“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin
Ever heard the phrase “life is like a box o’ chocolates”? How about “Luke, I am your father”? Or most importantly “At least he has his health.”?
Health is one of the most important aspects of our every day life.
We need to ask ourselves each morning: are we energized, ready to jump out of bed and seize the day? Or are we just waking up and just looking for the coffee?
It is safe to say, we all would prefer the former… but what’s the recipe for this Carpe Diem attitude?
Doing what matters to you in life comes down to your mindset; mindset is everything.
For me, I wanted to become physically fit and strong. I recently completed the Mindpump MAPS program and want to share with you my thoughts in this post.
“Your level of success will rarely surpass your level of personal development, because success is what you attract by the person you become.”
Mind Pump MAPS Helped Me Become as Strong as Ever
Over the last 3 months, I went through the Mind Pump MAPS program. The two specific programs I tried were the MAPS Anabolic program, and the MAPS Prime program.
I was a little skeptical at first, but after getting into the early AM workouts, I was crushing personal records week after week.
Priming Your Work Out with MAPS Prime
Warm-ups and cool downs have always been part of an athlete’s main stay. What do you do to get ready for a big game? Do you have pasta parties the night before a big competition (carb loading)?
Do you visual yourself crushing the competition, visualizing each detail as it happens real-time, and executing the strategy you have been practicing for months?
Many athletes have pre-game rituals: did you know Michael Jordan wore his UNC shorts under all his professional shorts while he was winning his 6 championships for the Bulls?
One of my favorite pre-game rituals is “The Haka” performed by the All Blacks New Zealand Rugby team… talk about intimidating before the match!!!
We all have our own rituals, superstitions, and pump up songs! I personally love “Nothing is Stopping you” by Big Sean and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” while getting ready for my workouts.
Are you preparing for a work presentation, wedding speech, first date? There are plenty of reasons to get yourself in the zone. Am not going to get into mentally psyching yourself up here, but keeping your body physically prepared is key as well.
MAPS Prime
Mind Pump has recently introduced a program on “priming” your body before workouts.
Your body is supposed to move a certain way and there is a reason why form is everything when lifting, shooting a basketball. It’s just like in life, being balanced is extremely important!
MAPS Prime is specifically designed to encourage superior muscle recruitment, proper joint mobility, and priming the central nervous system to maximize the muscle building signals sent throughout your body.
The key to MAPS Prime is in it’s ability to re-align your body. This means getting rid of muscle imbalances.
The exercises in MAPS prime specifically work to help correct these weaknesses through a combination of lifting, yoga, and physical therapy.
MAPS Prime has had a profound effect on my physical ability and I highly recommend trying MAPS prime out.
The MAPS Prime Workouts
There are three main tests to judge your muscle imbalances and functionality. They help you customize what is right for your priming.
- Zone 1 – The “Wall Test” consists of the entire upper body starting at the thoracic spine.
- Zone 2 – The “Windmill Test” identifies spinal and core rotational mobility and over trunk connectivity.
- Zone 3 – The “Squat Test” consists of the low back, hips, and the rest of your lower body.
After these tests you are given a wide range of movements to help target your weakness areas before and after your workouts.
Growing with MAPS Anabolic
After going through the MAPS Prime workouts, I continued my workouts with the MAPS RBC bundle. Next up was the MAPS Anabolic workouts.
On workout days, I woke up at 5:10 AM and am one of only people at the gym.
Going EARLY is amazing if you want full use of the squat racks, cages, bench presses, free weights, and most of the other exercise equipment!
After running 1 mile to the gym, each workout was a sequence and combination of the following. All workout days hit every body part, and I felt massive from the pump I was experiencing!
- Barbell Squats
- Barbell Deadlifts
- Walking Lungs
- Bench Press
- Dumbbell Rows
- Rear Laterals
- Shoulder Shrugs
- Shoulder Press
- Barbell Curls
- Triceps Press-down
- Planks
- Random Yoga
- Jump Squats
After running home, I’ll be home at 6:35 AM and make a shake, some bacon and have some fruit.
I LOVE THIS WORKOUT and it is a GREAT start to the DAY!
I believe routine is everything: prefect preparation prevents poor performance.
Give Mind Pump a Try, It worked for me
I want to shout out to Adam, Justin, and Sal over at Mind Pump. They have put together a great program and I’m excited each and every time I go to the gym.
If you listen to podcasts, I recommend listening to the Mind Pump Podcast! The Mind Pump guys have a blend of talents, passions, and experiences in personal training, bodybuilding, and personal transformation, which are interesting to me and other people looking to grow physically.
I listen to it most days; they talk about various myths of the workout industry. Also, they discuss different mental and physical exercises for becoming a complete person.
I definitely recommend the Mind Pump MAPS program. After increasing my squats by over 100 pounds (admittedly, I started low) and other lifting by nearly double, I’m excited to see how the next 3 months go!