Training Methods and Results

It's been almost 14 years since I started delving deeper into weight training and bodybuilding and body sculpting in general, and for the last 6 years, I've been doing it most thoroughly, immersing myself in the deepest layers of the profession.

6 years, folks. For 6 years, I've not only devoured every existing professional material, but during this time I spent not uncommonly 12-14 hours a day, at least 5 days a week, in the gyms of Budapest where world and European champion competitors, as well as exceptionally skilled coaches, worked alongside me.

Flex Gym, Cutler Gold, Mecca of bodybuilding. These gyms have become household names in Budapest, not only because they boast equipment to satisfy every need, but also because these gyms, in the smallest area, boast the most world-class elite bodybuilders and their deservedly recognized coaches in professional circles.

I knew Brigi Békeffi, Hungary's number one fitness model, when she was still working as a receptionist at Arnold Gym and only knew weight machines through the counter. I saw her at her first competition, and I see her almost every day at Flex Gym when we train at the same level. So if anyone, I precisely saw the transformation Brigi's body went through over the years, what she trained, and how she prepared for her competitions. Yes, those competitions where the most beautiful sculpting of the body is rewarded, where form matters, where feminine lines matter. I have an even older relationship with Tomi Veress, so I know exactly what training methods and what workouts they used to achieve these results.

For many months, Péter Molnár, the most successful and, not incidentally, current legend of Hungarian bodybuilding, was my mentor. I am in daily contact with Dani Varga, a two-time European bodybuilding champion, and his fiancée, Csilla Lengyel, an Arnold Classic finalist fitness model. I have known Virág Kiss and her former coach, Timi Szuromi, for years. For years, I saw the methods the Berkes family used, whose competitors only fail to make it to the podium if they literally don't enter that competition. I could list many more names, the list of athletes who achieved fantastic results with their bodies and their coaches, who I was in contact with and how, which coach believes in what training method, or how each one thinks about training a specific muscle group or structuring a training plan.

As many coaches as there are techniques, one thing, however, is common among these people, and let's not forget that we are talking about the top of the profession. We're talking about the competitors who have been bringing home gold medals from the most prestigious competitions for Hungary for years, and of course, about the coaches who lead their protégés to success with their expertise, and who themselves were successful athletes once, or still are today.

The only common denominator among them is that these people, during their preparation, did not waste a single minute on aerobics classes, and during their preparation, neither step aerobics, nor spinning, nor hot iron was ever mentioned, not to mention the real quagmires like infra trainer and its ilk.

So I understand that they are competitors, and you go to the gym after work because you don't have time, and who knows what else people graffiti on the walls of their minds to reassure themselves with these nonsense things. But the goal is always universal: to have a beautiful figure, and to live your daily life in a body that you also find beautiful, and which, incidentally, is also pleasing to your partner's eye.

Thanks to the internet, everyone is aware of the fact that fitness models exist, that there are incredibly well-built women in the world who look so good not just because of their genetics, that even other women wonder how they could ask them out. These women look like this because they chose training methods that made this result achievable for them at all.

I don't really know how to emphasize the next sentence so that the message definitely gets through, so that you understand the significance of the next sentence.

A TRULY GOOD FIGURE – AND I ADD, A FEMININELY BEAUTIFUL FIGURE – AND A BODY YOU’VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF, CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED WITH WEIGHT TRAINING AND CARDIO EXERCISES PERFORMED IN THE APPROPRIATE RANGE.

Period. There's nothing else, nothing new under the sun. There is no other method that can produce such definition, such feminine lines, such beautifully slim shapes, there is no other such training method. None.

There's no "let me come down to one of your aerobics classes and I'll see how hard and effective aerobics is," because it's not. If it were, then fitness models, who are extremely dedicated to their physiques and can present fantastic bodies, would be doing it, but they're not, and it's not because they're trying to screw themselves over.

You say, should I come to one of your aerobics classes? You come down to a gym and look at the girls who have been weight training for at least 3-4 MONTHS, and then you look at your people who have been attending aerobics classes for YEARS, and let's compare them. I understand that with kangoo you lost 6 kilos out of 28 in 3 years, but that doesn't mean kangoo is good, it means you achieved a good result compared to nothing with a lot of training hours and a lot of time, but compared to real results, it's worth squat.

I also understand that not every woman wants to be a fitness model.

LOL. That's the best part. I don't want a BMW either, relax, you know, it's hard to get out of, and the leather seats bother my coat. I'm crying :DDD I assure you, even if not a fitness model, you also want a body that is nearly as good, whether in a world of illusion or not. But you know, to see a fantastic body for yourself in the mirror, it will take a little more than salsa dancing on the floor and then drinking hot chocolate with the girls because you "worked it off."

There are certain goals that, generally speaking, people over 9 years old can realistically assess within themselves: what they need to do to achieve their goal. Everyone knows this well, and I can only hope they do, because I don't even assume that if someone wants something, they will at least read up on what the path to their goals would look like and what they need to do to achieve their goals as quickly as possible, but also as effectively as possible.

At this point, human factors come into play. Do I want a good figure? I'll check out how those women who genuinely look amazing actually achieved that look. Oh, it's through weight training and interval cardio.

Aha. Hmm…

Well, that's no good. I won't do intervals because it's cold outside right now, and I won't go to the gym because everyone there stares at me. Let's pause here for a moment and savor this "everyone stares at me in the gym" topic, if only because I have breaking news.

To achieve anything in life, you will encounter thousands of obstacles along your path. These obstacles, as you progress towards your goals, will become more difficult and will test you more and more as a person. I am talking about obstacles that will truly test you, because life is simply like that; it only allows those people to experience the privilege of success and results who have worked to claim that privilege. (I would subtly point out that we are far from only talking about body shaping here.)

What do you think you are meant for in life, and what qualities do you possess if even a small obstacle like going to a gym causes problems, and you flee like a petty person?

It's useless to want to see and experience the best-directed, best-cast, best-written play in the world's most luxurious theater if you don't even have the courage to go to the box office and buy a ticket to the play of your life.

Well, don't buy it. Go home and watch whatever's on Film+. You could be at the theater, but some people only get popcorn at home, and not because they deserve it, but because that's exactly how much they were willing to fight for a much better, much more impactful experience.

Go to aerobics. Yes, do that. Go to aerobics for years, but while you're going to aerobics, look around the room and see what shape the girls with you are in, doing what you think works, what you think is effective.

There are goals, and there are actions. The product of these is the RESULT. Goals are a dream image that exists in everyone's mind and can easily come true, and then there are your actions, which are you yourself. The dream image is constant and never changes. For the dream image to become reality, your actions will be necessary. If the dream image does not become reality, or if it appears only in a very ridiculous, distorted form, always be aware that you don't see the image in your head in reality because your actions were insufficient.

Body sculpting is a wonderful thing. You simply cannot waffle here. If you don't believe me, then believe the athletes listed at the beginning of the post, who have won world championship titles with the sight of their bodies, and the experts who coach them, and while you believe them, and perhaps even meet them, ask them the following question.

What do you do to achieve such results?

If even one of them says they do step aerobics, I will immediately set fire to TILT, because everything I wrote here would lose its meaning. And unlike you, I do nothing that has no meaning.