GuidingPrinciples

Don't try to look rich without being rich. Don't try to look fit without being fit. I'm not interested in the appearance of strength. I'm interested in actual strength. The aesthetics are a byproduct of capability, not the goal.

Your body is not a simple input output machine. It's a complex adaptive system. Provide the right stimulus and recovery, and it transforms. Try to force it or hack it, and it breaks down. Work with biology, not against it.

Every decision I make has to serve me now and in 40 years. This rules out a lot of aggressive tactics that work in the short term but destroy your joints and health long term. Patience is not optional.

Bodybuilding is the art of looking capable without being capable. Extreme tactics like dehydration, starvation, and isolation movements build a body for a stage, not for life. I train for the real world.

You don't need complexity. Squats, pull ups, dips, and presses cover almost everything. Master these for years and you'll outperform everyone doing complicated programs they can't stick to.

Stop sculpting muscles. Train to get stronger at fundamental movements. A sprinter looks like a sprinter because they sprint. Get brutally strong at the basics and the look follows.

I'm not loyal to any single discipline. Calisthenics, weightlifting, gymnastics, martial arts. If a movement builds genuine capability, I use it. Dogma is the enemy of progress.

Fitness shouldn't exist only in a gym. Can you pull yourself over a wall? Carry groceries up five flights? Run to catch a train? Be useful in the world, not just impressive in a mirror.

More is not better. Better is better. Apply enough stimulus to trigger adaptation, then recover. Most people do way too much and wonder why they're always tired and injured.

Eat real food. Prioritize protein. Stop when you're full. This covers 90% of what matters. Don't complicate it with obsessive tracking and restrictive rules.

If it wouldn't make sense in nature, it probably doesn't make sense for your body. Processed foods, artificial ingredients, extreme protocols. Your body evolved over millions of years. Respect that.

Starving yourself to get abs destroys your metabolism, your mood, and your relationship with food. Work with hunger signals, not against them. A healthy body shouldn't require constant willpower to maintain.

It's not just calories in, calories out. Food quality affects hormones, energy, and how your body partitions nutrients. A thousand calories of steak and vegetables is not the same as a thousand calories of processed garbage.

Motivation fades. Identity lasts. I don't 'find motivation' to train. I'm a person who trains. That's just what I do. Build the identity and the actions follow.

You don't need to balance fitness with the rest of your life at all times. Some periods you push hard and make big progress. Some periods life takes over and you maintain. Both are valid. Just don't let maintaining turn into regressing.

If you treat fitness as a 12 week challenge, you'll fail. If you treat it as a 40 year project, the pressure disappears. You have time. Use it.

No one is coming to save you. No program, no supplement, no coach will do the work for you. Take full responsibility for your outcomes. That's where the power is.