Start Making Muscle Gains

http://sabatella.irondoll.hop.clickbank.net

 

How to Sift Through Information Overload and Start Making Muscle Gains

When you can overcome information overload you can start making the total body transformation you want.

Information overload is having SO much information available that you are incapable of assimilating ANY of it and you begin to feel so overwhelmed and totally lost.

An example of this is, you start a new training program you found online to build muscle and it consists of working each body part once a week, 3 exercises per body part, 5 sets of each exercise in the 12-15 rep range.

You had a good first two weeks and as you are going into your third week of training you come across another bit of muscle-building information suggesting that to build muscle you need fewer sets and reps. So, you begin to implement the "new information" and found it was just too intense for you at that moment, and feeling a bit discouraged you skip a few workouts which turn into a missing a full week of training.

You felt your first go at muscle building was a failure so you do more research and find another training program to follow, the full body workout. You jump right back into training full of motivation and begin training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday hitting your entire body each and every workout, 2-4 sets and 10-12 reps. Again, you found such an intense program a bit much for your new bodybuilding journey and opt to find something better with continued research.

STOP. This is crazy.

Information overload subjects gather more and more information on something such as training for muscle growth, then executes very little of the program for a short amount of time, then they get MORE information on the same topic and executes little of it and then quiets out of confusion and/or frustration.

Look, there is no need to keep singing the same song at a different pitch. First you need to know and understand the basis of building muscle. The bottom line to how a muscle grows is...

• Eat enough calories to support muscle growth.
• Train intensely enough to stimulate growth, without over training.
• Rest to allow your muscles to grow.

Now, can you advance on each topic and even add a few more? Why sure, but if you are spinning your wheels with training and not going anywhere, it's time to evaluate it and make some changes. You CAN get the upper hand and make your program work for you.

First choose a goal. Let's say gain muscle.

Second, choose ONE training system, program, routine, idea, etc. I don't care what it is, but just choose ONE.

Third, act on your chosen training system. This simply means just do it.

Forth, stick to the damn thing. Stay with that training program for at least 12 weeks.

Fifth, remove any doubt about your chosen training program and put full trust into it.

Sixth, be consistent. Just keep implementing your training program week after week, for 12 weeks.

Seventh, know what's realistic in your goals and final outcome. Know that you won't gain 15 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks, but do understand that you can realistically build 6 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks.

Eighth, visualize when training, see your muscles growing when you weight train. Your mind is your most POWERFUL muscle and tool, so use it to your advantage.

Ninth, visualize the final product. See in your minds eye what you will look like after 12 weeks on your training program.

Tenth, understand that building muscle is a process and you have to implement little daily disciplines such as eating for muscle growth, weight training for muscle growth, resting to allow for muscle growth to occur.

Eleventh, avoid that nagging itch to get the newest muscle building product to hit the market. Finish YOUR current training program.

Once you have a true understanding of the basics of what you are doing, you can safely move on to other training notions, ideas, principles, programs, etc.

Now... If you want the real deal muscle gain training program, I encourage you to check out Iron Dolls - Female Bodybuilding Secrets. It's the ENTIRE muscle gain formula, everything from how to eat, what to eat, when to eat to how to train, when to train, as well as optional supplements to boost your natural muscle building process.

Not only that, I've also included a full years worth of training programs starting from beginner and moving all the way to advanced training. So if you are a newbie, you can have the training programs you need to make the muscle gains you want.

And the cool thing about my training programs is that they tell you exactly which body part to train, when, how many sets and reps you need, and instructs you to take a week off before starting the next one.

Each level contains 3 training cycles to optional muscle growth. If you want THE female bodybuilding training system and a full years worth of training mapped out to the T, you NEED to get "Iron Dolls - Female Bodybuilding Secrets" RIGHT NOW. Get your copy NOW while they last at http://sabatella.irondoll.hop.clickbank.net

P.S. Look I'm not going to blow sunshine up your skirt. I know when I started bodybuilding I wanted the facts, what worked. I poured all my 20+ years of research, experiment, and trial and error into my Iron Dolls - Female Bodybuilding System. It's the EXACT same system I used to put on stunning muscle. It can can work for, you too.

Don't hesitate any longer. Get THE training system desinged by a woman for women... "Iron Dolls" - THE women's muscle building system. Order NOW...  

 http://sabatella.irondoll.hop.clickbank.net

USP Labs Jack3d Review

 

 

USP Labs Jack3d Review

This week I'll be reviewing USP Labs pre-workout powder Jack3d.  This is a hot item and many stores can't even keep it on their shelves.  People really seem to like USP Labs products and there has been much talk about them around the "water cooler".  All this talk got me curious so I gave a tub of it the old college try.  Jack3d is marketed as a concentrated pre-workout formula.  The serving size is much smaller than most pre-workouts mainly because USP simplified its formula down to the few core components.  This isn't a pre-workout powder with a million (usually ineffective) ingredients.  Jack3d contains a 4.1 gram proprietary blend of arginine AKG, creatine monohydrate, beta alanine, caffeine, geranium extract, and shizandrol A.  I'm sure that you know arginine is good for pumps, creatine is good for size and strength and beta alanine is good for muscular endurance but what I'd like to get into here is the more exotic type ingredients.  Geranium extract is a central nervous system stimulant like caffeine only geranium extract has more of an amphetimine-like effect and can really intensify workouts.  The stimulant effect is further maximized by combining the geranium extract with caffeine.  USP Labs also adds an all but unknown ingredient called shizandrol A.  To put the science in laymans terms, shizandrol A helps to lower inhibition and increases dopamine and epinephrine in the brain.  Think more energy and extra confidence when getting under that 315lb barbell.  Alot of weightlifting is psychological and to progress sometimes we must break through mental barriers; shizandrol A can help with that.  In conclusion I would say that USP Labs Jack3d is a pre-workout powder heavily dosed with stimulants that will jack up workout intensity.  People that like that "caffeine buzz" before a workout will like this stuff.  As far as muscle building goes, Jack3d wouldn't necessarily be my first choice due to the low dosing of the creatine, arginine and beta alanine.  If you are looking for a pre-workout powder with a bit more muscle building potential I would suggest BioRhythm's Juice or SSL's Rush. 

http://sabatella.anacooking.hop.clickbank.net?w=trial

Whey Protein Information

                                          

                                          

Information About Whey Protein - The Hard Facts

By Ivan Nikolov

copyright © 2008 Ivan Nikolov

Being closely involved in the sports nutrition industry (as a manager at the Vitamin Shoppe store) I often get asked one question: "What is a good whey protein?"

Unfortunately, although the question can be really simple, the answer isn't.

When I'm at the store I usually don't go into the deepest detail, but here in this article I am going to do so. My hope after all will be that you, who reads this, will have a much better understanding of what you are exposed to, as far as advertisements and product choices on the market.

That said, I am going to start with what whey actually is. After that I will go into greater detail on the different types of commercially available whey proteins.

It all starts here...

Whey is a byproduct of cheese making. It is the liquid part that is separated from the curd. In its raw form, other than protein, whey contains fat, cholesterol, lactose. Before it reaches our shaker bottles, the fat and lactose (milk sugar) in whey have to be filtered out. More about this in a little while.

Raw whey is rich in protein substances, called native micro fractions. These include alpha lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin, glycomacropeptide, immunoglobulins, serum albumin, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase.

When due to the type of processing used, some of these native micro fractions are destroyed or lost, we say that the whey protein is denatured.

Why are these native micro peptides important?

Some of these proteins are sources of essential amino acids, as well as large amounts of branched-chain amino acids - BCAA's (BCAA's are the only amino acids that don't undergo conversion in the liver, and are immediately available to your muscle cells).

Others have different functions in the body, such as immune system support and modulation, anti-oxidative and cell protecting properties, antibacterial, anti microbial functions, and more.

Let's look more closely at a few of them.

Alpha lactalbumin, also known as alpha-protein for example is the most abundant protein in mother's milk.

Serum albumin is a precursor to glutathione - a major antioxidant and detoxifying agent.

Immunoglobulins, also called antibodies, have the function of finding and destroying viruses and bacteria, which makes them primary immune system supporting factors.

Now you can clearly see why it's important for whey protein to retain its protein micro fractions during the manufacturing process.

What are the different types of whey proteins, available on the market?

Whey proteins can be divided in three major categories:

* concentrates (WPC)
* hydrolizates
* isolates (WPI)

Further, isolates can be sub-divided into ion-exchange isolates and low temperature micro filtered (ultra filtered) isolates.

Whey concentrate (WPC)

Whey concentrate is the lowest grade whey protein. Its actual protein content can range between 35 and 85%. The most common whey concentrate, used in sports nutrition formulations is WPC 80%.

Whey concentrate contains high lactose and fat levels. It also has high cholesterol content. Most commonly WPC is derived using high temperatures, which denature it (destroy its native micro fractions).

The high temperatures, used in the process, also oxidize large part of the present cholesterol. Oxidized cholesterol is the type of cholesterol that can cause hardening of arteries and cardio-vascular problems.

Many of the sports nutrition protein blends are mainly comprised of cheap, denatured whey protein concentrate of low biological value.

Hydrolyzed whey

Hydrolyzed whey is a protein, which has been partially pre-digested. The longer protein structures in it are broken down to shorter ones. The main property of this type of whey is its low allergenicity.

There are two things you should know about hydrolyzed whey.

First, when whey protein is treated enzymatically, its native proteins are partially or fully lost. In other words hydrolyzed whey can be denatured to a large degree, depending on the extend of pre-digestion.

Second, during pre-digestion, its long chain protein structures are broken down and are brought to forms that are very close to the actual amino acids the body can use for repair and tissue building.

There are a couple of amino acids that are naturally present in very large quantities in whey. These are glutamic acid and aspartic acid.

Glutamic acid, or glutamate is a neurotransmitter. It is know as excitotoxin and it serves to enhance one of the five main tastes - umami (savory). Glutamate in large quantities overstimulates certain parts of the brain, which can lead to brain damage.

By the way, I'm sure you've heard of MSG - a common taste enhancer and food additive. Well MSG stands for mono-sodium glutamate, a salt of the amino acid glutamate. Now you know when you see MSG or glutamate what the possible consequences could be.

You may think now "Since glutamic acid is the amino acid, which is present in high quantities in whey, what makes hydrolyzed whey worse than concentrate or isolate?"

Well, it's one thing when the body itself has to break down the protein into amino acids - it metabolizes as much of the protein it needs. But, it's a different thing when you ingest pre-digested protein and this way you force the body to uptake all of the proteins in a form already available for use.

Whey isolate (WPI) - ion-exchange, microfiltration

Ion-exchange whey isolate

This protein has a high protein content - 90% and more. It has very low (or none at all) amounts of lactose, fat and cholesterol. It sounds good on first reading, but it actually isn't. Let's see why.

The process of deriving ion-exchange whey includes separating the protein from the rest of the substances in raw whey using electrical charge. This is done using hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

The process involves great changes in the pH levels, which destroy most of the important native to whey protein fractions like alpha lactalbumin, glycomacropeptides, immunoglobulins, and lactoferrin.

Beta-lactoglobulin globulin, which is know to cause allergies, can sustain the pH changes, and can become the most predominant native protein structure in ion-exchange whey.

Microfiltered whey isolate

Microfiltered whey isolate is the most undenatured form of whey. Its native protein structures are kept intact to a large degree. It has 90% and higher protein content. It is virtually lactose, fat and cholesterol free.

During the process of microfiltration the undesired particles in whey (fat, lactose) are separated from the protein using ceramic microfilters in a low temperature environment.

After filtration the whey protein is spray-dried again using low temperatures.

Micro- (and ultra-) filtered whey isolate is the protein with the highest biological value of all proteins. Its characteristics are:

·       * It stimulates the production of glutathione

·       * It strengthens the immune system

·       * It has antioxidant and anti-cancer properties

·       * It promotes muscle growth

Currently the only patented method for low temperature microfiltration is the Cross-Flow Microfiltration process, developed by Glanbia.

To recap

Whey protein concentrate (WPC):

·       * Is the cheapest whey protein

·       * Is denatured - the beneficial protein structures are destroyed

·       * Contains higher amounts of cholesterol, oxidized to a large degree

Hydrolyzed whey protein:

·       * Has hypoallergenic properties

·       * Is partially predigested - the degrees of predigestion vary

·       * Its amino acids are more readily available, one of them is known to have excitotoxic properties (glutamate)

·       * May play a role in excitotoxin-induced brain damage

Ion-exchange whey protein isolate:

·       * Has low if any amounts of lactose, fats and cholesterol

·       * Many of the native whey protein structures are destroyed

·       * It is denatured to a large degree

·       * Beta-lactoglobulin globulin is present in higher quantities, which may lead to allergies

Microfiltered whey protein isolate:

·       * Has low if any amounts of lactose, fats and cholesterol

·       * Retains its native proteins intact

·       * Is twice as expensive as WPC and ion-exchange protein

·       * Promotes muscle repair and growth

·       * Strengthens the immune function

·       * Has detoxifying and antioxidant properties

So, the big question is what you should look for when buying whey protein. Here is what I suggest:

1. Check the cholesterol content on the nutrition facts label. If it's more than 15mg per scoop that's a major sign that the main protein in the blend is WPC. If the budget isn't very limited don't buy.

2. Check the fat content on the label. Anything other than zero should tell you - WPC is the main ingredient. Don't buy.

3. Look at the ingredients list. If the first thing you see is anything else but cross-flow micro- (ultra-) filtered whey isolate - don't buy.

4. If you find the price relatively cheap for the quantity in the bottle - don't buy. It's most likely WPC.

But..

5. If the fat content is zero, the carbohydrate content is zero, the cholesterol is less than 5mg, and the first ingredient on the "Nutrition facts" list is CFM whey - you should consider buying!

6. If anywhere on the bottle you see CFM® or Provon® - again you should consider buying.

Here are a few sources of high-grade, denatured WPI:

·       * ProteinFactory (ProteinFactory.com) - CFM Whey

·       * Musclemania SuperBody Nutrition - EZ Whey

·       * Swanson Health Products (SwansonVitamins.com) - Premium Whey Protein Powder

·       * Integrated Supplements (IntegratedSupplements.com) - 100% Natural CFM Whey Protein Isolate

Note: I am not affiliated with the companies and supplement lines, mentioned above. These are purely the companies I've found to offer the most genuine CFM whey. You may want to do your search.

ABOUT THE AUTOR

Ivan Nikolov, an accomplished natural bodybuilder shares a wealth of information on Natural Bodybuilding and Sports Nutrition on his website http://www.ivannikolov.com/. Start using his comprehensive Free Nutrition Software today!

IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms

Using THIS Tool in Your Figure Prep

 

Using THIS Tool in Your Figure Prep Can Work Against You if You Don't Know How to Manage it

http://62d7egm6qrkdo0c1jqbqbwem3i.hop.clickbank.net/

Prepping for a figure competition takes a lot of dedication, patience, and understanding. To compete in figure sets you apart from the rest. Therefore, it is ESSENTIAL that you don't fall victim to one of the weight loss tools widely used.

That tool is the dreaded scale. It is one of the many weight managing tools you love to hate. Newbies, seasoned figure competitors, and even bodybuilders can be scale watching junkies.

While using the scale is fine and does have it's advantages, most women have given it SO much power to it and let it dictate their progress and self-worth.

The ABSOLUTE WORST THING you can do in your figure prep is become a slave to the scale. Far too many people see the scale as a dictator rather than a tool. If you get too wrapped in the scale weight number you can end up in a scale weight vortex, or rather... Scale Hell!

The worst thing you can do is become fixated on the perfect number you create in your head. No one (judges, spectators, other competitors) cares what you weigh in your figure competition. Weight is irrelevant. What you are being judged on is your physique, your muscularity, definition, skin tone, and posing.

If you are ready to step on stage at 135 pounds and look GREAT and can win, why would you want to drop down to 129? Lose muscle? Get that "perfect number" out of your head and focus on the perfect physique.

When training for a figure competition you train to build lean muscle mass and lose body fat, not just drop scale weight. When you can manage muscle gain and fat loss simultaneously, the number on the scale may seem stagnant.

The scale will only tell a small part of the story. To get accurate fat loss and muscle gain reports you need to take your body fat percentage. When you know your body fat percentage you will know exactly how much lean muscle mass you have and how much body fat you have.

I find many newbies fearful of gaining muscle because they think, or have been told, that muscle weighs more than fat. This is false. Muscle does not weight more than fat. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weight the exact same… a pound.

Muscle, however, is much more dense and takes up less space than fat. Another plus is that a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat. That's why it is ESSENTIAL you prep to keep your muscle and lose the body fat.

Ideally, you should focus on gaining some good muscle weight in the off-season, while managing body fat. You don’t want your body fat to soar through the roof in the off-season, but it is okay if it goes up a tad.

Then, when it comes time to diet down for your competition you will have added muscle to have a high BMR to burn more calories.

If you need to lose several pounds of body fat for your contest, your scale weight should move down slowly when body fat drops. Don’t put too much focus and emphasis on the scale because your goal is fat loss, not fat AND muscle loss.

The scale number is not the determining factor if you are in shape, lean enough, competition ready, etc. It’s just a measuring device that weighs all the components of you including, muscle, fat, organs, water, blood, etc. It cannot distinguish between each.

Your body should be reshaping and you should be losing inches when you prep for your figure competition.

The scale can be a wonderful weight management tool, but it can also be the one factor that keeps you stressed out.

http://62d7egm6qrkdo0c1jqbqbwem3i.hop.clickbank.net/

The BEST way to lose body fat and keep as much lean muscle tissue as possible is manage your calories, NOT cut your calories. You can lower your calories to where it forces your body to burn fat, but if you cut them too much too soon, you'll only lose muscle and lower your BMR.

If you really want the true Figure Prep Dieting, Training, and Cardio secrets, I suggest you get my best-selling "Figure Competition Secrets" System.

You can download "Figure Competition Secrets" RIGHT NOW and start your A to Z figure prep immediately! Get all the in's and out's, twists and turns that go along with figure prep and have the head-turning body on stage and even WIN!

Go ahead and download the most POWERFUL Figure Prep System around... You Deserve It!

Grab your copy right here >>

http://62d7egm6qrkdo0c1jqbqbwem3i.hop.clickbank.net/

Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty Training Advanced Secrets

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=100

 

 

By Paul Becker
copyright © 2008 Paul Becker

While many people know the basics of Heavy Duty training, the advanced techniques are known by only a few. The advanced and super advanced techniques were fully researched and tested by Mike in the late 70's, but following the infamous 1980 Mr.Olympia, Mike retired from competition. After that he worked as a personal trainer and concentrated on what works best for beginners and intermediates. And so Heavy Duty for advanced and super advanced trainees became all but lost, even though Mike made the best gains of his life using these techniques.

Climbing The Ladder Of Intensity

Mike knew that as a bodybuilder grew bigger and stronger, he would eventually require an even more intense training stress if he hopes to continue progressing. If the stress is not more intense he will stagnate and stay at the same level of size and strength.

Beginners

For beginners starting a weight training program is a huge leap in intensity from not training, and this is why they make such rapid gains at first. To keep progressing they can simply keep increasing the weights and decreasing the rest periods between sets. When they stop making gains this way they are ready for the next level of intensity.

Intermediates
At this stage a more intense stress is required, this is be done by using Pre-Exhaustion sets, for example a set of Leg Extensions to failure followed by a set of Leg Press (or Squats) to failure. Also forced reps and negatives to go beyond the point of positive failure can be occasionally used. These techniques will carry someone into the advanced level, Mike reached this point and using these techniques he was unable to get bigger or stronger, this forced him to do further research into the highest levels of intensity.
Advanced
At this level Mike found that he was so strong and his willingness to work at maximum effort was so high that each rep of a set was so intense that oxygen debt and lactic acid build up was practically immediate and severe enough that he was forced to stop due to cardiovascular limitation rather then because he reached a point of actual muscular failure. He looked for a way that he could do even more intense reps while at the same time slowing the build up of lactic acid and the onset of oxygen debt in his muscles.
The way he did this was to do his own version of Rest Pause training, he used a weight that would allow him to do one all out maximum rep, then rested for 10 seconds, this would give enough time for his muscle to clear out waste products and bring new fuel and oxygen so he could do another all out rep. After the second rep and another 10 seconds rest he would have his training partner help him do another all out rep, or he would reduce the weight by 20%. He would then rest 15 seconds and do his last all out rep. This was considered one set, with each and every rep of the set being an all out effort. An example rest pause workout that Mike would do for his chest was Pec Deck 1 set of 4 Rest Pause reps, Incline Bench Press 1 set of 4 Rest Pause reps and Dips (Negative only style) 1 set of 5 reps. Mike then had to ask himself what could be more intense then Rest Pause training?
Super Advanced Heavy Duty
Mikes next step up the ladder of intensity was what he called Infitonic training; he followed each maximum positive rep of a Rest Pause set with a maximum negative Rep. He had his training partner push down a little on the negative and he would fight to resist it, lowering it as slowly as possible. He then rested 15 seconds before his next maximum positive and negative rep.
The very highest level of Heavy Duty he called Omni-Contraction training, meaning all contraction. There are three ways a muscle can contract, that is lifting a weight (positive), lowering a weight (negative) and holding a weight (static).
In Omni-Contraction training Mike would make each a maximum effort. He would do his one all out maximum positive rep, followed by a maximum negative, but during the negative he would stop the weight and actually try to raise the weight again (which was impossible). He would do these static holds at three different points during the negative rep, the first was at the top, close to the fully contracted position, the second was halfway down and the third was close to the bottom position. Each position was held for a count of 3.
The Results
Mike and his brother Ray used these advanced and super advanced techniques in the summer of 1979 and it resulted in Mike gaining 14 pounds of pure muscle in 9 weeks (while losing fat and at an already advanced level of mass and strength), and winning his first pro show beating the likes of Robby Robinson, Danny Padilla and Roy Callendar. While Ray was able to improve so much he walked in and took the Mr. America crown that year.
So maybe, just maybe, if you have tried Heavy Duty and it stopped working it was because you didn't know the higher techniques on your way up the ladder of intensity. Try them for yourself and find out.

About The Author: Paul Becker is a natural (steroid free for life) bodybuilder and fitness consultant. For more information on Bodybuilding and Bodybuilding Supplements visit his website at http://www.trulyhuge.com/

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=100

Building a Better Butt

Building a Better Butt

Building a bigger, better butt comes down to muscle. Muscle is what will give your butt the shape you want. Everybody has got muscle and everybody can build muscle. It’s just a matter of finding out what works for YOU.

In this free pdf, I’m going to show exactly how to develop your rear end with a simple, targeted 3-step plan. You will know exactly what it takes to build the butt you’re looking for!

First off, I want to make one thing clear…I’m not going to waste your time with a whole lot of fluff and talk about WHY you want a better butt. You KNOW why you want a better butt…

…to look better, feel more confident and even PERFORM better in sports!

Click the Image Below to Download Your FREE PDF

http://www.drugfreebodybuilding.com/pdf/better-butt.pdf

Simple Trick For Eye Popping Muscle Definition

At the moment I am wrapping up the final workout program of the Metabolic Masterpiece Renaissance Phase where the inspiration for each program came from some of the classic physique artists that have impacted me over the years. The current 4-week program from the Renaissance Phase was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was my very first role model when I began training in my parents basement at the age of 14. I had posters of him everywhere.

One thing that caught my attention back then, was seeing Arnold posing and flexing between sets and after his workout. I still hit the rewind button when watching Pumping Iron to see his muscles ballooning up as he flexed between sets. Obviously this is not something unique to Arnold, but he was the first person who I had heard this advice from. One of the ideas behind flexing between sets is to bring out the striations in your muscles and make them pop out with incredible definition.
I’m a little too modest to flex between sets while working out at the gym, but I try to do a little flexing, that’s not so obvious to others around me. What I have been doing is spending 5-minutes flexing after my workout. Because I do body part split routines, I can just focus on a single body part and really squeeze everything out of it. The first few times that I tried this I couldn’t hold a pose longer than 3 seconds without shaking like crazy. Now, I’m getting much better and the results are beginning to show.

Try This Trick At The End Of Your Workout

As I thought about the benefits of flexing between sets and at the end of the workout, I began to wonder what kind of an impact it would make if I was flexing while holding a weight at the peak contraction and how I could incorporate this into my workouts. I decided that the last exercise for each body part would be the ideal place to capitalize on this trick. Here’s the idea of how it would work…
Let’s say that today you’re split includes chest and biceps. After performing the all the sets for your main chest workout, you would finish off by performing some low cable pulley’s (while standing). Here’s the trick… when you come up to the full contraction you will hold it for a 10 count. Actually… you aren’t just going to hold it… You’re going to squeeze the heck out of your pecs. Lower the weight at a normal pace, then repeat 4 more times for a total of 5 repetitions. Three sets should be more than enough to gain the maximum benefit of this strategy. The weight that you select will be fairly light, but not so light that you can do more than 5 reps while squeezing the heck out of your muscles. By the 5th rep your muscles should be shaking like crazy, especially on the 3rd set.
Then you would move onto your biceps routine, performing the main exercises for the workout and finishing off with something like hammer curls where you squeeze at the peak contraction for a 10 count, completing 5 reps in 3 sets.
This is a great practice in Mind-Muscle Connection! If you go too heavy and try to hold, you will find that other muscle will begin to come into play and you won’t get the same kind of INTENSE contraction as you would with the lighter weight. Remember… it’s not just a “hold”… you want to squeeze the heck out of the muscle that you’re working.
Examples of other exercises would be…
Leg extensions, leg curls, reverse triceps pressdowns, bent over raises, cable crunches, and wide grip pulldowns.

Why Protein is CRITICAL For Optimal Fat Loss...

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=500

Protein is an extremely important nutrient whether your goal is to lose fat, gain muscle or just tone yourself up. It is the main structural nutrient in your body, making up the bulk of your muscles and organs. Protein is essential for proper hormone function and immune system health. Most importantly, for our purposes, protein is used for building and repairing muscle tissue.
When you are trying to lose fat, you reduce your calories. Unfortunately, your body views fat stores as more precious than your muscle tissue and will tend to eat up muscle tissue before it goes to fat for energy. This physiological adaptation used to protect our ancestors from famine but works against us now.
This is very unfortunate because muscle tissue is a great calorie-burner. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you're doing absolutely nothing! Protecting your muscle tissue makes fat loss so much easier, it will amaze you. Not only that, it will help you keep that fat off permanently!

What can you do to protect your muscle tissue?

The first thing you can do is exercise. Exercise, especially resistance training, provides a stimulus for your body that sends it a signal saying "keep this muscle, you're going to need it."
The second thing you can do is provide your body with enough protein. This can be in the form of food or supplements.
Good food sources of protein include chicken, fish, eggs, lean meats, legumes (beans), soy, and dairy products. Protein supplements are derived from food sources but are concentrated for convenience and effectiveness.

How much protein do you need?

The standard recommendation for athletes is between 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (or 0.5 to 0.7 grams per pound of bodyweight per day), though some research indicates a ratio as high as 2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (0.9 grams per pound) is beneficial. This means if you weigh 150 pounds, you should try to eat between 75 and 105 grams and up to around 135 grams of protein per day.
Essentially, you should experiment with your protein intake to find out what works best for you. As far as importance in your supplement program goes, I would rank protein as next in importance to a good multi-vitamin.
When I made my first grand attempt at fat loss, I made the mistake of neglecting protein and it cost me. Don't make the same mistake I did!

How to Maximize The Results You Get From Your Protein Powder. Timing Is Everything!

Whether it be for fat loss or muscle gain, I always recommend taking a good protein supplement. The reason for this is simple: it is a convenient way to get high-quality protein without excess calories.
Be aware, however, that in no way am I advocating that you live on protein powder (like the dangerous Liquid Protein diets that used to be popular) alone. The key point to understand here is that a protein supplement is exactly what the name suggests: a supplement. It should be taken in addition to a nutritious diet in order to achieve a certain purpose, in this case increased protein intake.
Protein powders and protein bars can also be used as meal replacements on occasion, especially when you are on the go. They are far more nutritious than a fast food meal and more convenient.
The most popular and highest quality protein powder is whey protein. Whey is very digestable and is used efficiently in the body.
You can maximize the effects you get from your protein supplement simply by knowing exactly when to take it. Here is a list of the when, why and how of effective protein supplementation, ranked in order of importance.
1. Immediately After A Workout
If you only take protein once per day, this is the absolute best time to take it. Immediately after you finish your workout, your body needs raw materials to rebuild and recover with. If you don't supply the raw materials through eating, your body will break down muscle from elsewhere in your body in order to rebuild the damaged areas. This is very counterproductive as you can well imagine.
By taking in some protein (20 to 30 grams or so) within minutes after exercise, you provide your body with the raw materials it needs to recover without breaking down it's own muscle tissue.
2. An Hour After A Workout
About an hour following a workout, your body has settled down from the excitement and is ready to really start rebuilding. The protein that you took in immediately following the workout has been metabolized and your body is looking for more. Another protein shake at this time is a good way to help speed recovery. Try to take in another 20 to 30 grams about an hour after working out.
3. First Thing In The Morning
Immediately upon waking, or as soon after that as you can manage, take a scoop of protein powder. Your body has just been through an (approximately) 8 hour fast and is hungry for nutrients. Feed your body!
Protein powder is more quickly assimilated than solid food and gets into your muscles faster. This protein shot gives your metabolism a boost, which can help with fat loss. Be sure to follow it with a good breakfast, of course.
4. Last Thing At Night
Prepare your body for the long overnight fast by giving it a little something to work with. A good combination for this purpose is to mix a scoop of whey protein in with a small glass of milk.
Whey is what's known as a "fast" protein, meaning that it's digested quickly, while milk protein (casein) is what's known as a "slow" protein, meaning it's digested relatively slowly. At night, you want your protein to be metabolized slowly so that your body gets a more even supply over the course of the night. By mixing "fast" and "slow" proteins, you get the benefits of the higher-quality whey with the slower digestion time of the milk.
5. In-between Meals
A quick protein shake can be a great snack in between meals. It helps keep your body supplied with protein all day long. This is especially useful if you tend to have long periods of time in-between meals. It could mean the difference between losing muscle and building or keeping muscle!
6. With Meals
Taking a protein supplement with meals is a handy way to increase the protein content of a meal. This is perfect for when you ake
a meal that is somewhat low in protein.
7. In The Middle Of The Night
This is a trick that bodybuilders sometimes use in order to keep their muscles supplied with protein throughout the night. Keep a pre-mixed protein shake right beside your bed. Although some trainers have been known to set alarms to wake up to drink it, I prefer to have it there waiting just in case I wake up, but I don't try to wake up on purpose. If I don't wake up, it's right there ready for me to drink first thing in the morning! This strategy is more targeted for muscle growth rather than fat loss.
By following these protein-intake recommendations, you will increase the effectiveness of your supplementation. Even if you choose to take advantage of only one or two of these timing techniques, you will certainly see an improvement in your recovery ability.

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=500

How I Gained 25 Pounds in One Week

It started as a challenge to myself. If I took all the knowledge I had about weight gain and put it to work all at once, how much weight could I add to myself in one week? What would my upper limit be? I had some vacation time coming up where I could do nothing but eat, sleep and train so I decided to do it. This is my story...
I knew from the start that this weight gain certainly wouldn't be all muscle. In fact, it's impossible to gain that much weight in muscle in only one week (unless you're a baby elephant!). I was going to gain a combination of muscle, water and most likely some fat as well. That rapid of a weight gain, however, was going to force a lot of nutrients into my muscles quickly, resulting in some permanent muscle gains.
To start my maximal weight gain adventure, I first had to set myself up for it by dieting down. Why diet down to gain weight? Your body adapts most rapidly to extreme changes in environment. I knew I wanted to gain weight quickly, therefore I had to first subject myself to a restricted-calorie diet. When I would reverse my goals and begin to feed myself again, my body would react by rapidly sucking up every available calorie and holding onto it.
To further set myself up, the diet I went on was a two-week carbohydrate-restricted plan, much like the Atkins Diet. For two weeks, I ate less than 30 grams of carbs per day, sticking to meats, eggs, cheese and vegetables. This cleared out all the glycogen I had stored in my body as well as reducing the amount of water I was carrying (water attaches itself to carbs in your body - when you clear out the carbs, several pounds or more of water will be flushed out with it). It was kind of like squeezing out a sponge - you can fit more water into a sponge that's been squeezed totally dry than a sponge that's already moist.
It's important to note that I didn't restrict my water intake at all. That will give you exactly the wrong effect. If you restrict your water intake while dieting, your body will actually hold onto more water. If you give your body plenty of water, it will have no reason to hold onto every drop you give it and will flush it out regularly.
For training during this phase, I did three high-intensity cardio sessions per week for about 20 minutes each. This cardio was extremely tough and designed to burn as many calories as possible as quickly as possible. This would make my body extremely hungry for nutrients and ready to absorb as much as possible. I did high-volume, high-rep weight training (12 to 15 reps per set), 6 sessions per week with very short rest periods to further set up this effect.
After 2 weeks of this training and dieting, I was ready to start my weight gain. On Saturday evening, after my final training session for the week, I weighed in at 192 pounds.
On Sunday morning, I woke up and immediately took my first serving of creatine and glutamine. My focus on this day was to eat as much as possible, load up on creatine and glutamine and drink as much water as possible. Both of these supplements are excellent for forcing water into the muscles. Taking creatine alone can result in a 5 to 10 pound increase in weight over the loading phase of 5 days. To further maximize this effect, I had been off creatine for 3 months prior to this.
I took 4 servings of creatine and glutamine this day, along with eating as much as I could (for example, eggs, oatmeal, meats, potatoes, fruits, rice, etc.) and drinking buckets of water. I would continue loading creatine for the next 4 days, taking glutamine only after each workout from then on rather than with my creatine loading. I would start my weight training program on Monday. I was going to be doing a very demanding program, doing 12 total-body training sessions over the next 6 days.
My theory with doing multiple total-body training sessions is this: every single bodypart was going to get as much breakdown and stimulation as possible to maximize the amount of nutrients being taken up over my whole body. I would do more sets for the larger parts like chest, back and thighs and fewer sets for the other smaller parts. Every part would get worked twice a day for six days straight. This type of training is not appropriate for a long-term program as it would rapidly lead to overtraining in a matter of weeks. This was a one-week shot for me and I was putting everything into it.
After taking my creatine, I made breakfast, which consisted of 10 eggs and a bowl of oatmeal that would feed a family of 4. For flavor, I mixed in some fruit yogurt. To gain weight effectively, you really need to eat big.
I got to the gym for my first session that day and weighed myself. I had gained 10 pounds in the first day. Not a bad start! All that eating, drinking water and supplementation was paying off. My body was extremely primed for gaining.
My training session lasted about 45 minutes, during which I worked every bodypart. After the workout, I immediately took a mixture of whey protein (40 grams), creatine (5 grams), glutamine (10 grams) and Tang (sugary powdered drink mix) as well as some vitamins and minerals (multi-vitamin, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, and an anti-oxidant). It's critical to provide your body with nutrients and raw materials to rebuild with as quickly as possible after training otherwise your body will just be breaking itself down.
I got home and set to work making lunch, which consisted of 2 large chicken breasts and a big bucket of spaghetti and meat sauce. Several hours later, I had a couple of cans of tuna, a sandwich and some ice cream. Please note, these meals are just samples of what I ate and not specifically what you should eat.
All during the day and evening, I was constantly drinking water. When I say constantly, I mean I got up every 10 to 15 minutes and drank a full glass of water over the course of the whole day. I was very well-hydrated, which is extremely important for weight gain. If your muscles don't have enough water, they simply can't grow.
My evening training session was also a total-body workout. At this point, my body was so flooded with carbs and water from having come off a low-carb diet, everything I did was giving my muscles an incredible pump. I was focusing on heavy weights for sets of 6 to 10 reps during my sessions and stretching out thoroughly after.
After the workout, I had another supplement and vitamin mix then went home. I had 4 eggs and a bowl of cereal for a post-workout meal, then a protein shake right before bed. I mixed up a protein shake and set it beside my bed so if, in the middle of the night, I woke up, I could drink a protein shake. This would provide extra calories and protein and reduce the amount of time I went without food during the night. And believe me, with the amount of water I was drinking during the day and during my training, waking up during the night was a given!
I repeated this type of schedule over the next days, continuing with my creatine loading, food loading and water loading. By the end of the second day, I had gained 15 pounds of bodyweight. By the end of the third day, I was up 18 pounds.
When I finished my creatine loading after the fifth day, I began taking a protein shake first thing in the morning instead. Taking protein immediately upon waking is the best way to start the day. It instantly reverses the catabolic state your body is in after fasting during sleep.
My training was going well and my body was sucking up everything I was putting into it. My strength gains were rapid and my fat gains were actually quite minimal. I was in the home stretch now. On Saturday afternoon, I went over to a friend's house and had a huge meal of Shepherd's Pie, which is basically a big pile of ground beef, potatoes and corn. Great weight gain food.
I went to the gym that night for my final training session of my weight gain week and tipped the scales at 217 pounds. In only one week, to give you an idea of the amazing strength and size gains I got, I was able to increase the amount of weight I could bench press for 8 reps by 30 pounds and I had added a full inch to my arms.
The best part is, this rapid weight gain was excellent for stretching the fascia of my muscles, giving them more room to grow (see link below for more information on fascia and stretching the fascia for increased muscle growth), leading to permanent gains in muscle size and potential muscle size.
Using all the knowledge and techniques (and appetite) for weight gain at my disposal, I had gained 25 pounds of bodyweight in only one week!

If you're interested in reading more about a full program designed along these very same principles, go to: "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days to Maximum Mass" -

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=702

Transform Your Weakest Bodyparts Into Your STRONGEST Bodyparts!

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=300

Daily Specialization Training - Transform Your Weakest Bodyparts Into Your STRONGEST Bodyparts!

By Nick Nilsson

Experience the power of extremely targeted, high-frequency
training. It literally has the power to turn your weakest
bodyparts into your best!

Everybody has them but nobody wants them. What are they? Stubborn, hard-to-develop bodyparts. For me, it's shoulders, calves and biceps. For you, it may be chest and triceps or perhaps hamstrings and quadriceps. No matter what the part, the solution to it remains the same: specialization!

Specialization is a technique that provides highly-targeted training overload to one or more bodyparts. This can be in the form of additional training volume and/or training frequency, i.e. do more sets for it and/or train it more often. Just like medical doctors specialize in certain areas of medicine, you will learn how to specialize on a particular bodypart and excel with it.

I'm going to show you a particular specialization program that I've found to be EXTREMELY useful for developing stubborn bodyparts. It's not hard to do and it doesn't take long to do but it has the potential to shatter plateaus in hard-to-develop bodyparts like a brick through a plate glass window.

How To Do Daily Specialization:

The name of the program is Daily Specialization and, as the name implies, it's done on a daily basis. In a nutshell, you will do just 1 set of 1 exercise for 1 bodypart twice a day, every day. It's very simple but very powerful and it can be done with any bodypart you like!

I will use dips as an example here but you can use any exercise you like. Choose an exercise you can do at home for your selected bodypart to make it easier and more convenient to do (chances are, you're not going to be going to the gym twice a day to do 1 set of 1 exercise!).

If you have weights at home, it will broaden your selection but I find that bodyweight exercises (that use your bodyweight for resistance, e.g. dips, chin-ups, push-ups, etc.) are most effective.

Using dips as the example, on Day 1, very soon after you wake up, do as many dips as you can. Go to failure, doing as many reps as you can then stop. That's your morning workout. You're done.

Do everything else in your day as you normally would, even your regular workouts for that bodypart if they're on your schedule. This program exists completely outside your regular workout schedule.

At night before you go to bed, do another set of dips to failure. That's it. When you wake up the next day, do another set of dips to failure, just like on Day 1. Keep this up for as long as you like - anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the results you want and whether you want to switch to another bodypart or not.

This is the entire program! As a quick note, you can add a third set in the middle of the day on non-training days in order to speed results. It will give your body a little extra stimulus for that bodypart. Also, do only one bodypart at a time with this program. If you add in more parts, you will dilute the training stress and diminish the effects of the program.

The key to success with this program is consistency. You MUST do it consistently every day, twice a day, without fail to provide that constant training stimulus to the body. Even if you don't feel like it, do it. Even if you're tired and you don't get nearly as many reps as usual, do it. Even if your muscles are sore, do it. The only exception to this rule is if you're sick or injured. Do this, and you WILL get results.

Why It Works:

Physiologically speaking, the body becomes its function. If you run long distances, your body will have a tendency to become smaller and lighter to be better able to cope with the stress. If you lift weights, your body will have a tendency to become more muscular in order to deal with the resistance.

We target this highly-efficient adaptation process by training stubborn bodyparts with very high frequency. Your body quickly learns it needs to build up that bodypart in response to this constant workload. Your body will very quickly start allocating recovery resources towards rebuilding that part bigger and stronger.

You keep working it and your body will keep building it. This program harnesses the adaptive power of your body and channels it into a specific bodypart for maximum results. The results are consistent and phenomenal!

Let me give you my experience with Daily Specialization. I used this program for my shoulders, doing handstand push-ups. At a bodyweight of 200 pounds, when I started I couldn't do a single full rep, only a few partial reps.

After 12 weeks of consistently doing handstand push-ups morning and night, I was able to perform 40 full reps at the very same bodyweight. If you think about this for a moment, it's actually quite shocking! Could you imagine barely being able to bench press your bodyweight one day then, 3 months later, being able to press it 40 times!

The results came little by little but on a consistent and daily basis. Over the 3 months (which were going to go by anyway, regardless of whether I did this program or not) this resulted in HUGE gains in muscle development and also carried over to strength in exercises such as shoulder press and bench press.

You can easily achieve powerful results like this with the Daily Specialization Program.

One of the greatest benefits I found with this program wasn't even the improvement in strength and muscle development. Working the stubborn bodypart twice a day to failure actually made my stubborn shoulders not stubborn anymore!

The constant workload, in addition to building strength and muscle mass, also greatly increased the circulation/capillarization in the muscles. Poor blood circulation is one of the biggest causes of lagging muscle development. This greatly-improved circulation meant more nutrients could get into the muscles more easily, which means easier muscle growth in the long-term.

Not a bad result for a few minutes of effort every day!

I want you to pick a lagging bodypart, pick an exercise for it and try this program for yourself. I guarantee you will see consistent results. Your body will simply have no choice!

Interested in learning more about other Specialization Programs and how you can use them to shatter training plateaus? Click this link now to find out about other highly-targeted Specialization Programs.

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=300

Stop Wasting Your Protein Powder

 

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=101

Stop Wasting Your Protein Powder! How To Squeeze More Results Out Of Each Scoop Of Protein Powder You Take

By Nick Nilsson

Without knowing when and how to take your protein powder
for best results, you could be flushing your gains
directly down the toilet!

It doesn't matter what brand or type of protein powder you take...if you are taking it at the wrong time, you aren't getting as much out of it as you could be. In fact, if you take your protein powder at the wrong time, you may as well just dump it in the garbage!
Here is a list of the when, why and how of effective protein supplementation, ranked in order of importance.

1. Immediately After A Workout
If you only take protein powder once per day, this is the absolute best time to take it. Immediately after you finish your workout, your body needs raw materials to rebuild and recover with. If you don't supply the raw materials through eating, your body will break down muscle from elsewhere in your body in order to rebuild the damaged areas. This is very counterproductive as you can well imagine.
By taking in some protein (20 to 30 grams or so) within minutes after exercise, you provide your body with the raw materials it needs to recover without breaking down its own muscle tissue.
2. An Hour After A Workout
About an hour following a workout, your body has settled down from the excitement and is ready to really start rebuilding. The protein that you took in immediately following the workout has been metabolized and your body is looking for more. Another protein shake at this time is a good way to help speed recovery. Try to take in another 20 to 30 grams about an hour after working out.
3. First Thing In The Morning
Immediately upon waking, or as soon after that as you can manage, take a scoop of protein powder. Your body has just been through an (approximately) 8 hour fast and is hungry for nutrients. Feed your body!
Protein powder is more quickly assimilated than solid food and gets into your muscles faster. This protein shot gives your metabolism a boost, which can help with fat loss. Be sure to follow it with a good breakfast, of course.
4. Last Thing At Night
Prepare your body for the long overnight fast by giving it a little something to work with. A good combination for this purpose is to mix a scoop of whey protein in with a small glass of milk.
Whey is what's known as a "fast" protein, meaning that it's digested quickly, while milk protein (casein) is what's known as a "slow" protein, meaning it's digested relatively slowly. At night, you want your protein to be metabolized slowly so that your body gets a more even supply over the course of the night. By mixing "fast" and "slow" proteins, you get the benefits of the higher-quality whey with the slower digestion time of the milk.
5. In-between Meals
A quick protein shake can be a great snack in between meals. It helps keep your body supplied with protein all day long. This is especially useful if you tend to have long periods of time in-between meals. It could mean the difference between losing muscle and building or keeping muscle!
6. With Meals
Taking a protein supplement with meals is a handy way to increase the protein content of a meal. This is perfect for when you eat
a meal that is somewhat low in protein.
7. In The Middle Of The Night
This is a trick that bodybuilders sometimes use in order to keep their muscles supplied with protein throughout the night. Keep a pre-mixed protein shake right beside your bed. Although some trainers have been known to set alarms to wake up to drink it, I prefer to have it there waiting just in case I wake up, but I don't try to wake up on purpose. If I don't wake up, it's right there ready for me to drink first thing in the morning! This strategy is more targeted for muscle growth rather than fat loss.
WARNING!
Never drink a protein supplement immediately before working out!
Some people do this thinking that it will give them an energy boost or give them a head-start for post-workout recovery. Basically, all it does is sit in their stomach and bloat them up. Valuable blood that should be going to working muscles gets sent to the digestive system to try and digest it. The same warning goes for taking protein during a workout. Don't do it!

Taking protein powder is not going to make up for poor diet or a bad program but it can definitely help to support you in your training efforts. Take it at the right time and you'll get the most bang for your buck!

http://hop.clickbank.net/?sabatella/betteru&l=101