If you ever look at cover models or “Insta-famous” peeps and wonder what their secret formula is, you’ll be disappointed.

Fact is this: they work hard. And they’ve developed habits that 99% of the population haven’t cultivated yet.

And…they put these habits into practice on a consistent basis. Every damn day! So I put together 10 habits that these people have disciplined themselves to stick to. And you should too! How many can you check off?

(1) CHEAT FOODS ARE KEPT OUTSIDE THE HOME

Look, I have an iron will…and even I can’t make my diet work if I’m around that kinda food. In my house, you simply won’t find chocolate, ice cream, crisps, sweets, candy etc. Why not? Because it’s just a matter of time before I eat it. Why is it there if you don’t plan on eating it? Keep that stuff for your cheat meals and make sure you have to leave the house to go get it.

(2) WE SET OURSELVES UP TO WIN

All ripped and buff guys plan the week ahead. They know exactly what days and what times they’ll be at the gym.

They also meal prep (usually on Sunday). I always cook a few kilos of chicken and whatever good carbs I’ll be eating that week (usually couscous or rice these days) and store it in the fridge. It makes life easy when it comes to making my meals. I also use frozen veg for convenience. When it’s time for me to eat, it’s literally 5 minutes and I’ve got my high-protein, anabolic meal that fits my macros.

P.S. I know that putting together a diet for mass gains or getting shredded abs can be a pain in the butt, especially if you are new to this – that’s why I offer a service where I will do all the tough ground work for you.
If you don’t know how many calories you need, or how many grams of protein, carbs or fat you need (based on your personal stats) I can take care of it and create an exact meal plan for you. You’ll know what foods to eat and even when to eat them. All you have to do…is do it. No thinking involved. If you’d like me to take care of this for you, see the different options I have for you on my Coaching Page here.

(3) WE GET OUR DAILY PROTEIN…DAILY

Yes, every single day. I hate to beat this point to death in my articles, but how on earth are you hoping to build muscle when you don’t get enough protein? You’ve just guaranteed failure. Literally made the thing impossible. To cover all bases, eat 1g protein per pound of bodyweight. If you weigh 190lbs, get 190g protein per day. For really tasty ways to hit your daily protein, see my Buff Baking cookbook.

(4) WE GO INTO THE GYM WITH A PLAN

Don’t wing it. How will you really know if you’re making progress? Have a structured workout so you can track your gains. Tracking the weight used and reps completed is the best way of guaranteeing success. And there’s no better feeling than that. My free THT Training comes with Tracker Logs.

Download my 3-day and 5-day/wk THT training routines; just enter your details below for immediate download. It will tell you the best exercises to use, the best rep ranges, the right number of sets to do, the best training frequency – everything you need for the best gains ever! Don’t worry, there’s no spam, no BS. You’re about to get the best gains of your life…

(5) WE SET TIME-LIMITED GOALS

“You can’t hit a target you can’t see”. And you certainly can’t hit a target that’s not even there!

Staying motivated can be tough when there’s no end goal in sight. For example, you might want to set an 8-week target to get to 8% body fat.

My Total Six Pack Abs page has a calculator that will tell you exactly how long it will take you to get a six-pack based on your stats (just scroll down a bit). Why not use that and get excited by the fact that you’ll be a shredded Adonis in 8 weeks, as an example?

Or, at the very least, set a goal that by the end of your next 10-week THT training cycle you’ll have 17″ arms (or a reasonable goal based on your current arm size). Your training takes on new levels of motivation when you’ve a goal to hit!

(6) CHEAT MEALS ARE GONE WHEN SHREDDING

You might not want to hear this, but when on a cutting cycle, you can’t have those crazy cheat meals (or cheat days!) that you used to have.

Think about it. Let’s say you are eating 500 Calories under maintenance. That’s 6 days a week, since you’re having a cheat meal on the 7th day. 6 x 500 = 3000 Calories under.

Now, will your cheat meal plus whatever else you ate that day, come to over 3000 Calories? Probably. You can undo a full week’s progress on that cheat day. This explains why some people are making no progress. Sorry, but if you’re serious about this, even the cheats have to be somewhat clean. Yes, you can have more food and calories 1 day per week. There’s a science to upping your Calories. But it can’t get messy lol. You have face reality on this.

NOTE: If you’re going on a cut soon, begin by grabbing my personal ‘Cutting Starter Park’ – a list of 12 items that will make that lower-calorie diet a total breeze!

Enter your email below. The info will appear immediately on this page…

Thanks! Click here for my Cutting Starter Pack: My Cutting Starter Pack

click & enjoy 🙂

Thanks! Here's what you wanted. Enjoy...

(7) WE EAT LOTS OF VEGGIES

I want to come back to something I touched on above. I eat veggies. And when I’m cutting, I eat LOTS of veggies. Broccoli and cauliflower are my favs. Why? They really fill up your stomach, adding bulk for very little calories. In fact, many people believe that it takes so much energy for your body to process these cruciferous vegetables that they end up burning more calories than they actually contain.

And I buy frozen. It makes life easy. But importantly, it’s probably the best way to get them in. Fresh veggies were picked days before they hit the shelves. Frozen vegetables are frozen immediately after picking. They are actually fresher than fresh veggies. I simply soften about half a plate of veggies for about 5-8mins in the microwave and I’m good to go.

(8) WE DON’T DO VERY HIGH REPS WHEN CUTTING

There’s a lot of nonsense in this game. One such piece of “wisdom” is that high reps helps you cut. No they don’t. You keep training for gains as normal when cutting. 8-12 reps is a good rule of thumb.

If you don’t believe me, here’s a study that sought to find the answer to this. The 8 reps group burned more fat than the high reps group.

(9) SLEEP ENOUGH

This, my friends, is my only downfall. My body just doesn’t like to stay asleep. It was a whole different ball game when I was a teenager, I can tell ya! You couldn’t get me outta bed!

Your body is releasing growth hormone, and muscle tissue is repairing and growing when you sleep. 7-8hrs sleep produces optimal muscle gains. One of my most popular posts year explains this – ‘Here’s what happens your muscles after 8 hours sleep’. Some people swear by melatonin for a good night’s sleep, if you’re having trouble.

(10) WE DON’T TAKE IN TOO MUCH CAFFEINE

Hey, I love coffee as much as you. But caffeine increases stress hormones in the body (that’s why it wakes you up in the morning!).

But these hormones, like cortisol, are catabolic. You want to create an ANABOLIC environment inside the body, not a catabolic one. Limit your caffeine dose to one per day to be as anabolic as possible (yeah it can be a big strong cup). Morning or pre-workout only.

Any more tips you want to share with me? Or got questions? Scroll down and leave me a comment 🙂

Mark McManus