I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Fred Fornicola of Premiere Personal Fitness after he reviewed High Intensity Muscle Building. We had a pretty unique discussion on the mental aspects of training, which we agreed was paramount to training success.

By the way, Fred is the co-author (along with Matt Brzycki) of 2 great fitness books: “Dumbell Training for Strength and Fitness”, and “Youth Fitness: An Action Plan for Shaping America’s Kids”. Both are excellent, and can be purchased at a discount on his website, www.PremierePersonalFitness.com.

So without further ado, here is the interview–(let me know what you think of our discussion by adding your comments below)

A Discussion with Dave Durell
By Fred Fornicola

FF: As a fitness professional, I am always trying to further my knowledge base to better serve my
clients. I do this, very simply, by observing, conversing, evaluating, reading and most
importantly, by doing. With those criteria as my guide, I knew I wanted the opportunity to pick
Dave Durell’s brain and, of course, get a copy of his eBook, High Intensity Muscle Building.

As soon as I got my copy, I dug in right away to read what Dave had to say about his philosophy
on exercise and nutrition. There’s no doubt that Dave has taken his many years of professional
and personal experience and has encapsulated what he has found to be a “solid approach to
achieving one’s fitness goals” in this manual. After reading Dave’s material, I became very
intrigued by his exercise philosophy and mental preparation to succeed, so I felt I needed to
probe further and I asked Dave if he would oblige me by answering a few questions. He
graciously accepted my request and after our discussion, I felt that there was so much great
information that it would be a good idea to share what Dave and I discussed. So, without further
ado, here’s our conversation.

FF: Dave, first off, thanks for taking time to discuss your new e-Book and your training
philosophy.

DD: My pleasure Fred, thanks for reaching out to me.

FF: I’d like to talk to you about your book because I was very interested in your novel (no pun
intended) approach. The very first thing I do when I am looking at any book is I go right to the
chapter outline to see what the book entails. I was pleasantly surprised to find topics that are
generally overlooked in most strength/bodybuilding/fitness books. Could you elaborate a little
on what those chapters are and why you honed in on those topics?

DD: Sure Fred. I wanted to make the program something someone could take and start getting
results immediately, right now, today, even if they had no exercise experience and had no idea
where to start, or had experience but had stopped training due to other responsibilities, lack of
time, no progress, etc. A lot of people have trouble overcoming inertia and actually getting
started.

First, we cover how to develop the proper mind-set, how to prioritize the workout program so
that the trainee can stay the course and end up getting the results they desire in the face of the
multitude of distractions that will try to knock them off course.

Next, we tackle the time problem so that the workouts can be successfully scheduled, and that
schedule adhered to, no matter how busy the person is. To my knowledge, this is the first time
this has been spelled out in a fitness book.

Next, I cover step-by-step the proven workout program that guarantees immediate, dramatic,
and continuous results. In my 25-plus year’s experience, I have found that if people don’t see
results quickly, they become discouraged. People need a system that tells exactly what to do
and exactly how to do it; one where all the guesswork has been removed. In High Intensity
Muscle Building, we cover exactly how to set up the workout routine; which exercises to do;
how to perform perfect repetitions to maximize progress and avoid injuries; how many reps to
do; how much weight to use; and how and when to make progressive changes. Also included are
descriptions of every exercise in the program, with pictures, to help avoid confusion on how to
perform them.

Finally, the success of the program requires a high level of self-confidence, coupled with
massive action. Without high levels of self-confidence-the true belief that you can and will
succeed-your chances of successfully embarking on, and following through with, any workout
program are greatly diminished. And all of this, of course, does not happen by magic; it takes
action on the part of the trainee. The keys to developing self-confidence and taking and
sustaining massive action are revealed in chapters 4 and 5.

Also included are printable forms designed to help the reader commit to their goals, and
the workout cards used to document their workouts.

At the end of every chapter is a section titled “Do it now!” In those sections the reader will find
instructions on how to take immediate action on the information learned in that chapter. This is
critical-this book is all about forming new habits that will achieve the desired results as fast as
possible.

FF: This approach is what impressed me most about the book, Dave. Since training is more than
what I refer to as, the “X’s and O’s” (the routines, reps, sets, etc.) can you describe how these
topics can benefit the trainee and why they are so important?

DD: The mental approach is so important Fred. There are many, many programs available that
just give you exercise routines, and proper training methods are obviously very important, but if
you aren’t committed, don’t have strong emotional reasons for training, you won’t stay
motivated. The “how to” is simple-a lot simpler than many so-called experts would have you
believe-it’s the “why” and the “want to” that’s the tricky part, and is usually what causes
people to give up, or never get started-and it’s rarely addressed.

Building muscle and getting into great condition is not easy-if it were, everybody would be in top
shape all the time. It takes lots of discipline, mental toughness, persistence, and even courage
sometimes. That’s why I believe it’s so important to address not only the physical aspects of
working out, but the mental, social, and emotional aspects as well.

There are several steps that need to be taken before the actual workout takes place; making a
commitment, fitting the workout program into an already over-stuffed schedule, developing a
positive attitude, dealing with negativity, how to choose the right gym, what equipment to use,
stuff like that. I tried to cover all those things, and provide an immediate action plan for each
step to facilitate immediate implementation, which I think is critical. Once you make a decision
to do something, the faster you act on it, the better.

We also spend a lot of time discussing how to cultivate a truly positive attitude, as well as how
to make use of very valuable mental techniques, such as visualization and using affirmations.
These things can have a tremendously positive effect on a person’s life, both in and out of the
gym. Let’s face it Fred, we live in a world full of negativity, and I believe the better equipped
we are to combat those negative influences, both physically and mentally, the happier we will
be. To me, that’s what High Intensity Training is all about.

FF: The mental approach to success is vital Dave, I couldn’t agree more. You took away all the
excuses in this book – it’s almost hard for a person not to succeed using your philosophy. I hope
that the reader doesn’t just glance over these important topics because, as you know, most
people want to get to the “meat and potatoes” – the workouts and the REAL secret to getting
stronger and leaner. Why do you think people overlook the crucial aspects for achievement that
are outlined in your book?

DD: For some reason Fred we seem to down play the role the mind plays in human achievement,
including physical fitness. It seems the prevalent attitude in our society is that there’s this
mind-body dichotomy, like one has nothing to do with the other. I can tell you that one has
everything to do with the other, and if you don’t have your mind “right”, you will have a much
more difficult time developing your body.

How you think determines how you feel, which determines how you act, which determines your
results. In terms of working out and/or getting into shape, if you think of yourself as an
undisciplined loser who never should have let yourself get like this, if you dwell on how hard the
workout is going to be, if you remember times when you tried workout programs that didn’t
work-you are going to end up feeling pretty bad about yourself and about your chances for
success with your current fitness program-even if it is the greatest fitness program ever
invented. You are creating a self-image of failure. This will cause you to act in a manner
consistent with that self image, and you will most likely end up having a crappy workout,
proving the self-image that you created to be correct. Obviously, crappy workouts lead to
crappy results. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

On the other hand, if you carefully think about why you want to get in better condition, set
some fitness goals (preferably in writing), make a commitment to achieve them, congratulate
yourself on making the decision to improve yourself, write down 10 reasons these goals are
important to you and what the achievement of them will mean to you, review them regularly,
and take a few minutes before entering the gym to visualize how good you will look and feel
once you achieve those goals, you will enter the workout full of focus and enthusiasm, and
assuming you are on a sound program, you will find yourself having great workouts, and great
workouts lead to great results.

FF: This raises another question people tend to deal with – which is “what makes a great
workout a great workout?” Since a persons training is subjective, what, in your opinion, makes a
great workout and what should people be looking to accomplish?

DD: A great workout to me Fred is one where you have made objective, measurable progress
toward your goal. This criteria presupposes 3 important points – one, that you know exactly
what your goal is in the first place; two, that you have a system, a set of techniques that you
can use to achieve it; and three, that you have some method in place for measuring your
progress.

Having a goal to strive toward is what we have been talking about throughout this interview
Fred, and what the first chapter of High Intensity Muscle Building is devoted to-setting a goal for
yourself that is important enough to you that you are willing to commit to it is essential to all
achievement. It determines how you will direct your efforts, exactly what steps you will take on
a day to day basis to eventually end up where you want to be. Without a target, you won’t know
where to aim.

Having an effective system is also crucial, because if you’re doing the wrong things it doesn’t
matter how committed you are to your goal; you’re not going to get there. Obviously it’s very
frustrating for people to set a fitness goal, commit to it, go to the gym all fired up, and after a
few weeks nothing happens because they’re doing the wrong things the wrong way. Yet I see
this all the time in every gym I go to. Without positive feedback people give up. The program I
offer in High Intensity Muscle Building is designed to provide immediate, dramatic, and
continuous results, right from the first workout.

I also believe it is absolutely critical for people to keep written records of every workoutincluding
the exercises they perform, the equipment used, how much weight they used and how
many reps they did. In order to make changes to your body, you need to impose progressively
greater demands on it each workout, and the easiest way to do that is to see what you did last
time, in writing, and try to do better this time-either by performing more reps, using more
weight, or both. It’s also extremely motivating to see the improvements you’re making right
before your eyes every workout. If you don’t write it down, you lose all these benefits. Can you
imagine your doctor not having any written records of your medical history and just trying to
memorize everything about you? By the way, High Intensity Muscle Building includes printable
workout cards to make this record-keeping very simple.

So if you go to the gym committed to a specific, personal fitness goal, apply a proven system and
put in a maximum effort during your workout, and write it down so that you can see without a
doubt that you made progress-that’s a great workout.

FF: Dave, by far, this has been one of the more interesting conversations I’ve had about training
in a very long time. We could probably discuss training ad nauseam, but as not to overstay my
welcome, I think we should rap up this conversation for now and possibly pick it up at a later
date. I hope anyone reading this dialogue has gleaned some insight as to what you and High
Intensity Muscle Building has to offer. Thanks again for your time.

DD: My pleasure Fred, thanks a million for having me.

For more information about Dave Durell and his new book, visit:

www.highintensitymusclebuilding.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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