our cock, people watching, talking, flirting, looking at our phone, or anything else, try strengthening your resolve and ability to focus on only one thing at a time, or pay deep enough attention to working out that you don't need any other distractions.
This is just a brief overview, if interested in Conscious Bodybuilding please contact me. I'm happy to help however I can, but please keep in mind that I'm not an officially-licensed personal trainer, that all training you do is at your own risk, and that online advice is necessarily limited and some aspects of training are best addressed with an in-person personal trainer who can help check form on exercises, etc.
However, there are limits to the conventional way that most people approach workouts and bodybuilding, that aren't often addressed. For example, the emphasis on competitiveness, being an ‘alpha male’, or showing off can lead to injuries from using too much weight, unhealthy obsession with body image or never being happy with yourself, low self-esteem, and many other types of issues. Even if we try to keep a balanced attitude about our bodies and working out, conventional approaches still miss out on what is really possible.
As an example, do several sets of your favorite exercise, whether it's bench press, standing biceps curl, squats, or any other weightlifting exercise. As you do the exercise, try to pay as much attention as you can to whatever you notice. No matter what exercise we do, there are a huge number of things we could pay attention to, as in everything we could feel, see, hear, smell, think, etc. If we focus on the sensations in the target muscle, rather than paying attention to the weight rising and falling, that can make subtle shifts in how we hold our body that result in much better form. If we pay attention to the sensations in other parts of our body, we may notice we hold too much tension, such as triceps and shoulders held too tight while doing biceps curls, essentially fighting ourselves. When we stop fighting ourselves, but still support ourselves as needed, we can lift more weight with less effort. By paying deep attention to our experience while working out, flexing, and connecting with our bodies, we can explore each part of our body until entire universes come alive within us, we fall completely in love with ourselves in the best way possible, and we make more gains in muscle, mind, and our whole being than we could hope for.
While bodybuilding and working out can sometimes be used as a way to act unconsciously, or to become obsessively unbalanced, they can also be done in ways that increase our consciousness and awareness. The body is not an obstacle on the path of personal and spiritual development, it can be our strongest tool, and lessons learned from bodybuilding can carry over to the rest of our lives. For example, if we learn how to focus deeply during workouts, or to isolate certain muscles while working out or flexing (e.g., pec bouncing, or learning to isolate the hip flexors), that can help us focus more deeply in other parts of our life. Or, if we learn the importance of balancing various body parts (even if we want to intentionally exaggerate certain muscles like having overdeveloped pecs or biceps, we need to develop the opposing muscles, namely back and triceps in this example, to avoid having serious muscular imbalances), that can help us learn to buckle down and address any parts of our life that we're ignoring (e.g. if we're not good at finances, or dealing with emotions, remaining focused, or whatever challenges we haven't been able to address). Body, mind, and our whole selves are deeply interconnected, so strengths and weaknesses in one area always affect the others, for better and for worse.
Over time, we can learn to pay deep attention to the body in all aspects of our lives. For example, we may notice that we hold tension in our pelvis and butt, at a subtle level that we usually don't notice, but that can significantly restrict the amount of energy that flows down our legs, keeping the legs and hips artificially tight, resulting in a stiff walk and not moving fluidly. Or, we might notice that we carry our weight too high in their body (i.e., being 'upwardly organizing', such as keeping our chest high and out, shoulders slightly shrugged), or that we have a lot of tension in our throat (which results in a higher-pitched voice). There is no limit to the insights we can get by paying deep attention to our bodies.
Another aspect of Conscious Bodybuilding is to work with body image. No matter how good shape we're in, it's natural to feel bad about ourselves, often from a combination of how we felt about our bodies when growing up, together with comparing ourselves to images of literally-impossible perfection. When we see countless images of perfectly-sculpted bodies, not realizing that models and bodybuilders know how to flex and pose at just the right angles, with just the right lighting, often with entire teams of people involved to make them look their best. We see ourselves, however, all the time, including all the unflattering angles, times when we happen to see ourselves in the mirror without posing. Basically, we need to give ourselves a break, stop comparing ourselves at our worst with others at their best, and deeply accept ourselves as we are right now. If we can't change what led up to this moment, why not accept it fully, and focus our energy where it's needed?
Yet another aspect of Conscious Bodybuilding, if needed, is to more fully integrate Eros into the process. For example, a pre-workout routine of arousing the libido can be a great way to supercharge the process -- just compare how you lift when you're feeling blah and unmotivated, vs. if you are majorly turned on by someone, and you want to have your best workout ever to look great for them (or yourself).
For home workouts, or whenever these techniques wouldn’t be too scandalous or obscene, consider incorporating your libido into the process, such as by wearing a cock ring, wearing clothes that make you feel sexy (or go naked, whatever works for you), or wear a butt plug while working out. While some exercises can be inconvenient to do while plugged (e.g., squats) or with an erection (e.g. lat pulldowns), when feasible it can really supercharge a workout. When fully warmed up, hanging leg raises while wearing a butt plug can stimulate the prostate so directly that I can't do more than a few reps without getting near the edge of cumming.
The more directly we incorporate the libido into workouts, the more important it is to make sure we don't get distracted and unfocused. Using a workout journal to track exercises, weights, and reps is one way to stay on track, and if need be set a timer to make sure you don't rest too long between sets. If you tend to get distracted by something during workouts, whether it’s by our thoughts, our cock, people watching, talking, flirting, looking at our phone, or anything else, try strengthening your resolve and ability to focus on only one thing at a time, or pay deep enough attention to working out that you don't need any other distractions.
This is just a brief overview, if interested in Conscious Bodybuilding please contact me. I'm happy to help however I can, but please keep in mind that I'm not an officially-licensed personal trainer, that all training you do is at your own risk, and that online advice is necessarily limited and some aspects of training are best addressed with an in-person personal trainer who can help check form on exercises, etc.