Your Knees Are Just Hinges

Knee replacements would be virtually unnecessary if people would stop forcing their joints do what their muscles were intended to do, but hey, in order to do that you'd actually have to have some muscle, right?
Our joints —all of them— are simply hinges. No joint in your body was meant to bear weight or act as a shock absorber or brake. Yet 95% of all people are so weak from muscle atrophy that they must stress the joints to accomplish any given task.
If your knees hurt when climbing stairs it's because you are not using your butt muscles or your quadriceps and hamstrings efficiently to do the work of propelling your body up those stairs.
Watching most people perform squats or leg presses at the gym makes me cringe because of the extreme and completely unnecessary and counter-productive stress they are putting on their hinges.
If your elbows, shoulders, knees etc. hurt at the gym, it's because you are doing your exercises wrong. Flex your muscles immediately before commencing the movement, and keep them flexed throughout. This takes concentration, so block out whatever is happening around you.

What Is Your Definition Of Sacrifice?

People who think that it's a sacrifice not to eat whatever they want, thoughtlessly and whenever, and it's a sacrifice to go to the gym instead of sitting in front of the TV "relaxing after a hard day" have an odd idea of what sacrifice is. Looking great and feeling great is a sacrifice only to those too lazy to actually do what's required. EVERYONE would like to look fantastic. EVERYONE wants to feel great, and be filled with confidence and high self esteem. But most can't keep their mouths closed or get their feet moving, so they delude themselves into thinking that achieving the above requires sacrifice.

I've trained non-stop except for time off for the flu or colds for 25 years. And as you go, you become motivated by your successes, even though I was never happy with my own progress. No matter how good I looked I always thought I should look better considering my diet and exercise regimen.

Progress will ALWAYS seem slower that what you anticipate. You just need to celebrate the gains you make and keep on track. As I always say, looking this way and feeling this way is so superior to any food or time that others think I am "sacrificing" —that their not getting it just makes me chuckle. I know any negativity from others is just an expression of their own disappointment in themselves and their lack of will to go after what they really want.

When it just becomes part of your lifestyle rather than some sacrifice or challenge it's far easier than the couch potatoes want you to believe. diet and exercise regimen.

Bodybuilding.com and Other Forums: Yikes!

A few people have asked why I'm not very active on the bodybuilding.com forums. Honestly, it's because the forums are 90% populated by guys who should be at the gym rather than wasting their day in front of the computer. "Would you rather have big shoulders or a big penis?" is a great example of the brilliant ideas and exchanges found there.

Most forum posts are repetitions of posts made last week, but the posters are too lazy to scroll through to see if their dilemma has been hashed out previously (I can guarantee it has). One guy emailed me because he looked and felt terrible and wanted me to take the time to help him by detailing a comprehensive workout and diet plan just for him, even though I have written a book on the subject. How someone who by his own hand looks and feels terrible has incongruously developed such a sense of entitlement at the same time is one of the great mysteries of psychology.

The problem with most people who hang out on fitness or fat-loss sites is that they flat out refuse to do the research or take any action. They want to "talk" about it instead, and think that somehow that counts as progress. I feel sorry for the posters on forums who do the work and who do ask intelligent questions, because one has to sift through a torrent of junk before ever encountering them.

GREAT INSPIRATION

Comment:
Greetings from the UK.
I found your profile on bodybuilding.com and you have been an inspiration to me to train... @ 45 I was in terrible shape and my health was not good. I used to body-build in my twenties and thirties but injuries and having kids kinda put the spanner in the works. But finding and listening to your philosophy on training helped me train the right way and without the baggage that I see younger men bring to the gym, and the gains this time are much better and I look better for it...as a fellow trainer who's in it for the long haul ..many thanks for just being...
Many thanks,
Ray

Response:
Thanks Ray. Unlike a business, or relationships, where you may not see any appreciable results for the time and effort you put in, improving your body by cutting back on fat and nutrition-poor foods, and working out, lets us experience success fast, and it looks good and feels good 24/7. As a trainer you probably wonder the same thing I do...how can so many people not want this?