In order to know where you are going and figure out how to get there, you have to be honest with yourself first. This is not always an easy thing to do but ultimately necessary in order to move forward.

I've heard it said many times over the years, "What works for you won’t work for me because everybody is different." It's almost like people adopt this saying and use it as their defense whenever they are questioned about the way they train.

Just a few weeks ago I had a meeting with one of the “fitness” magazine advertising reps. They all make their rounds to sell their advertising opportunities to the supplement companies. Unfortunately, the fitness magazines are the main advertising avenue for supplement companies. I say unfortunately because all the magazines are owned by supplement companies. Believe it or not, most people don’t realize this.

If you knew that you could maximize your muscle growth and strength in less than 5 minutes per workout, would you be more inspired and dedicated to train those 5 minutes? Would you ever miss a workout that only takes 5 minutes? Would you even have the nerve to make up an excuse for missing such a short but incredibly effective workout?

When you look in the mirror, do you see a physique that's pretty darn good by most people's standards-but not quite good enough to make you 100 percent satisfied?

Before I came on board full time at AST Sports Science I worked in gyms doing a variety of tasks from answering phones to emptying trash. Although I wore many hats, my main responsibility was to train people and set up workout schedules for them to follow. I also fielded all kinds questions from the very common sets and reps stuff to some really off the wall things.

I remember when I first started bodybuilding. I made all the typical beginner mistakes. I over trained each body part doing way too many sets and training too frequently because I thought more must be better. I chose a lot of inefficient exercises like machines and cables because I thought you have to isolate each muscle to really work it and I trained too light performing 10 to 12 reps each set because I thought you have to feel the burn and exhaust the muscle for it to grow.