Out of the Box Muscle Building

You CAN change yourself.

When I first started weight training at 12, I was a fanatical football fan. I’d watch all day, gorge myself on protein shakes and snacks, and workout between games and during halftime breaks.

Crazy.

When I finally stopped training like a madman, I started making gains.

Huge gains.

The less I trained, the more strength and size I added.

Life is a big conflicting and confusing and counter-intuitive thing, right?

When I was a skinny hardgainer, I was lifting every day, doing many sets of many exercises. I ate all damned day long.

After all, that’s what all the bodybuilding mags said to do. Hell, “hardgainer” wasn’t even a thing back then – you were just an ectomorph.

After years of frustration, I took a different approach.

• I cut out cardio.
• I lifted 3x a week.
• Heavy.
• Few sets.
• Low reps (3-6) for upper body.
• High reps and HEAVY weights for legs (15-25), like Tom Platz.

That year I did that, I gained 60 pounds and was still under 6 percent body fat.

Don’t ever let anybody tell you that’s impossible. I did it. I know you can, too.

No steroids, either.

If you want to – but you must think out of the box.

Like I did.

If it ain’t working, stop doing it. Try something else.

After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

Building Muscle and Drinking Soda?

Drinking soda will kill your gains IF it doesn’t kill YOU first!

andizzle asked: I am a pretty small 16 year old guy and I am really wanting to gain some weight and some muscle. I don’t have an exercise machine just a bench press. I have been working out with push ups and curls for awhile now and it doesn’t seem to be doing much good. I do drink a lot of soda and was wondering if it could be doing more damage than I think it is. I’m looking for some exercises that are really effective without a machine and was wondering if the soda i drink can be doing more damage than I think. Also what kinds of foods to eat and what to replace the soda with.

My answer: Read up, man! Go to the home page (Build Muscle, Lose Fat) and just start reading. There’s a wealth of information there.

And cut the soda – it’s nothing but empty calories. There is zero nutritional value in soda. And the high fructose corn syrup will kill you, your metabolism, your kidneys, and your gains. Plus, it will make you fat-skinny.

NOBODY wants that!

Beginning Muscle Building. What Should I Eat?

Skinny? Can’t gain weight? Read up.

will k asked: I’m planning to start working out again at the gym. I’m 14, around 6 foot and I weigh about 145 lbs. I’m skinny, so I’m mostly muscle and no fat. I’m very athletic so I can’t really gain weight. Before or after my workouts, what should I eat or drink? Should I buy muscle building supplements?

My answer: You have to begin eating a lot. You have to create a positive caloric balance – which simply means eat more than you expend.

And it’s hard. It really is. Believe me when I say I used to be like you – all muscle, no fat, but the muscle I had was little. I was skinny.

It felt like I was going to eat until I exploded. I’d go periods of time where I just wasn’t hungry, followed by times where I couldn’t get enough to eat.

My metabolism was on a roller coaster. I couldn’t gain a pound.

And if I gained a pound, I’d lose it just as quickly as I’d gained it.

It sucks.

So I began eating 8 times a day, about 30-40 grams of protein at each feeding. I stopped running. I stopped moving almost entirely. I had to stop worrying.

I thought more training was better. It’s not. I cut my training down a lot – down to 3 times a week on a split routine, so in any given week the MOST I trained any bodypart was twice.

But I lifted heavy. Few sets, low reps, high weights.

Focus on getting stronger. Once you’re stronger, you can lift heavier weights in your bodybuilding routines.

But the key is eating a lot. Supplements are your friend.

But don’t eat weight gainers – they fuck up your metabolism. The sugar kills your gains. Use something like MetRx instead. Trader Joe’s carries it and it’s not terribly expensive.

Mix one scoop with 8 ounces of whole milk. Drink one before and after your workout.

And eat all damned day long! Try GOMAD.

Consider eating right before going to sleep, too. Doing that will usually make you hungry in the morning, so you can eat more.

The name of the game is calories, and protein is your friend. Sugar is your foe.

FYI – Lou Ferrigno was 6’5, about 140 pounds when he started bodybuilding 🙂

What Is the Best Way to Build Muscle and Burn Body Fat?

With all the recent talk here and everywhere else about The Holy Grail (building muscle and burning body fat simultaneously), you’d think that perhaps that was ideal, right?

I mean, who doesn’t want to build muscle and drop body fat at the same time?

I know I do!

However, it may be the slower route to go. Let me explain.

There is a large body of evidence on building muscle. Same goes for losing fat. Conceptually, doing either is really quite easy. The effort is difficult, but the idea is pretty simple.

If you want to build muscle, you have to have a calorie surplus.

If you want to shed body fat, you have to run a calorie deficit.

It’s really very simple and just boils down to a math problem. Indeed, aren’t many of life’s problems just math problems?

Back to the real story. What is the best way to get totally buffed? I mean big like Jay Cutler and ripped like Clarence Bass?

Based on years of personal experience as well as the collective knowledge of thousands upon thousands of personal trainers, bodybuilders, and other fitness athletes, it’s clear to me that there is a better, more effective approach.

Now, I’m not saying that what’s in The Holy Grail is wrong. It’s perfectly correct. You most definitely can gain muscle and lose fat within the same time period. All I’m saying is you can get big and ripped faster if you take a different approach.

And that approach is to “zig zag” or take a “stair step” approach to your fitness goals. Why not take 2-3 weeks to build muscle, then maintain for a week, and then take another 1-2 weeks to drop whatever fat you build up in your “bulking” phase?

In a month’s time, you will not have gained a significant amount of body fat, but you could certainly pack on 2-4 pounds of pure muscle. So every 8 weeks, you could add 2-4 pounds of quality muscle to your frame. That means there is the potential for adding between 12 and 30 pounds (give or take) a year while not increasing your body fat. In fact, even if you maintained your fat poundage, you will have lowered your body fat percentage significantly because you’ve added so much lean mass.

I will tell you this is the better, faster way to the body you want. Yes, you will gain some body fat in the first phase, but you’ll lose it all and more in the last phase. In that third phase, you’re not even trying to add muscle; you’re only seeking to maintain it.

So your body doesn’t go on overload, get overtrained, and you will never lose muscle mass. The third phase is all about losing body fat while maintaining muscle mass.

It doesn’t sound as good or sexy as “build muscle and burn body fat simultaneously,” but it sure works better.

Bodybuilders for decades have used this very system to fashion their championship bodies. The results come whether you take steroids or not, though I will say that “chemical enhancements” will certainly speed your progress. In the short term.

Nobody really knows the long-term effects of competent steroid use. You know, the kind administered by a doctor and followed to the “T” by the user.

Bottom line: Bulk up, maintain (or plateau), and then shed body fat. It works. Really really well.