Build Muscle And Keep Fit

MAIL or JAIL - Mailing for Steroids?

2010-09-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

Back in the old days we went to mexico and buy roids there for really small money.

Over the time it got a little risky to travel abroad to juicy heaven. Roid business evolved over years and now one can order just what he wants on Internet at his home. From underground labs, from someone distributing roids from inside the country, or safest way, overseas pharmacies.

But it is safe to do so? Don’t we leave tracks on Internet? Especially content of emails, that can be tracked and saved on your email provider servers. Emails for payment instructions, emails for payment confirmation’s, order tracking emails, shipping details emails.. Often the only way to communicate with someone over the sea, for example. Is mailing safe or can get us in troubles? Are there any solutions for protection of of our emails content ?

Yes, there is solution. Encryption of emails, provided by HUSHMAIL, Canadian longtime provider of encrypted web-based email, advertising themselves by claiming that “not even a Hushmail employee with access to our servers can read your encrypted e-mail, since each message is uniquely encoded before it leaves your computer.” It was written on their page. I know a lot of people using their email, because it is secure, and only sender and recipient know the email content. If someone hacked server with messages, they could not read it, because of encryption.

How can that be done? In simple words it goes like that. When user logs into his account for first time, browser downloads client-side Java applet , which converts your email text into unreadable mess:). Next, you need public key, created by same tool. Public key is something like very long password. This password must be sent to recipient of your emails, so that his tool for encryption can decrypt unreadable mess created from your email message, and show it to recipient in its original form.

But, unfortunately, installing Java and loading and running the Java applet can be annoying. So, Hushmail started to offer web based encryption in 2006. User connects to server and the server encrypts the message instead of Java applet on your computer. It was believed that this is enough for secure emailing.

But then in September the document(.pdf) from a federal prosecution of alleged steroid dealers showed, that Hushmail turned over 12 CDs full of emails from three accounts following a court order obtained through a mutual assistance treaty between the U.S. and Canada. The charging document alleges that many Chinese wholesale steroid chemical providers, underground laboratories and steroid retailers do business over Hushmail.

How, if server or java applet encrypts emails in way, that they cannot be read? As mentioned before, the Hushmail started to offer server based encryption. The problem occures when connecting to server, the passphrase (password for your public key) needs to be sent to server, so the server can encrypt and decrypt your messages. And in that very moment when you sends passphrase, Hushmail can copy your passphrase and save it. Once one has access to that passphrase, one can decrypt all messages and read them. That was the case with those steroid dealers. Hushmail has saved their passphrases following the court order issued by the British Columbia Supreme Court.

As things getting more and more tighten by USA government concerning steroids, anyone ordering over Internet should aware that doing this can get risky in near future.

The question here is, how to protect our emails when ordering or paying with some roid supplier. There is simple answer to that question.. Don’t have any emails at all. Overseas and other Internet sources should provide users option of seeing all the vital data when logging into their user accounts. In that way there would be no emails in your email client post box. I hope that all Internet steroid suppliers will take this option into account.

Bulking and Cutting at the same time

2010-09-14T04:13:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of questions lately from bodybuilders trying to combine two main goals - to bulk up and get a well defined muscle shape at the same time. Additionally many of them would like to use Dianabol with something to achieve it. The answer to this issue is a complex one. Therefore we will try to look into two possible ways how to combine the two goals and to achieve lean mass.

Basically Dianabol is on of the best choices to bulk up - build up a lot of mass. Being a potent steroid it also brings noticeable side effects including water retention. This is the reason why it is almost never used in lean mass cycles. If one wants to use d-bol the best way to achieve it is to go through two cycles - one to bulk up and another one for cutting.

Following the goals to ‘bulk up and get cut’ at the same time I recommend two cycles:First cycle - oral
contents: 420 caps of Andriol 40 mg, 345 tabs of Winstrol 5 mg, 3 x 1 ml vials of HCG 5000 u.i, 40 tabs of Nolvadex 20 mg.

The cycle is a bit more expensive, but you will avoid injectable steroids. In addition it does not contain liver toxic orals.

	Andriol	Winstrol	H.C.G.
Week 1	8 caps/day	35mg
Week 2	8 caps/day	35mg
Week 3	8 caps/day	35mg
Week 4	8 caps/day	35mg
Week 5	8 caps/day	35mg
Week 6	8 caps/day	35mg
Week 7	8 caps/day	35mg	5-7,500 i.u.
Week 8			5,000 i.u.
Week 9			3,000 i.u.

Clomid/Nolvadex is used concurrently with HCG, and for three weeks after.

Second cycle - lean mass (bulking and cutting)
contents: 140 tabs of Proviron, 10 x 2 ml vials of Deca Durabolin 200 mg, 200 tabs of Winstrol 5 mg, 3 x 1 ml vials of HCG 5000 u.i.

This is an extremely effective lean mass building/cutting cycle. The Proviron adds good androgen content to the nandrolone base, which often too anabolic to use on its own. The Winstrol, added later, greatly enhances the fat burning and anabolic nature of the combination.

	Proviron	Deca	Winstrol	H.C.G.
Week 1		200mg
Week 2	50mg/day	200mg
Week 3	50mg/day	200mg
Week 4	50mg/day	200mg
Week 5	50mg/day	200mg	20mg/day
Week 6	50mg/day	200mg	20mg/day
Week 7	50mg/day	200mg	20mg/day
Week 8	50mg/day	200mg	20mg/day
Week 9	50mg/day	200mg	20mg/day
Week 10	50mg/day	200mg	20mg/day
Week 11	50mg/day		20mg/day
Week 12				5-7,500 i.u.
Week 13				5,000 i.u.
Week 14				3,000 i.u.

A Good Muscle Building Training

2010-07-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

Below is my basic training schedule. It is very simple, never working more than 2 muscle groups at a time. I often change the upper body combinations to make sure each workout is a little different. Monday could just as well be chest/triceps or even chest/back.

I think it’s important to always be thinking about your workouts ahead of time. So when you enter the gym you have the whole work out planned out in your mind. Because my body seems to be a little injury prone I allow 3 days off just to fully rest my muscles. I changed my workout style a little bit for my cycle. Rather than do the usual 10-12 reps per set I settled on 8. This enabled me to focus on lifting as heavy as possible and seemed to be quite successful.

Here’s a breakdown of each work out. I also do a couple warm up sets at lighter weights for all exercises.

Monday - Chest & Biceps

Chest

Flat DB press	Incline Barbell press	Cable fly
20kg x 10 x 1	40kg x 10 x 1	15kg x 10 x 1
24kg x 10 x 1	60kg x 8 x 2	18kg x 10 x 1
28kg x 8 x 2	80kg x 8 x 2	21kg x 8 x 1
34kg x 6 x 1

Biceps

Straight bar curl	Seated DB curls
10kg x 10 x 2	12kg x 10 x 1
20kg x 8 x 2	14kg x 10 x 1
	16kg x 8 x 2

Tuesday – Legs

Leg extensions	Calve raises	Squats
50kg x 8 x 1	60kg x 25 x 2	40kg x 15 x 2
80kg x 8 x 3	90kg x 15 x 1	60kg x 10 x 1
130kg x 8 x 3		80kg x 8 x 3

Wednesday – OFF

Thursday - Shoulders & Triceps

Shoulders

Seated DB press	Delt flys
20kg x 8 x 1	14kg x 8 x 2
24kg x 8 x 2	16kg x 8 x 2
26kg x 8 x 2

Triceps

Seated ezy curl extensions	Cable push down
20kg x 8 x 2	50kg x 10 x 1
30kg x 8 x 2	70kg x 8 x 3

Friday – OFF

Saturday - Back

Lat pull down	Seated rows
60kgx8×2	70kgsx8×2
70kgx8×2	90kgsx8×2

Sunday – OFF

Build Muscle And Burn Fat At The Same Time - Possible or Not?

2010-07-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

Can you really build muscle and burn fat at the same time? In a study lasting for 90 days and the weight training workout consisted of bench presses, pulldowns, military presses, pullovers, curls, tricep extensions, knee extensions, and knee flexion the two groups lost the same amount of weight - approximately 33 pounds.

The lifting group, however, actually increased muscle mass by 21 to 27 percent, while the non-lifting group lost muscle, along with fat.

“These results indicate that weight training can elicit muscle fiber hypertrophy during periods of severe energy restriction,” said the researchers. In other words, you can build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

“Strength declined in the sedentary group during the weight reduction but increased in the weight-trained group.”

The key to successful weight loss is weigh training - not walking, or any other low intensity cardio program - and a high protein diet. In the study, 40 percent of calories came from protein, as opposed to most fat loss diets that call for only 15 to 20 percent protein.

When you properly apply the fundamentals of proper weight training and nutrition, you can build muscle and burn fat at the same time, while completely reshaping your body. If you really want to ramp up your results so you can dramtically transformyour body and do it fast, consider adding high intensity interval training,or what I call power cardio, to your weight training program.

This type of training, along with intense weight training, is one of the best things you can do to build power, muscle mass, speed, strength, endurance, and lose fat! Proper power cardio can give you the best of all worlds.

A brief explanation of this training is that you do just that - train in intervals, by alternating a brief period of exercise with a brief period of rest.

And the overall length of your workout are much briefer in duration than your typical aerobic sessions.

5 Muscle Mass Mistakes to be Avoided

2010-06-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

Building muscle mass is the number one goal of almost every guy in fitness. And yet most of them never build muscle the way they want, especially not enough of it!

Here are a few weight training tips for building muscle so you can start adding massive pounds of muscle to your body.

If you can avoid these common mistakes, you’ll go a long way toward building more muscle.

Muscle Mass Mistake 1: Not working legs

This could be the biggest mass building mistake that bodybuilders make when starting out. They avoid heavy barbell squats.Barbell squats, done correctly, and done intensely, are the single biggest muscle mass building exercise you can do. And yet how many people do you see at your gym doing heavy barbell squats?

Mass Mistake 2: Not training intensely enough

If you want to build muscle you have to train with intensity. Stop substituting more volume (more exercises, more sets, more reps) with real all out intensity.

Mass Mistake 3: Routine hopping

Stop seeking out the one magic routine that will instantly add 50 pounds of muscle to your body. Get a solid grasp of the fundamentals of weight training, put together a quality routine, and stick with it long enough to see results. Sure, if you haven’t gained any muscle in 8 months, you’ll probably want to change something. But don’t randomly change your routine every two weeks. Give a good weight lifting routine time to work and you’ll see more muscle gains.

Mass Mistake 4: Neglecting Nutrition

Weight training is the stimulus for your body to add muscle mass but it needs to have the tools to do so. Those tools are enough quality calories. In your quest for more muscle mass don’t forget the role that nutrition plays in muscle building: frequent feedings, quality calories, lots of protein, no junk food, vitamins, minerals, good fats, and lots of water.

Mass Mistake 5: Use Anabolic Steroids Smartly

Smart use of anabolic steroids can speed-up gaining your muscle. You can easily make a progress of one year in just a few weeks. However don’t forget to use steroids according to instructions, as well as don’t abandon post cycle therapy (PCT).

Low Carb Diets - The Best Way To Lose Body Fat?

2010-06-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

The carbohydrate issue seems to be the burning question on the minds of nearly everyone who is interested in getting leaner. It’s no wonder why there’s such a buzz about these diets: everywhere you look lately everything is low carb - from bars, low carb drinks, low carb meal replacements to low carb frozen dinners and so on.

Even though there has been a huge resurgence in the interest in low carb/high protein diets, the low carb vs. high carb issue is still the subject of much controversy. For every “low carb guru” who says that low carbs are the ultimate diet, there is a “high carb guru” with the opposite opinion. This has caused a lot of people a lot of confusion.

So what’s the deal? Is the low carb/high protein diet the best way for bodybuilders to get ripped or just another fad? From a bodybuilding standpoint, the answer is an unequivocal yes; reducing carbohydrates really works! Most bodybuilders can’t get that “ripped” look without some degree of carb restriction. Almost every bodybuilder or fitness competitor I’ve ever met uses some version of the low carb diet when getting ready for competition. The problem is, most people fail to take into account their goals and their unique body type, so they follow the advice of the latest “low-carb guru” and take the carb restriction too far. Zero carb or close to zero carb diets won’t do anything good for you!

The other extreme; the high carb, very low fat diet, isn’t the best approach for bodybuilders either. These diets (60-70% carb, 20-30% protein and 10% or less fat) were trendy with bodybuilders for a while, especially back in the 80’s and early 90’s, but their popularity quickly faded. Those who tried it discovered that it wasn’t nearly as effective as the low to moderate carb, high protein diet.

How to Reduce Fat Effectively

2010-06-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

As we are all aware too much fat(especially saturated one) doesn’t do anything good for you. Your body can easily store excess calories from fat as body fat. In addition saturated fats from animal products, such as meats and dairy foods, can clog your arteries and contribute to heart disease.

Although reducing dietary fat is important, eliminating all fat from your diet is not at all healthy. Fat is an essential nutrient that produces energy for daily activities and supplies the body with vitamins A, D and E, which are needed for healthy skin and optimal growth. The body cannot produce fat on its own; it must be provided through dietary intake. For these reasons you should enjoy some fats in your diet, especially monounsaturated fats like olive oil. The key is moderation–not elimination.

Health authorities recommend to consume 30 percent or less of their total daily calories from fat, with 10 percent or less of those calories from saturated fat. Chart below can help guide your fat intake. Determine how many calories are in your diet and use the chart to discover how many grams of fat are in 30 percent and 10 percent of your calorie intake. Remember, the recommended percentages refer to your total fat intake over time, not the fat in single foods or meals.

Calories per DayE	Total Fat per Day (grams)	Total Saturated Fat per Day (grams)
1,200	40 or less	13 or less
1,600	53 or less	18 or less
2,000	67 or less	22 or less
2,200	73 or less	24 or less
2,500	83 or less	27 or less

10 Tips to Reduce Fat

To help cut down on your fat intake, use the following tips when preparing foods:

1. Use evaporated skim milk instead of cream when preparing sauces or desserts.
2. Create your own nonfat salad dressing by mixing balsamic vinegar, mustard and herbs. If you really prefer an oil-based dressing, try using three parts vinegar to one part oil.
3. Drain nonfat yogurt through a sieve or cheesecloth overnight in the refrigerator, and use in recipes that call for cream.
4. Saute foods in chicken broth, vegetable stock, tomato juice or wine instead of frying them in oil or butter.
5. Keep olive oil in a spray bottle to a lightly coat pans.
6. You can make your own taco shells. Hang soft corn tortillas directly over the oven rack (with the sides of the tortilla hanging down) and bake at 400 degrees until they’re crisp.
7. Whip up your own french fries. Place half-inch-thick potato slices on a nonstick baking pan and coat with a light spray of oil. Sprinkle with paprika or salt, and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn once during baking. (For a different flavor, try this recipe with sweet potatoes.)
8. To maximize flavor, toast nuts before baking with them. That way, you’ll be able to use less. Or sprinkle nuts on top of a home-baked dessert instead of mixing them into the batter.
9. Substitute six egg whites plus one whole egg for every three eggs in your favorite recipes.
10. Substitute an equal amount of applesauce or any baby-food fruits for up to half of the total oil in your favorite dessert recipes. Strained prunes actually enhance the chocolate flavor in brownies!

Weight Loss Tips

2010-06-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

These fast weight loss tips will help you to drop a lot of extra pounds, if you need to lose quite a bit of weight. If you are already in decent physical condition, to sculpt your body to an even greater degree.

Any weight loss tips to help speed up metabolism do just that. They help you. You still must have your overall fitness and nutrition plan in line with the goals you want to achieve.

You need to be focused on each aspect of your plan. If you expect to use these fast weight loss tips but don’t exercise and just watch television eating a bag of chips every night, they won’t do a thing for you.
Are you ready to add these fast weight loss tips to your lifestyle?

In order to get rid of any amount of excess weight, you must speed up metabolism. Your metabolism is a biochemical process that occurs in your body and helps to break down nutrients in your bloodstream. This helps you to add more lean muscle, resulting in a greater expenditure of energy, meaning you’ll get rid of more fat.You have billions of cells in your body that can use up an enormous amount of energy if you are active.

The fast weight loss tips listed below will help you do this. However, if you aren’t active they won’t burn up much at all, meaning you’ll have a tendency to easily add fat to your body. Thankfully, using the fast weight loss tips in conjunction with your healthy and active lifestyle you can speed up your metabolism quite noticeably.

Here are a few tips to help you loose weight:

Eat specific foods. A number of food additives, like spices, can help to speed up your metabolism by creating a thermodynamic burn that has been shown to last a few hours after you eat.
Time your meals. The majority of your calories should be earlier in the day. Your meals should contain less total calories as the day goes on. Try to eat little or preferably nothing at all after your evening meal. Don’t skip any meals. You should be eating 4 - 6 meals each day.
Make sure you eat enough. One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight is they don’t eat enough.
If you don’t consume the proper amount of calories you will send your body into what is known as a survival mode. This happens when your body does not have enough calories, so it conserves energy to prepare for possible starvation.
On the opposite side of this, is if you eat too many calories the excess will be stored as fat. You need to exercise in order to burn more calories than you eat. Therefore, moderation is the key when it comes to calorie intake.
Increase your daily activities. To prevent fat storage and to drop any excess that you might be carrying you must increase your daily activities.
This needs to include weight training and cardiovascular training. The more calories you burn, the faster you will lose weight. It’s that simple. An increase in lean muscle mass results in a dramatic increase in fat burning.
One more thing try to exercise first thing in the morning. Research has shown that you can dramatically increase your fat burning ability if you exercise after a fasted state. Meaning just after you wake up.
Do weight lifting before doing any cardiovascular work. The only exception of course is to perform 5 - 10 minutes of cardio before your weight training in order to warm up your muscles.
This is important because you need the energy in your muscles for weight training. By the time your weight training session is complete you will have used up all of your preferred energy sources.
Change up your exercise routine on a regular basis. For the most part you should change some aspect of your workout every 2 - 3 weeks. This can be anything from the number of reps or sets per exercise. The exercise order you perform and the exercises themselves.
If you do the same thing week after week, month after month your body will start to get used to what you’re doing to it and will eventually stop making changes. You will also stop adding any more lean muscle.
The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn even when at rest.
Meal combinations. Always eat protein / carbohydrate meals earlier in the day. Eat protein / fat combination meals (meaning little to no carbohydrates) in the late afternoon and evening.
The only exception is if you normally exercise in the evening. Then your first meal after your workout should consist of protein and carbohydrates.
Never eat carbohydrates and fat together in the same meal.

With these seven fast weight loss tips you will speed up metabolism and burn excess body fat at a much faster rate.

How Many Meals Daily are Crucial to Build Muscle?

2010-05-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

We believe six meals a day are crucial to build muscle sucessfully!

(as a matter of fact many experts think so as well…)

While the amount of weight you lose or gain will be dependent on the total calories you take in, total calorie intake is not the only thing you should be concerned with. What you take in and how you take it in will prove to be major factors in what kind of weight you lose or gain (fat or lean muscle).

Whether you are trying to lose weight, gain weight or just eat healthy, 6 small meals a day is much more advantageous than the traditional three big ones.

Why? For one thing, the body is only capable of utilizing so many nutrients at a time. With small meals, there is greater opportunity for nutrient absorption. With the goal of building muscle fast, you need maximum retention of the nutrients necessary to accomplish this goal.

Providing the body with a complete protein source at every meal will help your body maintain an anabolic, positive nitrogen balance state.

The six meals a day diet plan is also thought to be effective at reducing cholesterol levels. Studies have shown that those who split their total calories into 6 small meals a day significantly reduced both their total and LDL cholesterol levels.

Additionally, the body is more likely to store fat when it is unsure when it will get its next feeding. Your body is incredibly smart and whether or not you plan for the future, it does. When it becomes used to being fed consistently, to six meals a day, it tends not to worry so much about tomorrow’s need for energy and is therefore less likely to store energy as unsightly fat.

How?

If you are accustomed to the three-meal-a-day routine, six meals a day will undoubtedly seem a daunting task. To help you, here are some suggestions:

Plan ahead. Make sure the nutrition necessary to follow your diet is within reach. Plan your meals at least a few days in advance.
Cook ahead of time. Many foods that will help you reach your nutritional goals lend themselves to being cooked in large quantities then portioned out and refrigerated for quick and good eating. Chicken breast and boiled eggs are good examples. Get some tupperware and you can eat well with minimal kitchen time.
Take advantage of canned foods high in protein. You may know that tuna comes in a can making a quick and simple meal, but did you know that salmon, chicken breast and other protein-rich foods come in cans? Check your grocery store.

And the number one helper to keeping to a six-meal-a-day plan (drum roll please)… SUPPLEMENTS. You can keep to your weight gain diet without using supplements but it will be exceedingly more difficult.
There are meal replacement powders, whey protein powders, weight gainers and other supplements that have good nutritional content and will make your meal planning much simpler.

While it may be impractical to sit down and eat six times a day, when you consider that some of your meals can be just a quick gulp of a protein shake the diet plan can become practical for even the busiest of people.
With just a few smarts and a little creativity, you will find your meal planning isn’t as difficult as it may first appear.

Once you have determined your weight gain diet guidelines, make sure you get your plan on paper. Figure out the specific foods you will use to get to your prescribed calorie and nutrient goals.

The key is having everything ready to go and not giving yourself an easy excuse to grab the empty nutrition of a soda and chips snack. Don’t tempt yourself into to being lazy.

Again, always track what you are doing with your diet. This, when compared to your results, will give you guidance on what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong.

Some Weight Gain Tips

2010-05-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

Eat low-fat cottage cheese before bed. Cottage cheese is mostly casein, a slowly absorbed protein, and it is naturally high in glutamine, so it helps postpone muscle catabolism.
Drink liquid nutrients first thing in the morning. You want to get your body out of a catabolic state as soon you wake up. Whey protein and fruit juices are easy to digested and rapidly absorbed, and fructose causes an insulin spike to get nutrients to the muscles fast. This will also help stimulate hunger for a more substantial breakfast a little later.
Drink skim milk with major meals. One cup of skim milk with breakfast, lunch, and dinner adds about 24 grams protein, 36 grams carbohydrates, 903 milligrams calcium, and 258 calories to your daily intake.
Prefer food protein over whey. Whey protein is best used when your body needs amino acids quickly, like in the morning and after a workout. But food protein (meat, dairy, and eggs) is digested and released more slowly, providing your muscles with a steady source of amino acids over a longer period of time.
Find the right number of sets. By tracking your progress, you can find the best number of sets for each muscle group and maximize gains. You will always have to monitor your progress and change your routine as your body adapts, but you can always maximize gains by tracking your progress and seeing what works best.
Learn to love leg day. Don’t ignore legs and don’t do machine exercises. Serious leg gains come from three simple movements: squats, deadlifts, and calf-raises. Do them once a week and you will see results over your whole body.
Try macronutrient rotations. Try to eat a consistent amount of protein throughout the day. Try to limit fats and simple carbohydrates to the morning and early afternoon. Eat complex carbohydrates with dinner, and mostly protein before bed. If you are gaining too much fat or have fat you want to loose, try rotating your carbohydrate consumption through the week: some days with high carbs followed by some days with low carbs.
Set short-term goals that are realistic and measurable. If you “just want to get bigger” or “just want to get into shape,” you have no real measurable goals, and can’t effectively plan a program or track improvements. Make sure you have quantifiable monthly targets, otherwise you will get discouraged and loose momentum. Staying motivated is essential because gains only come with time and dedication.
Workout at home. It is often cheaper to buy a bench, power rack, and 600 pounds of weight than to join a gym for a year. When the gym is in your home, you will workout faster, more intensely, more conveniently, and without distractions. You will save time, money, and frustration. Going to a library doesn’t make you smarter just because you are surrounded by books that you never read, and going to a gym doesn’t make you stronger just because you are surrounded by machines that you never use.
Learn proper technique and use the correct weight. Make sure you know how to properly perform each exercise and maintain a full range of motion. Lifting heavy means using enough weight to perform 6-10 reps with proper form, not using poundages so high that must cheat to move the bar. You shouldn’t have to rely on momentum in any exercise, and you should always control the weight (unless you are failing on the last rep).

How to Gain Weight by Training

2010-05-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

Lifting weights without following a program prepared by professional trainers is usually a waste of time. It is quite easy to over train the muscles, working out and foolishly ignoring more than half of the body and producing some poor results.

You don’t need to be a professional, however here are some important guidelines to be followed:

Train muscle groups once a week only.
Eat six meals a day with 20-40 grams of complete proteins at each meal.
Work on the whole body (i.e. in a 3-day split).
Avoid sugar and saturated fats.
Do intense, low-volume sets (1-3) of heavy reps (6-10). This will produce really encouraging and satisfying results. I have increased the weights I work out with by 60-70% in less than three months, and I have gained a good 20 pounds of muscle.

Gain Muscle Mass Fast – The Right Way

2010-05-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

With the fast-spaced life that people these days have grown accustomed to, people have begun to believe that they can gain muscle mass fast overnight. Unfortunately, the well-sculpted abdominal muscles or the tight biceps did not happen while that person was sitting down. A lot of hard work and discipline went into getting their much-envied bodies, which makes the public admiration much-deserved.

However, it must not be forgotten that aside from working out, nutrition and diet play important roles in muscle mass gain. Ignoring good nutrition from one’s diet will not cause one to gain muscle mass fast but will result in the opposite.

1. Eat a well-balanced diet from four nutrient groups.

Incorporating a healthy diet in the process of trying to gain muscle mass fast requires some effort and thought. One can’t simply pick from a couple of food items that are believed to be healthy, and ignore others. Instead, a combination of carbohydrates, fats, fiber, and protein must be incorporated into one’s diet in their correct recommended portions. Each of these four nutrient groups plays an important role in the body, and as such, must be duly included in a healthy, well-balanced diet.

2. Spread big meals into smaller, more frequent ones.

While it is often advised to take three meals a day on time, another alternative is to instead spread the food taken during these three big meals over four to six meals a day instead. What this will do is speed up metabolism and burn unwanted fat much faster. With meals spread, there’s less likelihood that hunger pangs that cause giving in to the temptation of a fatty burger or a box of fries will happen. These small, frequent meals also provide enough energy for regular workouts that help to gain muscle mass fast.

3. Go fresh and natural.

Processed foods are called processed because various ingredients are put into food to lengthen their shelf life or improve their flavors. Unfortunately, these come at the expense of causing a vat of fat to cover the muscles of anyone who eats a lot of these processed foods. Eating processed foods will almost certainly put to waste all efforts poured inside the gym working out. Instead, healthy food that is fresh and natural must be eaten. Fresh and natural food do not sacrifice flavor and promise to be packed with nutrients.

4. Get creative with protein.

In order to gain muscle mass fast, a lot of protein intake is usually required. However, acquiring protein from usual sources like red meat is unhealthy, and can cause toxins to become deposited in the body. Get creative by looking up a variety of readily available protein sources that can serve as alternatives to red meat. To name some, these include milk, dairy products, fish meat, and even a huge slew of beans. Depending on its source, a bodybuilder can derive whey protein, casein protein, soy protein, and other protein forms.

5. Ensure sufficient fluid intake.

Water intake is something that is not usually recommended for those who want to gain muscle mass fast, as water can mask genuine muscle mass gain with just water bloating. However, sufficient hydration is important when a person wants to gain muscle mass fast, especially because bodybuilding requires tons of workout and exercise. The body being dehydrated, in fact, will cause the body processes—including burning fat during workout—to become slower than it should be.

-- Gain Muscle Mass Fast Now! --

How To Build Muscle Fast - 3 Simple steps

2010-04-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Learning how to build muscle fast does not have to be difficult. It really isn't rocket science people! Unfortunately for many beginners this isn't the case. No matter what they seem to do, they can't build muscle. Does this sound familiar?

If your efforts to build muscle are going unrewarded, there is a reason. A complete evaluation of your muscle building program may be in order. It is now your job to
determine which of the three steps to building muscle are missing.

Even if just one of the three steps to building muscle is missing, failure is imminnent.

Build Muscle Fast Tip #1 - Eat The Right Foods
Eating the right foods will help supply your body with the energy it needs during your resistance training workouts. The right foods are also crucial in the recovery process. Your body actually uses the food you eat to build your muscles while you sleep. Eating the right foods is a key to building muscle fast.

Build Muscle Fast Tip #2 - Weight Train

Weight training does not actually build muscle. It breaks down your muscle! However, this breakdown of muscle tissue is what triggers the body to repair its self. It then goes a step further and builds more muscle that was previously there. This leads to increased muscle size.

Build Muscle Fast Tip #3 - Rest and Recover
Adequate rest and recovery is one of the most overlooked, yet most important factors to building muscle fast. In order to build muscle your body needs not only adequate rest in between workouts, but also a full nights sleep every night.

During rest and recovery is when the body actually repairs and builds muscle tissue. If you do not allow your body enough rest and recovery time, building muscle may be next to impossible. You will begin to feel symptoms of over training, and will be more prone to injuries.

Remember that in order to build muscle fast, you must rest your body!
In Conclusion, building muscle fast is a realistic goal if approached correctly. With the right combination of eating, weight training, and recovery, extraordinary results are a realistic possibility.

Gain Muscle Mass Fast for Skinny Men

2010-04-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Gain Muscle Mass and Weight Gain for Skinny Men - Truths and Myths

If you are new to gaining muscle mass and weight, you may not know that most people would combine weight training routines with daily intake of weight gain supplements for their muscle building efforts. Go to any bookshop or magazine stand and take a look at the bodybuilding magazines. Chances are you will find many different kinds of supplements advertisements. Even without doing so, the TV supplements commercials you see would often illustrate a muscular man flexing his muscles and giving credits to a special brand of supplement he has taken at the end of the advert. All these media seems to give much credence to our perception that muscle mass gain, and supplements are inseparable. I am sure you are curious to know whether you really need those supplements to put on extra muscle mass and weight if you are skinny. We will expose the myths and truths one by one.

Myth 1 – Work-out Routines in the Magazines do Work

Let us begin to examine the weight gain information you have been so exposed to from magazines, and other media sources. Many skinny people have been unsuccessful in gaining weight despite trying out different mass building programs and diets. A major contributing factor is the adoption of incorrect training programs and schedules. Though this may have worked for some normal folks, thin people would usually require specific training programs, tailored to their needs. If you have been following the instructions from magazines and hearing what the experts say, you may have realized by now that all your weight gaining and muscle mass building efforts are futile. No one ever told you that these popular weight gain routines worked only for those who already have larger built and good genetics to gain muscle mass fast.

Myth 2 - Weight-Gain Supplements is a MUST

This is what Jonathan had always believed in. Jonathan was a skinny man who yearned to grow bigger and stronger. Despite working intensively on the different training work-outs and eating whole list of supplements like:

• Creatine
• Ephedra
• Pump-Tech
• Ribose
• Mega Mass 4000
• Cytodyne
• Cort-Bloc
• Triax
• CLA
• NAC
• Glucosamine Chondroitin
• Nortesten
• Acetabolan
• Cell-Tech
• HMB
• Glutamine
• Tyrosine
• Hot Stuff
• Growth Hormone Boosters
• Testosterone Boosters
• Valerian
• Ginkgo Biloba
• St. John's Wart
• Liver Tablets
• Nerve Enhancers
• Methoxy
• Myostatin
• Cybergenics
• Xenadrine
• Pro-Hormones (Andro)
• Chromium Piccolante
• Amino Acid Pills
• Niacin
• GH Stack

Nothing seems to work for him. You may be thinking it only applied to him. But if you have tried some of these supplements, you would have nodded your head and agree unanimously that these supplements have minimal effect on you. The truth is such supplements hardly work on skinny men because if they do, many skinny men would have bulked up.

There are several reasons why some people respond well to supplements. You may not be aware of “muscle memory”. In short, people who gain muscle mass fast under the influence of supplements actually could do so because they have trained and conditioned their muscles to a certain level of strength in the past. Those supplement models are mostly bodybuilding professionals or celebrities who already have a well-shaped physique. Supplements therefore just won’t cut it for skinny folks.

Truth 1 – What You Eat Does Not Determine Weight Gain Progress

Another myth is that the food you eat will directly affect your weight gaining progress. Fortunately, the diet factor in gaining weight is not that important. This is shocking, isn’t it? It seems that we have all been lied to by all the hype in weight-gain accelerating boosters and supplements. Clear living evidence that proves this point is the state of health and well-defined built of prisoners. They are not fed special foods or muscle-mass and weight-gain supplements. In fact, their meals comprise mostly high carbs and are poor in protein content. Yet, they are one of the most muscular folks around.

Truth 2 – Skinny Men Need a Predefined Exercise Routine to Gain Muscle Mass and Weight

Forget about what you have read and learnt so far about weight gaining and muscle mass building from the books and magazines that work only for those who are genetically inclined towards muscle and weight gain. Unlearn them if it is necessary. It is time to learn about what truly works for skinny people who struggle in putting on extra pounds. Do you want to know what are the specific number of sets and times to train a muscle, rest periods, rep range etc that would help you to add muscle mass quickly?

Find out how a skinny guy unravels the truth behind muscle mass and weight gain without supplements, working out for less than 3 hours per week. He shares with you how you can bulk up, spend lesser time on training, and still enjoy your favorite food. See how you can too gain muscle mass and weight fast.

Gain Muscle Mass Fast | Right Exercises

2010-04-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

Gain Muscle Mass and Weight Fast – Exercises You Can Do

Gaining muscle mass fast is not difficult if you know what you are doing. Other than eating more than your required daily food intake, you need to complement the weight gain diet with effective training. Depending on your muscle mass building objective and level of comfort, here’s a simple outline of 2 basic options you can choose:

1. Engage in regular moderate activities such as jogging or play a sport for at least 3 times per week. The duration of each session should be more than 30 minutes. Maintaining such activities would help in muscle toning. However, in order to attain bulky muscle mass, you will need to step up into other forms of activities such as resistance training at the gym or at home using free weights.

2. Weight resistance training at the gym is necessary to bulk up. But before you do so, consult a professional fitness instructor. Careless handling of weights could actually lead to injuries.

If you are looking forward to a muscular figure, you may want to seriously consider lifting weights or resistance training exercises. I have several golden tips that would aid you:

1. When engaging in weight training exercises, work on larger muscle groups. They are the best when it comes to building mass. Stick with free weight exercises like bent-over rows, pull-ups, bench presses, military presses, deadlifts, barbell rows, squats and bar dips. Avoid excessive lateral raises and step-ups because they are not effective in helping in muscle mass gain.

2. Incrementally add more weight as you progress. This will help to develop your strength and in turn build up those muscles you are working on. Muscle strength precedes size.

3. Keep repetitions low with heavy weights and make sure you have a 3 minute rest in between each set.

4. 3 exercises for each body part is sufficient.

5. Plan a weekly work-out routine to train different body parts such as your chest, shoulders, bicep, tricep, back, abs and legs. Give your body scheduled rest on alternate days of the week.

Keep to the above program diligently and you will see some extra muscle mass and weight gain in a matter of weeks.

Are you interested to find out how even a skinny person who has failed countless times in bulking up finally had a breakthrough in gaining muscle mass fast? I will reveal that to you in the next post

Weight Gain Diet Foods

2010-04-07T01:23:00.000-07:00

Weight Gain Diet Foods

In order to gain weight, you need to eat more. Period! But it doesn’t mean you just eat anything including junk food or other fatty foods. What you really need is proper weight gain diet foods. Spread out those meals for the day, and eat 6 small meals instead of 3 big meals to balance your calorie intake.

Before you start planning the amount of weight gain diet foods you should consume daily, you need to know something i.e. your target calorie intake. You have to calculate the daily calorie intake to maintain your weight. You can refer to the Basal Metabolic Rate to have a quick math done to find out the calorie count. Assuming your normal calorie count should be 2200, you need an additional calorie intake of 500 per day to add one pound to your weight per week. Statistics show that an intake of 3500 calories would increase a person’s weight by one pound.

I will reveal a powerful weight gain truth that only insiders know about to you. If you see that your weight starts to stagnate for more than 2 weeks after some gains, it is perfectly normal. What it means is that your body has reached the threshold for that calorie count. In order to restart the momentum, increase your intake by about 200 – 300 calories. Keep doing so each time your body weight hit the brakes.

Okay, here is a list of healthy weight gain diet foods:

1. Nutritional supplements

Eating whey protein will help you to gain weight in preparation for your building of muscle mass. If you have a shoestring budget but still want weight gain and muscle mass, egg whites are good substitutes.

2. 5 Servings of Fruits per Day

Eating fruits will help in the digestion and absorption of useful minerals and nutrition from the food we eat. Moreover, they contain vitamins, antioxidants and fibers.

3. Milk

Milk is a rich source of protein. It is much cheaper and affordable than all over-the-shelf supplements. 4 tall glasses of milk daily would be ideal.

4. Choose Higher Calorie Foods

Some good examples of high calorie foods would be starchy vegetables, cereals, dried fruit, dense whole grain breads and cereals, hearty bean soups and nuts.

5. Add Healthy Unsaturated Fats such as olive and canola

You can start stocking up on oil, nuts, seeds, avocados and peanut butter. Include them in your meals. They would also enhance the taste of your weight gain diet foods.

6. Add Healthy Carbs and Protein

Honey, jam, dried fruits, wheat germ, soy protein powder and nonfat dried milk powder are all potent sources.

7. Drink Power-packed Beverages

Don’t just drink coffee, tea and water. Go for shakes, milk, juices instead.

That’s it. Read the food product labels, do your calorie counts and include these into your weight gain diet foods.

-- Learn To Gain Weight And Grow Muscle Right Now! --

Gain Muscle Mass | Weight Fast

2010-04-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

Gain Muscle Mass and Weight Fast

Many people, especially skinny men wonder why they simply cannot gain more weight and add some muscle mass to their scrawny frame. You may not know but the following are common reasons why they fail.

1. Dietary Problems

People are eating the wrong diets. Most folks do not consume sufficient amounts of protein and keep feeding on simple carbs that just won’t help in weight and muscle gain.

2. Improper Muscle Workout

Our muscles will grow only if they are subjected to stresses beyond the normal level they can take. Have you ever gone jogging for a longer distance than normal till the point where your muscles start to ache? Aching is not a bad thing because that is a sign that your muscles have been worked out and stretched. People tend not to do so.

3. Wrong Mindset and Mental Preparedness

Many fail to see that gaining muscle mass and weight goes beyond the physical. It begins with the mind, in having the right motivation and mental readiness to follow whatever exercise regimes and diet plans doggedly for a minimum duration. We tend to be short-term creatures and want instant results. Unfortunately, though it is possible to gain muscle fast, it is unrealistic to expect optimal results in a matter of days, or few weeks.

Overcome the above reasons for failing to add those extra pounds of muscle mass and weight and you are well on your way to a well-toned beautiful body. Having the right attitude towards your muscle and weight gaining goal is the first step. We will now look at a few practical pointers you can do to get started.

1. Eat More Frequently and Eat Food to Gain Lean Mass

Gaining weight means you have to eat more calories than what your body is burning. So the first principle is to eat more, but not simple carbohydrates or junk food. 6 meals a day will be ideal. Generally, eat foods that help to gain lean mass and not fat, such as beef, chicken, milk, vegetables and nuts. Stock up on protein and milk. Look out for my next post on details about foods you should eat.

2. Muscle Mass & Weight Gaining Exercise Regime/Work-out

Muscles don’t crawl onto our bodies. Other than eating right, we have to work them out to achieve the desired volume we want. We want to gain muscle mass, not fat as a result of overeating. Depending on what is your objective, ie to have a body shape like Arnold Schwarzenegger or just want to put on some lean muscle and gain some weight, I will share with you several keynotes you can observe.

- Engage in a physical activity like walking, or jogging for at least 3 times per week, each time being more than 30 minutes.

- Work out on some resistance and weight training at the gym or at home with weights. Do intense workouts 3 times a week, with each time not more than 1 hour for best results.

If you are willing to set aside time and effort to follow these tips diligently, gaining muscle mass and weight fast is a possibility.

Learn more about weight gain diets you can follow to complement with muscle mass gain exercises.

Can We All Be As Big As Arnold? Bodybuilding Genetics Explained!

2009-11-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

I’m sure you’ve all heard something about genetic potential in the bodybuilding game. You’ve probably heard one or both of the following:

“He’s only got that great body because of his genetics” or,

“I quit because my genetics suck and I’ll never get anywhere anyway”
If you are confused by this topic, this post will clear things up for you.

In this post I’m going to explain these genetic limitations specifically because oftentimes when the topic of genetics is brought up, the conversation ends without any further explanation.

Now, before we get into this, DON’T GET DEPRESSED! I myself have less-than-average genetics.
In school, I was amongst the skinniest guys there. In fact, that was the whole reason I started lifting in the first place!

What’s crazy is that now some people say that I’m lucky. That I must have awesome genetics. You gotta be kidding me! At best, 2 of my body parts responded better than others i.e. my pecs and biceps, but it was STILL hard work, training to failure, and eating right that produced the growth I got.

So let’s have a look…

Somatotype
Although there are an infinite variety of body types out there, 3 main classifications have emerged:

Ectomorph – skinny, thin torso, little bodyfat or muscle
Mesomorph – muscular, broad shoulders, less bodyfat
Endomorph – round torso, thick neck, shorter legs

Most likely you will fall somewhere between the extremes of these classifications. Obviously, the mesomorph body type is advantageous for bodybuilding.

Skeletal Formation
Carrying on from the above, the length, thickness, and structure of the bones also gives clues about genetic potential. Typically, very big guys will have broad shoulders, a small waist, and medium length limbs.

Neuromuscular Efficiency
This refers to to the efficiency of the relationship between the nervous system and the muscles themselves. Someone with high levels of neuromuscular efficiency will actually recruit more muscle fibers during muscular contractions. Those with lower levels will recruit less. For bodybuilding purposes, high levels of neuromuscular efficiency are obviously advantageous.

Muscle Fiber Density
Fairly self-explanatory. To grow muscle, we want to stimulate the fibers to hypertrophy. Obviously the more muscle fibers exist per square centimeter, the bigger you can get, and the bigger you’ll look without ever having lifted a weight.

Myostatin
I’ve talked before about how building massive muscle is a disadvantage from an evolutionary perspective. Sustaining a normal musculature is expensive enough calorie-wise; building MORE muscle is therefore not desirable from the body’s point of view. This is why you HAVE to give the body a damn good reason for it to build more muscle.

One of the ways the body limits muscle growth is through myostatin. The gene ‘GDF-8′ produces the myostatin protein for the purpose of limiting growth. The less myostatin you have circulating in your body, the easier it will be to build larger muscles.

Muscle Length
The longer a muscle is, the more potential there is for it to increase in size. This is because a muscle’s width will never exceed its length. The longer the actual muscle belly, and the shorter the tendons which connect the ends to the bone, the more potential you have to increase the size of that muscle.

This varies from muscle to muscle, which means that one person can have more potential in one muscle than in others. So if your calf muscles are short, that doesn’t mean that your biceps don’t have awesome potential.

Conclusion
PLEASE don’t be too concerned. People with average, or less-than-average, genetic potential are in the vast majority. People with superior genetic bodybuilding potential really are rare. Chances are that 95% of your fellow gym members are in the same boat as you.

I personally learned to embrace my skinny ass wrists and ankles and just got on with the job of building the muscle around them.

It is important to remember that while the above factors will dictate your starting point, and the rate at which you will grow, the fact is that…

EVERYONE CAN AND WILL GROW IF THEY TRAIN INTELLIGENTLY

Never forget that. People have been building muscles beyond normal levels for many, many years. Give your body a good enough reason and it will respond with new growth.

Stay Motivated!

-- Train Well With Muscle Gaining Secrets Today --

How To Flip The ‘Growth Switch’ For NEW Muscle Gains

2009-11-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

“The necessary muscle stimulation to force adaptation occurs in the last few reps of a set.”

There’s more to this and if you want to MAXIMIZE increases in muscular size, it’s important for you to understand. We’ll look at muscle fibers, evolution, and the ‘anaerobic window’. Let’s get stuck in…
There is a point in a set where the ‘growth mechanism’ is activated, below which no muscular growth is stimulated.

You can liken this to a switch that’s flipped when you cross this threshold. I contend that this point is ‘failure’. When you reach the point in a set where you cannot possibly complete another positive repetition unassisted, you can say you’ve reached failure.

Muscle growth is actually a defense mechanism by the body. Much in the same way that a blood clot or a suntan is. Of course, a sufficient stimulus is required to produce this type of adaptation. Unfortunately for us humans, our bodies would much rather we built NO muscle whatsoever.

For evolutionary reasons the body doesn’t want to add more muscle!

Why not?

Muscle is metabolically active tissue i.e. the more of it you have, the more calories are required to keep you alive. Our bodies have adapted to expect long periods of hunger. They are also very efficient at storing/synthesizing body fat in anticipation of these periods.

Modern man is faced with the dilemma of wanting to be lean and muscular, while his body wants to have no ‘excess’ muscle (beyond normal levels) and a ready supply of fat for when famine strikes!

It should therefore be abundantly clear that without a really good reason, the body will not readily enlarge upon its existing muscle mass. Except for the neophyte or genetic freak, that reason is ‘failure’.

2B or Not 2B

Our most powerful muscle fibers, and the ones that respond most to weight training, are our type 2B fibers. These are our fast-twitch, anaerobic, power fibers. There are also our Type 1 fibers (slow twitch) and our type 2a and 2ab fibers (fast twitch). (No. 4 in the illustration is a muscle fiber).

Here’s the interesting thing about muscle fibers: They are recruited SEQUENTIALLY. This means that as a set increases in intensity and muscle fibers fatigue, more fibers are recruited from the NEXT fiber type in the following order:

Type 1
Type 2a
Type 2ab
Type 2b

Logically then, if we want to recruit and fatigue our type 2b fibers, we have to bring our set to a point where sufficient intensity is occurring to call into play the relevant motor units for the type 2b fibers.

In everyday life, the brain will not send out this signal unless there is some sort of emergency situation at hand. However, muscle hackers can voluntarily recruit these fibers by working to a point of muscular failure.
If, for example, a guy does a set of 10 reps, the tenth rep being the last rep possible, he won’t be involving his type 2b fibers until the 9th or 10th rep. All other reps build up to this point as fibers were recruited sequentially, and deeper inroads were made into starting strength levels through ever-increasing intensity.
It is that last, most uncomfortable, rep where the ‘growth switch’ is flipped. Bring a set to this point and you can rest easy knowing that you’ve done enough stimulate growth.

An incorrect interpretation of this may be to say that very high rep ranges can stimulate as much growth because if you fail at rep 30, you’ve still progressed through the sequential recruitment, right?
Not really. It is well agreed upon in the fitness world that sets lasting between 60-90 seconds or less will produce more in the way of anaerobic adaptations than aerobic ones. As I’ve stated before, because our ability to recover from mechanical work is not unlimited, sets lasting more than 1.5 minutes will SPLIT adaptations between both the aerobic and anaerobic systems.

While there is nothing magical about a certain repetition number, a good rep range and cadence should have you terminating a set around the 1 minute mark. Therefore training systems that advocate very high rep ranges, or even the SuperSlow ™ movement, are not optimal for those prioritizing muscular growth.

A question I often get is, “How do I know when I’ve reached failure?” I thought about it and came up with the following…

When you think you may have reached failure, try another rep. If you get that rep, try another one and so on. Basically, a set doesn’t end when you decide, it ends when your muscle(s) fails. If you find that you can hammer out 3 or 4 more reps every time you use this method, you are using weights that are too light. Often when people complain that they can’t reach failure, it’s simply a case of submaximal loads. So increase the weight, there’s nothing mysterious about failure, you’ll know it when you hit it.

Training ‘not-to-failure’ can lead to ‘fake progression’. If I use a weight that represents only 75% of my 10-reps-to-failure weight and lift a 10-rep set, I could ‘progress’ for many months by increasing by a rep here, an incremental weight increase there, and so on. My numbers would be going consistently up but I wouldn’t be progressing in actuality because:

In a few months time I’ll finally reach the point where I lift 10 reps-to-failure with the weight I actually could have used way back at the start. This ‘fake progression’ ensured that I never pushed through the upper limits of my strength potential.

And I wouldn’t actually be growing because:

I never forced any adaptation because I trained WITHIN my existing strength levels and never made any demand from my body to increase the size of the muscle fibers.

Of course, training with the requisite intensity to trigger growth does involve a longer recovery period and this can confuse some people. Those bodybuilders who train the same body part 3 times a week will fall into this category.

By the time they perform their second workout of the week (hitting the same muscle groups), they haven’t even recovered let alone overcompensated. Oftentimes, they’ll not be able to even repeat their previous performance let alone beat it. This disappointed guy goes back to his old system swearing never to train to failure again.

This longer recovery is for a very good reason though. Those powerful, type 2B fibers we want to hit, also take the longest to recover and overcompensate. The fact that you’ve flipped the growth switch and NEED that longer recovery time should put the over-anxious gym-goer’s mind at ease when he feels he’s not training enough.

So get to the gym and flip that switch!

-- Start Gaining Muscle Now! --

High Reps & Low Weights – Good For Cutting?

2009-10-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

The bodybuilding world is bursting at the seams with fiction.

Science, logic, and reason are NOT the cornerstones of this particular industry; tradition and hype unfortunately are.

I mean, who wants to develop a sound theory of this particular branch of exercise science when the new issue of ‘muscle blaster magazine’ promises overnight success?

New workouts and supplements are peddled by steroid-ridden “champions” who’ve never used the product, let alone depend upon it for their results.

People like me have to settle to be in minority because we aren’t prepared to flat-out lie to people in exchange for cash. Being honest with people gets less attention than “Add 2 inches to your arms in 2 weeks!” – it’s all glitz and glamor, less science and substance.

Anyway, rant over.
One of the MANY myths that still pervades this sport is the idea that a higher rep range should be employed to promote fat loss and definition on a cutting cycle.

We’re talking 15-20 reps per set here, sometimes more. The thinking is one, or both of the following:
High reps will burn more calories than lower reps
High reps promote a more defined/cut look

Firstly, just because a set lasts longer doesn’t necessarily mean it burns more calories. A low or medium rep range terminates sooner but the intensity of the contractions is higher. This means MORE stimulation of the anaerobic pathway which in turn must mean more stimulation of the aerobic pathway while you REST. (This is because the lactic acid build up converts to pyruvate which MUST in turn be metabolized aerobically. If you want a fuller explanation read the cell metabolism part of this article.)

However, it may be true that, on the whole, a full workout to high-rep failure burns more calories. But if so, we’re talking about tens of calories here folks, not hundreds. Just leave a few peas off your plate and you’re all set.

But there’s a more important issue.

Even if you burned 15 more calories, you’ve effectively SPLIT any adaptations that the body is going to make BETWEEN the anaerobic and aerobic systems. While you can’t truly isolate the anaerobic system by lifting weights, a bodybuilder MUST seek to steer the body’s adaptations towards muscle growth as much as possible.

And you can’t get the best of both worlds because the body’s recovery ability is NOT unlimited. If it were, things would be a lot easier for us guys, but it’s not. Therefore this limited resource must be ’spent’ on recovery and GROWTH of muscle tissue as far as possible.

Remember that when cutting you’ll be incorporating some cardio sessions into your regime to help accelerate the fat loss process. This, along with diet, is what takes care of lowering your body fat percentage. It only makes sense to keep your weight training sessions as anaerobic as possible.

You want to keep muscle-building (or at the very least, muscle-maintaining) a high priority as muscle tissue is metabolically active tissue i.e. it burns calories by simply existing. There are many opinions on just how many calories a pound of muscle burns ranging from 6 – 100. I think a good estimate is 35-50 per day. If you LOSE 5 pounds of muscle when cutting you’ve lost at least 63,875 worth of yearly calorie-burn, which equates to 18.25 pounds of fat. So muscle tissue is key to getting lean, and even MORE important for STAYING lean.

In short, the purpose of your weight training sessions is to stimulate growth irrespective of whether you’re on a bulking or cutting cycle. Attention to diet and incorporating some cardio is what’ll get you ripped. High reps have nothing to do with getting that defined look.

-- Start Gaining Muscles Today! --

HIT or Volume Training for muscle?

2009-09-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

So this bodybuilder at my gym who runs a shake bar inside the gym calls me, "Lazy" which inspired this post today.

You see, while he was making me my post workout shake we started chatting about HIT (high intensity training) VS Volume training and which was best to build a body to resemble a mythical God and to scare little kids.

Being an old-school bodybuilder (he's not natural but built like a tank) he was a volume guy and I said something that implied he probably didn't understand the scientific approach to building muscle and didn't push himself hard enough to get the job done in a few sets.

He didn't like that.

He retorted with a comment that implied, that by being a HITer, I was not being as devoted as he was and said, "Sounds like you're a little lazy..."

I respect where he's coming from. I have lots of bodybuilding friends who train for 2 hours a day, sometimes up to 3 hours a day on leg day! These guys don't care about being in the gym all day or seeing the gym as interfering with life because "It is life!"

===============
Why I Crave HIT
===============

I'm a huge advocate of High Intensity Training. I'm the kind of guy that thinks you should squeeze out every last rep to push yourself to the limit of every workout.

The secret is to know how to tweak the volume so you can stimulate each muscle group with high frequency.

My bodybuilding friend who runs the shake bar would have you believe there's nothing wrong with forced reps and strip sets. If you're not pushing yourself to absolute muscular failure every workout you're just not going to make gains right?

This works if you're on the gear but by large, volume training wipes out the average trainee if not designed or planned properly.

=================================================================================
I believe in taking each SET to absolute muscular failure, but not each WORKOUT to absolute muscular failure.
=================================================================================

I've believed that for a long time and I still do. But there's something I believe in even more and that's PERIODIZATION, which is an organized approach to cycling different training regimens during a specific period of time.

Many powerlifting cycles will last up to 12-weeks without any strict diet in place and when the 12-week cycle is done, it's time to start eating better, and change up the training a bit.

I'll don't adhere to traditional powerlifting workouts but after a cycle of heavier lifting, I'll take a week off or go right into a cycle of volume workouts.

With the volume workouts you take short breaks between sets (great for fat burning), and you do more sets. If you're just concerned about building muscle these workouts are actually pretty good at that too.

Another advantage of switching to this sort of workout is giving the central nervous system, bones, joints and tendons a break.

This style of training is nothing new and it's not something I invented. It's based on volume training techniques and a lot of the bodybuilders from the Golden Era swore by it.

==================================
If You're Wondering What The Golden Era Is...
==================================

The bodybuilders of the Golden Era from the 50s, 60s, and 70s produced bodies that resembled Greek Gods! The symmetry and proportion untainted by the humongous drug bloated waists of today's pro bodybuilders explains why even young men of today's generation are inspired by the men of this past generation.

Guys like Vince Gironda, Frank Zane and Larry Scott Had Attained The Secrets To Achieving Steroid-Like Results Without Abusing Drugs Like Many Of The Pros Of Today Have Done.

These were a few of the physiques who inspired me transform my own body with this guide book:

http://www.MuscleGainingSecrets.com

Picking up this book will make a lot of sense if you're looking for a PLANNED APPROACH to your training. The approach in this book is especially beneficial if you are still getting to know how your body responds to different stimuli.

If you don't pick up this book and you're a newbie, take heed.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is getting on a program found in muscle magazines, believing that you can train "just like the pros," and end up overtraining so badly you hardly grow.

That's why this book for you. I want you to avoid this mistake and get a perfectly PLANNED approach to experience some rapid and dramatic muscle gains.

Click here to grab your copy today:
http://www.musclegainingsecrets.com

See you in gym!

Build the body woman want

2009-08-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Am I right or wrong? Men are obsessed with sex and looking good to women?

While flying to NYC for a few days, I read a recent study saying that sex was central to a man’s happiness.
Money came a close second, but sexual activity was the strongest predictor of happiness - the more sex, the greater the happiness.

This is up for debate, of course, but I m sure there is a good degree of truth to it.

I have noticed that many successful men are extremely methodical about their careers and personal finances but not so much “on the ball” when it comes to improving their sexual attractiveness to women.

I think men have a general idea, like we discovered in the last post, but not as sure as they would prefer.

We know that women like fit and athletic-looking men and shun guys “too big” or who are fat slobs, but that’s about it. I’ve seen some pretty attractive women with guys who look like skinny marathon runners and others with guys who would be classified in the “Mr Olympia” category.

It's, no doubt, very confusing.

As I shared in my last post, I believe men need at least 20-30 pounds of new muscle mass to attract women.

But in reality, we don’t know 100%.

Until today… we are bridging the gap and it appears my 20-30 pounds is probably pretty accurate.

-- Build Muscle Now --

Do you need to train like a bodybuilder to look like a bodybuilder?

2009-07-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

I got into an argument with this tough guy at my gym yesterday because he insisted, “You gotta train like a bodybuilder if you want to look like a bodybuilder!”

Sounds like this knuckle head was stating common sense, right?

WRONG.

He could not have been further from the truth.

How do I know that? Read this quote below:

“When my guys tell you it costs more than $25,000 to get ready for a big contest, do you think they’re talking about pasta?”

-Wayne Demilia, President of the International Federation of Body Builders (IFBB)
As quoted from the New York Times May 13, 2001

Consider a pro bodybuilder does four shows each year and that adds up to $100,000 (US) per year on steroids but that wasn’t what stirred up the argument.

I’ll tell how he got my blood REALLY boiling after I bust this popular muscle myth wide open on my blog.

My Website < -- CLICK HERE

I want at least 50 comments before I post two new emails on the bodybuilding supplement cartel that is also ROBBING you of your muscle (and fat loss) progress.

P.S. I just got this email from Paul from Dallas Texas, a user of my No Nonsense Muscle Building program:

“I started your NNMB program on 4/4/09 with Upside Down Training (UDT). I am currently on week 7 of the 29 week beginner-intermediate weight training program.

THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN IMMEDIATE AND DRAMATIC!!!

Since beginning UDT through today, I have gained 25 lbs (12 weeks). I’m not sure exactly what the ratio of muscle to fat is, and I don’t really don’t care either because it looks great.

And lots of people have noticed my progress.

One friend I hadn’t seen in a few months said “Holy $#*% dude, you’re jacked!”. Another friend who I hadn’t seen in about a month said I “look like The Hulk” and I looked like I “blew up”.

Best of all is the attention I now get from love interests at bars and clubs-my life has truly been changed in that regard.

And I’ve only been doing this for 7 weeks-hard to imagine what thing will be like at week 29!

Feel free to use this for your testimonials on your website.

Please just use my first name, Paul, and location, Dallas, TX. Thank you for changing my life.”

-- Start Gaining Muscles Today --

The 1 Simple Rule To Build Massive Muscle

2009-07-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Over the past weekend I was thinking about how to simplify the fundamentals of training to maximize muscle growth.
I mean, is there one rule that can sum it all up?

1 word?
1 phrase?
1 sentence?

This 1 principle should contain all others and should be simple enough to be understood by ANYONE that wants to real deal on how to build muscle.

Before we really get into this, let’s look at WHY the body builds muscle in the first place. Did you realize that building muscle is a DEFENSE mechanism that the body employs?

If the proper stimulation is not given, the body WILL NOT build any new muscle. Basically, your body needs to be brought to its 100% maximum strength limit which prompts it to ‘think’….

“Hey I better protect myself from more of these brutal onslaughts. In order for this same intensity of exercise to feel easier next time, I’ll synthesize more muscle tissue.”

However, next time (if you’re smart and read MuscleHack.com ) you don’t lift the same weights or complete the same amount of reps; you INCREASE the intensity and once again push the body to it’s MAXIMUM, and now higher, strength limit.

By this time the body is wondering what the hell is going on and once again builds more mass to cope better with your intense workouts.

Repeat this cycle over and over and you have the simple logic of building muscle mass. You’d think it would be obvious to most gym-goers, but surprisingly it’s not.

Now, if your answer to my question in the second sentence of this article was ‘Progressive Overload‘, your answer was incomplete.

Yes, you absolutely MUST increase weight and/or reps over time to continuously build muscle. Simply put, you NEED to get stronger to get bigger. A good muscle building program is, in essence, a strength training program.
HOWEVER, strength gains are a means to an end for us Muscle Hackers, NOT the end itself.
But progressive overload doesn’t describe it all…

What about intensity? Should we train to failure?
Should we reach failure on the 2nd, 10th, 20th, 100th rep?
What we need is a concept that sums up the following…

Get stronger by lifting progressively heavier weights
Train to failure to ensure 100% maximum intensity

Reach failure at progressively heavier weights to force the body into ongoing adaptation
Work in a rep range that activates the ANAEROBIC pathways, NOT the aerobic ones
After a few hours lying in my back yard catching some rays and mulling this over, I got it!
Here it is. Drum roll please…

The principle of Progressively Maximizing Anaerobic Intensity

In a nutshell, the above principle states that in order to maximize muscle growth you have to force the body to grow/adapt by pushing it to ever-increasing strength limits by working with 100% intensity of effort in an anabolic rep range. Phew!!!

This one phrase encompasses all the following…

You must get stronger to get bigger
Your effort must be maximal AND ever-increasing i.e. working to failure at higher and higher weights
You must stimulate muscle GROWTH above all else i.e. reps should not be too low where strength gains take precedence, and reps cannot be too high which is essentially an aerobic workout

If you memorize this concept you’ll NEVER go far wrong my friends. No gym rat or muscle rag will ever lead you astray again.

Turned-MuscleHacker Gains 15lbs Of Muscle!

2009-06-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

I LOVE reading all the positive emails I get. Helping change people’s lives is one hell of an experience . I love it even more when there are pics attached!
Earlier today I received an email from Jason Glover, a guy in Jersey. Jason is an ectomorph or ‘hardgainer‘ as some people call it.

Yes, some people do find it harder to build muscle BUT always remember that we can ALL GROW. There is no-one on this planet who cannot add pounds of muscle to their frame.

Train and eat correctly and you’ll grow. Don’t start getting upset because somebody, somewhere in the world is growing faster than you. You are GROWING, and you are doing it CONSISTENTLY - that’s all that matters. If you really knew how many people are training year in year out without gaining a single pound of muscle, you’d count yourself lucky. These unfortunate souls keep training in the same (terribly ineffective) manner and expecting a different result - hey wasn’t that someone’s definition of insanity??

“The ‘before’ pics were taken a year ago but I only started training 5 months ago - the ‘after’ pics were taken last night.

I’m living proof of an ectomorph that threw away all the other garbage and just took what you had to offer and applied it.

5 months ago I started off at 69kg and in that 5 months my weight has increased by about 6-7kg; I’m now 76kg [7kg = 15.4 lbs].

I’ve never taken fat measurements as I’ve never had any, I’ve always just been skin and bone.
Maybe you can judge the fat situation by looking at the pics; as far as I’m concerned its all muscle size and maybe a bit of water from the creatine.

Thanks bud, lets keep growing!!”

How To Build Up Your Upper Chest

2009-06-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

I think everyone has some body parts they’re not happy with. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been training, there’s probably still some body part that just irritates you.

For me it’s shoulders and upper chest.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m VERY happy with my pecs overall. However, I would like to develop the upper portion a little more to enhance the separating line in the middle of the chest.

Now, obviously we all know that the incline bench press is a great way to go about developing the upper chest. However, I wanted to know if there was a faster, more direct way to hit the upper chest with enough intensity to stimulate faster growth

There are 2 REALLY fantastic ways of building up your upper chest…
Partial incline close-grip bench press Incline dumbbell bench press (dumbbells touching at the top)

You’ve probably heard of number 2 so let’s focus on no.1 - Partial Incline close-grip bench press. You might be thinking, “Close grip bench press - that’s for the triceps”. You’d be right, but when you perform a PARTIAL movement it is most definitely a chest exercise.

Have your bench slightly inclined
Choose a lighter-than-normal weight for the bar than you would for regular incline barbell bench presses Grab the bar about 8 inches apart in the middle

Lift off and lower the bar under smooth control
You’ll feel the point at which your close grip allows you to go no further comfortably. If I had to estimate, I’d say you lower the bar only about 1/3 the way to your chest

Now push back up under control and repeat.

If you’re skeptical about this hitting your upper chest, that’s fine, I was too. I could hardly believe how much direct stimulation these gave the upper portion of my pecs!

A quick note on the incline dumbbell bench press. Pushing the dumbbells straight up will NOT be as effective as having them meet (and touch) at the top of the rep.

Specifically, it’s the top of my RIGHT pec that I am unhappy with. What I am doing with this exercise is raising my left arm straight up and bringing my right arm over to meet it at the left side. This maximizes the intensity I can place on my right pec in particular.

At the top of the rep, the shape resembles the top of a right-angle triangle [does that create the right image for you? Can you visualize the form? If not, let me know and I'll clarify in the comments below].
I’m very confident that I can now fill out my upper chest to match the bottom half (I’m more than happy with THAT part ).

If you are unsatisfied with your upper chest development, you MUST start to factor in one of these exercises into your chest workout.

Warning! Do NOT Measure Muscle Gains With Scales. Here’s Why…

2009-06-22T02:01:00.000-07:00

The scales are NOT the way to track muscle growth!

Faaarrrrrr too many aspiring bodybuilders hop on the scales once a week (if not more!) desperately hoping to see a weight increase, thinking this is a good indicator of muscle growth.
This is a mistake. I know because it’s one that I used to make, REPEATEDLY!

You probably all know my story…

Skinny guy turns skinny-fat (big gut)
Skinny-fat guy wants to lose the gut and ends up very skinny again through low calorie dieting and insane cardio
Repeat this cycle over and over for a few years….and then….
Skinny-fat guy finally learns how to build muscle WITHOUT accumulating fat AND how to blast fat WITHOUT losing muscle – at last!

Folks, it was jumping on those scales every week that largely contributed to developing a big gut. Let me explain…
See, as a skinny bloke I REALLY wanted to build muscle fast. I believed all those ‘I-just-regurgitate-everything-I’ve-been-told’ gym rats that told me, “You have to eat like crazy to build muscle!”.

Of course, I know now that you only have to eat SUFFICIENT calories in order to build the maximum amount of muscle possible for you. But, I was dumb back then…

I ate a LOT and lifted hard. I wanted to see about a 2lb increase on the scales every week – as if I was going to build 104lbs of lean muscle in a year! :0

So, I ate until I saw this type of increase. If I only gained 1 pound a week, I wasn’t happy.
The vast majority of this weight gain was fat. As I got fatter, I looked at my belly in disbelief! “How can this happen when I’m lifting so hard and often?” I thought.

The point is this…
How much do you think the scales are going to budge, even if you have a great week as far as workouts are concerned?

Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning with 1/4 inch added to both your arms. That’s a lot for one day! However, your scale weight would have increased by mere ounces, not pounds. It’s unbelievable to think that many natural bodybuilders would be UNhappy about this weight increase!

This is THE cause of the never-ending ‘bulking’ and ‘cutting’ cycles that people go through. ‘Bulking’ is meant to mean a phase of muscle gain; unfortunately for many people it’s simply about getting fatter! Then they’ve a LONG way to go when they want to get lean in the summer.

Stop this nonsense once and for all!
SUFFICIENT calories are needed to build muscle, not EXCESS calories. Work out how many you need and add muscle, NOT fat.

Yes I know you’re not a saint; you’ll endulge in at least some unhealthy food throughout the year. It will slowly accumulate and you’ll have a little bit of cutting to do before summertime. However, cutting from 13% body fat is a WORLD AWAY from cutting from 23%!

After all, imagine a ¼ pound beef pattie in your hand. Now imagine this spread out over your body as new muscle tissue. Now realize that accumulating this small amount of muscle EVERY week without cessation will result in a RADICAL change in your appearance.

Get 52 x 1/4 pound beef patties and throw them on top of your kichen table, now imagine this MOUNTAIN of beef glued onto your body as lean muscle tissue, no fat. Pretty MASSIVE change don’t you think?
Small increases in LEAN weight is what you should be pursuing. Before long these small, incremental changes will add up to a COMPLETELY transformed physique.

When bulking I recommend you take tape measurements of certain body parts along with a body fat reading every week or so. Take weight readings bi-weekly at most.

Patience my friend. Keep progressing, eat SUFFICIENTLY and you’ll reach your goal!
Train & Eat Intelligently!

How To Follow Your Fat Loss Meal Plan

2009-06-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

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Question: What kind of plan did you give me?
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First off this is a beginner plan we're giving you. We call it your PHASE 1 plan. We actually have three phases of meal plans in the full system when it goes live, this is a sample of PHASE 1.

You are getting PHASE 1 because it is the most practical and easiest place for you to start. In fact you should be on PHASE 1 for at least 4 weeks before you ever progress to PHASE 2. And again before you progress to PHASE 3. So as you can see giving you a PHASE 2 or PHASE 3 plan wouldn't have been too helpful considering you would have needed to be on PHASE 1 first.

This plan will be easy for you to follow and implement and it most likely won't even feel like a diet. It will actually feel like you're eating just good nutritious food (and losing a tone of fat along the way)

==============================================
Question: What is the macronutrient breakdown?
==============================================

This plan is based on the 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat balanced macronutrient ratio. You may already be aware of this style of eating and it is proven to be one of the most effective ways to eat for both short and long term weight loss success.

Consider this plan as your bulls-eye target to shoot for. If you can even manage to follow the plan at 70-80 compliance you will still get phenomenal results.

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Question: What are the most important principles to follow?
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Principle #1: BREAKFAST

A solid breakfast every morning starts the day off right and will set the tone for your day. Having the right mix at breakfast can set you up for a successful day of eating for weight loss, if you mess up your breakfast there is a good chance you're going to mess up the rest of your day as well.

Principle #2: MEAL TIMING

We space your meals out to keep you from getting hungry and providing a smooth and constant source of energy throughout your day. Most of us don't really think about how often we eat, but if you include snacks and meals you probably already eat 4-5 times per day without noticing it. We're just mimicking the most common eating patterns and making sure you're eating good foods that will accelerate your fat loss.

Principle #3: PORTION CONTROL

Since you get to eat throughout the day it's easy to make each meal in proper proportions so you never feel too hungry or too full. Bottom line is no sugar rushes and no crashes, simply a smooth flow throughout the day.

Principle #4: MEAL COMBINING

If you simply cannot find a way to eat 5 times in your day and only want to eat 3 times per day you can combine a meal and a snack into one larger meal if you like. As long as you are eating all the foods that are outlined for each given day you can't miss.

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Question: How do I use the grocery list?
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There is a complete done-for-you grocery list at the end of this program that outlines exactly what foods to buy and how much to buy in order to have the exact foods you need to prepare all the meals for the week. Simply print out the grocery list and take it with you to the store. You probably already have some of the items on this list so shopping should be a breeze.

I hope you enjoy this meal plan and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to post them at the bottom of the page and John, Pat and I will answer all your questions in a upcoming teleseminar.

==================================
What to expect in the next 12-days?
==================================

Vince is going to take you on a tour of the grocery store and show you how to be an effective fat loss shopper.

Book store tour with John: You'll find out why nutrition books are basically useless and end up making things way more confusing than they need to be.

You'll get to meet Pat McGuire the president of empowered nutrition and find out how we got Vince's plan together, got him in shape, and how we've worked with all kinds of different professional athletes and 1000's of other people just like you.

And we'll show you how your meal plan can save you from the pitfalls and fat loss sabotaging foods that even show up on many restaurants "healthy" choices menus.

We've also got a supplement guide coming your way that'll teach you a totally new way of looking at supplements and how to decide if any of them are worth taking and which ones might be right for you or not.

Lose 10, 20, 30 pounds - or more with your FREE 7-day meal plan

2009-06-17T00:53:00.000-07:00

I have some REALLY exciting news to share with you today.

A few months ago, I teamed up with Empowered Nutrition Systems, the same company that makes the 84-day meal plans for my product and we are two weeks away from releasing our DONE-FOR-YOU Fat Loss Meal Plans.

That happens on Tuesday June 30th at 12pm EST.

Today, we want you to TRY OUT either our 7-day 2,000 calorie meal plan for males or 1,600 calorie meal plan for females... FREE!

This is the fastest acting resource to overcome the number one culprit to losing your belly fat and getting a ripped and flat stomach - nutrition!

Download your FREE meal plans today
http://www.NoNonsenseMealPlans.com <- click here

***Don't forget to watch the short video I prepared for you on this page.***

Only download the plans if you want to start losing 10, 20, 30 pounds – or more! You'll get a plan of power foods to eat in the right amounts and at the right times so you'll see results in just days!"

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Why are we doing this?
======================

The most popular email question I get in my Inbox is, "What should I eat?"

How many times have you asked that question? How too often do your lunches turn into fast food and how many times do your dinners resort to take-out?

Even if you don't eat fast food or do take-out, figuring out what to eat can become very tedious, especially if you're trying to stay healthy and lose fat. Knowing what and when to eat can feel like studying for final exams again.

Before you go into anymore of a panic, take a deep breath, and feel reassured that Empowered Nutrition Meal Plans and I have come to the rescue to teach you how to make healthy meals to strip away any excess body fat.

For the next 7-days, you get an opportunity to whip your diet into shape so you can TRIM and LEAN DOWN, BURN FAT and COMBAT any health issues.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your nutrition meal plan should be set up just like your training program.
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Just like exercise, there are beginner, intermediate and advanced programs.

Nutrition, if done properly, follows the same set of rules.

Empowered Nutrition Meal Plans has beginner, intermediate and advanced meal plans depending on your level of nutrition knowledge and fitness and goals.

Today we are handing you a sample from the 7-day beginner program with 2000 calories for males and 1600 calories for females.

We don't care how big or how small you are, if you're a male, follow the 2,000 calorie meal plan to the letter. That goes for females too. I don't care how big or how small you are, follow the 1,600 calorie meal plan to the letter.

When you order the complete system on June 30th, we'll hook you up with all the different calorie levels and different levels.

For now, all you need is what we're giving you today.

Download them now:
http://www.NoNonsenseMealPlans.com <- click here

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What is the purpose of these meal plans?
========================================

***Tell you exactly what to eat so you have no guesswork.

***At what time to eat so you don't slow down your metabolism.

***How much you should be eating in each meal so you can monitor your progress.

***What to shop for at the grocery store so you can't bring home anything unnecessary.

***How to cook it so you're eating healthy and delicious meals at the same time.

***To remove the stress that food causes in your life and give you an easy and simple plan.

***To put your body in hormonal balance to control and improve your energy levels.

***Start stripping away the next 10, 20, 30 ? or more pounds of fat you want to lose.

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These meal plans are NOT for everyone
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Following a meal plan is not for everyone and you may prefer to wing it and just hope what you're eating is working. If you don't like being held by the hand and told exactly what to eat and when to eat in the right amounts then let someone else download these plans instead.

However, if you follow our advice and use these meal plans over the next 7-14 days you'll see real results on the scale, at your waistline and in your energy levels. This might even be the first step to getting you into or back into the best shape of your life.

On behalf of Pat, John and I, we look forward to working with you over the next 2-weeks until the official launch, on Tuesday June 30th at 12pm EST, of the complete set of Empowered Nutrition Meal Plans.

Muscle Mind Hacks #4 #5 #6 - 3 More Ways To Use Your Mind To Build Muscle

2009-06-13T12:05:00.001-07:00

Here’s the final 3 hacks in the Muscle Mind Hack series:

#4 - Always THINK 1 Rep Ahead

#5 - The Pretense of 1 Set Only

#6 - There’s a Crowd Watching You!

#4 Thinking 1 Rep Ahead

You already know that I highly recommend keeping workout logs. The reason is that you NEED to know before every single set what your target rep number is in order to ensure progression.

So here’s what you do…

Bring your logs with you to the gym
Before EVERY set, look at how many reps you got for that set last week
Add 1 (or 2) to this and start mentally repeating this number over and over again in your head before your next set
The exception being that if you got 12 reps last time, you’ll want to increase the weight lifted rather than go for 13 reps

Just like I stated in ‘The Arnold Secret‘, what we’re doing is giving our subconscious instructions on what we want it to bring about. See yourself completing this extra rep in your mind’s eye while you rest between sets. Now step up to the bar and watch yourself succeed!

#5 The Pretense Of 1 Set Only

NEVER think about your whole workout; it can get overwhelming! Only focus on the set ahead.

What I actually do is trick myself into thinking that the next set is the ONLY set that I’ll be doing. This allows for much more energy and intensity on that set. When the set is over I forget about it and once again tell myself that I’m only there to perform 1 set - the NEXT ONE!

So, forget the past, forget the future. When in the gym, focus on the present moment ONLY!

#6 There’s A Crowd Watching You!

I’m not 100% sure why this helps but it works wonders for me. It’s probably my favorite hack and the one I employ most often. Here’s how it goes….

Vividly imagine a crowd watching you while you perform each set. There are 2 ways to implement this:

They’re cheering you on, encouraging you to complete your target reps
They DOUBT you! They doubt you’ll hit that extra rep - it’s your job as the underdog to PROVE THEM WRONG!

I use both. Whichever one feels more motivating at the time, that’s what I go with. Whether they are strangers or people you know is up to you. Remember guys, it’s YOUR mind. You have complete control over it.

Use your imagination in any way that empowers you. The body is the servant of the mind - take advantage of this fact right now!

Muscle Mind Hack #3 - The ‘Arnold’ Secret!

2009-06-12T12:05:00.001-07:00

Could VISUALIZATION be the key to massive muscle gains?

I certainly visualize, and I know it’s something that Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended.

In fact, visualization is something that almost all successful people have in common, no matter what their particular field of expertise.

I’m a big believer in the idea that anything we can get our subconscious to believe as true, will come true i.e. that which we impress upon our own subjective minds as real and true, will sooner or later clothe itself as concrete, objective fact.

So, what did Arnold do?

Let’s hear from the man himself,

“I also used a lot of visualization in biceps training. In my mind I saw my biceps as mountains, enormously huge, and I pictured myself lifting tremendous amounts of weight with these superhuman masses of muscle.”

We know from research that imagining lights up the same parts of the brain that illumine when you’re actually working out. Visualization produces electrical and chemical changes that activate the muscles that are being mentally ‘worked’.

There are 2 ways to implement this; Inside the gym and outside the gym.

Just before and during a set, see in your MIND’S EYE the intended body part as bigger and stronger than it currently is. I mean really EXAGGERATE that body part, or imagine your idol’s biceps, legs etc. as being on YOUR body.

Arnold imagined that his muscles would fill the entire room! I’ve found that doing this produces a mental response of strength and certainty. From the beginning to the end of your set continue to see those MASSIVE, cartoon-like muscles lift that weight with relative ease.

Outside the gym take some time out of your day to sit and visualize your body as you want it. If you want massive pecs, see them with crystal clarity in your mind over and over again until this subjective picture takes on the tones of reality i.e. you begin to FEEL as though it were true in the present moment.

You may find it useful to mentally repeat some affirmations during this exercise. As you’re seeing your perfect body, cite some positive statements like:

“Man, I’m really HUGE now!”

“Look at the size of my [insert a body part]” - No, not THAT body part!

“It feels great having this body!”

It doesn’t matter what the statement is. YOU say whatever makes YOU feel as though it is a present reality. It may also help to imagine others complementing you on your new size or successful fat loss. What you’re doing here is giving your subconscious a BLUEPRINT for what you want it to bring about.

The subconscious differs from the conscious mind in that it does not differentiate between true and false statements. Whatever you mentally affirm often enough will eventually be accepted as fact by the subconscious. It then works day and night to bring it about by AUTOMATICALLY influencing your behavior and thought patterns.

2 videos reveal how to BUILD BIG SHOULDERS

2009-06-11T01:50:00.001-07:00

I am off to New Port Beach for the next few days but wanted to get these two videos out to you that are posted on my blog on building bigger shoulders.

HERE

Since I redesigned my blog I have been having some tech issues preventing certain web browsers from seeing the posts and being able to comment. I believe it's all fixed so if you had a question, now you can post it.

I know a lot of you had questions for Joey yesterday so feel free to get those questions up on the blog too and he'll stop by.

==========================
How To Build Big Shoulders
==========================

Building big shoulders is not an easy task and has been a trouble spot of mine.

I have pretty thick pecks (my buddies like to call Man Boobs) so need to make sure I maintain my shoulder width or else my pecs stand out so much that I get girls coming up to me in the clubs feeling my chest and asking, "Are those real?" I kid you not, it even happened three times in one night at XS night club in Vegas.

The past two years I've really worked hard at building big shoulders and maintain an X frame by really working my deltoid muscles (anatomical name for shoulders) to make them round, dense and thick.

My favorite delt exercise for building big shoulders is Seated Dumbbell Presses and got up to 4 sets of 6 last summer with 90 lbs.

Anybody who has done my No-Nonsense Muscle Building program knows I like stacking exercises as an advanced technique to build big shoulders. One of the circuits is demonstrated below by Joey Vaillancourt who is one of the Biggest Gainer Competitors who has been featured on this blog three times already.

Check out Joey's shoulder routine in this video... it's a pretty brutal shoulder routine.

HERE

One of my favorite ways to train shoulder is with an old school shoulder blaster that you can watch in the next video below. It's pretty fun and very effective especially if you don't have a lot of time to train.

HERE

5 Killer Shoulders Exercise for Bigger, Badder, Delts

1. Front Raises
2. Side Raises
3. Bent Over Raises
4. Upright Rows
5. Overhead Presses

Notes to perform this shoulder routine properly:

* Continuous circuit
* 10-15 reps
* 3 sets
* 2 minute rest between circuits
* Add 5 pounds each circuit
* Start 5 pounds heavier each workout

Make sure you finish each workout by stretching your shoulders out after this or else you won't be able to lift your arms to wash your hair or take your shirt off after this workout.

I m sure you have questions so fire away. I want at least 75 comments from you guys on anything that has to do with getting bigger shoulders. Don't just ask questions but share what's working for you to give you sculpted delts, whether you're a male or female. Feel free to fire Joey some questions too.

Muscle Mind Hack #2 - Use Music For More Muscle & Strength!

2009-06-10T12:08:00.001-07:00

Now for Mind Hack #2 – When working out, Crank Up The Music!

For years I've believed that listening to music IMPROVES workout performance. I always noticed how music, especially heavy/aggressive music, gave me an added BURST of energy and enthusiasm when lifting.

However, I've never actually looked for any scientific evidence for this belief; turns out there is data out there to back up this position, though not truly definitive.

So let's have a look at some evidence suggesting that music helps you hammer out more successful workouts…

THE EVIDENCE

An Ohio State University study compared running with and without headphones. The headphone group reported that they felt less tired using a standard scientific measurement called ‘Rate of Perceived Exertion’. These people were also capable of running longer and with more intensity than the non-music group.

One added benefit recorded here is that the bodies of the ‘headphone runners’ released fewer stress-related hormones. Their perception of feeling less pain and stress was therefore backed up by their body chemistry.

This is obviously good news to us Muscle Hackers as want to avoid a catabolic environment and promote an ANABOLIC one as much as possible.

Emery, who conducted a similar study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing says…

“Music may help organize the stimulus activity in your body that comes from exercise….We think exercise fires up the neurotransmitters in the brain and your hormonal system. Music can organize the response to that stimulus.”

Now moving specifically to music’s effects on physical strength, there is again more evidence that up-tempo music will help boost your gym performance.

In the following study [Pearce, 1981], subjects (33 male and 16 female undergraduate students) were split into 3 groups to test the effects of music on grip strength:

(1) Stimulative music

(2) Sedative music

(3) No music

There was significantly decreased strength in the ’sedative music’ group compared to the ’stimulative music’ and ’silence’ groups. Strangely, no statistically significant difference was observed between the ’stimulative music’ and ‘no music’ groups.

From this we can see that the TYPE of music plays a HUGE role! ‘Opt for more stimulating music’ is the take-home message. The lack of significant difference between stimulative and no music is surprising to me as personal experience has taught me otherwise.

As far as FAT LOSS is concerned, an increased heart rate is desirable when performing cardio. Up tempo songs most definitely increase heart rate, probably due to the emotional response it can illicit.

CONCLUSION

Is it all just the placebo effect?

Some may suggest that it's simply the BELIEF that music is going to improve your performance that causes you to act in accordance with that belief. It's a good and valid point. The truth is no-one really knows.

There’s no doubt in my mind that music provides a welcome distraction for the mind from the pain of muscular stress during heavy workouts. Perhaps this is all there is to it.

In defense of the position that music does help, irrespective of whether or not you believe in it, I would say that no-one ever told me years ago to expect better workouts from having music blaring in my ears, but it really made a NOTICEABLE difference.

If you haven't got some stimulating vibes on while you're hitting the iron, I advise you to start today!

EXTRA TIP! Harder music usually works better, AND, use in-ear earphones for MAXIMUM effect.

Crank It Up!

6 Solid Muscle Building Nutrition Tips

2009-06-10T02:03:00.001-07:00

On December 28th I announced The Biggest Gainer Challenge specifically for male or female hardgainers, sinny guys and gals that is.

The deadline for all submissions is July 1, 2009 and I'll be awarding the top success stories to a trip in Cancun Mexico! The only catch is that you have to provide me with video documentation of your progress.

You will see why Joey is experiencing consistent and continual success and is a serious contender for the trip to Cancun, Mexico.

Here is a guy truly committed to his goals, 10 out of 10. Let's recap some of those muscle building nutrition tips:

1. Treat your nutrition the same as your training. Every 'spoon or fork' full is another 'rep.' Every 'plate' is another 'set.' Give equal meal preparation and planning to your nutrition as you do to your training, if not more.

2.Rotate around your fruits and protein powder flavors. You can apply this to all your foods, variety is really the key to avoiding boredom and to make tasty and delicious muscle building meals.

3. Start setting two days aside each week to prepare your meals for the rest of the week. Joey sets aside Wednesday and Sunday which takes about 1 hour each time but frees up the other three days to do the things you enjoy doing without living in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. I'll add, do this when your favorite TV show is on to kill two birds with one stone.

4. Rotate your meals around every 4-6 weeks and alternate your meats. This is really smart of Joey and in the process he learns new recipes and can get better and better at finessing certain meals until his friends call him Chef Pasquale. This also ensures you're are shuttling a different pool of amino acids and nutrients to avoid deficiency's in your body.

5. Plan a cheat meal each week. I fully agree with Joey but would call his 'cheat' meal a 'treat' meal instead. I like how Joey enjoys a cheat/treat meal with restrictions. He strategies this meal around when he deserves its which is how cheat meals should be used properly. If you cheated all week, don't feel good about eating pizza and nachos on Sunday just because you schedule a cheat meal on Sunday. This is just ignorant.

Take a lesson on how Joey positions his cheat meal after a workout for minimal body composition damage, yet still experiences the psychological benefit of indulging. Note how Joey also doesn't go crazy with the portion sizes and uses common sense.

Since I'm flying off to New Port Beach in California today, I'm going to put Joey to work so I want at least 50 questions from you guys and if I get them I'll post Joey's second video tomorrow of him blasting away his shoulders with a killer shoulder workout he's using to pack on some serious muscle mass.

How To Build 5-10 lbs of Muscle In 28-Days...

2009-06-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

So today, we've got an interview with Nick Nilsson, creator of the training program "Muscle Explosion – 28 Days to Maximum Mass."

Nick did yesterday's guest post on my blog and I hope you've had a chance to try out his Stretch-Pause technique – he's actually going to talk about how that technique fits into his overall program during this interview.

I have to say, Nick's taken a really unique approach to muscle building with this program. Normally, the recommended way to build muscle is a long-term, steady approach. Nick has taken the opposite track…instead of looking at building muscle as a marathon, this program looks at it like a series of short sprints.

I mean, you can see it in the name of the program – 28 Days to Maximum Mass. Now, just to be clear, you won't go from 120 lb of skin and bones to a 220 lb meat slab in 28 days…but you CAN potentially see gains of 5 to 10 lbs of reasonably lean mass within those 28 days, which is excellent for a mass-building program. Then you repeat the 28 day cycle…

Anyways, I'll let Nick explain more about it…be sure to check out the special deal we've put together just for readers of this blog, too (nobody else is getting this bonus deal!).

Click here for Nick and I's special deal for you:

http://www.Muscle-Explosion.com <- click here

Vince: Nick, thanks agreeing to do the interview and thanks for the blog post about Stretch-Pause training…that's powerful stuff.

Nick: No problem, Vince. Glad I could take the opportunity to make a lot of people really sore…oh, and get results, of course, too :)

Vince: Good deal…so let's get right into it. Your Muscle Explosion program is extremely short. I mentioned it in the introduction that's it's really only a 4 week cycle. This doesn't really sound like a lot of time to make meaningful gains in strength and mass.

Nick: Yep, that's exactly what most people think when they first consider this program! But here's the thing…when faced with an extraordinary stimulus, your body WILL react strongly. This program is all about creating that extraordinary stimulus and setting the stage nutritionally to maximize the impact of that stimulus.

Let me be clear up front…this is NOT a beginner program…it's for intermediate to advanced trainers. What it WILL help you do is grow as FAST as a beginner, though.

Vince: Yep, I've seen the program and it's definitely not a starter program. You should have at least 6 months to a year minimum of training under your belt before trying this one. So let's talk more about the extraordinary stimulus…

Nick: Absolutely…I'll give you a sneak peek…it involves working the same muscle group with the same exercise FIVE days in a row. And honestly, that's not even the hard part…I'll tell you more about that later but basically the goal is to set up an emergency situation in the body where it HAS to respond to survive.

Vince: Sounds just brutal! If you don't mind, could you give us a quick outline of how the program combines nutrition and training to really set that stage for that emergency-response training? I've read through that part of the program and it's really an eye-opener. You actually start a mass-building program with an extremely STRICT low-calorie diet…not something you see every day. What's the basis for that?

Nick: Yep, this is pretty much the only mass program I've seen that actually makes you go on a strict, low-calorie diet to start with. Once you see WHY, it'll make total sense.

You see, when you go on a low-calorie (and in the case of this program low-carb, diet, your body reacts by pulling back…it adapts itself to functioning on lower calorie intake, burning bodyfat for energy and eventually slowing the metabolism to conserve fuel. This is what we WANT to happen…we're actually TRYING to put the body into starvation mode.

Vince: I think I see where this is going…when you come out of that starvation mode, your body gains weight back extremely quickly.

Nick: Exactly! This starvation rebound is EXTREMELY anabolic. Your body is literally clawing to hang on to every scrap of food you put into it. Now, we're not trying to go too far into starvation mode…we don't want to slow the metabolism too much or cause any substantial muscle loss, so the diet phase is limited to one week.

I've got a few other dietary tricks in the program itself but that's the basic idea behind starting with a strict diet. We're nutritionally and metabolically setting up the muscle-building phase of the program.

Vince: Very cool. So when you come off the low-carb, low-calorie diet, what's the next step?

Nick: THIS is where the emergency-response training is going to come in full-force. You're coming off the low-calorie phase and your body is ready to pull in the food. So you FEED it big time. And you pump in the creatine and protein to force as much water into your body as possible as well.

And let me tell you, when you're coming off low-calorie, low-carb eating and you suddenly eat a ton of carbs, load creatine and drink a ton of water, you're setting for a massive anabolic response.

Now it's about the training…

Vince: Right and I've seen this part…you call it the 5 Day Structural Attack. That just sounds insane, I have to say. Tell us how that works.

Nick: Insane is definitely a good word for it. Over the course of the 5 days, I figure you'll be doing about 300 sets of the exercise you choose for it. And that's important…you will be doing only ONE exercise for every set over the next 5 days.

I always recommend people start with either deadlifts or squats (I prefer deadlifts myself) to maximize the anabolic effect of this phase. These big exercises are the ones that'll have the biggest impact on the body. I routinely see increases of 5 to 10 lbs of bodyweight in this week alone.

Vince: Wow, I'm sure a lot of that is water but from what I've seen of the training, I'm sure a lot of that is lean mass as well.

Nick: Quite right – you'll see a massive influx of water and nutrients during this week. It's not all lean muscle but a good portion is. And I have to say, the strength gains you'll get from this week are downright stupid.

In myself, I did a 5 day deadlift cycle and added 60 lbs to weights I was using at the time. Managed to bump my lifetime personal best up by 30 lbs with just that week of training (up to 550 lbs). Just crazy.

Vince: That is a huge increase, man. Has anybody else seen gains like this?

Nick: Actually, it's pretty much the norm. A few have even gone beyond. I had one guy tell me he bumped his max deadlift up 80 lbs with that one week of training.

Vince: So explain a little more what that week of training is like.

Nick: Basically, the first day is going to seem kind of easy. You're going take a weight you can do for 6 reps and do a set of 3 reps. Then rest 30 seconds. Then do another set of 3 reps. Then rest 30 seconds. You'll continue like this until you can't get 3 reps (don't push to failure – it's important to stay away from failure here). Drop the weight 20 lbs then continue in this fashion, doing 3 rep sets.

You'll do this for 20 minutes on the first day.

Vince: 20 minutes sounds pretty easy.

Nick: Yep, SOUNDS easy…just wait til you try it. Because day 2, you're going to bump your starting weight up by 10 lbs and do that same routine for 25 minutes. Day 3 is 30 minutes. Day 4 is 35 minutes and Day 5 is 40 minutes.

ALL workouts are done using the same exercise. Your body develops such an incredibly efficient neuromuscular groove on the exercise that you can usually keep increasing the start weight for the first 3 or 4 days! On Day 5, you go back to the same weight you started with on Day 1. You'll be amazed at how light it feels, even after 5 days of this kind of training.

Not only are working the muscle fibers but you're going a LOT of practice on the chosen lift. It just becomes totally automatic, which is something missing from low-volume training programs. This neural priming is a big reason for the incredible strength gains – even better than beginners get!

Vince: That definitely sounds like emergency-response training. I can see how the dieting and massive eating really fits with the training. You really have to eat a LOT during that emergency week, too, I'm sure.

Nick: Extremely critical to do so AND to minimize outside activities. This isn't the week to pick up distance running as a hobby.

Vince: So where does the Stretch-Pause Training come in? You explained that in great detail in the blog post. How do you use it in Muscle Explosion?

Nick: Stretch-Pause Training is what you'll be doing for the next 2 weeks after the 5 Day Structural Attack. Click here to read that blog post about Stretch-Pause Training – I won't go into great detail on it here.

Basically, the next 2 weeks are all about recovering from the 5 day attack and stretching the fascia to give your muscles room to grow.

You've pretty much overtrained yourself in that 5 day span – now it's time let your body recovery and pile on the muscle.

Vince: So it's pretty much a case of bring yourself down using a diet, snap yourself forward by massively feeding yourself and using ridiculous training volume for a week, then "coasting".

Nick: Yep, if you can call Stretch-Pause coasting…

Vince: Good stuff. I can definitely see how 4 weeks of this could allow you to make a huge leap in progress. This sounds like a great way to bust through a plateau.

Nick: Definitely. The nice thing about it is that it doesn't require a huge time commitment. If you've got 4 weeks, you can do a quick mass-up cycle. I use this program all the time when I want to make a big jump in poundage for a given exercise. I've added 40 lbs to my bench press max in a week with this one before.

Vince: Very nice. I want to close this interview out by letting you know that Nick and I have put together a special bonus package to go with his Muscle Explosion program. I have to say, this program is already dirt-cheap ($27) especially considering you also get a full video library of all the exercise techniques in action.

Nick is throwing in a copy of his Hybrid Training book – that one is all about how combine different forms of resistance like free weights, bands and cables to maximize the strength curves of different exercises. It's really cool stuff…I can promise there's stuff in this book you've NEVER seen before

I'll be throwing in "2-Inches In 30-Days: The No-Nonsense Workout To Massive Arms". This arm workout reveals my never before seen workout routine to getting big guns. I won't guarantee 24-inch pythons but by adding this 20-minute workout only 2 times a week you will get your pipes bursting out of your t-shirts before you know it.

Nick, thank you very much for taking the time for this interview.

Nick: My pleasure!

Vince: I highly recommend going and grabbing a copy of this program right now. This is classic Nick Nilsson stuff here…unique, effective and completely insane!

Here's the link for the special bonus page – it's only going to be active for the next 48 hours so be sure to go grab a copy of it right now, even if you don't plan on using the program right away. Totally worth it.

http://www.Muscle-Explosion.com <- click here

Stretch Pause Training…a Superset for Maximizing Muscle Mass In 28-Days...

2009-06-08T14:28:00.001-07:00

Next, my thanks to Nick Nilsson for allowing me to recruit him while I'm preparing for another trip to California. If you're not familiar with Nick already, buckle up… he always has got good stuff and I know he prepared something special for you today and tomorrow.

Nick is best known for coming up with extremely unique exercises and training programs…stuff you won't see anywhere else!

To give you a little background and to reassure you that Nick is not just some basement jockey with no formal background, he's been training for 18 years and has a degree in physical education and psychology, covering advanced biomechanics, physiology, anatomy and kinesiology.

Thanks for showing me up Nick :)

But, to be honest, Nick would tell you that only SOME of that is going to come into play with the technique he'sgoing to tell you about today.

Take it away NIck...

Stretch Pause Training…a Superset for Maximizing Muscle Mass
Guest Post by Nick Nilsson and http://www.Muscle-Explosion.com

This is one my favorite muscle-building techniques…doesn't require any special equipment but it's going to TRASH your muscles (in a good way) and spur some fresh growth.

This technique is one that I use my "Muscle Explosion - 28 Days to Maximum Mass" program.

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What Is Stretch Pause Training?
---------------------------------

Stretch-pause training is a term I coined for this technique…it's a form of rest-pause training, as you probably guessed, only you're switching between a couple of different exercises instead of just one as you do with regular rest-pause training.

The idea with this type of training is based on giving your muscles room to grow by stretching the fascia that surrounds your muscles.

Fascia, if you're not familiar with it, is the tough connective tissue that wraps around your muscles to basically keep them in place on your skeleton. I like to describe it as a pillowcase for your muscles.

Here's the problem…when your fascia is tight and you're trying to build muscle, that fascia can limit your muscle growth by not giving it anywhere to expand to. When the pillowcase is extremely tight, you can stuff a pillow in but the actual size isn't going to get any bigger.

So you have to STRETCH the pillowcase, i.e. stretch the fascia, in order to give your muscles ROOM to grow.

If you've ever stopped training for an extended period (or know someone who has), you'll notice when you start back in, you see very fast muscle growth…this is often known as muscle memory. Some people think this is because the muscles remember the stimulus and respond better to it.

I believe it's because the fascia has ALREADY been stretched from your previous training and your muscles are actually growing at the rate they SHOULD be growing at! There is no memory involved…it's just there isn't as much resistance in your body to the expansion of the muscle tissue.

So how do we go about expanding the fascia to consistently make room for your muscles to grow?

Fascial stretching is recommended for this…basically, you work the muscle to fill it full of blood then stretch that muscle HARD. The blood-filled muscle gives the fascia something to stretch against and helps to expand it, little by little.

This is an excellent way to go. I've got a better way…

Instead of stretching AFTER the set is done, why not stretch DURING the set when you can use RESISTANCE to really maximize that fascial stretch.

THAT is what Stretch-Pause Training is all about. You're going to fill the muscle up with blood, stretch the hell out of it, then finish with high rep partials to further fill the muscles up with blood to help push the fascia even more.

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HOW TO DO IT
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It's actually not that complicated to do…I'm not saying it won't be painful because, to be quite honest, it WILL be painful (and SHOULD be, if you're doing it right!). It's not going to be "injury" painful…just hard-stretch painful.

I'll use chest for the example for this style of training as it's the easiest to visualize.

First, you'll need to set up a barbell bench press station. I ALWAYS recommend doing barbell bench in the power rack, even if you have normal bench press stations in your gym. I've always found it ironic that the most potentially dangerous exercise in the gym is the one where the equipment has pretty much NO safety features.

If you're training at home, this is CRITICAL. If you train at home and don't have a rack, use dumbbells for this technique. You're going to be pushing your chest HARD by the end of the set and we don't want you getting stuck under the bar.

-----------------
Back to business…
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Set a weight on the bar that you can do for 10 reps. This is going to be part 1 of the stretch-pause set. Grab a couple of dumbbells for flyes – something you could do 12 to 15 reps with on a normal set. I prefer to do flyes on a Swiss ball – I find it more effective for opening up the chest at the bottom of the movement because you can really get your shoulders back. You'll get a better stretch, and that's what this technique is all about.

That being said, you can definitely still use a flat bench – it'll work just fine, too.

Once you've got your weights all set and ready to go, here's what it's going to look like:

1. Perform one set of 10 reps with the barbell bench press. Do these reps explosively, NOT slowly. Don't bounce the bar off your chest but don't move it slowly, either. Performing the reps explosively will force blood into the chest quickly.

2. Rest 20 seconds - during this rest period, get yourself ready to do the flyes.

3. Grab your dumbbells and get into position. Here's where it gets interesting…you're going to HOLD the bottom stretch position of the dumbbell flye for AT LEAST 5 seconds on EVERY rep. Do the flye exercise slowly and under complete control, making VERY sure you get a big stretch at the bottom of every rep. The goal with this section is not to get as many reps as possible but to get a MASSIVE stretch on the pecs on every rep. The number of reps you actually get means nothing…perform reps until you can't move the weights or you can't take the pain of the stretch anymore (but don't so push so far you get a shoulder injury!).

4. Set the weights down and rest 20 seconds, moving yourself BACK to the flat bench.

5. Unrack the weight and perform as many top-range partial reps as you can with the weight you did for the first part of this stretch-pause set. The range of motion is very short – only a few inches. We're sticking to the strongest range of motion of the bench press in order to maximize the number of reps you can get. You'll probably find you can get 20+ partial reps with the same weight you started with. Use a fast, pumping tempo in this top range…on this part, we're just looking to crank out as many reps as possible as quickly as possible.

6. Re-rack the weight. You're done with your first stretch-pause set! If you really feel like it, you can also include some "normal" stretching in between sets as well. I recommend about 90 seconds rest between stretch-pause sets, at the very least. Two minutes is good as well.

That's what this technique looks like for chest. You can use for almost any bodypart (though shoulders are tough to get a good stretch-position exercise with). Here's a list of the exercises I recommend:

Chest – bench press and flyes

Back – chins/Pulldowns/rows and dumbbell pullovers or stiff-arm pushdowns

Quads – squats/leg presses and sissy squats

Hamstrings – lying leg curls and stiff-legged deadlifts

Shoulders – barbell shoulder press and cross-body leaning dumbbell lateral raises

Biceps – barbell or dumbbell curls and incline dumbbell curls

Triceps – dips or close-grip bench press and overhead dumbbell or barbell extensions

Calves – standing or seated calf raises and donkey calf raises

I recommend doing no more than 3 stretch-pause sets for back, chest and quads…2 for your other bodyparts (not all in the same workout, mind you – split your body into 2 days).

It might look like:

DAY 1

Chest – 3 SP sets

Back – 3 SP sets

Biceps – 2 SP sets

Calves - 2 SP sets

DAY 2

Shoulders – 2 SP sets

Triceps – 2 SP sets

Hamstrings – 2 SP sets

Quads – 3 SP sets

That's pretty much it! Give this training style a try in your next workout and let me know how it works for you. If you've got any questions, I'm happy to help!

Low Carb Cheese Cracker Recipe!

2009-06-05T12:04:00.001-07:00

Posted: 04 Jun 2009 01:56 PM PDT

Man, sometimes you just NEED that crunching sensation when low-carbing.

Since we’re off all those awful refined carbohydrates, the store-brand cheese crackers just WON’T do!

Luckily I’ve come up with the easiest low-carb cracker the world has ever seen! (Sensationalist??)

LOL, but seriously, these are simple, very tasty, and have virtually NO carbs.

I promise you this - at some stage of reading this article you’re going to say, “Nah, that’s not going to work!”. I know because I did too when I first got the idea. It’s really WEIRD but it works!

Essential Ingredients - Grated cheese, that’s it!

Ideally you would have

Grated cheese of your choice
Tiny flakes of almonds (buy flaked almonds in the store and crush them with your hands)
Any herbs/spices you might like to try

I use the ‘Spicy Mozzarella & Cheddar Grated’ from Tesco (I also get the flaked almonds there).

Instructions

Get some baking paper (you need this so that the cheese won’t stick)
sprinkle on some grated cheese and form it into a circle - about 20g of cheese per cracker works well here

Sprinkle some flaked almonds on top - a very small, 2-3g is all you need per cracker
Now Simply pop the cheese (still on the baking paper) into the microwave
Nuke them at full power for about 1 minute
Voila - they should now be hard and ‘puffed up’. If a bit gooey round the edges that’s ok. Just take them out of the microwave and let cool.

Granted, they look a little weird but taste delicious when left to cool and harden up.

TIP! If you want to make a batch, throw the ingredients into a bowl in a 10:1 ratio of cheese to flaked almonds e.g. 100g cheese and 10g flaked almonds. Then batch them out into individual crackers - they turn out a little better when the almonds are mixed through the cheese as opposed to sitting on top of it.

I guess there’d be a maximum of 0.5g carbohydrate per 20g cracker!

A slice of tomato and ham folded up works very well on these

There you have it. Couldn’t be simpler!

What’s The Difference Between MANS and Total Six Pack Abs?

2009-06-03T12:03:00.001-07:00

Man, the above question lands in my inbox a LOT!

People want to know what the main differences are between the MANS diet (a CKD diet), and the Total Six Pack Abs program.

It’s a good question and deserves an article of its own. That way everyone who wants to know can get the info AND I can point further queries to this post instead of typing a lengthy response.

So here’s a round up of the key differences….

(1) MANS is a bulking diet, Total Six Pack Abs is a FULL cutting strategy.

This is the main difference. When you’re priority is to build muscle, opt for a MANS or GLAD style diet. When you want to focus on cutting fat, go for TSPA.

Yes, people have built muscle and lost fat simultaneously with MANS, BUT, you need to be CERTIFIABLY RIPPED to see your six-pack . People that succeed in building muscle and losing fat on MANS tend to be those starting off at higher body fat percentages. You can lose fat but only to a certain extent.

There comes a time when you have to prioritize getting shredded i.e. get below 10% body fat (women below 17%) - this is where TSPA comes in.

TSPA is better suited to men at-or-under 16% body fat, and women at-or-under 24% body fat. Heavier people CAN use the system successfully but in these cases I recommend that you cut in cycles i.e. implement the program for around 8 weeks at a time, come off it to maintenance calories for around 3-4 weeks, and then go back to cutting.

(2) MANS is just a diet. TSPA is a FULL program. The Total Six Pack Abs system is a 3-prong approach…

Nutrition - THE fat-burning diet
Weight Training - Essential! Based on THT training but tweaked a little for cutting purposes
Cardio - Cardio is an essential part of cutting. However, no marathon sessions are needed! Short, intense bursts work best - you’ll discover why and HOW to do it.

What makes TSPA superior to other programs is that each one of the 3 factors above actually INCREASE in intensity throughout the program.

The diet actually INCREASES in its fat-burning potential
The weight training INCREASES in its muscle-building and fat-burning potential
The Cardio INCREASES in its fat-burning potential

This is the secret of those who KEEP losing fat week on week VS those who stall, lose motivation and QUIT! Abs can be attained quite quickly if the fat keeps coming off week on week!

(3) Both Diets Are Carb Cycling Diets. HOWEVER, TSPA gives very precise amounts of protein, carbohydrate and fat to eat based on YOUR body.

There are FORMULAS in the book which will reveal the EXACT CUTTING macronutrient grams for both the low carb AND carb up section of the diet. As the carb-up is where people may start adding a bit of fat in MANS, the formula I have created for the TSPA carb-up is LASER-PRECISE. You will re-fill your muscle glycogen stores to full capacity without so much as a gram spilling-over into fat storage.

(4) One more point of the carb-up differences. You may find it surprising that the TSPA carb-up will focus on HIGHER GI carbs, rather than lower ones. Those TREATS are back on the menu! Inside the book you’ll discover the science of why this is the case and why it’s BENEFICIAL.

(5) The MANS diet is pretty much always the same i.e. you eat the same amounts in the same type of ratios. The abs diet changes as you proceed through it. It’s basic structure is the same BUT the simple changes are necessary to encourage the body to KEEP giving up its fat stores for energy. After all, the last thing we want is a nasty stall!

(6) MANS will use predominantly dietary fat for energy. TSPA will use BODY FAT also and will actually INCREASE its body fat usage over the course of the program!

Ok, this isn’t an exhaustive list. To cover it all I’d have to pretty much re-write the entire book right here!

As previously stated, there comes a time when it’s TIME TO GET RIPPED. MANS will not take you to that level, Total Six Pack Abs will.

Speaking of getting ripped; as it’s June, my cut will be starting very shortly. For those of you following me on Twitter, you may remember that towards the end of 2008, my carb-ups were getting VERY dirty. Well, I pretty much kept it that way - seems I’ll have my work cut out for me this summer! It’s no probs though, it takes some effort but at least I have the CERTAINTY that it WILL come off pretty easily.

By the way, if you didn’t see the pics from my first successful cut, check them out. Yes, I was skinny back in the day but had built a solid base - read the accompanying article for the explanation.

For those of you who are interested in torching your unwanted flab this summer, check out the TSPA page. I recently decreased the price from $47 to $34.95. I’ll keep it there for a short while to get the material out to more people for the summer cutting season.

Get LEAN and Stay LEAN!

A true story of Adam and Eve...

2009-06-02T01:33:00.001-07:00

I just arrived home and can't believe I'm saying this but I'm FINALLY done back packing through Las Vegas for nine days with friends and officially ready to write my new book, "Surviving Las Vegas!" 9-days in Vegas felt like 9 months but I had a great time.

I was able to train almost every day and stick to my regular routine and actually filmed a bunch of workout and nutrition videos for you with my top notch bodybuilding expert Lee Hayward that we'll post soon.

I am taking the day to get re-organized so asked my friend and best-selling fitness author, Jon Benson, to write a guest newsletter for you.

He kindly agreed and if you read all the way to the bottom, Jon will hook you up with your own free personal fat loss program.

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A True Story of Adam and Eve

Brought to you by Jon Benson and:
http://www.fit365online.com/friends/register.php?aff=VinceDelMo
==================================================

This is a true story.

It is the story of Adam and Eve and their struggles in a garden paradise.
No...not 'that' Adam and Eve. This is a story set in modern times.
You are about to meet two folks who are just like you, me, and most everyone we know.
It's a story that will give your day more "life", and add a kick to your step.

Right now, I want you to take just a few minutes off. Give yourself a 'mini-vacation' from whatever it is that you are doing.
Then let this real-life parable hit home with you.
Let it cut through the noise and clutter of life.

Why?

Simple: I want you to start today, beginning right now, and do something that will change everything --
I wand you to tend to your garden.
This is the garden of your life, your health, your self-confidence, and even your love.
This is your own personal paradise.

Ready?

Eve wrote me a while back wanting to get into her best shape for her 15-year high school reunion.
Fifteen years had passed. Eve is now several sizes larger and a lot less energetic than the girl on the Eagle cheering squad.
Eve was fun-loving, popular, and thought that she would never become "her mom".

She would always be fit and optimistic.
She would always be happy.
Now fast-forward back to the present...

Eve's days of fighting off the boys and partying with the girlfriends has given way to raising two children.
It also gave way to 35 lbs of unwanted bodyfat and all the zip of a 40-year-old battery.
A can-do attitude slowly gave way to a cynical outlook.
That trim body Eve once loved was now "an old mom's body staring back at me in the mirror every morning."

Her words, folks...

"I really want something better than this."
Eve had very little daily energy. She says, "I feel like "a truck ran over me every morning when that alarm clock goes off."
"...at some point, time crept up on me like a thief and robbed my vitality, my body...and, honestly, my self-esteem went with it."

Eve felt cast out of the garden of her youth, optimism, energy and fitness.
She thinks that this is due to "time" and "age".

Is she right?
(Hang with me...this ends in beauty and power.)
Now take a look at her husband, Adam.

Okay...his name is not 'really' Adam, but that makes our story more fun to read. Also, Adam asked to keep his real name private.

Adam loves Eve dearly, but Adam has a problem with time management. He finds very little time to spend with Eve these days...a far cry from when they were a young couple in love.

Adam describes his feelings about his job as "a noose around my neck and my time."
Wow. What a description.
This is not the way anyone deserves to live. It is far from the garden we all want to create, isn't it?

Adam loves his job, but he's not a fan of the pressure and time drain. He wants to spend more time with Eve and their kids...Cain and Abel.

(I'm kidding...but he really does have two kids... : )
Like Eve, Adam has about 30 pounds of unwanted bodyfat on him. He says, "It feels like I swallowed a medicine ball."
"I concerned that I'm not going to make it to 40 if I keep this up."

Has Adam been cast out of the garden as well? I would say so.
But there is something else Adam needed, just as much as he needed a fit and healthy body.
Adam craved "empowerment" -- a self-esteem that would light up any room with its power. He is not an arrogant man. He just wanted to be "so confident it's contagious," in his words.

Anyone can gain confidence and empowerment. But Adam had no clear-cut way to discover how until he took action (more on that coming up...)

"More than anything, I want to feel like my life has a direction and a purpose beyond just paying bills, making ends meet, and the occasional vacation."
"Even my faith, which I live by, is being affected by all of this mess. I want to love myself more than this."

"I think it would help me love others."
You think so?
You BET it would.
So we find Adam and Eve, once again, cast out of the garden of their "paradise".

Until recently, they rejected the life they could have in favor of another course:
They chose to let LIFE set their direction. They chose to put their existence on auto-pilot.
When life is in the driver's seat my friend, you are in for a very rough ride right out of the garden.
Your other choice...the one that both Adam and Eve eventually made...is to take the wheel away from life.

I'm talking about learning to drive life with power, zooming toward your future like a Daytona 500 champ toward the checkered flag.
I'm suggesting you take the wheel.
Start here, and then head in the direction of your greatest destiny.

I know this story of Adam and Eve and their longing for just a little more paradise in their lives fired off some strong feelings in you.
If it didn't, re-read it and allow yourself permission to feel the words.

Sincerely yours,

Jon Benson 3-time Bestselling Author
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Jon is actually a very dear friend of mine and has really inspired me and helped build my online fitness business over the past 3 years and we've shared many trips all over the world together in that time.

I consider him a mentor of mine in many different ways. If you've ever met him, watched his videos, used his programs or followed one of his many best-selling programs you'll know that he is one of the smartest, funniest and most intelligent fitness experts on the planet.

His programs kick butt.

And if you don't own them, you're missing out big time.

Jon has a killer blog with loads of free content and one of the few guys I endorse strongly to my followers.

Today I want you to register for free to receive Jon's F I T 365 Membership today and receive your free personal fat loss program!

Click here:
--> http://www.fit365online.com/friends/register.php?aff=VinceDelMo

We'll talk soon

How To Do Cardio Properly While Bodybuilding

2009-06-01T08:28:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

If you have ever wasted (I mean spent) any sort of time on a bodybuilding forum than you have seen the countless posts on, "Should I do cardio if I am trying to build muscle?"

The (silly) debate will never end and typically results in you destroying your frame - that once had potential - by attempting to bulk up but getting fat instead.

Look at cardio as a tool to help you get muscular without getting fat and a pot belly at the same time. Bulking up does NOT have to equal getting fat.

Watch this 4 minute video that teaches how I incorporate cardio into a muscle building routine and address this confusion
--> http://tinyurl.com/5dxnds

The main reason I addressed this issue is because I'm sick and tired of you completely losing your waist line, getting a double chin and gaining weight that only makes you look "bulky" and not ripped and muscular because you listened to someone who told you to not do cardio if you want to
build muscle.

Your waist line will thank you for watching this video
--> http://tinyurl.com/5dxnds

Readers, A Little Known Trick For Maximum Muscle

2009-05-31T07:49:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

You may have heard of this "little known" trick for maximum muscular development but you have have not applied it properly or you may have not heard of it at all...

It's called a "tempo."

A tempo is the rate that you move the weights. You might move your weights "slow and controlled" or you might move them "fast and aggressively." Both speeds of lifting have different results on your muscle fibers and rate of development.

To be honest, if you have been training longer than 4 years and really in tune with your body and how your muscles "need" to feel to make gains then you might NOT need this lesson for today. If not, keep reading...

Incorporating a tempo into your workouts is one of the simplest and most powerful tools to ensure you are INVESTING time at the gym rather than SPENDING time at the gym!

Click here to see how this little known trick can speed of your gains:
--> http://tinyurl.com/56lp6j

P.S. You may have seen Dave's before and after pics on my website but I wanted to share his recent update with you on email. Dave is man over the age of 40 kicking butt with my program!

"I had been working out for a 12 month period prior to Vince's program with very little results.

I thought I was working hard but I only put on about 1/4 inch to my bicep in a year... I had been usually a skeptic, but for some reason told myself this is possible and I can do this.

After just 12 weeks, I have put on 1 inch on my biceps, 2 inches on thighs, 2 inches on chest, 2.25 inches on shoulders, 0.75 inches on calves.

... I feel more confident and I've gone from 168 lbs, tried to bulk to 200 lbs and have slimmed down to 188 lbs - 20 lbs so far! Thank you so much, your program is awesome, I would highly recommend it to anyone."

Creatine - “The Most Effective Ergogenic Nutritional Supplement”

2009-05-30T12:05:00.001-07:00

I was emailed some great news about creatine this week and wanted to share it with you guys.

The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition published a position statement on creatine, and it’s ALL good!

Fair enough, it was published in August 2007 but it escaped my radar, so I’m assuming it escaped most other’s too.

Enough from me, let’s have a look….

Position Statement:

The following nine points related to the use of creatine as a nutritional supplement constitute the Position Statement of the Society. They have been approved by the Research Committee of the Society.

1. Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training.

2. Creatine monohydrate supplementation is not only safe, but possibly beneficial in regard to preventing injury and/or management of select medical conditions when taken within recommended guidelines.

3. There is no scientific evidence that the short- or long-term use of creatine monohydrate has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals.

4. If proper precautions and supervision are provided, supplementation in young athletes is acceptable and may provide a nutritional alternative to potentially dangerous anabolic drugs.

5. At present, creatine monohydrate is the most extensively studied and clinically effective form of creatine for use in nutritional supplements in terms of muscle uptake and ability to increase high-intensity exercise capacity.
[Mark says, "Told you so" ]

6. The addition of carbohydrate or carbohydrate and protein to a creatine supplement appears to increase muscular retention of creatine, although the effect on performance measures may not be greater than using creatine monohydrate alone.

[Mark says, 'appears' isn't good enough here. A study of protein & creatine, carbohydrate and creatine, protein & carbohydrate & creatine, and creatine alone, would need to be done to show this.]

7. The quickest method of increasing muscle creatine stores appears to be to consume ~0.3 grams/kg/day of creatine monohydrate for at least 3 days followed by 3–5 g/d thereafter to maintain elevated stores. Ingesting smaller amounts of creatine monohydrate (e.g., 2–3 g/d) will increase muscle creatine stores over a 3–4 week period, however, the performance effects of this method of supplementation are less supported.

8. Creatine products are readily available as a dietary supplement and are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Specifically, in 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). DSHEA allows manufacturers/companies/brands to make structure-function claims; however, the law strictly prohibits disease claims for dietary supplements.

9. Creatine monohydrate has been reported to have a number of potentially beneficial uses in several clinical populations, and further research is warranted in these areas.

So there you have it! It works and it’s safe; what else do you want from a supplement?

As I’ve stated all along, when supplementing with creatine please opt for a Micronized Creatine Monohydrate (creapure is best), above all other newer forms of creatine.

Supplement Intelligently!

Mark

Readers, An Optimal Set & Rep Range For Constant Gains

2009-05-30T06:51:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

I just got home from the gym today and wanted to address the issue about "those guys who look the exact same as last year."

You know who I am talking about, don't you?! "That guy" or "that gal" who is at the gym 4-5 x a week but does not look any different than last month or even last year!

What the heck is happening here?

My first guest is that they are not giving their a body a REASON to change. What is that specific reason?

"That guy" or "that gal" is NOT getting stronger from week to week. Assuming you're bulking up on clean calories then you should be getting more muscular and thicker if you are moving from the small weights to big weights.

Are you getting stronger from week to week? I firmly believe that muscle size follows strength.

When was the last time you saw a guy who could bench press 300 pounds with a small chest and small arms? When was the last time you saw someone dead lift 400 pounds without any density in their arms, traps, back and legs?

Check out this video lesson to get stronger each week
--> http://tinyurl.com/6owfbq

In this video lesson, I'm going to show you how to prevent plateaus and add this one SET and REP scheme into your workouts to never plateau again and to experience the philosophy of "muscle following strength."

This should not be a secret to to but it requires you to start with the 40's instead of the 35's and finishing with the 65's instead of the 60's.

Have fun climbing the scale!

Readers, 5 Body Weight Training Exercises For Muscle Gain

2009-05-29T06:01:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

Body weight training can be used for strength training, building muscle or getting six-pack abs. I am going to show you a body weight training program that involves minimal equipment and consistent progress to build a first-rate body.

If you think body weight training is under rated when it comes to building muscle then I suggest you give it a second chance after watching this body weight training program.

FYI, performing 50 reps on the chin ups and pull ups is extremely advanced. I have done 50 pull ups and 50 chin ups in 4 mini-sets (about 30-60 sec rest) and that is STILL very challenging. The name of the game, when it comes time to building new head turning muscle is PROGRESS.

Focusing on increasing reps or doing the same number of reps in less time is an easy way to monitor progress for a body weight training routine.

If you need something new and are getting bored then try out this 5 exercise body weight training program, when you hit the gym tonight or tomorrow, which will test your muscular endurance, conditioning and mental toughness.

Click here to watch the body weight training workout
--> http://tinyurl.com/b7crgp

Focus on adding, no matter your age or sex, at least 1-2 reps each workout. You can incorporate this body weight training program into your routine a few ways:

-> Perform this workout 3x a week but switch up the order of exercises each workout.

-> You can pick the exercise you are weakest on and perform it at the start of your current workout.

-> You can do 1 set to failure on each of these exercises upon waking up or going to bed each day.

Be creative and stick to which ever routine you choose for at least 6-weeks to see optimal results.

Don't forget, if you want to LOOK fit you have to GET fit and body weight training does a tremendous job of getting you fit. It's worth it (especially when you start getting compliments from your friends)!

Train hard and expect success!

Readers, the 2 Best Abdominal Workouts For 6-Pack Abs

2009-05-28T04:59:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

Ready for the best ab workouts ever?

There are plenty of good ab workouts on the Internet and today I am sharing 3 of the best ab workouts to get firm, six-pack abs.

These ab workouts will make your stomach more defined and tighter and get your abs popping - after you lose the fat through diet and exercise.

You probably know that all the sit ups and ab workouts in the world are USELESS for getting a six-pack if your diet and training program do not produce a caloric deficit.

And again, don't expect these abdominal workouts, I'm about to show, to work like fairy dust unless your body is in fat burning mode from a fat burning program.

Watch this video for my killer ab workout:
http://tinyurl.com/dcsjz8

This challenging circuit might be tame if your abs are already thick and popping but should still be used after your cardio workouts or after your weight training workouts to improve your abs conditioning.

Since this circuit is based on endurance and volume, you can build up to doing this circuit 2-3 x a workout or daily.

If you're looking for lower ab workouts instead then check this video out. I'll share my top 3 lower ab exercises:
http://tinyurl.com/dcsjz8

Let me know what you think and let me know what you want to see next. If you want a complete Razor Sharp Ab Workout than check out my muscle site for a complete, brand new, abdominal workout:
http://www.vincedelmontefitness.com/articles/abprogram.php

Readers, 3 Tips To Get Jacked & Lean

2009-05-28T02:49:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

There was some excited response from Craig Ballantyne's guest post article 2 days ago. Craig and I hung out by the pool at Planet Hollywood today and enjoyed some of the eye-grabbing attention we received for being in better shape than 98% of the other guys.

You defintely get better treatment when you're in better shape, especially in a head-shaking city like Vegas.

I let Craig post again today and if you want to comment, go here:
http://www.vincedelmontefitness.com/blog

By the way, I set something up with Craig so that when you grab a copy of his breakthrough Metabolic Resistance Training Workouts by TONIGHT at midnight, you get a load of extra bonuses to give you a buff body and Ultimate Fighter's Physique.

Take advantage:
http://www.turbulencetraining.com/vincerecommends/ <- click here

========================================
3 Tips To Get Jacked and Lean
By Craig Ballantye (guest poster for today)

If you've never heard of "Metabolic Resistance Training" (MRT), things are about to change for you in a big way. In fact, I'm willing to bet this is going to be the *new* hot training phase for 2009. You heard it here first.

It's so hot, that my next product (hush, hush) is based completely on this new training system.

But most metabolic resistance training programs make 3 big mistakes.

First, they put the exercises in the wrong order. Some programs are so whacked they start with arm curls before asking you do to do pull-ups.

You need to work from the top down, starting with the best exercises first in the ultimate bad-ass superset to start the program.

Not only will you get more results that way, but if you ever need to cut a workout short, you'll be able to know that you already got near-maximum benefits just by doing the first superset – because that's where you had your best exercises.

Second, incorrect MRT programs put "competing" exercises back to back in the routine. What I mean by that is you'll often see a pull-up followed immediately by an exercise where you have to hold dumbbells (such as lunges).

But your grip is going to be smoked by the pull-ups, and you won't be able to hold enough weight to challenge your lower body. So the program is not as effective as it could be. The solution is using non-competing supersets like I do in Turbulence Training.

The third mistake is not using enough "absolute intensity". Now don't get me wrong, almost all MRT programs are hard, but running a marathon is hard too – but that doesn't make it INTENSE.

The best MRT programs organize the workout so your muscles still get a chance to lift as heavy as possible, even though your heart will be pounding and sweat will be pouring off your body.

Personally, I've always used the phrase, "Turbulence Training" when describing my workouts, rather than MRT, and Vince knows my intense way of training. We trained together at the Las Vegas Athletic Clubs just yesterday (I should mention Vince is a beast when he trains)!

So he asked me to put together a proven and perfectly designed metabolic resistance training program that he would love – and would recommend to you – especially if you want to get jacked and lean to dominate the summer pool parties and beach scene.

And especially if you're into the "Las Vegas" style night life where better looks get better treatment. Sad but very true.

In fact, I built this exact program for a client of mine who now looks like a jacked up Randy Couture after using this system. The resemblance is funny, and the workout is intense. Let me know how it goes.

1A) Deadlift – 8 reps

• Rest 1 minute.

1B) 1-Arm Standing DB Shoulder Press – 12 reps (1 side at a time)

• Rest 1 minute and repeat 3 more times.

2A) Chin-up – Max reps minus 1

• Rest 1 minute.

2B) Close-grip bench press – 12 reps

• Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times.

3A) DB Bulgarian Split Squat – 8 reps per side

• No rest.

3B) Ab Wheel or Stability Ball Rollout – 10 reps, taking 3 seconds to roll out

• Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times.

If you like that, you'll love all of Craig's MRT workouts that will help you burn fat and build a beach body without the dishonor of slow boring cardio.

Craig's even giving away a few extra workouts here, including a special "just for friends of Vince DelMonte" program called The Hard-Core Turbulence Training Fat Burning workout to give you a buff body and Ultimate Fighter's Physique.

Grab your copy here:
http://www.turbulencetraining.com/vincerecommends/ <- click here

Motivating Pictures For You

2009-05-27T12:09:00.001-07:00

Pictures From My First Successful Cutting Cycle

Posted: 26 May 2009 03:06 PM PDT

I found some cool pics you might be interested in seeing.

I was recently looking through an old hard drive and found pics from my first successful cutting cycle.

I didn’t put a date on them but I’m pretty sure these are from October 2006, about a year before I started MuscleHack.

This was the cut that took place while I was perfecting the Total Six Pack Abs system. You can see I’m pretty ripped in the pics but you’ll also see I was damn SKINNY! I’ll explain that in just a second.

I try telling people that I was really skinny before starting this site in an effort to help motivate them. Basically, if I beefed up like I did and stayed lean, SO CAN YOU!

I certainly don’t have the killer genetics that others are blessed with.

Back to my story…..Maybe a year or so before these pics were taken I was skinny-fat. I had built some muscle but had a BIG ol’ gut. I was about 22% body fat. My body stores fat mostly around the midsection so I wanted to finally shift it and implemented a low-fat diet - a horrible experience!

Here’s how it went…..

I lost fat initially along with some muscle
Then the fat loss stopped (even though I was on low calories)
So I cycled more, ran more, rowed more……
…..and lost a whole bunch of MUSCLE!

During this time of frustration I was reading and researching like a mad man. I learned A LOT.

I finally put my new knowledge into practice an VOILA! The fat started to come off with relative ease, I performed much less cardio and I got my wish - RIPPED abs!

The only problem was that it revealed to me just how skinny I had become due to my prior fat-loss efforts. It was coming into 2007 and I was starting from SCRATCH! And That Hurt!

The good news was that I was now armed with accurate information on how to build muscle and lose fat.

Anyway, here’s the pics…..

Measuring my body fat with my accumeasure calipers. Note the skinny arms!

Sorry, a couple of the pics are a little reddish.

Ever since I was finally successful at cutting to very low body fat percentages, I’ve been refining and improving the cutting system that is Total Six Pack Abs.

Out of interest I was about 7% body fat, possibly 8%, I can’t remember for sure.

Now I just need to find one of my big beer belly to show you guys! The thing is, I can’t ever remember lifting my top up to show THAT thing to anyone!

Anyway, I hope this maybe provides some inspiration to you all. It should inspire those who find it hard to lose fat and also those skinny guys who desperately want to build new slabs of muscle.

You can compare these pics to my more recent videos or even the pic in the footer in the section, ‘Who Is The Muscle Hacker?‘. That pic was taken almost a year later - big difference as far as muscle gain is concerned.

Stay Motivated My Friends! The Summer’s Here!

Mark

Readers, 5 Sample Weight Gain Diets To Build Muscle FAST

2009-05-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Readers,

If you're scrawny and can't gain muscle weight, I have just what you need - sample weight gain and bodybuilding diets at every caloric amount that tell you exactly what to eat and when to eat - no guess work. Print it off and leave it on your fridge. Building your dream body has never been easier.

A clean bodybuilding and weight gain diet is the cornerstone of your muscular development. A bodybuilding diet that leaves you in a caloric deficit is like trying to buy a $50,000 car with only $25,000 in the bank.

Another analogy of a weak bodybuilding diet is rowing against the current. You'll move a little but in the end you'll be exactly where you started.

However, there are many problems that arise when attempting a muscle weight gain diet. Yes, you need a surplus of calories but a healthy weight gain diet at 6000 calories is no more effective than a healthy weight gain diet at 4000 calories (assuming 4000 calories is your goal cals).

It's like building a house. If a house requires 4000 bricks to build but you buy 6000 bricks, you're going to have extra bricks that need to get stored in a storage facility. That storage facility becomes your gut.

Not eating enough calories explains why many guys look the exact same as they did last week, even last year. Eating too many calories can bulk you up but with no muscle definition so you need to start with the meal plan designed just for you...

All of these meal plans are archived in February 09 at my blog but I have given you specific links to each one:
http://www.vincedelmontefitness.com/blog

2000 Calorie Weight Gain Diet (ideal if you're 120-150 pounds)
http://tinyurl.com/c6msrt

3000 Calorie Weight Gain Diet (ideal if you're 150-180 pounds)
http://tinyurl.com/cuhyr5

4000 Calorie Weight Gain Diet (ideal if you're 180-200 pounds)
http://tinyurl.com/aojwhs

5000 Calorie Weight Gain Diet (ideal if you're 200-225 pounds)
http://tinyurl.com/cz276l

Readers, the "Ultimate Vegas Workout"

2009-05-26T12:01:00.001-07:00

Hey Readers,

This week I'm in Las Vegas with a bunch of my buddies, one of them is Men's Health writer and fat burning workout expert, Craig Ballantyne.

We went to UFC 98 (mixed martial arts fighting event) together and I asked him to do a blog post for you today based on the workouts he would do with MMA fighters.

Check out his "Ultimate Vegas Workout" he made for you:
http://www.vincedelmontefitness.com/blog

----------------------------------------
The Ultimate Vegas Workout
by Guest Expert Craig Ballantyne of
Hardcore Turbulence Fat Burning Workouts
-----------------------------------------

They entered the ring to rap, rock, old-school hip-hop, reggae, and even country-and-western, but the one thing every fighter at Saturday's UFC 98 event had in common was a powerful athletic physique built from metabolic resistance training.

These modern-day warriors knew better than to do bodybuilding, because those workouts just take too long and leave you puffed up, slow, and inflexible.

That's not how modern man should be – or look.

Instead, metabolic resistance training was the answer to the needs of these gladiators.

Circuit style lifting, bodyweight exercises, a no-quit attitude and total body movements made these men into the toughest athletes in professional sports today.

But here's the thing…they showed a training video of Lyoto Machida, the new light heavyweight champion, doing a workout of smith machine squats and dumbbell hammer curls.

Frankly, I think both of those exercises are a waste of his time and probably don't add anything to his vicious knockout power. Instead, I bet he gets more out of bodyweight circuit strength and endurance training.

When I work with martial artists – and almost any other type of athlete – we stick to the basic weightlifting exercises and spend more time on bodyweight exercises.

For example, here's the perfect metabolic resistance training bodyweight circuit that will not only improve your physical strength and endurance for any sport, but it will also give you a killer beach body that will make you stand out in the crowd this summer.

If you want to get lean, build that V-shaped upper body, and essentially have the most bad-assed cover model body with the athletic skills to back it up, you can't get better than this program.

- Go through the circuit 3-4 times.

- Rest 1-2 minutes at the end of each circuit.

- Rest as little as possible between exercises within the circuit.

1) Prisoner Squat – 20 reps

2) Close-grip Pushup – 15 reps

3) 1-Leg Squat – 8 reps per side

4) Pull-up – 1 rep short of failure

5) Bulgarian Split Squat – 20 reps per side

6) Spiderman Pushup – 12 reps per side

7) Bodyweight Row – 15 reps

As you get better and stronger, you can add resistance by wearing a weighted vest.

But if you're not ready to give up all weights, but you want to do powerful circuits and supersets that combine my advanced bodyweight exercises with dumbbell exercises (that you can still do at home), check out my Hard-Core Turbulence Training Fat Burning workout programs here:

http://www.turbulencetraining.com/vincerecommends/ <- CLICK HERE

Tomorrow you can read more from Craig on how to get jacked and lean using metabolic resistance workouts.

Readers, Free Video Revelas My 6 BEST Tips To Increase Muscle Growth

2009-05-26T02:59:00.001-07:00

Readers,

First off, if you got a chance, thanks for the feedback on my question yesterday, "Why do you REALLY work out?" I would love to hear your feedback on this rarely asked question: http://tinyurl.com/aubaad

As for today...

One of the biggest struggles in experiencing muscle growth muscle is that hard-body enthusiasts (yes, that's you) are asking the WRONG questions.

You are asking useless questions like:

-> How many reps should I do?

-> How may sets should I do?

-> What are the best exercises?

-> What is the best program?

-> Should I pick my nose between sets or get some water? (Just kidding on that one - at least I have not heard it yet).

When I first started weight training, I didn't have a clue of what questions to ask either so those were the ones I asked too.

I understand why you would ask these questions. I get it.

However, the answers to these questions WILL NOT get you super buff, ripped and muscular. The answers to these questions will not result in people starring at you and having a body that you can be proud of.

These are useless questions to ask if you are uninformed in applying the bigger principles that force these little details work.

So I've put together a little video for you sharing six of my "action steps" that you can do later today or tomorrow when you hit the gym and start supercharging your workouts and guarantee that you beef up even your stubborn body parts.

Go to my blog to comment and watch the video on my best 6 muscle tips EVER:
--> http://tinyurl.com/aubaad

I would love to hear your comments. What is the BEST muscle tip, trick or technique that you have used to increase your muscle size?

Train hard and expect success,

check these 10 superstars out... vote for the winner please

2009-05-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,

So I'm writing to you from Planet Hollywood in Vegas and I'm hanging out with some of my online fitness friends, Craig Ballantyne, Mike Geary, Jeff Siegel, Joel Marion and John Barban and we're getting ready for a day by the pool.

But I want to ask you to take about 2-minutes to interrupt your day and help me decide who I should award $1,000 cash for the recent submissions from my 12-week Transformation Challenge.

Only one vote can be counted. Vote now by clicking here:
http://www.yoursixpackquest.com/transformation_contest/contestants.php

I am really proud of these 9 guys and 1 gal, they all made dramatic body transformations from the inside to outside.

I hope you take a moment to inspire yourself with their stories because they are different, unique and very motivational.

The voting only lasts till Friday night at midnight. Feel free to send the page to your friends for them to check out and if you want to use the same program they used to transform their body, here is the link to start your own eye-grabbing transformation: http://www.yoursixpackquest.com

Have a great day

Readers, Why Do You REALLY Work Out?

2009-05-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,

I just posted a rarely talked about subject in the bodybuilding world, "Why do you REALLY work out?" I posted a picture and a few of my lady friends and I before our adventure in Toronto Saturday night. This is just one of the reasons that motivates me to work out :)

Read more on my blog--
http://tinyurl.com/d4tjh2

I am going to be frank with you.

In return, I ask you to be frank with me.

No B.S. I have been in the fitness world managing fitness clubs, selling personal training, selling gym memberships and personal training for over six years so I've asked (literally) thousands of new members about why they work out.

My radar is fully dialed in to sniff out any B.S. answers. Ready?

What motivates you to work out?

Why in the world do you bother lifting weights? Why would any person bother with going to a gym?

If you said anything to extent of "improve my blood pressure," "releive stress," or "set a good example," I'm not buying it. I call these logical motivators. There is nothing wrong with those motivators and I agree those are excellent side benefits but let's get real. I asked you to be frank with me. You don't hit the gym multiple hours a week to improve your health profile.

You work out for emotional and irrational reasons.

You work out so you can attract an attractive person. Let's face it, sexy people date sexy people. This requires you to have a physique that looks good in clothes and even better naked.

I think every man knows that to some degree, "bigger is better" in the hunt for improving your body for physical attraction. And make no mistake about it, the underlying message of every media message is "the better you look" the more action you get from the ladies… plain and simple.

Guess why this message is spread and not logical reasons? Because emotional reasons tug on your heart string and your heart string is attached to your wallet.

I am all for getting you to discover your irrational motivators if the side effect is consistent action.

It's true…the combination of well-proportioned muscle mass and minimal body fat is a sign of reproductive fitness and shows that you have more testosterone than the other guy (even if you don't). I don't care how many "art of attraction" books you've read - if she's looking for an adrenaline rush ride in a sports car and you look like a beaten down Pinto, then it doesn't matter what you do or say, she's not going to be interested.

Admitting That Looking Good Naked Is Your Motivator Is Not The Point Of This Post…

If we took a survey I am confident that looking good naked and hooking up is the most irrational and emotional desire that someone has for working out. I know people work out for other reasons but I would declare this the winner. Bare minimum, you want the most attractive lady at your work or school to think of you as the "go-to-guy" when she needs someone to help her move her furniture.

What Is A Irrational and Emotional Motivator?

Here are some examples:

* Not having girls notice you while you walk through the club, but grab you.
* Having girls tell their girlfriends, "Insert your name here… show my girlfriends your abs!"
*Hooking up with different girls every night of the week.
*Arms that rip the sleeves of your shirts and a chest that makes your top button pop off.
*"OMG…you're so hot!"
*Intimidating guys to move out of the way when you walk by.
*Having others secretly jealous of what you have.
*Never having someone disagree with your point of view out of fear.

Logical Motivators For Working Out

* Improve your health.
* Less stress.
* Good role model.
* Balanced lifestyle.
* Clothes fit better.
* More energy.

You see the difference? Guess which individual gets better results? The person motivated by irrational motivators or logical motivators? The secret to achieve a first rate body is to figure out the true WHY - which is always an irrational and emotional reason.

Here's how to figure out your irrational want:

1. Ask yourself, "Why do I work out?" If you said, "To feel better…" then ask the same question to your answer.

2. Ask yourself, "Why do I want to feel better?" If you said, "To be more productive at work…" then ask the same question to your answer.

3. Ask yourself again, "Why do I want to be more productive…" So that I get a job promotion and earn a bigger salary. Continue the pattern…

4. "Why do I want to get a bigger salary?" So that I can provide for my child's education so they can have a future.

Notice how your reason for working out went from a very logical to emotional reason the more you asked why? The more honest you are with yourself, the faster you'll get to your true reason why you work out.

Your why will be the difference between success and failure. This is a topic rarely discussed in the bodybuilding world and can create unstoppable motivation by uncovering the truth about yourself. There is no right or wrong answer. I only ask that you be honest with yourself. Now it's your turn.

I want you to ask yourself, "Why do I really work out?" until you discover your irrational and emotional want. You might be very surprised to discover the real reason and what you really want. This exercise might take you a few minutes.

If you're comfortable with sharing, in one sentence, state the emotional and irrational why behind your motivation for working out. What do you really want? I would love to hear your comments on my blog.

--http://tinyurl.com/d4tjh2

Readers, Avoid The Top 3 Muscle Gaining ENEMIES

2009-05-24T01:18:00.001-07:00

Hey Scrawny! Yeah, I am talking to you. (Even if you're not scrawny, there is some valuable info in here for you to be careful of).

Do you even know what you're up against?

(Read more if you wish to offer your two cents on this heated subject: http://getresponse.com/click.html?x=a62a&lc=Xz6o&mc=3&s=DJFls&y=Z&

Are you aware that no gives a flying rip about you? Tell someone that you are trying to gain weight and build some muscle and they'll roll their eyes and walk away - they don't want to hear it Skinny.

Now if you had a weight loss problem, that's a completely different story especially if you live in North America. You can choose from a buffet of weight loss options: books, diets, self-appointed fitness gurus with their TV and radio shows who claim that they have the solution to your problems.

But if you're known as Tooth Pick or Bean Pole, you're out of luck my friend. No one could give two hoots about your cursed skinny genetics. I discovered this when I was 22 and went looking for someone to rescue me from my world of skinniness. I went searching for a muscle building savior but only found enemies coming to me in sheep's clothing but disguised as wolves hungry to devour me.

Here are the top three most cleverly disguised Enemies preventing you from having a first-rate body that demands confidence, attraction and respect..

Enemy #1: The Pro Bodybuilder

You've heard it before, "Train like a bodybuilder to become a bodybuilder..."

This is the message screamed by everyone in the bodybuilding world and on the surface sounds perfectly logical. However, messages like this mislead millions of sheep with irresponsible training nonsense that will wreak havoc on your body.

The truth is that imitating the training of champion bodybuilders is one of the most costly frauds in the exercise world! Because the instruction from elite bodybuilders has no practical relevance for average people like you and me.

People who are without gifted genetic potential, and don't want syringe scars in our butts. Not only is this training advice useless, but it will cause over-training, injuries and illness.

The magazines who share the pro bodybuilders workouts will not tell you that drugs and genetics were responsible for curing their problem of being a hardgainer. They claim it's the supplements and "better training." Give me a break!

Enemy #2: The Muscle Rags aka Bodybuilding Magazines

You've heard this before, "If you want to increase your strength and have spectacular muscle growth, just follow the magazines..."

Every bodybuilding magazine claims they have the answers. But in fact, they would prefer to keep the real answers from you. From some nonsense I've seen I am lead to believe it is their job to keep the real answers from you!

If you've followed this prophets advice to gain weight, build muscle and increase strength then you already know that you're guaranteed only one thing. 6 months from today, you will look just like you do now! And you'll be pissed off. Not only will you build no muscle by following the sheep, but you will create muscular losses – fast. And you will become weaker! Can you honestly say that your strength has increased incrementally over the years?

The Truth is that almost every single one of the training schedules in muscle magazines is outright hogwash. The authors fail to discuss two of the most critical components in exercise – one is good and one is bad:

"Intensity of effort" is good - Anything that greatly increases the intensity of exercise will greatly improve it.

"Amount of exercise" is bad – It is the amount of exercise that exhausts your recovery ability and makes growth impossible. It can even create a loss in your hard earned muscle size and strength.

Enemy #3: The Supplement Mafia

You've heard this a million times, "The body of your dreams is locked inside this liquid... this powder... or these pills."

According to the "experts" reviewing products in magazines, the latest scam – ah... I mean supplement is "the one" that's going to perform magic on your body.

It's "the one that is designed especially for guys like you. There's only one problem. This new supplement designed just for you, has the same crap in it that the last supplement had in it. These "experts" are nothing more than pumped up salesmen. And how do you know when a salesman is lying to you? His lips are moving! Ask yourself this: Did the last product you were sold deliver what it promised? I already know the answer. You're here, aren't you?

The Truth is that every major fitness magazine is owned and operated by a supplement company. The bulk of their income doesn't come from magazine subscriptions or newsstand sales, but from the pills and powders they use to pump cash out of your pocket. Let me repeat that again... The bulk of their money is made by selling you crap! And here is the kicker...Supplement companies actually give out false training information on purpose!

Let me be more specific...

The majority of the bodybuilding information written by "the experts" is complete and total nonsense designed to make you fail, so that you'll continue to rely on their products for results.

Results that will never come!

How much faith would you have in a restaurant review if it was written by that restaurant's chef? Supplement companies are the chef... the waiter... the busboy and the owner.

Don't believe me? You can look it up, just like I did.

* Iron Man is owned by Muscle Linc.
* Muscle Media was formerly owned by EAS.
* Muscular Development is owned by TwinLab.
* Status is owned by Magnum Nutraceuticals

And the big daddy of them all. The Grand Poobah... The Trump of Fitness... Weider Enterprises owns pretty much everything else!

* Muscle And Fitness
* Muscle And Fitness Hers
* Flex
* And More...

Basically...the guys who give glowing reviews about crap... work for the companies who make the crap! And get this - Weider Publications is now owned by the same people who own the National Enquirer and Star! Let that sink in for a moment.

Readers, 6 KEYS to gaining 41 lbs of muscle in 6 months

2009-05-23T00:18:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

I have had my website live since May 2006 and having been helping thousands of skinny guys (and gals) gain thousands of pounds of sexy and hard muscle mass but rarely discuss the specific workout that I used to maximize my own muscle growth.

Today you get access to a weight training workout I used to defeat my skinny genetics and become the talk of my gym within a few short months. It's based on three simple workouts a week which will multiply your muscle gains instantly:
http://tinyurl.com/c6rkpa (that's my blog site)

Before you watch the free weight training routine I used, read about 6 strategies that resulted in my hard-to-believe but true transformation story…

All through high school and during four years of University (I attended the University of Western Ontario) I weighed around 145-150 pounds. I still remember my cross country coach calling me "fatty" one season when I came in a little over 150 pounds (which was fat when you're six feet tall and a runner).

I spent 9 years of my life expending 1000 plus calories a day swimming, biking and mostly running while refueling on a diet that consisted of Kraft Dinner, peanut and butter jam sandwiches, bagels, pork and beans, pasta and lots of Gatorade and power bars. I got my protein, fruits and veggies at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving dinners. On top of that, I had never seriously trained with weights except for push ups and sit ups.

You could just imagine what would happen if you were me and stopped burning a million calories a week while being undernourished and THEN started to eat and train like a bodybuilder…

Well that's my story in a nut shell. After I hung up my running shoes, at the age of 22, I entered the fitness industry to begin a career in personal training. The only problem - I didn't look like a personal trainer!

That's when I decided to destroy my nickname "Skinny Vinny" and build my dream body. Here are a few of the key strategies I started following:

1. I ate EVERY 3 hours for six times a day. I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and added three home made meal replacement drinks for the other three meals (one was planned immediately after my workout).

Breakfast consisted of 3-4 whole eggs with 6 egg whites. A few cups of veggies and a 2-4 slices of toast with natural peanut butter.

Lunch consisted of two tuna sandwiches on whole wheat bread and a few cups of whole milk. I usually skipped out on veggies this meal because I couldn't get into eating veggies.

Dinner consisted of some sort of meat my Mom would cook i.e. chicken, beef, salmon, fish etc combined with rice, pasta or potatoes and always vegetables (because she cooked them for me).

My shakes consisted of 30-60 grams of protein powder, 1-2 cups of frozen berries, natural peanut butter and sometimes I would put oatmeal and/or ice cream which was easily 1000 calories!

Looking back, I took in far more than I needed but figured if I gained any fat, I could just cut back and/or add some running workouts. I also got better pumps when my muscles were full and I never ran out of gas so I enjoyed the energy the calories provided. I never counted calories but I am sure it's safe to say I was consuming 4,000-6,000 calories which explains how I gained weight so fast. My body was getting more ripped and muscular and that's all I cared about.

2. I recorded every workout in detail. I recorded the reps, sets, rest, exercises, order, how I felt and any extra comments so I always knew what to strive for the next workout so I made constant progress for six months straight. Approaching a workout, I would know how much weight or reps I needed to increase to beat my previous workout.

3. I focused on making the last set of every exercise an ALL-OUT SET. Just like our track days, the last interval was always the hardest. We would always collapse after the last interval. I applied the same intensity to the last set of EVERY exercise. This is when my friends started referring to my training style as "Vin-Sanity!" I also called it the, "Go-till-you-blow" set. The last set was always with the heaviest weight and the most reps. It was the site that "sparked" my muscles into growth and "out did" my previous workout.

4. I focused on full-body workouts because they recruit more motor units and muscle groups than split training. Full-body workouts elicit greater increase in testosterone and GH than split routines too. By training each body part more often, you yield a greater anabolic effect and since a body part is usually recovered within 48 hours; not training that muscle again within 48 hours is wasted time off. Protein synthesis is increased for up to 48 hours after a muscle is trained and then begins to drop back to normal. I knew the only downfall to full-body training was that it was dependent on me recovering within the 48-hours so I ensured I was in bed by 10:30 or 11pm each night.

5. I focused on compound exercises that positioned me to lift the heaviest weights possible and maximize the most muscle in the shortest period of time. The list for this is short - bench presses, bent over rows, over head presses, deadlifts, squats, dips, chin ups and hanging leg raises. Those were the core 8 exercises and each workout I would do a slight variation on those movements for variety.

6. Switched reps and sets almost every workout to stimulate slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers and to gain knowledge of what rep and set ranges created the most hypertrophy. I had a variety of rep and set schemes that varied from 3 x 15, 4 x 10, 5 x 5, 2 x 25, 4 x 12, 6 x 6, 10 x 3, 8 x 8 and guess what? They all worked. The lower the reps the higher the rest (2-3 minutes) and the higher the reps the lower the rest (30-60 seconds). Even though I constantly varied the intensity and volume, I pre-planned each rep and set scheme into different phases that varied from workout to workout or week to week.

Check out my blog http://tinyurl.com/c6rkpa for a powerful 6-week full body muscle gaining workout that will explode growth all over your body in the next few weeks.

Detox from T.V. or surfing Facebook 3-4 hours a week and replace it with this muscle multiplying workout and you'll experience the fastest anabolic results ever. Enjoy:

I welcome your comments and questions, on the blog, regarding this workout and my "Skinny Vinny" to "Vin-Sanity" transformation.

Train hard and expect success,

Readers, FREE video shares how much muscle you can REALLY build this month

2009-05-21T23:49:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers,

I have a question for you today, "How much muscle do you think you can really build?" I am about to give you the "muscle geek" answer because you have been lied to by the supplement mafia, bodybuilding magazines and fitness industry to what is actually possible...

Post your comments on my blog and let me know what you think? Can you build 5 lbs of muscle a month? 10 lbs a month? 20 lbs a month?
--> http://tinyurl.com/cyd2lj

Why am I asking you this question? Well I just got into this debate with this guy from my gym on "How much muscle can you really build?" He didn't believe that I gained 41 pounds of lean muscle in six months and accused me of taking drugs. In his words, "Whatever dude... there is no way you gained 41 pounds of muscle in six months unless you're taking something..."

On my blog you can watch my video response but I wanted to cover this issue first with you because the number one question I receive via email is "How do I build muscle?" and I think you would agree that we should know
"how much" is realistic to build before I start sharing actual workout videos with you.

I trust you agree. Reliable bodybuilding and nutrition information isn't that easy to find. Too often, eager for the quick gain, the inexperienced bodybuilder gets caught in the traps of exaggerated claims from the magazines and supplement companies and I hope that over the next few days you'll begin to trust me and see that I have your best interests in mind.

Next time this subject comes up with your friends, you will
be able to help them set a realistic goal.

Click Here To Learn How Much Muscle YOU Can Really Build
--> http://tinyurl.com/cyd2lj <-- CLICK HERE

I trust that lesson cleared up that subject once and for all. If for some reason, you can't watch the video, I teach the lesson below:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
How Much Muscle Can YOU Really Build?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Most gym rats expect to build LOTS of muscle really fast.

This is a myth. You can NOT build muscle really FAST. The majority of readers, customers and clients I work with have completely unrealistic expectations when it comes to building muscle.

I can't put an exact number on how much you can gain but most people believe that they can build 20 pounds of muscle in three months...

...it's amazing how many frustrated customers I get emailing me after their first month of training complaining that they only gained 5 or 10 pounds. I'm thinking to myself, "That's fantastic, what are you complaining about?!"

There is no doubt you can gain 20 pounds of WEIGHT in 3 months or even one month, but we are not talking about *weight* - we are talking about *DRY MUSCLE*

Pure muscle tissue. Not water weight. Not glycogen weight.

Pure muscle weight!

There is not a chance in heaven that you will gain 5 or even 10 pounds of dry muscle in one month or even 3 months - not even close. I hate to be the messenger of this bad news but unless you are using growth enhancing drugs...

... it's IMPOSSIBLE.

Many of you might be upset or discouraged about the TRUTH of how much you can actually build but this knowledge will help you to eat and train with a more realistic perspective.

So how much muscle can your body actually manufacture?

Under the BEST possible circumstances (training, diet, supplementation, recovery) the average male body can create between *0.25 and 0.50* pounds of dry muscle tissue per week.

That's the natural amount that your body chemistry will allow. So your looking at 1-2 pounds of dry muscle each month. Not much?

Well consider what your body will look like in 12 months from now with an extra 12-24 pounds of muscle?!?!

Starting to see the importance of consistency?

The Skinny Vinny Transformation Story:

Let me put my "Skinny Vinny" transformation into perspective. From the first year of high school to the last day of University I lived as a long distance runner. I ran from 50-80 miles a week, was never exposed to heavy weight training and was undernourished eating low quality calories.

Now watch the extreme I went to. I went from running 50-80 miles a week to running 0 miles a week. I went from never doing weights to high weight training three times a week. I went from eating around 2,000 low quality calories to a 4,000 calorie, high quality, mass plan.

Going from a scrawny long distance runner to hard core bodybuilder is pretty extreme and going to produce some extreme results which is exactly what I experienced. I trust that puts any skepticism in a new light. Also, I did not gain 41 pounds of DRY MUSCLE in six months.

The 41 pounds also factored in the increased muscle which was accompanied by increased glycogen and water storage in the muscles. More muscle equals more glycogen.

Most people can maintain up to 40 grams of glycogen per 100g of muscle tissue. So if you're gaining ten pounds of new muscle you'll consequently increase glycogen storage by around four pounds.

So if you gain ten pounds of muscle, your scale gain will actually be closer to fourteen pounds (if you didn't gain any fat).

And rarely often will someone not gain any fat if you are gaining more than 3 pounds per month.

So, when you set your goals, clarify in your mind if "20 pounds of muscle" is your *weight gain* goal or your *dry muscle* goal.

And then put realistic time frames on these goals based on the info I just shared.

If you simply focus on keeping your body fat between 10-13% fat while gaining around 5 pounds per month then it is safe to say you are gaining 1-2 pounds of dry muscle a month with 1-2 pounds of glycogen and water hopefully no more then a pound of fat.

How To Live A Life Without Limits

2009-05-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

The word ‘LIMITATION‘ is so repulsive to me.

The idea that I CAN’T do something, or that there’s only so much I can experience is too horrible to contemplate.

Holding the opposite attitude will change your life, and I can prove it.

Einstein said the following and is worthy of memorizing….

“We are boxed in by the boundary conditions of our thinking”

What boundary conditions have you placed on your life?

Are you boxing yourself in?

Our experience of life is ENTIRELY shaped by how we think, so isn’t it really stupid to go around telling yourself that….

I can’t do that
I’m stuck in this career
I can’t make any more money
I can’t build the body I want, I give up!

That sort of thinking will get you NOWHERE. You won’t even consider other possibilities and you’ll end up stuck in a rut. You’ll want to make that box you’ve built as comfy as possible because you’ll be in it for a long time!

“But They’ll Call You ‘Polyanna’!”

So what! Thinking on the positive side is the ONLY thing that makes sense. If things are going well, it makes them even better. If they aren’t going so well your attitude will serve you tremendously in giving you the energy, certainty and enthusiasm to move forward.

Negative thinking will do the opposite of all the above.

The result? Stagnation At Best | Hopelessness At Worst.

While I’m far from perfect at this, I get better all the time. Don’t strive to be perfect, but start the PROCESS today.

How To Get Started

To start living a more FREE life; a life without limitation, I suggest you start by just saying YES to more things.

I recently saw a movie called ‘Yes Man‘ starring Jim Carrey. The basic premise is that saying YES to the opportunities in your life will always lead to something good. Jim Carrey plays a ‘No Man’ at the beginning of the film. His life sucks, he does nothing and goes nowhere.

After being persuaded by a friend to attend a ‘YES‘ seminar, he HAS to say YES to every opportunity that comes his way. Sure enough, his life is completely transformed.

Each decision, no matter how small, will take you in a different direction. Because of the laws of cause and effect, any decision you make changes the course of the rest of your life - it can be something small or something big.

Here’s an example. A guy needs some household things from his local corner shop. He decides to walk it rather than take the car. When he’s there he bumps into an old friend, something that wouldn’t have happened had he took the car as walking took 15 minutes longer. So they swap phone numbers and meet up for a pint later that week.

In time he meets all his friends’ friends, holidays with them, falls in love….all that good stuff. So he ends up living a COMPLETELY different life than he would have if he had taken the car that day.

An example from my own life would be the decision to first start lifting weights, which in itself came about by a chance meeting with a friend of a friend. If that hadn’t have happened, you wouldn’t be reading this article right now, and WHO KNOWS what my life would have looked like.

Small decisions, BIG differences.

Try this out, the next opportunity that presents itself to you, say yes inside yourself and think about what might happen. If there’s no threat of anything bad happening, go for it!

You NEVER know where it may lead.

Readers, 5 fast ways to MUSCLE UP and BURN OFF YOUR GUT

2009-05-20T23:54:00.002-07:00

Hi Readers,

I'm very excited, but not as excited as I am for you.

I'm about to share the exact secrets that I used to transform my body in the pictures you saw on my website. They are the exact SAME secret that are also responsible for all the before and after pictures from success stories of regular folk from all around the world.

In just a few short weeks, not months, as you start to apply just a few of the secrets I will share via video, audio and email, you'll be one step closer to a body you can proud of, a body you deserve.

I understand it is very hard to find trustworthy and honest people on the Internet and you may have been scammed or may be skeptical of me.

That's totally cool, I don't blame you.

I am genuinely interested in taking you from regular-to-ripped, whether that means bulking up or cutting. We're going to change your mindset, your body and eventually you're entire life.

I'll provide you with all the tools to build a head turning physique that demands respect and boasts confidence and pride. We'll get you back into or into the fittest shape of your life.

=============================
My Strange but True Story....
=============================

When I was 22 years old, I got to a point in my life where I was sick and tired of being nicknamed "Skinny Vinny" and having an "average" build. I always had this fascination with having a muscular and lean body that people envied and that I would take pride in.

Just like you, I wanted to look my best and feel my best - I wanted a body that gave me confidence to approach any girl I wanted and to stand up to any guy I wanted. I didn't want to look like a "pushover" or a wimp. I wanted people to stare at me while I trained and while I cruised the streets and I wanted to be an inspiration to my friends.

I always thought, "Life is too short to not feel and look your best." Just like you, I wanted the inner confidence and respect that comes with transforming your body and if I am really honest - I just wanted to look great naked! I also wanted to be in my best shape possible. I take pride in being able to lift heavy weights, sprint and have endurance.

It's cool to know that I am not just pretty on the outside but that I can participate in ANY physical activity because of my fitness level. I go through the day feeling strong and never have to take naps in the middle of the day. I feel alive and have the energy and motivation to tackle any challenge in my life.

If you can relate to anything I just shared, you came to the right spot.

I really look forward to building a long term relationship with you and getting to you know personally and helping you transform your body and your life. Over the next few days, you`ll begin to build your next five pounds of muscle which should be proof that I can help you gain the next 25 pounds of muscle as well.

How to Build Chest Muscles

2009-05-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

Building the chest muscles is just like building any other muscle. In order for them to grow you will have to lift progressively heavier weights, eat a lot and give your body the time it needs to recover after a workout. By building your chest muscles you are taking an important step towards becoming stronger and looking a lot better. When developed properly, chest muscles will complement your build.

Working out just your chest muscles and neglecting other muscle groups is useless however. You will have to pay particular attention to your back in order to help you with chest exercises like the bench press. The muscles in the chest belong to several different groups and by working each of them separately you will gain the best results. Most bodybuilders do not do this and it shows in their results.

The most popular chest exercise, as well as the most effective one, is the bench press. Other good exercises include chest flyes (using dumbbells), incline dumbbell presses, wide-chest pull-ups and chest dips. Workouts using machines should be avoided whenever possible. They have too many disadvantages and can cause injuries due to their narrow range of movement. For best results, always use free weights instead of machines.

While it may sound strange if you are new to bodybuilding, resting is very important if you want your muscles to grow. Your body requires at least 7 hours of sleep in order do build muscle and avoid muscle loss. You should also pay close attention to your diet and make sure you are eating enough protein. Without protein your muscles can not grow.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phil_Corey