blog.kissbellyfatgoodbye.com

It seems that Thanksgiving week every year, all I keep seeing everywhere in the media and in online fitness articles is how you need to control yourself this Thanksgiving so you don’t pack on the pounds from the feasting.

These articles and news stories tell you how you need to “control your portions”, or eat “low-fat gravy” (and other garbage fitness advice) and be disciplined on this holiday where you’ll be tempted to stuff your face with stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, yams, and all of the pies and desserts.

Well, I have a WAY different opinion on this. In fact, why should we restrict at all? After all, in the US, it’s only 1 day per year that you have this enormous Thanksgiving feast. Why not just eat as much as you want?

Seriously, 1 day of feasting out of a full year is NOT going to make or break the results you’re getting with your fitness routine, as long as you make sure a massive feast like this is a VERY rare occasion.

As a matter of fact, even if you decide to feast on every holiday that you celebrate throughout the year, this is still only going to be 5 or 6 feasts per year.

That’s only about 1 feast every 2 months… certainly nothing that is worth worrying about in terms of your fitness results.

In fact, as you know, I’ve written about a similar topic like this many times before, when we talk about having a weekly “cheat day”…

Now keep in mind, I would consider a weekly cheat day to be a step below a Thanksgiving feast in terms of calories… but the fact remains that OCCASIONAL overeating can actually have surprising benefits to revamping your metabolic rate via the leptin hormone response (this triggers your body to “crank up” your metabolism again if you’ve been restricting calories previously).

I will stress though, when it comes to the scale of feasting that typically comes with Thanksgiving meals in the US, that this really does only mean occasional feasting. This means that you still do have to control your caloric intake the majority of the time if you want the lean body you’re looking for.

But my main point of this post is that I think it’s downright silly to sit there on Thanksgiving or any other holiday for that matter and try to restrict yourself too much when these holidays are really only a few days out of the entire year. Just make sure to get your normal healthy diet back on track the very next day after the Thanksgiving feast.

So I say… go right ahead and eat as much as you want… Just be sure you make it to the gym the day after Thanksgiving for a SUPER high intensity resistance training workout.

In fact, training hard with weights the day after Thanksgiving will give you the best pump you’ll feel all year long from the super-saturated muscle glycogen in your muscle cells. I actually LOVE to do a really high volume “muscle pump” style workout the day after thanksgiving to really get that cool pumped up feeling and help utilize all of that stored muscle glycogen.

Alright, enjoy your Thanksgiving feast! And if you do this right, you can actually benefit from the T-day feast by boosting your metabolism (via leptin response) and also get the best pump of the year in your weight training workout the day after Thanksgiving.

Feast hard, train hard!

MAKE IT EASILY ACCESSIBLE

You already know the biggest reason that keeps most people fat is because of their lifestyle…

…and, unfortunately, perhaps the biggest reason we tend to
live unhealthy and fat storing lifestyles is because they
are EASILY ACCESSIBLE to us.

Hungry? There’s a fast food restaurant just down the street from wherever you are.

Thirsty? It’s soooo easy to crack open a can of sugar laden
Cola or chemical filled diet soda, isn’t it?

Exercise? It’s too easy to just hop on the treadmill for a
few minutes and casually jog or walk while watching TV and
say to yourself, “Now I’ve gotten in some exercise”.

BUT HERE’S THE THING:

Eating better, exercising better and living better isn’t
much harder…it’s just that we have to figure out ways to make it just as accessible…just as easy as living in an unhealthy manner.

So here are 7 of things you can change today to make living leaner and stronger a true lifestyle:

1. Drink water from a water bottle, not from a glass. It may seem like a little thing, but simply switching to a
32oz. water bottle and refilling it 3 times (rather than having to refill an 8 oz. glass 10 times a day) can make a
HUGE difference in how much water you drink.

2. Use pre-cut fruits and veggies. How many times have you chosen to eat something pre-packaged over a fruit or
vegetable because it was just easier? Getting your fruits and veggies in ‘ready to eat’ form will have you getting
more of the micronutrients that your body thrives faster than ever.

3. Keep your healthiest foods at eye level. Whether in your cupboard or fridge, what you see first is typically what you’re going to eat, especially at snack times. Don’t hide the fruits and veggies in a drawer…keep ‘em in front of your face, where they’ll be saying, “eat me!”.

4. Keep junk food out of your house. While it is not a good idea to completely cut out some of your favorite treats,nkeeping them out of your house is! If it’s constantly in
plain sight, guess what, you’re going to eat it! Keep your special treats for when you’re enjoying a night out every so often.

5. Have ‘go-to’ meals and snacks. You know that eating smaller meals every 3 hours or so is the best way to keep
your metabolism going and preventing over eating…but make that process easy and accessible by having a list of 2 or 3 go-to meals or snacks you can prepare in 5 minutes or less.

6. Work out in the morning…before you do anything else. While it’s usually best to work out when you have the most
energy, many people find that their day just gets away from them and they end up with ‘no time’ to work out. Wake up a bit early (with FBF workouts that’s only 15-25 minutes or so) and knock it out…now you can get on with your day
without having to worry when you’re going to find time to work out.

7. Get a home gym setup now. Another way to make it easy on
yourself…and it doesn’t have to be elaborate to work. What you want is some basic strength training equipment. This could mean a few household items and a chin up bar that will allow you to do some body weight exercises, or if you want
better results faster, something as simple as a set of Dumbells.

Alright, I hope those 7 tips will help you make living the fat loss lifestyle EASILY ACCESSIBLE to you today.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be difficult to live the way you want to live…it’s quite simple once you make the easy choices the right ones.

Have a great day and we’ll talk soon.

I’ve just found a fantastic article from one of my favorite fitness/nutrition authors, Jon Benson… he’s done some amazing things with helping people lose serious weight. Check it out… and let me know what you think!

*5 New Tips for a Flat Belly*

by Jon Benson

TIP 1
Flip The Food Pyramid Upside-down

The USDA’s Food Pyramid is an utter joke. It’s origins stink up the joint, let me tell you.

First, the grain industry was in a pinch when the Food Pyramid was created. And wouldn’t you know it… the grain industry increased their “contributions” (read: bribes) to certain politicians to get placement atop the pyramid… or in this case at the very bottom. The “foundation” if you will.

Just think about this for a moment:

The USDA wants you to eat (gasp) MORE starch than vegetables? More bread than fruits, lean meats, and healthy fats?

Are they NUTS??

Yes… they are nuts. (Which, by the way, are no where near the foundation… nuts, that is.)

You’d be better off flipping that sucker upside-down.

That would look like this:

40% of your cals from healthy fats
30% of your cals from protein
30% of your cals from carbs

Roughly, that is.

Sounds… rebellious, right? Well it is.

Too bad I have the science (and the abs) to back it up.

TIP 2
Can The Sodas (yes, even “diet” sodas)

This one is really hard for me. I’ve been hooked on diet-soda on and off for years. When I go to get into top shape (like I am now) I have to get rid of the diet-sodas… yes, DIET-sodas. Need I say “real” sodas too? They are loaded with sugar.

Why diet-sodas? A recent study revealed that people who drank diet-sodas actually increased bodyfat when compared to those who drank sugar-sodas. What the… ??

Yep. Your body cannot be fooled by aspartame and chemicals. Sorry, but that’s the truth.

Here’s a personal story: When I cut out the diet-sodas my bodyfat drops like a rock in a pond of clear water.

And that’s what you need to be drinking: A quart of pure water per 50 lbs of bodyweight a day.

I mix it with lemon and a bit of Stevia (an herbal sweetener) and make lemonade. It’s wonderful!

TIP 3
Ditch The Starch

Starches, such as rice, potatoes, cereals, oats, etc. are often considered “health foods.”

While they can be healthy in some cases, they can also pack on stomach bodyfat like crazy if you overdo them.

As you may know, my “Every Other Day Diet” System (http://www.FavoriteFoodsDiet.com) actually encourages you to eat starches and even sweets several days a week to get rid of excess weight:

Well… how does THAT work?

Simple: Timing is everything.

And we take a “weekly” approach to foods rather than a daily approach. This keeps your metabolism guessing. If your body cannot figure out what you’re up to, fatburning is that much more powerful. And you can get by with eating starches… at least a specific times on specific days.

But if you’re not going to do EODD, then you’ll have to wing it. And the best way to wing it is to simply cut starches out entirely for 4-8 weeks. Then slowly add them back a few days per week.

This is no where near as effective (or as fun) as the EODD method, but it will get you pointed in the right direction.

TIP 4
Stay Hungry

Arnold’s first movie was “Stay Hungry” (well, after “Pumping Iron” that is). You cannot rest on your butt and stay hungry. You cannot think you’ve “arrived” and stay hungry.

It takes a special person to be hungry… and an even greater one to stay that way.

I want you to stay hungry in two ways: In how you workout and literally… stay a bit hungry before you go to bed. Not “starving”… just a bit hungry.

For your workouts, I have a great solution. If you pick up EODD you’ll get a limited shot at “7 Minute Body”… my combination of “7 Minute Muscle” and “The 7 Minute In-Home Workout” in one book… and for more than half off… but that’s a very limited deal. Gotta have EODD… you’ll need them both…

You can get both at this site: http://www.FavoriteFoodsDiet.com

You see, progression — “forced” progression — is the best way to stay hungry. 7 Minute Body forces you to progress without thinking about it. Progression is built into the System.

As far as staying hungry at night? Check with your doctor and if he/she okays it take 500mg of potassium and 1000mg of magnesium/calcium a few hours prior to bed. This helps with the hunger pangs. Also, keep hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for a healthy source of protein and healthy fats. If you get really hungry, eat one at night. It keeps me full for an hour at least.

TIP 5
Get Raw At Night

Raw veggies with your last meal and as a snack will really help your fatburning along. I started with red peppers because they’re sweet. Now I eat virtually every veggie raw at night without thinking about it. Give this a shot. The fatloss is well worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well thanks heaps for that Jon!

I like the tips about the hard boiled eggs and raw veggies at night. That’s actually one of my favorite night-time snacks when I’m trying to drop bodyfat fast. Great combination too.

Check out Jon’s site below for more great ideas to get lean:

http://www.FavoriteFoodsDiet.com

I just got this article today from another fitness expert that I always enjoy reading from… he has innovative workout methods that are just that little bit different.

If you want to try a cool bodyweight workout that can accelerate fat burning and even build lean muscle, without boring cardio or ridiculous bodybuilder type routines, check out this article below…

**Time/Volume Training – A Powerful Training Technique That Will Burn Fat and Build Muscle at the SAME Time…Even With Bodyweight Exercises!

By Nick Nilsson

I was stumped… I wanted to figure out a training technique that I could use for bodyweight training to burn a LOT of fat AND build muscle mass at the same time, using exercises like push-ups or dips where I was able to do 30 to 50+ reps per set.

I was working on this technique to add into the bodyweight version of my Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss program. http://www.Metabolic-Surge.com/

Now, as might know, burning fat and building muscle at the same time is not an easy thing to do!

So after experimenting with all kinds rep schemes and set numbers and high-intensity and low-intensity training, it hit me…and it worked like CRAZY.

Enter Time/Volume Training…

This technique allowed me to take bodyweight exercises where I could do normally do a TON of reps and use them to achieve TREMENDOUS fat burning effects as well as making them HIGHLY effective muscle-builders.

This is a killer combination that literally changed the way I thought about bodyweight training (and the cool thing is, this technique works GREAT with free weight training as well!).

So how you do Time/Volume Training?

Time/Volume Training is really simple and it can be used with ANY exercise…any time, any place.

It’s a form of what’s called “density training” where the idea is to NEVER go to failure on any sets but instead focus on doing as MANY sets as you can within a certain block of time.

For working larger bodyparts like back, chest or thigh, I recommend a 15 minute block of time. When working smaller bodyparts (pretty much everything else), use 7 1/2 minute blocks.

Here’s what it will look like:

- First, start by doing a set of 3 reps. Then stop and rest 10 seconds. Now do another set of 3 reps. Stop and rest 10 seconds.

- Keep going using 3 rep sets and 10 seconds rest until you can’t get 3 reps anymore. When you hit this point, begin taking 20 SECONDS rest in between your 3 rep sets.

- Keep going using 3 rep sets and 20 seconds rest until you again can’t get 3 reps anymore. Then take 30 SECONDS rest in between your 3 rep sets. If you have to increase again, go to 40 seconds, and so on.

- Keep going in this fashion until your 15 minutes are up.

It’s just that simple! Basically, the idea here is not to go to failure on any of your reps but to manage your fatigue so that you can maximize your training volume (i.e. more reps and sets).

You’ll be able to do a LOT more reps with any given exercise, which will seriously crank up your metabolism!

And because you’re only doing 3 rep sets, you’re using your fast-twitch muscle fibers, which have a LOT more mass and strength potential and burn more calories when you’re working them.

Now, just because it’s originally designed for bodyweight training doesn’t mean you can’t use it with free weights and machines as well – it’ll work like a charm for that, too! You can work it with ANY exercise…squats, bench, deadlifts, curls…even ab exercises!

In terms of knowing when to increase resistance (by switching to a more challenging body position or increasing the weight on an exercise), nothing could be simpler…when you can go more than 1/3 of the way through while keeping to 10 seconds rest, then increase. For example, if you can do more than 5 minutes of close-grip chins, switch to wide grip pull-ups. When you can do more than 5 minutes at 185 lbs on the bench press, increase to 195 lbs next time.

And rest assured…even if you can do 50 push-ups, you’ll STILL get to a point where you’re not able to do 3 reps sets on 10 seconds rest and you’ll have to bump up the rest periods. It’ll get your metabolism ROARING.

You can insert this style into pretty much any training split and any program. It’s truly one of THE best ways I’ve found to get a fat-burning AND a mass-building effect out of bodyweight training or free weight training.

Use this style of training in conjunction with the right nutrition program (especially one like my Metabolic Surge program that is actually TARGETED to make full use of this training style), and it’ll be like throwing a lit match on gasoline. It’ll pull the fat right out of you.

Want to learn more about how “Metabolic Surge” can burn fat fast with targeted eating and training? Check out the following page right now:

http://www.Metabolic-Surge.com/

——————
Nick Nilsson has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been innovating new training techniques for more than 18 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding books including “Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass”, “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of”, all designed to maximize the results you get for the hard work you put into your training.

By the Way – simply put your name and email in the form below, and I’ll send you a free copy of Nicks ebook, It’s full of fantastic tips on exercise techniques for muscle building and fat loss.

I heard an absolutely classic comment just the other day from Mike Geary.  He’s a certified personal trainer, who’s been working in the health industry for almost 17 years.

He pointed out that the first and most important thing to get control of in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet! Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

Mike went on to say that there’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is… after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.

In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

And of course the age old myth, working the Ab exercises… This is what he had to say about that!!

Most people spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it’s true… When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

Mike provides a ton of great abs exercises in his book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

It’s funny, I go to the gym during the week, and I see the same people in there. They’re the regular attendees, so its good to see the commitment. The only problem is they tell me they’re not seeing the results they really want. They want to lose weight, but they want the body to look lean and athletic, not wiry and scrawny.

One of the major issues is the over stated “cardio” workouts. These guys spend an hour on the running machine every time they’re in the gym, but they’re not happy with their results. Now by doing just some simple research, you’ll find lots of evidence to back up my arguments, which is this:

If you do just cardio, you won’t achieve the lean body you’re looking for!

If you’re serious about losing weight and getting rid of the fat, there’s 2 sides to it all. There’s the diet side, and the exercise.

For the diet side, don’t rush into the latest fad diets or drinks or pills. Focus on foods that are rich in nutrients, and drink plenty of water throughout the day. That will help you feel naturally satisfied when you eat, and you won’t get the urge to shove the next fat laden sugar coated rubbish in your mouth. As a result you’ll most likely start seeing fat come off relatively quickly and it will have seem fairly easy, almost natural.

With the exercise, focus on the resistance exercise two or three times a week, for 15 to 20 minute sessions. This way you’ll spend less time at the gym, but doing a great workout, and getting on with life. As its strength training, you’ll rapidly
increase body strength, endurance, and adding shapely and sexy lean muscle to your body. In just a few weeks, you’ll really start to notice. The other key is to really notice the change and keep track of it, for your own benefit.

Good luck and keep working!

Unless you’ve been sleeping for a while, you’ve probably heard a thousand times that there are great health benefits and antioxidants found in green tea.

But there are 2 other teas you should know about, that could easily be just as healthy, and possibly have even more potent health benefits…

the main thing is that have less studies on them, so they don’t get as much publicity as green tea.

The First is from South America:

The first one I will mention is Yerba Mate, a South American herb. I’ve developed quite a taste for yerba mate over the last couple of years, and it is a rich source of antioxidants, and particularly rich in polyphenols.

Although green tea gets a lot of press about it’s antioxidants, don’t overlook the benefits and antioxidant power of yerba mate tea. Plus, I think the taste is great!

The caffeine content of yerba mate varies between 0.7% and 1.7% of dry weight , which is a little more than tea leaves (0.3–0.9%) and far less than ground coffee (up to 3.2%).

And one from Africa:

The next lesser known tea I wanted to mention that often takes a backseat to the spotlight of green tea is Rooibos tea (aka – red tea).

However, some argue that the antioxidant power and health benefits of Rooibos tea can easily rival green tea… it’s just been studied less than green tea so it doesn’t get the same attention.

Rooibos tea has no caffeine but is also an amazing source of different types of antioxidants compared to green tea. It’s rich in minerals, flavanoids, and plenty of other unique antioxidants. It also has a great taste that you might like.

Since rooibos tea has no caffeine, it’s great to have near bedtime as an alternative to chamomile tea.

So, although most health professionals and media outlets like to talk about green tea and it’s benefits, don’t overlook the powerful health benefits of teas from the other continents — in this case, Rooibos and Yerba Mate teas!

Cheers!

This post highlights 3 more methods that are usually not even considered by your average person when trying to gain new muscle…

Tip # 4:

High Frequency Lifting

The reason it works: If you could train a muscle group 50 times a year or 150 times a year, which would get you better results? 150 – assuming you are recovered before the next stimulus on the muscle.

How to make it work: train each body part with up to 3-4 workouts per week. But you must manipulate the weights, exercises and rep ranges. You will not lift heavy weights 3 days in the week all on the same muscle group or else the joints and nervous system would be overtaxed.

Methods you can experiment with: An example is training a body part 3 times in a week, while incorporating a heavy day, medium day and a light day; using all different exercises, sets and reps. Here’s an example starting with the chest:

On Monday you do a power day of 4 sets of 6-8 reps, 2 minutes worth of bench presses. On Wednesday you have a medium day of 3 sets of 8-10 reps, 90 seconds rest with Incline Dumbbell Press. On Friday you do an endurance day of 2 sets of 25, with 30 seconds rest, for Decline Chest Flys.

Tip # 5:

Positions of Flexion Training

The reason it works: hit each muscle group from three different angles each workout.

How to make it work: For your first exercise you hit the bulk of the muscle fibers with a mid-range mass-builder exercise, which would be a multi- joint/compound movement. Shoulder Presses, Bench Press, Squatting and Deadlifting are all perfect examples.

Your second exercise would target the muscle from a stretched position – a very vulnerable angle that forces a lot of untapped fiber recruitment. An incline bicep curl is a great example.

Your third exercise you select a peak-contraction exercise, which challenges the muscle to contract against resistance. This further helps activate every single muscle fiber without over fatiguing or over killing specific movements of a muscle (a very common mistake). A tricep kickback is a great example of a peak contraction exercise.

Methods you can experiment with: When you split up your body-parts, I see very little reason to incorporate more than 3 exercises per body part. Each body part should have a mid-range movement, a stretch movement and a contraction movement to maximize all the muscle fibers and prevent overtraining. A killer bicep workout would only include standing barbell curls, incline bicep curls and concentration curls.

Positions of Flexion is the most sensible way to organize your exercise choices instead of the shotgun way of just picking a multitude of exercises for a body part without any specific reason.

Tip # 6:

Significant Amounts of Unilateral Lifting

The reason it works: it’s harder for the body to recruit the growth muscle fibers during bilateral movements than during unilateral exercises. Beginners often hit a plateau because of an inefficient nervous system so they can’t recruit the high threshold growth fibers. People with longer limbs experience the same difficulty in recruiting their high threshold motor units.

How to make it work: incorporate 3-week training blocks of pure unilateral (one arm or one leg at a time) movements to better recruit the nervous system and ultimately improve the recruitment of the high threshold motor units when returning to bilateral movements.

Methods you can experiment with: Don’t drop all of your bilateral work and use this method sparingly, especially if you’re not a beginner or have shorter limbs. Here are unilateral exercises to target each side independently or alternatively: alternating lunge, 1 leg-curl, 1-leg deadlift, 1-leg squat, step ups, 1-leg hop, 1-leg press, 1-leg stiff leg deadlift, 1-leg back extension.

Better training and regular inclusion of unilateral training will optimize bilateral training and maximize the high threshold motor units for growth.

Hope this helps you to achieve your training and muscle goals.

I’ve just created a new post about some killer tips and tricks to spur your body into new muscle growth.

As you know, building lean muscle mass is the ONE thing you MUST do to:

1. Shoot your metabolism through the roof
2. Increase your caloric expenditure thereby allowing you to eat more food and stay lean and chiseled
3. Make sure you don’t turn soft this winter.

Tip # 1:

Unstable Surface Training to Activate the Nervous System

The reason it works: unstable training can increase muscle activation due to increased demand on the neuromuscular system in order to stabilize the articulation of joints caused by an unstable surface used as the base of support.

How to make it work:

Unstable training (such as performing a pushup with your hands on a stability ball or 2 medicine balls) does result in a decrease in force production, which prevents maximum motor unit recruitment. However, unstable surfaces do “wake up” the nervous system and its best application is to perform these exercises prior to the real strength training exercises.

Methods you can experiment with:
You don’t have to use an unstable exercise for every body part or exercise, but it can be excellent for a stubborn muscle group. A stubborn muscle group is often a result of the lack of activation of the CNS, thus using an unstable exercise could fix the problem. Let’s use for example push-ups on a medicine ball or stability ball superset with a DB chest press. The superset method is best practice and should be used earlier in the workout as unstable surface exercises are fatiguing. Another example, squats on a BOSU ball followed by barbell squats.

Other details: you don’t always have to be on an unstable surface to “wake up” the nervous system. You can perform exercises on 1 foot, with your eyes closed; or create a situation where your base of support is limited.

Tip # 2:

Heavy Lifting Cycles

The reason it works: muscle damage, activation of the high threshold muscle fibers (growth fibers), potentiation of the nervous system; which means when you get back to your normal bodybuilding routine you will be able to recruit more muscle fibers for the same exercise.

How to make it work: use every means in your power to increase your maximal strength, power and explosiveness. Dedicate a period of time each year to this style of training – it’s in my experience that after a period of focused heavy lifting, your gains from the subsequent program are always far superior.

Methods you can experiment with: regular sets in the 2-4 and 4-6 rep ranges, rest-pause sets (multiple mini-sets of heavy weight using 90% of your max weight taking only 10-seconds rest between reps), wave loading (1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3), contrast loading (1 x 1, 1 x 5, 1 x 1, 1 x 5, 1 x 1, 1 x 5).

Other details: longer rest intervals of 2-3 minutes in between sets are required during heavy lifting phases.

Tip # 3:

Volume Lifting

The reason it works: cumulative fatigue, hormonal production, and achieves a good pump. If you understand the importance of pre and post workout nutrition, jamming your muscles with workout drinks that include dextrose and amino acids, then guess what? Increase blood flow to a specific muscle will increase the amount of aminos being pumped into that muscle and it will significantly increase amino uptake. This means a much more anabolic (muscle building) response to your workout.

How to make it work: maximize the pump as well as muscle fatigue.

Methods you can experiment with: regular sets in the 8-10, 10-12 and 12-15 rep ranges, drop sets, pre-fatigue (super set isolation plus multi-joint), post fatigue (superset multi-joint plus isolation), giant sets (3 sets in a row for the same muscle group), slow reps ( 6 seconds up, 6 seconds down), “burns” (partial reps added at the end of a regular set).

Other details: 30-60 seconds between sets (or less). Do not chase after a pump in each set. Strategically place it at the end of each workout for your very last set and this will greatly increase the rate of muscle gain.

If you’d like to read more about some fantastic ways to get lean and build muscle, check out Mike Geary’s ebook here

Hi, welcome to our blog.

Here we plan to keep you posted with up to date information on some of the best tips and secrets we can find throughout the web.  All designed to help battle the bulge, and turn your current body, into something you can be proud of.

Check back often

Visit our main site to join our mailing list for newsletters, recipes, exercise programs and more.