Month: May 2021

When I was a kid, an old guy told me only the strong survive. That’s somethin’ you gotta believe, man. —Steve McQueen

Part of what made Steve McQueen so compelling, both as a private individual and as a movie star, was his kinetic, almost feral quality. He both developed and discharged this animalistic, coiled-up, ready-for-action energy by regularly working out.

As biographer Marshall Terrill notes in Steve McQueen: In His Own Words, the King of Cool religiously exercised for two hours every day for almost his entire adult life.

Just as it’s interesting to take a peek at the books famous men kept in their personal libraries, it’s interesting to take a look at the personal workout routines of famous men as well. Not so much to garner specific suggestions for one’s own exercise regimen, but for the sake of general inspiration and the desire to learn more about a particular individual’s life.

So I recently called Marshall up to see if in writing his numerous biographies of Steve McQueen, he had come across details about what the actor did for his workouts. Here’s what Marshall shared with me.

Why Steve McQueen Exercised So Religiously

Based on his decades-long exploration of McQueen’s life, Marshall thinks McQueen likely started exercising regularly in the 1950s, when he was a young actor in New York City. McQueen understood his body was a tool for his profession — that he wasn’t just selling his ability to act, but also an image. He recognized that an audience wanted to see a fit, good-looking guy when they took in a flick. As he mused, “If they see John Milquetoast up there on the screen, John Public says, ‘goodbye.’”

As Marshall noted: “That interpretation basically means if you have a flabby body or if you…

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Editor’s Note: This is a re-broadcast. This episode originally aired in June 2018. 

When you start a fitness program, you tend to spend most of your time thinking about the physical part — what movements you’re going to do, how much weight you’re going to lift, or how far you’re going to run. But my guest today argues we ignore the mental aspect of our training at our peril. His name is Bobby Maximus. He’s a world-renowned trainer known for his brutal circuit workouts and the author of the new book Maximus Body.

Today on the show Bobby and I dig into the psychology of fitness. We begin by discussing what holds people back from getting started or going further with their goals and how sticking little green dots all over your house can help you surmount those barriers. He then shares why it’s important to manage expectations when beginning a training program and why there are no shortcuts to any goal. We then shift gears and get into Bobby’s training philosophy. He shares how to train to be “ready for everything,” why you need to do strength training before your endurance work, and why recovery is so important in reaching your fitness goals. 

We end our conversation with some examples of the “Sunday Sermons” Bobby shares on his website and a discussion of why perspective is important whenever you’re going through a hard time in life. 

If you’re reading this in an email, click the title of the post to be brought to the show page.

Show Highlights

• How Bobby went from being bullied to the upper echelon of kickboxing and ultimate fighting 
• The biggest mindset shifts that people need to make to prioritize fitness
• Why we tend to set the bar…

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You’ve started a serious weightlifting program. 

You’ve increased your protein consumption.

Now, how long before you start looking jacked?

While the primary goal of weightlifting should be overall health, for many dudes, one of the aims of strength training is to get swole. It’s understandable. Big muscles make you look and feel manly. Nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel a little more virile. 

The problem is, guys often have inflated expectations of how quickly they can pack on muscle mass. Consequently, when they don’t start getting the results they wanted, in the timetable they had imagined, they give up on their strength training program.

It’s therefore important to set reasonable expectations when embarking on a fitness regimen. To help you do that, below we outline how long it’s likely to take to get stronger and put on muscle. 

You’ll Get Stronger From Lifting Weights After a Few Workouts

After starting a weightlifting program, you’ll likely notice that you’re getting stronger, before you notice that you’re getting bigger.

In the beginning of a weightlifting program, any strength gains you see are primarily being driven by improvement in neuromuscular processes and not an increase in muscle mass. When you start to lift heavy weights, your brain learns to recruit more muscle fibers during a lift, allowing you to contract more muscle and enabling you to produce more force. 

This force-enabling improvement in your mind-body connection begins immediately after your first strength training workout. And according to a study out of Japan, you’ll likely see the biggest strength gains from improved neuromuscular activation occur within two months of starting a consistent workout routine. 

Even though neuromuscular improvement will help you get stronger right away, you won’t notice a big difference in your physique right away. In order to…

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