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you ever thought possible? What if I gave you the exact formula of exercise and eating that makes putting on 5 to 10 pounds of quality lean mass a breeze…and it would only take 8 to 12 weeks? What if I showed you how to get a lean, cut physique that you love (and that women drool over) by investing no more than 5 percent of your time each day? What if I told you that you can achieve that “Hollywood
The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms. —SOCRATES
Socrates, who said that the beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.
COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATE: A complex carbohydrate is a carbohydrate made up of a chain of simple carbohydrates linked together. Because of this structure, it takes the body longer to break it down into glucose.
you’re going to focus on heavy, compound weightlifting, and you’re going to do just enough sets and reps in your workouts to maximize muscle overload and stimulation without going so far as overtraining.
“No pain, no gain,” right? Wrong. This is probably one of the worst muscle-building fallacies out there.
burning, what you’re feeling is a buildup of lactic acid, which continues to accumulate as you contract your muscles again and again. While lactic acid triggers what’s known as the “anabolic cascade,” which is a cocktail of growth-inducing hormones, repeatedly elevating lactic acid levels higher and higher doesn’t mean you build more and more muscle over time.
If you took these studies at face value, you could easily conclude that machines are equally effective as free weights for building muscle and strength and possibly even better.
The people who do this are missing a couple of crucial pieces of information: The subjects in these studies are untrained, and the results seen in untrained subjects simply can’t be directly extrapolated to trained subjects.
that the free weight squat resulted in 43 percent more leg muscle activation than the Smith machine squat.
something special about forcing the body to freely manipulate weight, unaided, against the pull of gravity. Nobody ever built a great chest by just pounding away on the pec deck and machine press: it always took years of pushing around barbells and dumbbells. Not all free weight exercises are equal, though. The most effective ones are known as compound exercises, and they involve and activate multiple muscle groups. Examples of powerful compound exercises are the squat, deadlift, and bench press, which train a lot more than just
When it comes to building size and strength, numerous scientific studies have confirmed the superiority of compound exercises over isolation exercises.
The takeaway isn’t that you shouldn’t directly train your arms, but rather that by overloading your entire body, you cause everything to grow.
to get bigger and stronger, and that requires four simple things: do the right exercises, lift progressively heavier weights over time, eat correctly, and give your body sufficient rest.
You see, if you’re looking to build a solid foundation of muscle and strength, you should do the same types of exercises every week, and they will include things like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, dumbbell presses, military presses, and others.
Most guys don’t have a clue about proper form on many exercises, and this ignorance stunts their gains; causes unnecessary wear and tear on ligaments, tendons, and joints; and opens the door to debilitating injuries (especially as weights get heavy on the shoulders, elbows, knees, and lower back).
you want to build an impressive physique, you’re going to have to work hard in the gym. You’re going to have to move weights that are just downright intimidating. You’re going to have to dig deep to finish that last set. You’re going to deal with muscle soreness and other aches.
You see, if you don’t eat enough calories and get enough protein every day, you simply don’t grow. It doesn’t matter how hard you lift; if you don’t eat enough, you won’t gain any muscle to speak of.
You’ve just learned the path to muscle-building misery: grind away for hours in the gym, do tons of “burnout” sets, do the wrong exercises with bad form, avoid pushing yourself too hard, and eat incorrectly.
More is not always better in weightlifting. Many popular bodybuilder routines result in overtraining for a natural weightlifter.
As a natural weightlifter, you must emphasize heavy, compound weightlifting if you want to maximize your results. High-rep routines that emphasize isolation exercises are extremely ineffective in the long run. • Getting a huge pump doesn’t stimulate nearly as much muscle growth as you might think. • You don’t have to constantly change up your exercise routine to make gains.
If you want to build an impressive physique, you’re going to have to work hard in the gym. Easy workouts don’t do much.
What drives muscle growth, then? The answer is known as progressive tension overload, which means progressively increasing tension levels in the muscle fibers over time. That is, lifting progressively heavier and heavier weights.
The conclusion of this research is simple: the best way to build muscle and strength is to focus on heavy weightlifting and increase the weight lifted over time.
lifting heavy weights and doing short, intense sets of relatively low numbers of reps.
Instead, from now on, you’re going to train differently. You’re going to spend more time resting than you’re used to,
One of the things you want to achieve with your workouts is an optimal amount of microtearing in the muscles. Not so much that your body falls behind with repair, as this stunts muscle growth, but not so little that you miss out on potential gains.
lift hard and heavy, get sufficient rest, and feed your body correctly. That’s how you build a strong, healthy,
Progressive overload is the primary driver of muscle growth, not fatigue or pump.
Working primarily with 80 to 85 percent of your 1RM optimizes strength gains and muscle growth.
So the real problem isn’t counting calories but failing to make and follow a meal plan that allows you to eat foods you like while ensuring that you burn more fat than you store over time.
Your body burns a certain number of calories regardless of any physical activity, and this is called your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) for a day would be your BMR plus the energy expended during any physical activities.
The key to preserving strength and muscle while losing weight is to lift heavy weights. The goal is to continue progressively overloading your muscles,
When it comes to fat loss, calories are king.
You’ll have to stay disciplined and forego the snacks and goodies not worked into your meal plans. You’ll probably have to deal with some hunger now and then.
If you eat too little protein while restricting calories for weight loss, you’ll lose more muscle than you would if you had eaten an adequate amount.
If you eat too few carbohydrates while in a calorie deficit, your training will suffer, your muscle repair will be impaired, and your hormone profile will become more catabolic.
If you eat too little dietary fat, you can experience a significant drop-off in testosterone levels and other undesirable effects.
I recommend that you eat a slow-digesting protein like egg or casein (either from a powder or from a whole-food source like low-fat cottage cheese) 30 minutes before going to bed, as research has shown that this improves muscle recovery due to the increased availability of amino acids for repair while you sleep.
Cardio is negotiable. There’s nothing inherently unhealthy or bad about not including it in your weight-loss regimen,
If you’re planning on getting below 10 percent body fat, I can pretty much guarantee that you’re going to need to include some cardio in your routine to get there.
Look at pictures of naked women and you’re more likely to make risky financial decisions.9 Dream about striking it rich, and food can become really appetizing.10
The rush of glucose and energy is soon followed by a crash, which, like stress, is a precursor to willpower failures.17 Research shows that when blood sugar levels are low, we’re more likely to give up on difficult tasks, vent our anger, stereotype others, and even refuse to donate to charity.18
Shoppers who pass up something desired are more likely to feel justified in indulging in tempting food.40 When reminded of their virtue, people donate less to charity.41 Hell, research shows that when people merely think about doing something good, it increases the likelihood of immoral or indulgent behavior.
after adding healthier items to its menus, McDonald’s began selling more Big Macs than ever? Yup—the mere opportunity to eat healthily subtly gave people some of the satisfaction of actually doing it, which in turn permitted them to choose the immediate gratification of a cheeseburger.
who you’ll tell, and what their reactions will be can increase your willpower and make you more likely to do what it takes to make those goals a reality.50 Anticipating the shame and disapproval from others that comes with failure can also help you stay strong in the face of temptation, but it isn’t as powerful in this regard as pride.
negative thoughts and feelings, like self-criticism, worries, sadness, or cravings, can lead to greater feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, depression, and even overeating.
The more you suppress thoughts about food, the more likely you are to struggle with cravings and binge eating.
website Stickk (www.stickk.com), which was created by Yale economist Ian Aryes.
recommend that you also work out a health goal that you find motivating. Mine is along these lines: to have a vital, energetic, strong, and disease-free body that lives long and allows me to stay active and enjoy my life to the fullest.
