Muscle Cheating Secrets

by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri, CSCS, HFS                                                                                                                                                Metabolic Fat Loss & Strength Expert

Are you ready for whole new level of muscle?

I’ve got great news for you – I’ve studied Vince’s program inside-out, and I can tell you that you’re in the right place.

His stuff is awesome, and what I’m about to teach you is the perfect complement to your muscle building program if you want people to accuse you of cheating, using steroids, and making the ladies drool while wearing tight v-neck t-shirts, gold chains and white Italian loafers…  (Vinny has great styles!)

You may just end up looking that impressive and have to throw out all of your undershirts to save face…

Onward… let’s start with the most important concept I’m going to teach you today:

Think & Grow Strong:

Did you know that you can elicit 30% more contractile strength from any exercise by visualizing yourself doing it first?

You can’t just visualize the last rep, you have visualize each rep, feel your muscle, and integrate as many senses into this picture as possible.

Here’s a muscle visualization checklist that will get the job done every time:

1)  What does the gym air taste like as the sweat drips off your lips?

2)  How does the ground feel against your shoes? What does the weight feel like in your hand?

3)  How does it smell in the room?

4)  What will you see in the background during this set?

5)  What song is playing on the overhead speakers or in your iPod?

By integrating as many senses as possible with your visualization exercise, you are stimulating more of your brain.  The more stimulation, the more strength.

Signal Secrets – My Proprietary Method To Electrify Muscle & Watch Muscle Growth Happen Before Your Eyes:

This ‘Electrify Muscle Method’ works every time.  I’ve never shared it with anyone before that doesn’t pay me $140/session to work out in person.  Please let me know what you think of it below, ok?

Here’s what you do…

First, hydrate – If you’re behind on water for the day, drink two 16 ounce cups of water within 30 minutes of going to the gym.  This increases cellular metabolism and gets you primed to build muscle.

Second, visualize (see checklist above) – do this before you get to the gym and before every set.

Third, flex the muscle you are about to use for 10 seconds.  Do this 3x before you perform the set.  Not maximally, but gradually.  Recruit some, then a bit more, then a bit more.  This is called pre-activation.

Fourth, perform the set, while watching breathing pattern – Exhale on Effort

Lastly, just before your final rep, think of the hardest thing you’ve ever done and then go nuts, because this is nothing next to that!

Try this, it works… be sure to let me know how it goes!

The Magic Muscle Set:

What I’m about to teach you is one of the easiest things you can implement tomorrow to start watching your results take off.  Here’s exactly what you do:

Start doing a ‘strength-based’ giant set as part of every workout (preferably first or last set of the day, post warm-up of course):

1. Main Muscle Group #1 (i.e. legs or power-based whole body)
2. Main Muscle Group #2 (i.e. front/back of trunk)
3. Little Muscle Group #1 (i.e. calves)
4. Little Muscle Group #2 (i.e. triceps or biceps, respectively)
5. Reciprocal Inhibition Set – (use opposite muscle groups in combo exercise)

Here’s a practical example:

Exercise #1:  Snatch x 6 reps

Exercise #2: Wide Grip Pull-Ups x 6 reps (with weighted vest, if necessary)

Exercise #3: Jump Rope, knees bent the whole time (60 seconds)

Exercise #4: 3 Position Bicep Curls (bicep, hammer, reverse – alternate) x 2 each

Exercise #5: Alternating Spider Plank/Push Up x fatigue or 60 seconds

This way, you tire the big muscle groups first, then you force the signal out to the muscle pair involved, strengthening the overall input to your system.  Finally, you turn all the signal off by working the equal and opposite muscle.

Take 4-5 minutes rest before beginning another set.

The #1 Mistake You’re Probably Making Right Now That’s

Keeping You From Getting Stronger, Faster:

You’re not resting enough.  C’mon, admit it.  More is better, right?

Well, actually, no!  When it comes to muscle, overload is better, and it requires rest to recuperate.  Energy system training is better and that requires rest to recuperate.

You can actually ‘do more damage,’ so to speak, to your muscle, by letting it ‘charge up enough’ before the following set.  Proper rest periods for pure strength are 2-5 minutes before repeating a muscle group.  By using the strategy above, you can cheat this a bit and turn the signal off, thereby enhancing the quality of your rest while exercising at the same time.

Unless you’re doing what I teach in DEF (http://www.MoreSignalMoreMuscle.com), though, you’re unlikely to be able to spend most of your time exercising in the gym if you want to get HUGE.

You can still get results, but you’ll probably just have to allot a bunch more time for each workout…

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I loved writing this for you – almost as much as I hope you loved learning about it.  Please leave your comments below and I’ll be by to answer your questions…

have a great day,

Kareem

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When was the last time you got ACCESS to a DOCTOR who actually knows muscle building and fat loss?!  Take advantage and post your questions below!

Vince

After reading this, leaveyour comments for Dr. K and I and we’ll sort you out.

The Top 3 Reasons Your Muscle Isn’t Growing Faster

by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri, CSCS, HFS

Metabolic Fat Loss & Strength Expert

1. You haven’t reached your neuromuscular potential
2. You’re imbalanced
3. You aren’t resting properly

At least 2 of these 3 reasons are stopping 99% of people who are strength training from gaining 60-70% of the muscle they can gain.  If you want to be a hard-gainer, you need to fix these issues right away.

Let’s go through each one of these points in greater detail.

You Haven’t Reached Your Neuromuscular Potential:

Neuro-what??

I know, weird word, hard to pronounce, probably unnecessary

Basically, I’m referring to your ability to send an effective nerve signal from your brain all the way to your muscle.  There are 2 main kinds of fatigue that can take place when you’re exercising:

1)  Muscular fatigue (muscle gets tired first)

2)  Neuromuscular fatigue (nerve gets tired first)

• Muscular fatigue happens when you get enough signal strength to your muscle, it contracts like crazy, and it eventually wears out. This happens all the time when you exercise, but it’s probably only happening to SOME of your muscle fibers (part of your muscle).

• Neuromuscular fatigue happens when the signal dies before the muscle should become exhausted.  Electricity is air for a muscle, so it’s basically suffocating.

The easiest way to think about when you’ve experienced this is to think of when you’re doing bench press and your forearms get tired first.  You’re squeezing all the nerve signal you can out, and you’re firing every muscle in the area… you just run out of air.

You’re Imbalanced:

• Do you have bigger biceps than triceps?
• Can you bench 225 but only do a few pull ups?
• How about Deadlifts?  Do you squat more than you deadlift?

Don’t worry – I used to be in the same boat.  It works, at least for awhile. While I was working Olympic athletes in Miami, I learned very quickly how BIG of a deal muscle imbalances are.  In an Olympian who regularly gives 110%, the injuries just show up faster… and they stop getting better at their sports.  Obviously, this is a red flag.

It’s a little harder if you don’t have a team of medical professionals constantly evaluating you.  That’s why you need a sound exercise program that considers muscle balancing.  Your injuries may take months or years to show up, so its easy to forget about avoiding them.  The only thing is that they may eventually stop you from ever being big again.

I’d hate to see that…

Did you know that if you just worked on biceps curls for the next 6 months, and you never did any tri’s, you would start to lose muscle in your biceps?

Your body will correct this imbalance.  It needs to.  Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time until it breaks down.  I don’t want this for you, and I know you don’t either.

There’s a faster way to bigger biceps, and I’m going to talk to you about this tomorrow.

Here are the top 2 things wrong with isolation exercises common to most bodybuilding programs:

1)  It’s almost impossible to choose 2 opposite exercises that match exactly.  Bench press and lat pull are not equals.  Biceps curls & skull crushers are also not equal.

2)  Isolation exercises are open-chain exercises (non weight-bearing), so they lead to tons of torque in your joints and often lock up joints, which decreases range of motion and prevents you from fully elongating and shortening your muscle the next time you workout.

You Aren’t Resting Properly:

There are 2 types of rest:

Active Rest – keep moving, work another body part

Passive Rest – do nothing, just chill

A good strength program incorporates both.  The key is to recover somewhat during a giant set, while allowing passive rest to take place afterwards.  This way, you can tax all 3 energy systems (ATP-PC, Anaerobic, & Aerobic), recover completely and be ready to kill it on the following set.

While it’s important to expend as much energy as possible on a particular muscle when you want it grow, it’s also important to raise your overall exercise tolerance.  By training to raise your Lactate Threshold, or anaerobic capacity, you’re increasing your tolerance to intense sets, and you’re investing in your future workouts.

A lot of people get this far… but which exercises should you do and how should they be sequenced?

Stay tuned, because tomorrow I’ll be back with some real-life examples of strength sets that incorporate both active and passive rest to recruit as much muscle as possible, raise your anaerobic capacity, and allow you to get more work done in less time.

Hope you enjoyed!

Please leave your comments below…

Well, there’s been a missing link all along and I want to show you something you’ve probably only started to hear about. It’s called ‘Neuro Fitness’ & it’s about training your nerves to send strong signals to your muscles so that they contract better – naturally, this will make you be able to lift more weight.

Lifting More Weight = More Muscle

Simple formula, really!

A lot of people comment that I tend to almost look like I’m flexing a lot (even when I’m not!)
in my pictures – this really boils down to the idea of neuromuscular activation.

Basically, my nerve signals are strong, because I built a strong trunk to support the rest
of my body.

This is like having high-speed internet instead of dial-up internet. The faster the speed, the more pages I’m going to surf and the faster the result when I browse. The same thing is true here – more nerve = more muscle activated.

My good buddy Dr. Kareem specializes in this concept of:

More Signal, More Muscle <- Click here to  learn how to build more nerve signal for stronger muscles.

By spending about 6 weeks working specifically on this, you’re going to gain a lot more muscle for the next 6-12 months. Here’s a run down of who this is good for and what it can do for you:

It’s great for the beginner – I could have probably built more muscle faster these past few years if I had known this, and I probably would have never ended up with a sore back.

It’s great if you’ve hit a plateau – this will help you raise your exercise tolerance & reach your full metabolic potential.

It’s great if you’re really lean and you want to ‘balance out’ the muscles in your body before your next big bodybuilding event.

One other cool thing to think about is that Dr. Kareem’s program will actually help you ‘automate movement’, meaning it will help you develop ‘muscle memory’ very quickly.

This means that you’ll be able to spend more of your concentration on planning out a movement
instead of trying to prevent a weight from dropping on you or something like that.

This leaves a lot of your energy to be spent on movement planning, which can lead to 30% greater contractile strength with every rep that you do.

Again, more muscle activated = more muscle.

Ok, so here’s a sample of a 5 exercise Giant Set that demonstrates this principle.

I think you’re really going to like it – plus, at the end, there’s an awesome surprise (hint: it rhymes with ‘7 more videos, all FREE’) – ha!

If you have comments or questions for Dr. K then please drop him a line below and I’ll have him stop by and answer your questions.

Vince

By Vince Del Monte

Welcome to the confusing and contradicting world of muscle building!  Nice intro eh? 

Building muscle is also not the easiest thing in the world, but it’s also not the hardest.

This article is written to any beginner bodybuilder who is ready to start pumping iron.  Especially if you are a beginner and want to to build muscle, increase your strength, stamina and self- confidence, plus be able to fit into clothes that show off your body, instead of hide it!

Me, Top 3 at the FAME Fitness Model Championships, June 2008, Toronto ON

Building muscle on your body is also a metabolic marker that tricks your body into thinking it’s younger.  Ever seen a really muscular 75 year old guy in your gym?  I bet he looks like he’s in his 50’s.

Building muscle goes far beyond vanity.  Muscle increases your quality of life dramatically, helps you curb excess body fat and decreases health obstacles as you age.

#1 Muscle Building Secret: Focus On Progressive Resistance

“If you do the same thing then you’ll get the same thing.”

This sums up bodybuilding very nicely. The number one muscle building secret of weight training is based on the overload principle.

When you increase the amount of weight you lift on a ongoing basis, your muscle fibers adapt to the increased stress by increasing in muscle size and strength.

My favorite technique for beginner bodybuilders is pyramiding.

Sample Muscle Building Routine Using Pyramiding:

Exercise: Squat

Set 1: 12 reps of 95 lbs

Set 2: 10 reps of 115 lbs

Set 3: 8 reps of 135 lbs

Set 4: 6 reps of 185 lbs

Next week….

Exercise: Squat

Set 1: 12 reps of 115 lbs

Set 2: 10 reps of 135 lbs

Set 3: 8 reps of 185 lbs

Set 4: 6 reps of 205 lbs

Pretty simple, right?  Increase the weight every set while naturally having your reps drop.  The progressive resistance occurs each set and the following workout when you start about 10% heavier than you did the previous week.  The example above reflects exaggerated increases but should be the template you follow for each body part and each exercise.

It forces you to increase the amount of weight that you use over a period of time, making your muscle adapt to the ever-greater demands you place on them.

With pyramiding, your muscle are trained at an intensity that is close to it’s force-generating capacity, forcing the muscle-fibers to increase in strength and eventually mass.

Overload is the bottom line for muscle gains and if your program is not using overload as the guiding principle then forget about learning any other muscle building secrets.

A secret to muscle building is recognizing that it’s not an endurance sport.  It is a peak-intensity sport based on the principle of overload.  Your muscles grow when you life more weight than you ever did before, and not from the tend sets you did at a weight you could lift all day without fatigue.

This is another reason I prefer pyramiding for beginners because you must aim for peak-intensity through progressive resistance, and not muscular burnout.

When you have trained a muscle so hard that it can no longer perform at its maximum, either switch to another body part or leave the gym.

If you are having a hard time finding the proper combination of training volume and frequency that allows you to achieve progressive resistance on a continual basis then check out even more of my muscle building secrets at my website.

Vince Del Monte

P.S. Let me know what your #1 muscle building secret is for beginner bodybuilders.  Thanks for sharing.

It’s designed to help you gain weight using a lot of protein rich foods (which are not always cheap food sources).

Yes, muscle building diets are not normal.

Note: The proper definition of a diet refers to the food choices you make on a daily basis.  Whether it’s soda, tuna or bread.  That is your diet. Often people refer to the word diet with fat loss, starvation and pain, which is incorrect use of the word diet.

The Goals Of A Muscle Building Diet:

• To add quality muscle mass to your frame without adding fat.

Here is a 7-point plan to achieve the amount of muscle mass you need to shock your friends when you rip your shirt off at the next pool party.

1. Stick To A Muscle Building Diet Year Round

I remember asking my Skinny Guy Savior (the ex-pro bodybuilder) what his secret to adding mass without fat and he says, “I stick to my diet year round.  I eat the same foods in my offseason that I eat when I’m getting ready for a show.”

The exceptions were the use of certain condiments and sauces with his meats in the on-season, but he still used organic and quality cuts of meat in the offseason.  He didn’t flip from chicken to sausages, or from eggs to bacon even though he enjoyed the fattier options.

I stress that young bodybuilders still exercise discipline and cut back on unhealthy foods that are not on their regular muscle building diet during their offseason.

The best way to deal with your favorite (unhealthy) foods is to include them on your treat days (I use the word treat instead of cheat).

A muscle building diet is much better served by eating larger quantities of food that are clean rather than from junk calories.

2. “Where’s The Protein?”

Think of the memorable quote from Chazz Reinhold (Will Ferrell) in the movie Wedding Crashers when he yells, “You hungry? Ma, can we get some meatloaf!”

That is the first thing you should consider before preparing your meal, but more accurately, “Where’s the protein?”

I suggest at least 1.5 to 2 grams of protein for every pound of lean muscle mass.  So if you’re 200 lbs and 10% fat then you have 180 lbs (200 x .20)of lean muscle on your body, which would be a minimum of 270 grams of protein a day (180 x 1.5).

I endorse a wide variety of protein consumption and to not stick to bland and boring chicken breast all the time.  On top of chicken your body needs low-fat fish, fatty fish, lean cuts of steak, eggs, nuts and seeds, beans and mixture of dairy products.

During busy times it’s okay to get your protein consumption from high protein supplements such as Blue Star Nutrition’s Iso-Smooth (use the code “maximize” if you order to get a free shaker bottle).

Iso-Smooth delivers the majority of it’s calories from protein, so it’s a perfect choice when you’re having trouble getting all your protein needs from whole foods.

If you’re having a hard time getting all your calories, combine Iso-Smooth with some ice cream, frozen fruit, and whole milk and this will young bodybuilders without appetities make some big gains.

• A typical breakfast could consist of whole eggs and egg whites.
• A mid morning snack could consist of a chicken breast.
• Lunch could consist of  some turkey breast.
• A pre workout meal could consist of cottage cheese and almonds.
• A post workout meal could consist of a whey isolate protein like Iso-Smooth from Blue Star Nutrition.
• Dinner could consist of a lean steak or fatty fish like salmon.
• A pre bedtime snack could be cottage cheese and nuts or hard boiled eggs.

3. Drop The Junk Food

For one junk food is high in one kind of fat you want to avoid at all costs in your muscle building diet: trans-fatty acids.  They turn the muscle building switch off.

As where “good fats” turn the muscle building switch on, junk fold does the complete opposite.  Junk food contains a boatload of chemicals, preservatives, stabilizers and tenderizers that simply aren’t found in natural home-cooked fresh foods.

These bad substances toxify the body by a process called oxidation, increasing catabolism (i.e. muscle breakdown) at the cellular level.

Oxidation leads to free-radical production and hampers the muscle building process.  You already cause enough free-radical production with training in the gym, so don’t make it worse by delighting in foods that more free-radical damage in your body.

To build an extreme physique, your internal environment must be geared towards countering muscle damage instead of recovering from junk food toxicity.

Junk food cakes your body in pollutants that must be cleansed out later, healthy foods which are loaded with antioxidants, battle against free radicals.

Bottom line, eating junk food will lead to you being small and sick, while eating fresh foods equates to being healthy and thick.  You always have a choice, eh?

4. Maintain A Regular Meal Cadence

The biggest mistake beginner bodybuilders make with their muscle building diet is missing meals by not having a regular meal cadence.  This leads to not eating enough meals and not getting enough calories to grow.

Not many bodies can handle only 2-3 large meals a day without getting fat.  Especially as you get older, the importance for smaller, more frequent meals is necessary, which keeps your energy levels up and curbs your hunger.

I recommend young bodybuilders develop a meal cadence of eating every 3-4 hours which will deliver 5-6 meals a day.  It’s better to start your first meal as early in the day as possible (I get the best results starting my first meal at 6 a.m. and my last meal at 6 p.m.).  Your first meal should always be consumed within 20-minutes of waking up.

The secret is to find a meal cadence that prevents you from getting hungry.  This can be a indication that your body is catabolic (breaking down muscle for energy).

5. Enjoy Foods Your Body Enjoys

If you end up in the washroom after drinking too much dairy, you should cut it out or try to cut back on it and see what happens.

That goes for any kind of protein or carbohyrdate.  It makes zero sense to eat foods that your body can not tolerate or results in indigestion.

On the flip side, if you find certain proteins that work very well for you then find a variety of ways to consume them so you can maximize their benefits.

Every up and coming bodybuilder needs to figure out what foods work best for him by listening to his own body and taking clues.  Over time you’ll have your own “Top muscle building diet” foods that you can thrive on.

6. Respect The Use Of Carbohydrates

Probably the biggest challenge of a muscle building diet is eating the right kinds of carbs at the right times. Especially when your goal should be at least 2 grams of carboydrates per pound of lean body mass.

So for our 200 pound bodybuilder at 10% fat (180 lbs of lean muscle), he should consume at least 360 grams of carbs a day.

The majority of your caloric manipulation should come from carbohydrates.  For example, if you’re gaining weight but it appears to be fat, cut your carbs.  If you’re not gaining weight or muscle fast enough, add more carbs.

Consider that not all carboydrates are created equal. Rely on quality carbs that have a slow-releasing factor which makes them less likely to be stored as body fat.

Rely on slow-releasing carbs like sweet potatoes, oatmeal and whole-grain bread.  If you’re ultra skinny then eat more fast-digesting carbs like white-potatoes, white rice, bananas, white pasta, and cereals.

The best time to consume any kind of carb in your muscle building diet is when your body deserves them:

• Breakfast
• Pre Workout Meal
• Post Workout Meal

Approximately 75% of your carbs should be consumed between these three meals.  So for our 200 pound man, he would consume 270 grams (360 x .75) spread out over these three meals which is 90 grams of carbs each meal.

7. Rely On “Good Fats”

I’ve never really focused on counting my fat intake, I don’t think you need to either.  For fat intake, focus on what not to eat: trans-fats as discussed above.

Maintain some saturated fat from steak and butter, especially when you want to gain some size, but don’t go out of your way to look for them.

Ensure each meal includes some olive oil and you consume a few handfuls of mixed nuts. Including some natural peanut butter or almond butter is also an excellent way to enjoy your muscle building diet.

Question: What is your muscle one muscle building diet strategy?

Post your comments below.

Vince Del Monte

In this article, John shares some awesome information, including:

1) The exact hormone most responsible for stubborn belly fat

2) The “secret” hormone no one talks about that you NEED more of to fight off the hormone from #1

3) A new, unusual training style that has been show to increase the hormone from #2

I GUARANTEE you’ll learn something new:

Suffering from Belly Fat?
By John Romaniello

Like many people, you probably suffer from regional fat storage issues. That is, while you store fat over your entire body, it’s probably most noticeable in certain areas, and it’s from these areas in which we struggle most to lose fat. You know–the problem areas.

These problem areas are influenced heavily by your hormonal environment, and where you store that last bit of fat is determined by which of your hormones are most out of whack (and yes, sometimes it’s quite a few of them).

Today I’m going to talk to you about belly fat specifically.

One of the things that has been talked about quite a bit in fitness media lately is the relationship between belly fat and a hormone called “cortisol.” To put it simply, the higher your cortisol levels, the more belly fat you’re likely to have.

By the same token, if you have a good deal of belly fat, it’s reasonable to assume that you have high cortisol.

Having high cortisol is detrimental for other reasons, but for our purposes, let’s focus on the fact that cortisol is keeping you not-so-little in the middle.

Rather than just suffer through this, the obvious solution is to try to lower cortisol levels and resultantly lower belly fat. And I’ll tell you, lowering cortisol is a LOT trickier than you might think.

I’m sure you’ve seen the late night TV ads trying to sell you anti-cortisol pills. Even if they worked (they don’t), it’s a hormone like cortisol can’t be fooled by a little pill.

Besides, wouldn’t it be much more effective to find a solution without taking expensive pills? Something that is also going to help you burn fat overall?

Well, that’s actually possible.

You see, I’m big on using certain hormones to tame other hormones. Essentially, you CAN actually fight hormones WITH hormones. Clever, I know. It’s just a matter of finding which hormones work well against one another. When it comes to cortisol (and belly fat), you need look no further than Growth Hormone.

Also known as Human Growth Hormone or simply GH, growth hormones is produced in the pituitary gland and is responsible for growth (obviously) among other things. More specific to this writing, growth hormones is actually one of the most effective things in the world to offset cortisol.

Put simply, if you want less cortisol, just make more growth hormone.

Just tell you body to do it. Make a few calls.

Okay okay, it’s not that simple…but I have some really good news.

Did you know that there are certain types of training that are actually exceedingly effective at producing growth hormone?

It’s true–indirectly.

You see, growth hormone is normally produced and released in response to something, and in the case of training, GH is released as a response to the production of something called lactic acid. Lactic acid is a waste byproduct of some of the chemical and metabolic processes that happen during exercise.

So, if you do exercise in a specific way, you can produce MORE lactic acid, which will then produce tremendous amounts of growth hormone as a result. That growth hormone surge will also help to work against your high cortisol levels. And as we’ve established, that will absolutely assist you in getting rid of your stubborn belly fat.

Of course, you’re wondering: how to I do it!? It’s easy. While lactic acid is produced in most forms of intense exercise, there is an unusual style of exercise that can actually produce even MORE lactic acid than is generally possible with other types of exericse. Appropriately (and not-so-cleverly) called “lactic acid training,” this type of training uses slow lifting speeds and fast lowering speeds.

The reason for the structure is that lactic acid is primarily produced during the “concentric” or positive/lifting phase of an exercise, and not so much during the “eccentric” or negative/lowering phase. To take advantage of this and produce more lactic acid, we simply–with apologies to Bing Crosby–accentuate the positive and (almost but not quite) eliminate the negative of each rep on all of our exercises.

To quantify it a bit, for each rep, you’d lift it over a period of about 4 seconds, and lower the weight extremely quickly, but safely.

If you were squatting, you’d drop down to the bottom position relatively quickly, and push slowly back to the top. In an overhead press, you’d lower the dumbbells quickly but safely, and press them back over your head over a period of 4-6 seconds.

Performing exercises with these extended concentric movements is going to create a tremendous amount of lactic acid, which in turn is going to prompt your body to produce fantastic amounts of growth hormone. And that growth hormone is going to help you manage cortisol and fight belly fat.

And if all THAT wasn’t enough, lactic acid training is also just a great fat loss training methods, so you’ll lose fat overall.

If you want to fight your cortisol issues, you need growth hormone. And for that you need lactic acid training. Utilizing this method, you’re one step closer to fighting off your belly fat for good.

END OF ARTICLE

Pretty cool, huh? John is a MASTER at pinning “good” hormones and specific exercise up against the “bad” hormones that cause regional fat storage.

And in his new program (which is available at a full 52% OFF until tomorrow), Final Phase Fat Loss, provides you with specific types of exercises and workouts to combat:

1. Estrogen, “man boobs” and lower-body fat (combatted with “Density” training and Testosterone)

2. Insulin, and your “love handles (combatted with “Dynamic” training and IGF-1)

3. And of course, Cortisol and belly fat (combatted with specific “Lactic Acid” training and Growth Hormone)

If you struggle with “problem area” fat storage, this is THE program to set you free. And right now, it’s still 52% OFF (but not for much longer).

http://FinalPhaseFatCutting.com <——- End Regional Fat Storage

I hope you enjoyed today’s article, and I hope you choose to invest in John’s system before the Grand Opening Special closes tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Vince

P.S. “Problem area” fat storage SUCKS. Get the “new” solution:

==> http://FinalPhaseFatCutting.com

You know you can’t simply bulk up without a consistent and balanced nutritional attack.

But did you know that if your nutritional attack does not include a small food scale, a calculator, notepad and pencil on hand, 24/7, then your doomed?

Of course, I’m kidding.

Although many of the great bodybuilders from the 1980s and ’90s were always into the details and it wasn’t uncommon to find world famous bodybuilders weighing and measuring what they were about to eat and scribbling down numbers onto their pad.

Their results spoke for themselves.

Of course, you may not have the desire, drive or determination to be as dedicated as some of these mass-loving bodybuilders.

That’s okay.

I can relate more to you anyways.

Today, I would prefer a nutrition plan that is quick, convenient and demands as little fuss and measuring as possible.

This scale-free, stress-free and effective nutrition strategy requires zero account like accuracies employed by many top bodybuilders.

All you need are a few visuals, my list of top muscle building foods and an old fashioned measuring cup.

Before we discuss the best muscle building foods  lets reviews my top five no nonsense bulk-up nutrition principles you’ll need to follow to get your body to grow, grow and grow.

The Mass-Building Diet Checklist

Eat often – 5-6 meals a day

Some muscle gurus promote eating as frequent as every 2 hours.

I consider that stupid and too extreme.

But I will agree  your muscle growth will feel like moving icebergs if you’re not eating every 3-4 hours setting you up for 5-6 meals a day.

Eating anything less will stall your chances of gaining quality muscle mass without any body fat.

Relying on only 3-4 meals a day sets you up for huge meals that often lead to fatigue, bloating, gas and unwanted body fat that covers up your growing muscles.

A more frequent meal cadence provides a steady supply of carbohydrates and proteins, the two core ingredients needed for growth and repair.

Eat quality

Focus on high quality muscle building foods (we’ll discuss in a moment) from a variety of lean proteins and complex carbohydrates plus an assortment of fruits and veggies and fats.

Eating white bread and jelly every 3-4 hours results in a completely different hormonal response and body appearance than eating a veggie omelette with fruit every 3-4 hours.

Before you increase your calories and meal cadence, focus on switching out lower quality foods with the list of muscle building foods below.

Quality is always better than quantity.

Don’t ignore your hunger

Let your body tell you if you should be eating every 2, 3 or 4 hours based on your hunger signals.  You should be aiming for every 3-hours but this is not a cold-hard rule.  It’s a guideline to start with.

If you’re still full after 3-hours than schedule a meal cadence every 4-hours.  If you’re starving after 2-hours it’s time to eat again.

Ensure you’re using the best muscle building foods to so you don’t end up stuffing yourself with empty calories.  Increasing your fats and veggies will combat against a hunger attack.

Eat enough

The bottom line is quality calories made up of the best muscle building foods.  To gain weight you need more calories than you expend.  Make sure you are not avoiding fats either.  Very-low-fat-diets can put the breaks on muscle growth by lowering testosterone levels and dropping your caloric intake.  Fat is not the enemy.

The best muscle building foods for fat are olive oil, salmon, mixed nuts, moderate portions of red meat, avocados, natural peanut butter, fish oil supplements and coconut oil.

Read the tale of the scale

The scale is your friend so weigh in.  Trying to build muscle without a scale is like a runner trying to get faster without a stop watch.  (That goes for fat loss training too).

You should be gaining 1 pound of bodyweight each week or around 5 pounds each month.  Anything more than 5 pounds of body weight each month will probably be excess fat.

If you’re not meeting this standards, please re-evaluate the previous principles. If you’re not gaining weight the easiest way to move out of the “skinny guy ranks” is to add more carbohydrates.

An extra 500 calories a day or an extra 100 calories each meal will put your body into a more muscular state.

Look in the mirror

Believe it or not, mirrors work!  That’s really you looking back at you – I’m not kidding.  Use the mirror to confirm that you are gaining muscle, not fat.

If you’re waist is growing faster than your muscles, you’re likely gaining body fat faster than muscle, so double check you’re consuming the muscle building foods listed below and try to train harder.

You could also cut your carbohydrate intake after 6pm, even if you train in the evening time, and that will help.

The Best Muscle Building Foods – What To Fill Your Plate With

If you’re having trouble gaining weight, do yourself a favour, and stop counting calories.  It’s not necessary to count calories or grams.  Just make sure you are getting a good amount of protein at each meal, lots of clean carbohydrates for energy, and fruits and veggies for absorption and health benefits.

Use the following guidelines as your new “meal plan”:

Muscle Building Protein:

For each meal, chose one of the portion sizes such as the following:

• 4 eggs
• 1 can of tuna
• 1/2 a container (250 ml) of cottage cheese
• 4 cups of whole milk
• a fist size of meat (chicken, beef, fish)
• 2 scoops of protein powder

Muscle Building Carbohydrates:

For each meal, choose 1 of the following if your less than 200 lbs and 2 of the following if you’re more than 200 lbs:

• 3 slices of whole wheat bread
• medium bowel of oatmeal
• 1 cup of rice (cooked)
• 1 full sized baked potato
• 2 large bannas (or any 2 large fruits)
• 1 big bowl of cereal (lower sugar like Shreddies)
• 4 cups of milk
• 2 whole wheat bagels
• 1 plate of pasta

Fruits and Vegetables:

Aim to get 2 serving of the following with each meal but don’t fill up on the lower calorie veggies.  Fruit juice is a really easy way to boost your calories but preference the options below instead:

Higher Carbohydrate

• Apples
• Oranges
• Bananas
• Grapes
• Berries
• Melons

Lower Carbohydrates:

• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Cabbaage
• Tomatoes
• Green beans
• Cauliflower
• Asparagus

Muscle Building Oils and Fats:

Enjoy healthy fats, such as olive oil, nuts and oil found in fish.  Minimize your intake from saturated fat and trans fatty acids.  That means you should avoid anything that is fried, boxed, packaged or served in a fast food restaurant.

While in the grocery store, a good rule is to avoid buying anything in the middle aisles and shop on the perimeter of the grocery store.

A little extra fat can tip the scales towards muscle growth but the wrong kinds will ruin your health and waistline.  Here are the best muscle building foods for fat choices:

• Olive oil
• Olives
• Flaxseed oil
• Avocado
• Mixed nuts
• Natural peanut butter and almond butter
• Fish oil cups
• Coconut oil for cooking

If you found this information interesting please pass it along to your friends or feel free to link to this article from your blog or website.

Any questions?  You know the drill.  Post below.

Vince Del Monte

I love seeing the pictures of every day folk, like you and I, who have taken action and proved that they are for real.

Today I want to feature Peter Luckraft who was a winner of my 3rd Transformation Challenge and who was willing to answer some questions about his success.

I plan on doing this on a regular basis so keep an eye out on your email Inbox for when I ask you to be featured.

Here are Peter’s before and after pics (he cropped out the background so they look better FYI)

Vince: What was your fitness level and physique like before using any of my programs?

Peter: I would say mediocre to poor. Before I began implementing your six pack program, I did go to the gym, but like most of the people there, I really didn’t know what I was doing. It was the same old routine with no real results.

Vince: What has been your primary fitness goal and what is your primary motivation towards your training?

Peter: My fitness goal was to get my body fat level into the single digits. I feel that 10% BF is a healthy place to live. My primary motivation is my age and family.

I am 32 years old, and have a wife and 3 daughters who look up to me. I will be the best role model I can for them, and you and I both know Vince, that it feels dam good to be in shape.

Vince: What is your secret to staying motivated?

Peter: Good question, because I have seen so many people lose weight, only to put it right back on, and end up either where they started, or worse! If you have ever watched the first episode of “The Biggest Loser”, then you will know what keeps me motivated. Like anyone else who is out of shape, I struggled like heck to shed the fat and get into great shape, and there is no way I want to do that again, especially now that I have all of the tools required to keep in shape. I quote you Vince, “It’s much easier to keep a six pack than it is to get one”.

Vince: How do you handle your training and nutrition schedule around your company and having a wife and 3 daughters?

Peter: Another great question. Here’s how I see it, if getting in shape is important to you, you make it a priority. Personally, I get up at about 5:00 to 5:30 to get to the gym, usually about 4 days a week. I will sometimes use the old treadmill in the basement for evening intervals on the off days (time I would likely be spending in front of the tube). It leaves me so much available time to be with my wife and daughters.

Regarding nutrition, For the first 4 meals / snacks, I eat alone, so I can eat as healthy as I wish. In the evening, I always try to prepare a great dinner for my family, and frankly, I do allow myslef to indulge a bit at times, but I always make sure that the majority of the time, I am eating good whole foods.

Vince: What is your biggest obstacle with achieving your fitness goals and how have you overcome it?

Peter: Nutrition nutrition nutrition!!! I am a big eater, and I do tend to indulge in a few beers or mixed drinks sometimes more often than I know I should. I have overcome it by being truly commited to my goals, as your programs have taught me how to do so well. I am not going to lie, in my journey, I did go out occasionally, I did order a big prime rib with mashed potatoes once or twice, but I seriously felt commited to my goals.

Like I said, if it is truly important to you, you WILL make it happen. I have heard so many people say, “oh I can’t live that way”. No, it is that you won’t live that way, and that says to me that becoming lean and fit is not important enough to you.

In a nutshell, I overcame this obstacle by taking a stand against myself, and like Eddie Murphy said in the Nutty Professor, saying to myself, “YES I CAN”

Vince: Share your latest results this past 3 weeks getting ready for your cruise?

Peter: 3 weeks prior to the cruise, I incorporated Joel Marion’s Program, “Cheat Your Way Thin” into my routine. Using this coupled with your workout and motivational program gave me great results, and this was through two of the worst flus I have ever had! The results were I went from 186 lbs to 179 lbs, dropping my bodyfat by 2%. May not sound like much, but it brought me to the lowest BF level I have ever been, sub 8%. Also, as many of you know, the last few pounds are the toughest to lose!

Vince: What has been the most valuable technique you’ve used in building your body to this point in your life?

Peter: Supersets and Giant sets at the gym, as you outline in your programs. Physically, I believe that I learned how to get the most out of a workout when I am at the gym. Frankly, sometimes I am at the gym for 45 minutes, and I literally have to stop because I have worked so hard. I would say this made the biggest difference in my results.

Vince: Your biggest physique goal for 2010?

I would like to live the entire year around 10% BF, and I would really like to pack on some lean muscle. Through my 6-pack quest, I learned that there was a lot more fat on my body than I knew about, and overall, I have gone from a max of nearly 235 lbs down to 180. I would like to get myself to 190 lbs (in the single digits for bodyfat). My plan is to begin by using the 29 week intermediate No Nonsense muscle building program, eating lots of whold foods, and then to lean down over a 12 week period, and see where I am at.

Thanks for the interview Vince, I have truly changed my life thanks to your guidance and support. Your programs are motivating, inspiring, and extremely informative and complete, and I hope that my results have inspired someone else to take a stand and change their life, it is truly the best experience you could ever go through!

END OF INTERVIEW

Wasn’t that great? Heck, I was very impressed to Peters 5-530am wake up times and his outlook on, “If you’re serious than you’ll make time…”
So true!

I asked Peter if he would pop into the blog and answer your questions below so feel free to shoot him some specific questions and don’t forget to give him a huge congratulations.

Also mention what stood out to you in his interview. I’m sure he would appreciate that.

If you want to be featured then let me know and send me your pictures and I’ll send you a new batch of questions to answer.

Thanks
Vince

This is info that has never been seen and that we were going to charge for but since my hair is not styled and I look like I just woke up I figure that we would just GIVE THEM AWAY for free.

Don’t Ask Me What Kind Of Pose That Is Of Arnel And I On His Big Day Getting Hitched!

Let me know if you have any questions on any of them and feel free sharing these with any of your friends who could freshen up their muscle building workouts.

Extended Sets For Chest

Extended Sets For Shoulders

Extended Sets For Back

Extended Sets For Biceps

Extended Sets For Triceps

Extended Sets For Core

I hope you enjoyed this series. Please let me know what other kind of video series you would like to see.

Hope you’re off to a great start in 2010.  If you’re not, pick up one of my programs on the right hand side.

Talk soon

Vince

It’s pretty messed up and it’s linked to three bigger problems…

But first, let me open this conversation with a question:

Do you agree that anything worth doing is worth doing well?

Weight training with the goal to ignite muscle gains or get super ripped should be no exception.  This concept should be easy to grasp.  And hitting the gym with the plan of building a good deal of muscle  or to boost your metabolism (to shed fat) can require a lot of work – but other than breaking a sweat and pushing yourself, it should not be much harder than that.  Right?

It’s this kind of thinking that leads to the FIRST big problem.

Most people who attempt to build muscle fail miserably.  Sure, almost everyone reading this has experienced some sort of improvement and a small gain in muscle (or fat loss), but the majority never get to that next level.

The majority never look like the models on the magazines or good enough to shock their friends at a pool party while in their swim suit.

Despite dedicated efforts to training, nutrition, supplementation and most importantly – a true desire and thirst to be their best – most never blow beyond their genetic potential.

There are many reasons for this too common failure.  If you asked me why this happens in person I would reply by shaking my head:

“Most people fail because they don’t have a clue of what they are doing.”

I’ll elaborate.

Most people approach the gym with a too simple approach:  I’ll just hit the weights tonight and hope good things happen.  I’ll push them and they’ll grow.  I’ll push them more and they’ll grow again.

The idea of building muscle is simple and elementary.  The act to do so sounds so easy.  Despite this fact, many still fail.

Why?

They fail because they think they know what they are doing.

And I don’t blame that way of thinking.  In the beginning, muscle gains came easy.  No matter what routine was followed while a beginner, the body almost always awarded it with new growth.

Here’s the SECOND BIG PROBLEM…

The beginner is satisfied and associates the initial award in muscle gain with his past behaviour.  Obviously, this leads to reinforcing the same behaviour by continuing down the same path.

Then things begin to change.

Progress begins to slow but the trainee continues to train even though the workouts are no longer working.

This leads to the THRID BIG PROBLEM…

The trainee continues to train but the workouts become randomized because the previous behaviour that produced gains is no longer working.

Since the training appeared to work in the past they are convinced it will work in the future and this thinking appears to be correct.

It is not.

Occasionally the muscle gains kick in again and slight improvements are made.  But for the most part a new reward becomes the focus – maintenance!

Yes, the weight trainer is simply satisfied maintaining the initial gains he produced so long ago which becomes the motivation for continual effort.

The problem gets REALLY REALLY bad now…

Even though the rewards of maintenance are far less compelling then exploding new muscle all over the body, the fear of losing size is born.  This leads to the complacent maintenance phase without a desire to even break out.

This leads to more randomization.  More random workouts, random sets and more random exercises.  Trying out new routines that are new are rarely improvements of the old but it’s typical to think, at first, that because it’s new it must be better.

Sadly this is a wearisome, merry-go-round that goes on for years and blanks out countless New Year resolutions.

If this sounds too familiar, you’re not alone.

There is a reason.

The problem is a lack of knowledge.

It has nothing to do with your genetics or any other excuse you can fathom.

And it’s going to STOP today.

Can I Ask You To Do Yourself A Favour?

Please do not employ any more training strategies without considering why it will be effective.  Do not assume that it will be.  I do not want you to join the “bad genes” huddle in the year 2010.

I have a solution for your problem.

They are called the 12 Anabolic Targets and they make up my brand new monthly series: Maximize Your Muscle.

http://MaximizeYourMuscle.com

If wight training was as simple as lifting weights and making your muscles grow, then all weight training programs would leave you rewarding results – but they don’t.

Most programs have the plateau built right into the program because they only target (if they are lucky) 1 or 2 of the 12 Anabolic Targets.

If you aren’t hitting these 12 anabolic targets, you’ll never grow past the size you are today…and I’ll prove it to you in just 30 days, FREE.

But HURRY, after this week, you will not be able to test drive Maximize Your Muscle for free ever again.

Vince