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IT’S NOT THE DESTINATION, IT’S THE JOURNEY!
“Don’t focus on the answer; focus on the work, the journey, the philosophy and the mindset that created that answer.”
By Kai Greene
I know there’s a lot of discussion out there about how I answer questions, how I open up the subject and give quite lengthy replies. But I think understanding bodybuilding and coming to terms with its nuances is much more complex than just answering, in short form, questions like, “How many reps do you do for side laterals?”
To me, the journey of bodybuilding is more than assessing or discussing the finished physical product. I’m more interested in the step-by-step journey someone followed to reach the goal of that finished product.
THE PLATZ & HATFIELD SHOW
That sort of analysis I think was ignited, or at least influenced, by what I learned attending a Tom Platz and Dr. Fred Hatfield seminar about 25 years ago. I got goose bumps hearing how they connected and took their training to a spiritual level. I remember reading Tom’s books, especially Pro-Style Bodybuilding, and all of those books should be required reading for every aspiring teenage bodybuilder and newcomer on the planet. Mr. Platz trained with the incredible intensity he achieved – like being able to squat for 23 reps with 500 pounds – to devise all the unorthodox training strategies he came up with, and this took a superior vision of how he could achieve what he did. It was so much more than harnessing the power of his muscles. It was about recruiting every reserve of his intellect, of having the courage to tap into his imaginative thought process and instincts, and having the faith to trust and follow those instincts.
Three-time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane was another cerebral bodybuilder who mastered the art of treating bodybuilding in great part as an intellectual exercise. Platz and Zane understood that there was more, much more, to what they did than sets and reps. They went out of their way to explain how over the progression of years, they constructed and sculpted the final body of work they presented. They gave deep mental insights into the path they followed, and the modifications they made on their journey of discovery. In short, they offered a blow-by-blow blueprint for those who wished to follow in their footsteps.
They just didn’t give the final answer. They gave the formula of how they arrived at that answer. The power and knowledge isn’t just in the answer; there are so many different working parts that come into play in order to deliver the final answer. Don’t focus on the answer; focus on the work, the journey, the philosophy and the mindset that created that answer. The deeper your thinking, the more comprehensive your analysis, the greater will be your ability to thoroughly process the ramifications of your journey, make the necessary modifications and therefore make optimum progress.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF MARKUS RüHL
Take the case of Markus Rühl – a beast of a bodybuilder, now retired. Now, he doesn’t strike one as a guy who sits down and thinks and talks in metaphysical terms. But at the core of his thinking, I feel he must have processed, during his competitive years, how he started out as a regular guy and ended up as Markus Rühl. He must have known or learned that he was able to create something special, something different. Something that didn’t exist before him. He started out with the first rep, and then the first hundred reps and then the first thousand reps. And then, 15 years after he commenced his journey, he presented his phenomenal body of work – his masterpiece. He must have the lessons and experiences of that 15-year journey of exploration sealed deep into his consciousness.
We only know what people share with us. The eventual outcome is the visible answer to their journey. But I’m not overly interested in their answer – the physique they created. I’m more interested in wanting to see the body of work over the long haul that built that physique. I want to know what they did, step-by-step. My undying curiosity is what took them to the place they are now in. That is truly learning.
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Kai Greene’s Redcon1 Stack
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MED+KIT® - upon waking
BREACH® - intra-workout
For more information, visit redcon1.com
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