by Doberman Dan

Creatine is one of the most popular, widely-used bodybuilding supplements around.  It was first identified in back in 1832 when a French scientist (Michele Eugène Chevreul) discovered it as a component of skeletal muscle. Looking at its chemical make-up we see that creatine is a naturally-occurring a nitrogenous organic acid. It occurs naturally in vertebrates and helps to supply energy to the body’s cells—primarily muscle cells. It impacts muscle cells by increasing the formation of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Bodybuilders love it because it increases the amount of energy that is delivered to muscle fibers, helping make them bigger and stronger. Creatine is derived from three non-essential amino acids: arginine, glycine, and methionine. It is manufactured in the liver and kidneys—at a rate of about two grams a day. Because it can be stored for use later on, consuming extra amounts of creatine in the form of supplements may create a deeper energy reserve for muscles and other tissues.

Although creatine is available in a number of forms, creatine monohydrate is the most popular and the form most frequently taken as a supplement. It is generally sold as a powder or capsule. Creatine monohydrate is about 88% creatine. Other forms only contain as little as 40% actual creatine so it’s clear why creatine monohydrate is the most popular form. Because it’s just not feasible to commercially obtain ‘naturally-produced’ creatine, virtually 100% of the creatine monohydrate sold today is synthetic—but that’s not a drawback so there’s no need to be concerned.

Unlike most of the supplements being promoted by the fitness industry today, there are actual scientific studies backing up claims that creatine monohydrate helps build lean muscle mass. However, before running out and buying the most expensive bottle of creatine you can find, there are a few things you should know. First, not all creatine is created equal.  There are four things you should look for in creatine products:

1) It should be made from pure creatine monohydrate.

2)  It should be completely stable in liquids—you don’t want it breaking down and losing its potency before it even gets to your muscles;.

3) It should avoid reactive problems inherent to re-synthesized “finished” creatine monohydrate that result in its conversion to mostly useless by-product.

4) It should be able to withstand comprehensive peer-reviewed scientific study.

Okay, so you’re looking at that and thinking, “What the hell? How am I supposed to know this?” That’s where I’m going to help you. The biggest problem with ordinary creatine monohydrate is that it’s highly unstable. The moment it gets into your body it starts to break down with most of it being flushed through your system without ever getting close to a single muscle fiber. That literally means that most of your investment is being pissed away without helping you get the least bit bigger or stronger.

Fortunately, science has an answer in Kre-Alkalyn creatine monohydrate, which is manufactured using a patented process.  When you invest in Kre-Alkalyn creatine you don’t have to be concerned with the four points mentioned earlier because it passes each of these with flying colors. The most important advantage it has over ordinary creatine monohydrate is its stability—most of what you consume makes its way into your muscle fibers, helping them to get bigger and stronger.  Therefore, you’re able to actually consume less while achieving more.

This has the distinct advantage of avoiding the side effects that can arise from consuming too much creatine monohydrate, including bloating, gas, water retention and even diarrhea. The side effects are largely caused when creatine monohydrate is broken down. During this process, much of it is converted to creatinine, which is actually a toxic substance and the one that causes the nasty side effects. Through the patented manufacturing process, Kre-Alkalyn creatine is PH-balanced, meaning that it isn’t susceptible to the PH in your stomach—meaning better delivery to the muscles without the side effects.

And because the majority of what you consume is actually transported to the muscle cells, rather than being flushed out of your system, you don’t need to consume as much as you would with ordinary creatine monohydrate.

Overall, Kre-Alkalyn delivers the results you want—pure creatine monohydrate transported to the muscle cells—without any of the unwanted side effects. And because the nutrient-rich creatine monohydrate reaches the muscles intact, there’s no loading phase required and even better, you’ll be able realize those much-wanted gains a lot faster. There are number of brand names available so you can choose whichever one you want.

The Forearm Pain Paradox

Guest post by Jedd Johnson

paradox – A statement or situation which defies logic or reason

Today I am going to tell you about the Forearm Pain Paradox.

Imagine being able to bend spikes and steel bars with your hand and wrist strength, but not being able to turn a door knob to pen a door.

Imagine being able to lift a world record weight in a strength contest, but not being able to straight your arms to do so.

Finally, imagine being dog-tired from one of the best workouts you ever had, but not being able to fall asleep because your forearm hurts so bad you can’t find a pain-free position.

All of these scenarios are things I have lived with over the years.

My name is Jedd Johnson, and I am from DieselCrew.com. I am a strength coach, and my passion is Grip Strength. I love bending nails, tearing cards and phone books and own world records in grip.

But I am also just like you. I know what it is like to have workouts hindered due to the annoying nagging pain that can happen up around the top of the forearm and elbow.

Chances are, if you have been training hard for a while, or if you do a lot of hand-intensive manual labor, you have had bouts of forearm pain like this too.

Maybe, you’re even suffering from it right now.

Forearm pain, especially up near the elbow, creates what I call the Forearm Pain Paradox. What I mean is, you can have strong hands and wrists, and lower arms capabable of absolutely astonishing feats of strength and power, but your grip goes completely to shit when you have high forearm and elbow pain, especially medial and lateral epicondylitis. There are so many attachments in that small area near your elbow, if something goes wrong, it’s like the strength you’ve worked to build up for years works against you.

The same goes for big movements, like bench press, overhead press, squats and deads. You can be a damn monster in the weight room, but if you get high forearm or elbow pain bad enough, you can kiss PR’s goodbye…

Forearm pain SUCKS, and thousands of people get it each year. In my estimation, I have had what is referred to as medial and lateral epicondylitis, and more commonly known as Golfer’s Elbow and Tennis Elbow, respectively, about 10 times since 2003.

The Causes of Forearm Injuries

I know a lot of you love getting into the meat and potatoes behind all of this stuff, so here it is in a nutshell.

Medial Epicondylits (ME) – Golfer’s Elbow

M.E. is an injury to the common flexor tendon which originates from the medial epicondyle, a bony structure high on the elbow, and on the underside. That just means a lot of the flexor muscles start there. It also means that if you do a lot of movements where you are flexing your hands and wrists, you could end up with this problem. This is also caused by a valgus movements, where the forearm moves out away from the body, but the upper arm stays close to the body, like the back arm of the golf swing, which is why it’s called Golfer’s Elbow.

Lateral Epicondylitis (LE) – Tennis Elbow

L.E. is nearly the same as M.E., but the difference is that it takes place in the common extensors tendon, which is on the back of the forearm, and attaches on the top part of the elbow. This one is caused by rotation and extension movements. Even just straightening the arm can lead to it, so you don’t need to rip, bend and tear things to cause issues. Just the basic pressing movements can do it. Tennis players get this because of the drag that takes place when swinging the racket in a back-hand strike.

What Can You Do about These Conditions?

Now that you know what these conditions are with their supped-up names and bad attitudes, it’s time to discuss what to do about these conditions.

First and foremost, preventing these conditions is a lot more fun than getting them. Like I said, I have had both of these full-blown conditions about ten times over the years, from 2003 until 2009.

In 2003, I was bending steel and lifting stones like a mad man, but when it came to turning a door knob, my knees would buckly because of the pain. Several times, the pain was enough to keep me awake at night, and my most recent case of full-blown LE, the injury was so bad, that I needed to wear elbow sleeves with tiny heating packets in them in order to keep the area warm enough to straighten my arm to pick up weights from the floor.

In 2009, I decided I’d had enough of this crap, so once I rehabbed it that last time, I began implementing a battery of preventive exercises. I still do all of my feats and compete in Grip Sport contests, but now, I am smarter about it.

Surprisingly, the Preventive measures add almost no time to my training at all. They are so simple, I often wonder why I didn’t start doing this stuff way back in 2003.

Some of the principles I use involve promoting strength in the extensor muscles, which open the hand. This keeps a strength balance between the extensor muscles which open the hand and the flexor muscles which close the hand, and keeps the lateral epicondyle and the tendons that connect to it in good working shape.

Other things like a good warm-up and keeping the area warm during my training have paid huge dividends in my training, allowing me to train longer, miss fewer workouts, and compete at a higher level.

Some other things have been more of an experimental nature, but I have been very happy with the results.

So, I have become very good on the Preventive side. In fact, I wanted to put together an ebook to help others prevent these types of injuries from occurring at the forearm and elbow, but I soon realized that it would be a complete waste of time for many people, because so many people are already bother by this kind of intense pain.

That was when I knew I had to track down somebody that was experienced at rehabbing this kind of injury. That was when I tracked down Rick Kaselj. Rick has many certifications behind is name, but that is not what is important. What really matters is the fact that he has already helped so many people in the past get through injuries.

I contacted Rick about putting together something with me for forearm injuries like this and he agreed. Within a short time, we had developed the main outline of Fixing Elbow Pain – Medial and Lateral Elbow Pain Fix for Athletes and Lifters.

Rick and I released this new product this week, and we know that there are a lot of you out there who are struggling with forearm pain. That is why we opened it up for this week at such a dirt cheap price – $19. That is less than my co-pay when I go to the doctor!

If you’ve had forearm/elbow pain for a while, you know how bad it can affect your training, strength levels, attitude, and night-time rest. Grab our ebook and study Rick’s portion, where he outlines his professional approach to rehabbing elbow pain

And maybe you’ve never had pain like this, but you know that the training you do could one day cause something down the road. In that case, check out the manual and dive into my section, where I talk about the Preventive Methods I have used for the last couple years to keep high forearm and elbow pain from coming back.

I know this manual is going to help a lot of people, so make sure to get it before Friday, because then the price is going to increase.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

P.S. Don’t be the “I’ll wait to later” guy. You and I both know that later never comes, and if it does, it might be too late to grab Fixing Elbow Pain for less than a 20-spot.

Guest post by Scott Tousignant of Metabolic Masterpiece

If your goal is to sculpt a classic looking physique your best bet is to take a page out of the old school physique artist, Vince Gironda’s book. Vince was the master of cosmetic bodybuilding and helped his clients create the illusion of more muscle with the perfect proportions.

My favorite exercise that I learned from Vince Gironda’s teachings is the Gironda Dip. But like many of his techniques, he would modify them for some of his clients. In the video below, I demonstrate two variations of the Gironda Dip. The first one comes from the variation that is illustrated in the book Vince Gironda Legend and Myth. The second variation is one that I’ve seen taught by the great Larry Scott and is also found on the Iron Guru website.

In addition to the two variations of Gironda Dips, I also share an exercise that Vince recommended for people who could not perform a Gironda Dip. This exercise makes for an incredible finisher at the end of a chest workout…

Gironda Dips are intended to target the lower pec line, so the only alternative that you could do would involve the decline bench. The exercise of choice for Vince was Decline Cable Fly’s (as demonstrated in the video above).

As you’ll notice in the video, unlike traditional cable fly’s where you finish the movement above your chest, the way that Vince Gironda prescribed it was to finish the movement at your groin area.

It only takes completing one rep of this movement to know that you are hitting the lower pec area. You’ll achieve a nice stretch in the bottom portion of the movement and when you squeeze the contraction at the top you will feel your lower pecs fully engage.

If you are looking to enhance your lower pec line you could even combine both the Gironda Dips and the Decline Cable Fly’s into a single chest workout. I have been known to incorporate both of these movements into my Metabolic Masterpiece chest workouts. When you combine them together they pack a powerful 1-2 PUNCH!

Once you give these exercises a try I guarantee that they’ll end up as a staple in your chest training.

About The Author

Scott Tousignant, BHK, is a Certified Fitness Consultant with a passion for transforming fitness enthusiasts goal driven, dedicated, and voracious physique artists who take pride in their body, fitness, health, and lifestyle. Embraced by physique artists around the world, his Metabolic Masterpiece Body Sculpting Programs will guide you through the process of sculpting your body into a work of art, by applying what Scott has coined, “The A.T.T.R.A.C.T. Formula.

With his synergistic, boredom busting body sculpting workouts you will melt stubborn fat and gain muscle while skyrocketing your metabolism!

The art of molding and chiseling an aesthetically pleasing physique with ideal proportions and spectacular symmetry is one of life’s most rewarding and fulfilling experiences. It’s an opportunity for self growth and self discovery that will impact every area of your life.

The following is an excerpt from Yoga for Bodybuilders republished with permission.

Yes, yoga is an ancient discipline that comes from India, etc etc etc. It’s been primarily associated with New Age granola crunching and men in suspiciously tight pastel colored pants. But NFL football players are using yoga too. And there’s a very good reason for it.

Modern science has weighed in on yoga, and it has a lot to say about the importance of stretching a muscle to build it.

Sounds crazy, right? We all know generating power is about contracting and tensing a muscle harder, not stretching and relaxing it…. right?

Yes, that’s true when you’re under the bar lifting heavy iron. But there’s more to the story.

“Stretching” INCREASES your strength over the long haul by helping to release the antagonist muscles. They’re the ones that work against the movement you’re trying to perform. If your antagonists are tight – in a constantly contracted state – they’ll reduce the strength of your agonist muscle. The one that’s supposed to be working.

That’s why guys who train too much bench have such shitty pull ups. Their chest is actually fighting against their lats during the movement.

Once you understand this relationship, you can use it in a number of ways. Clenching the glutes really hard, for example, shuts down it’s opposite, the hip flexor. So if you want a great stretch, get into a lunge and squeeze that cheek as hard as you can. You’ll be able to go much deeper into the hip flexor than you will by holding a passive lunge.

As you can see, this relationship is helpful if you’re using it on purpose. But the same thing happens to these opposing tissues if your muscles are in a constantly tightened state. That’s why tight hip flexors rob your deadlifts of strength—they shut down your glutes and keep them from firing at full strength. Want to add some pounds to your deads?  Release chronically tight hip flexors and your glutes will fire harder.

Flexibility and mobility training balances your posture by “evening out” the way your brain communicates with your muscles, so they’re all receiving the “right” signal. That way, they aren’t competing against each other when you lift.  And your antagonist muscles aren’t robbing you of strength.

But that’s not all…

Proper flexibility and mobility training also helps you reclaim control over the extreme ranges of motion – and THAT opens new doors to growth. Why? Because your body loves to stay in its comfort zone. It tricks you into using the mid-range of motion, where your muscles are strongest. Sure, that’s more efficient from the body’s point of view. But every bodybuilder knows you’ve gotta take a muscle outside of it’s comfort zones if you want to spark new adaptation.

It’s by working in the extreme ranges – where the muscle is fully stretched and fully contracted – that you generate the most growth.

The problem is, as you tighten up your nervous system starts “forgetting” how to access and control those extreme ranges.  You even risk injury when trying to use them. Yoga for Bodybuilders will give you safe access to those ranges again, and when you start moving a weight from the fully extended to fully contracted length of a muscle, you’ll grow bigger and faster with less time in the gym.

If you’re still not convinced click here so I can share a couple more reasons to add “yoga” to your training!

SWAT teams are elite tactical units within the law enforcement community. They are called up on to defuse high risk, volatile and dangerous situations such as hostage rescues or terrorist incidents. Not just anybody can be a member of a SWAT team–it requires a high degree of skill and demands physical prowess. SWAT team members need to be strong, quick and agile with endurance too. Developing all of these skills calls for a specialized approach to training–just ‘going to the gym’ isn’t going to cut it. Building a body capable of fulfilling the tough physical requirements of the SWAT team requires an extreme level of knowledge, commitment and dedication.

When it comes to knowledge of ‘SWAT-worthy’ workouts, Mike Gillete is among the best of the best. He overcame terrific odds, bouncing back from a broken back and severely damaged ankles to become a Martial Arts Masters Hall of Fame inductee and among the most highly respected strength and conditioning minds in the industry. Military and law enforcement personnel, executive bodyguards and competitive fighters regularly enlist Mike to help them train to elite levels of fitness. His latest work, The Savage Strength Training System, chronicles Mike’s unique integrated training strategy to not just ‘pump iron’ but ‘become iron.’

Mike opens Manifesto with an excellent and thought-provoking discussion about the various aspects of strength and what it means to be ‘strong.’ You might be tempted to skip over this part and dive right into the training stuff but if you do, you’ll be selling yourself short and you will miss out on the most fundamental elements of the program.

The Savage Strength program is built on a functional training foundation. If you’re not familiar with this term, it refers to complex movements that incorporate multiple muscle groups and essentially mimic real-world activities. In other words, no machine-based, isolation exercises. One of the advantages of this approach is that it doesn’t chain your training routine to the gym. In fact, Mike says that he does most of his training in his garage or backyard with a very limited selection of equipment.

In Section 2, Mike presents an overview of his Savage Strength Secrets: Toughness; Understanding Movement Patterns; Repetition Speed; Goal-Specific Rest Intervals; Load Manipulation; Fatigue Movement; Overcoming Fear; and the Technique of Tension. He provides a nice explanation for each of these concepts, providing useful information in an easy-to-understand format. I like the fact that understanding his concepts doesn’t require a degree in kinesiology.

Mike discusses the science behind Savage Strength in Section 3. The training concepts he uses in the program emerged in the 1970s and are credited with spawning a new breed of stronger, bigger and faster college football players. In this section he also provides specifics about the Savage Strength training approach.

The program is comprised of groupings of five sets of a particular exercise, performed for five repetitions. Because you’re only doing five reps, you will use a heavy weight. If you can’t perform at least 14 total reps during a combined set of five, then you know the weight was too heavy. Your goal of course is to work up to 25 total reps and then increase the weight.  He provides a few variations of the 5 x 5 approach that enable you to mix things up a bit. They are all equally challenging so don’t think one is ‘easier’ than the others.

The Savage Strength program also incorporates what Mike refers to as ‘System-Shocker’ Century Sets. A Century Set is 100 total reps of a single movement, such as pull-ups. To perform a Century Set you first perform as many reps as you can. For the next set, you perform one-half the number of reps as you did in the first round. So if you did ten reps in the first round, you would do five in the second. You stick to this number of reps, repeating until you reach 100. So if you do 10 reps for the first set and five reps in the second, you would perform 17 more sets of five reps.

The base program is five sets of five reps per movement. Rest periods between sets are limited to 30 seconds.  You train on alternate days, three days a week. Mike provides a suggested 16-week training routine. The program includes the Savage Exercise Library, which lays out the various movements that comprise Savage Strength.  He provides clear descriptions of the movements and includes photos, which makes it easy to understand what you need to do.

One of the things I like about this program is that it works whether for guys of any age. A word of caution though—if you’re a casual, ‘weekend warrior’ type of guy, Savage Strength probably isn’t for you. But, if you are serious about ramping up and taking your strength and conditioning to an entirely different level—and are up to the challenge—then you should definitely take a look at Mike’s Savage Strength program. This is one tough program but if you follow the directions and stick with it, the results will be amazing and well worth the effort.

You’ll never believe it.  The other day I started private messaging with pro powerlifter Andy Bolton on Facebook and rattled off this mini-interview for us.  Andy Bolton has a 755lbs competition Bench Press, he’s one of only 6 men to squat over 1200lbs and the very first man to Deadlift 1000lbs.

Doberman Dan:  Andy the very first time you maxed out on the deadlift how old were you and do you remember how much you pulled?

AB:  I was in my late teens and I pulled just over 200kg, weighing about 17 stones. I was always a big guy and quite strong. But my pull is now 457.5kg so I certainly had to work hard to get to the top of powerlifting.

Doberman Dan:  Um…1 stone = 14 lbs so that’s around 238 lbs.  You were bigger than me now when you were a teenager!  A lot of the readers here at DFBB struggle to add muscle mass.  Do you think that performing the 3 powerlifts (Squat, Bench & Deadlift) could help hardgainers put on some size?

AB:  For sure.  Many guys waste their time doing fancy exercises that won’t do much for building mass.

For example, I see guys all the time who say they want to add mass to their arms.  So they do tricep kickbacks.

Now let me ask you a question – which do you think will add more mass to your tricpes… kickbacks with 20 pound DB’s or a Bench Press with 225lbs, then 275lbs, then 315lbs.  I think you get the idea.

To add mass you need to get stronger and to get stronger there are no better movements than the squat, bench press and deadlift.  All the best bodybuilders could put up good numbers on the powerlifts.

Want proof?  Just watch Franco Columbo Deadlift over 300kg with crappy leverages or Ronnie Coleman pull 800lbs for a double.

Doberman Dan:  Can you explain how strength relates to muscle size?  For example the most built guy is not always the strongest.  But on the other hand training for the goal of strength can often lead to gaining muscle wouldn’t you agree?

AB:  Agreed.  Most average gym rats need to get stronger but it is true that the biggest guys are not always the strongest.

To get bigger you need volume. In other words, lots of sets and reps.  However, some people can build strength without much volume.

If you combine strength training and decent volume – that’s when you really build strong guys. Like me   At my best I was 13% bodyfat and that meant I was carrying over 270lbs of lean body mass.

Doberman Dan:  Tell us something personal about Andy Bolton that not many people know about.

AB:  I am married to my beautiful wife Stacey and we have a 5 year old daughter Madison.  Regarding sports – I’m a huge fan of MMA and watch every UFC when it’s on television.

Doberman Dan:  If you had a gun to your head and you were tied up and someone asked you to share you number 1 deadlift tip or die, what would you say?

AB: Work on your technique, the most important things being:

Stay tight

Squeeze the bar as hard as you can

Keep the bar close all the way to lockout

Doberman Dan:   What is the top reason that most people fail to add weight to their lifts in the squat, bench press and deadlift?

AB:  There are many reaons, but number one is bad form.  Bad form will stop somebody getting stronger and it will lead to injury sooner rather than later.

Excellent technique will improve strength and minimize injury risk.  What’s not to like about improving your technique? The answer is nothing!

CLICK HERE to Add Hundreds Of Pounds To Your Bench, Deadlift & Squat By Mastering Your Technique

Guest Post by Nick Nilsson Author of the “Best Back Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of”

You want big arms…thick, solid, powerful-looking big arms.  I can’t think of a single person who has said to me “no, I actually want smaller arms…mine are just too big and muscular.”  Never happens.

But are you actually GETTING big arms from all the direct bicep training you’re doing?

Or are you stuck in a rut, looking at pictures of big arms in magazines and a tape a measure that’s going nowhere.

If so, I can tell you exactly what’s wrong with your training even without having any clue what kind of training you’re doing…you’re not training your back heavy enough.

This is one of the biggest “unsecrets” of bodybuilding…isolation training on the smaller muscles of the arms is not nearly as effective for building size and as compound exercise training on the big muscles of the back and chest.

This is not to say that targeted biceps or tricep training is a waste of time…just that it’s MOSTLY a waste of time if you truly want BIG arms and you have average genetics for building muscle mass.  I cringe when I go to a gym and I see teenage boys with pipe-cleaner arms doing set after set of barbell curls, dumbell curls and preacher curls.

TRULY big arms (biceps specifically) are built on a foundation of heavy training with basic back exercises like chin-ups, rows and yes, even deadlifts.

There are ways you can make your back training target your biceps more specifically, with just a few simple adjustments in body positioning and paths of movement.

For example, when doing chin-ups, if you want to focus on your back, puff your chest out, lean back as you come up and inhale on the way up.  If you want to focus on the biceps, keep your body as vertical as possible, exhale on the way up and keep your chest “unpuffed.”  This simple change in body position focuses more tension onto the biceps.

That being said, I actually find the BEST way to build the biceps is to not try and focus on them directly in back training but to focus on moving as much weight as you can with good form in your normal back training and make your back training a PRIORITY. The bicep gains will come naturally from there.

The biceps are an integral part of the kinetic chain in pulling exercises and will be involved to a large degree whether you try to involve them or not.  When you use exercise variations that focus on the back over the biceps, you’ll be able to use more resistance (or do more reps, if it’s a bodyweight exercise) and the biceps will get more stimulation overall.

And that HEAVY stimulation is what will send your bicep growth through the roof.  Think of it this way…what do you do think will give you more growth…curling with 25 lb dumbells or rowing with a 250 lb barbell?

That, and heavy back training such as deadlifting produces a MUCH greater overall growth response in your body, setting the stage for greater arm size even if the arms aren’t worked directly.

Now, when it comes to exercises, the standard exercises, such as chins, rows and deadlifts, work great and are the perfect place to start.  Just working these exercises harder (or even something as simple as doing them first in your training routine rather than going straight to the barbell curls or bench press) will help.

When you’re ready to get MORE from your back training and really kick your arm size into overdrive, that’s when you need to start incorporating more unique exercise variations into your training…exercises that use novel movement patterns, hitting the back and biceps in ways they’re not accustomed to.

The bottom line is this…if you want big arms…and I mean REALLY big arms…direct arm training is NOT the fastest way to do it.  You have to train your back hard and you have to train your back heavy. Because when you can do weighted chin-ups with 100 lbs hanging off your waist, I can PROMISE you will have big arms.

Click Here for 145 Unique Back Exercises That Will Stimulate Massive Arm Growth!

An Interview With Vince Delmonte of 21 Day Fast Mass Building

You don’t have to look far to see some pretty outrageous claims about building muscle quickly. In fact, you’ve probably seen the 21 Day Fast Mass Building program that promises 12 of muscle in 21 days and thought, “Impossible!”

When you skim the muscle mags you’d be forgiven for thinking that building muscle is easier than anything. It’s not! Even if you have great genetics and taking steroids, building muscle is still a challenge.

So what is all this marketing hype based on when you see programs boasting 12 pounds in 21 days? I decided to interview Vince Del Monte, one of the authors behind the ground-breaking bodybuilding program, 21 Day Fast Building to get you the ENTIRE STORY behind their fast-acting muscle system. I think you’ll find this interview extremely enlightening.

Doberman Dan: What is your definition of “muscle”?

VD: FAT FREE MASS. The human body can manufacture (under optimal training, nutrition, supplements and recovery) anywhere from .25 to 1.0 pounds of dry muscle tissue a week. So we’re talking 2 to 4 pounds per month and this can be higher or lower based on the individual.

Understand, when you increase muscle size (Dry Muscle), you’ll also be able to increase glycogen AND water storage in those new muscles. More muscle equals more water and glycogen. This is all considered FAT FREE MASS and it’s weight that will make you look awesome.

So when we say you can gain “12 pounds of muscle”, we’re NOT referring to 12 pounds of dry muscle, we’re referring to 12 pounds of dry muscle AND glycogen AND water. Fat free mass!

Doberman Dan: So the premise of the 21-Day Fast Mass Building is to increase FAT FREE MASS (also known as “lean body mass”)?

VD: Correct!

Doberman Dan: In many muscle building programs, the traditional”bulk up” and then “cutting down”approach is the “gold standard”. Do you endorse this method?

VD: Yes! It’s simply ANOTHER road map. When I wrote No Nonsense Muscle Building in 2005,I was simply unaware of the concept or science behind cyclical bulking. Just like actors sills evolve with time, my knowledge evolves too. I always caution NNMB users the DEGREE of the bulk. No where in NNMB do I tell users to bulk to the point of getting fat. I always recommend adding muscle while maintaining a four pack.

Doberman Dan: So how is 21 Day Fast Mass Building different then your typical muscle building program where you just bulk up?

VD: Essentially, instead of bulking up for 16 to 48 weeks and then cutting for 8 to 16 weeks, the 21-Day FMB uses CYCLICAL BULKING which consists of shorter bouts (2 to 12 weeks) of bulking, mixed with shorter (1 to 4 weeks) of cutting.

Doberman Dan: What the hell is the point of that?

VD: By cycling your bulking, and cutting protocols into shorter bouts, you can take advantage of various metabolic swings that occur in response to bulking and cutting — and optimize your body’s response to each.

Doberman Dan: Give us an example.

VD: Okay. Recall the time you wrapped up a long bulking cycle and started cutting. Wasn’t it amazing how fast the fat was stripped off your body? It dropped away quickly, and with little effort. But after time, the rate of fat loss slows dramatically — and ends in some cases.

Doberman Dan: What causes this to occur?

VD: Adaptation is the cause. Once you start your cutting phase after the bulk phase, your body is in a prime state to strip of unwanted fat as there are several factors working in your favor.

Doberman Dan: What are those factors?

VD: Your metabolic rate is cranked as a result of the surplus of calories — your levels of T3, leptin, and other hormones which contribute to metabolic rate and fat oxidation, are all cranked as a result of the surplus of calories, in response to handling all the calories you’ve been crushing!

Once you drop calories during a cut phase, you quickly experience fat loss because of all these factors working in your favor. Your metabolic rate is higher than ever, and burning up calories like a wildfire tearing through a dry forest; however, as all good things must come to an end, the body begins to adapt to the drop in calories by reducing T3, leptin and other factors — which will, in turn, cause the metabolic rate to decline, and that’s when your fat loss comes to a screeching halt.

Doberman Dan: What happens when you cut for a long time and then start bulking?

VD: The opposite! Recall the time you wrapped up a cutting phase (or maybe you even did a photo shoot or competition) and started increasing your calories again. You rapidly put on size. Much of this is due to the fact that calorie restriction will increase insulin sensitivity. Increased insulin sensitivity in muscle tissue will help partition calories toward muscle and away from fat, thus making it easier and faster to gain muscle relative to fat.

Doberman Dan: Any more info to gain muscle without fat?

VD: It’s critical that when you transition from bulking to cutting (and vice versa), you will want to take advantage of the metabolic swings we discussed above — before your body is able to adapt to the change. So, when going from a bulking to a cutting phase, we’ll literally cut your calories in half, which will allow you to burn more fat than if you cut your calories slowly, as your body will simply lower your metabolic rate to match your slowly-dropping calorie intake…and vice versa.

When transitioning from a cutting phase to bulking phase, we’ll double your calories to take advantage of the increased insulin sensitivity. I DO NOT recommend doing this after a really, really long cutting phase (12 to16 weeks) because your metabolic rate will be so depressed that you will be primed to store more body fat. Short cutting cycles, as prescribed in the 21-Day Fast Mass Building, will not depress one’s metabolic rate enough to cause any fat gain.

Doberman Dan: What is the optimal cutting and bulking cycle in your system?

VD: We’ve named our brief “cutting phase” the primer phase, and it lasts 7 days. We have named our brief “bulking phase” the overload phase and it lasts 14 days. This is the nutritional premise of the 21-Day Fast Mass Building and then we have a specific workout protocol to accompany the nutrition.

Doberman Dan: Do you recommend experimenting with the length of the cycles?

VD: We give our users permission to experiment with the length of each phase AFTER they have done one 21-day phase as we prescribe. Pay close attention to how your body responds.

Doberman Dan: How many 21-day cycles do you recommend?

VD: I strongly believe that MULTIPLE cycles back to back will produce better results than just once through. At least 2-3 cycles (42-63 days) will make your body more responsive to the metabolic swings.

Doberman Dan: How much muscle do you think someone will gain?

VD: I have no idea! I can only say what other users have experienced. Implementing the nutrition and training to the letter can result in anywhere from 5, 10, 15 and even 20 pounds of FAT FREE MASS in 21 days. As with ANY program, it’s up to the individual to make the most of the info and give it an honest effort. What I CAN say, I’ll be shocked if you do not gain muscle faster than you’re currently doing right now.

Doberman Dan: Thanks for the interview Vince. If any readers have additional questions post them below and we’ll do a follow up interview if there’s interest.

VD: Perfect, I’m all for it. Thanks for letting me share this info.

CLICK HERE To Bulk Up Your Muscles, Not Your Waist Line

If you’re anything like me you look forward to the weight training aspect of your workout. Typically this portion of the workout takes less than an hour. Once you’re done though you still need to hop on the treadmill or elliptical machine for another 30-45 minutes in order to burn some fat and work those lungs right?

Not so fast!

Have you heard of “Workout Finishers“?  Here’s how they work.

Finishers are 5-10 minute resistance cardio workouts that you can add to the very end of your weight training session to replace steady state cardio.  The simple movements will keep your heart rate pumping like crazy without burning any of the muscle you’ve worked so hard for.

These quick and intense finisher workouts will increase your:

• Muscular Density
• Muscular Definition
• Strength & Power Endurance
• And Your Resting Metabolic Rate Allowing You To Burn More Fat

Give this TIME-SAVING full body finisher below a try and let me know how it goes in the comments section.

Guest post by Ben Pakulski creator of the MI40 System

I know it sounds like a silly statement, but hear me out.

We all have our “strong” body parts. You and I both have body parts that just seem to grow much more easily than the rest of our parts: the part that we really don’t have to think about when we train: it just sort of feels natural and grows easily. Isn’t this so true?

Look at your training buddies and you’ll see how real this is. You and your training partner use the same weight and same exercises and same intensity and his arms are huge, and yours are small. Or perhaps it’s another body part this resonates with.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself WHY this is true?

The truth of the matter is that it’s what you DON’T SEE that is making all the difference in the world.

Is it just because maybe I did a few extra calf raises in my mother’s tummy? Or, maybe I knocked out a few extra pushups in there?

What does “genetics” really refer to? Does it mean that some people just have more dense muscle then I do?

Possibly, but people typically have the same muscle density all over their bodies (at least proportionally). So, out goes that theory.

So then, what does this umbrella term “genetics” actually refer to?

After having extensively studied biomechanics and observed more athletes than I care to remember, the answer is actually pretty simple.

Genetics refers to the “mechanical advantage” some muscles have, and other muscles do not.

To explain this in simple terms, it means that some people’s structure is just set up to develop certain body parts quickly.

Some people might have short arms, or slouched shoulders. Some might be double-jointed in their knees. Maybe they have a particular pelvic tilt to make their butt bigger, or certain spinal curvature that allows them to build their lat muscles much quicker. The list goes on!

What do all of these things have in common?

I’m not going to leave you hanging, here’s the solution.

Break Crappy Lifting Technique & Retrain Movement Patterns

They allow the person to keep the greatest amount of TENSION in a muscle over the longest RANGE OF MOTION (ROM), without having to think about it.

Think about your strongest and best body parts. For most of us, it’s the muscle and we just picked up a weight and went to work. You didn’t have to think about it; you just did it, right?

Well, no doubt, some muscles will always be easier to feel from day 1. Does this mean that we can’t make it so every other muscle feels this naturally, too??

YES WE CAN!

Do your best to stay with me here…

The body moves in a series of predetermined patterns stored in the brain as something called “engram”. Basically, your brain remembers certain movement patterns and knows exactly which muscles to fire, and in what sequence, to produce that desired movement pattern.

So, every single movement you make is stored in your brain as an engram. (The only exception is a reflex -like pulling away when touching a hot stove).

The COOL thing is, every single one of these engrams can be CHANGED!  It’s the amazing discovery called neuroplasticity! (Science geeks read up— fascinating stuff).

Basically, we just need to overwrite these old crappy movement patterns with the right ones!

This does NOT mean that everyone can relearn the engram for sprinting and kick Usain Bolt’s butt; sorry peeps, we still have to deal with muscle fiber composition.

BUT , it does mean that YOU can bring up ANY “lagging” body part and BLOW RIGHT PAST YOUR GENETIC POTENTIAL!

As many of you know, I do a lot of work with high-level athletes and I also get to work with many pro bodybuilders. The amazing advantage to being able to work with bodybuilders and athletes as my “test subjects” is that they are typically very “in tune” with their bodies and are able to apply my teaching very quickly.

The benefit of this, for me, is that I can quickly test any theory for validity. The true test, once the athlete understands what I’m trying to tell them, is how long it takes to see results. If the results I’m after are not quick enough, out the door they go, and on to the next theory.

A great example of this RELEARNING MOTOR ENGRAMS is with a client of mine– Mark. He came to me wanting to become a pro bodybuilder but he just couldn’t develop a certain part of his legs (vastus medialis or “tear drop muscle”).  So, I had Mark demonstrate a few leg movements for me and it was clear to see  that he wasn’t obeying a few basic rules of muscle- building.

1) Not maintaining tension – he was bouncing.

2) Not maintaining “straight lines”- his hips, knees, and ankles did not line up properly during the movement.

3) Not achieving a full ROM during his exercises.

Long story short, we made Mark take a step back. We had him relearn the proper motor engram for legs, applied the other principles set forth here, and he put 3 inches on his legs in 3 months doing the exact same movements and workouts he had done before.

Mark was blown away with how simple it was, and amazed by his results.  I wasn’t surprised in the least. Actually, I expected it.

OK LISTEN UP! THIS IS HUGE…….

The TRICK when applying this principle is to NEVER use forced reps during the learning phase. When the set is done, it’s done. Forced reps will reinforce BAD movement patterns.

We want your brain to remember the ideal movement and NOTHING ELSE.  So when it comes time to train, you don’t have to think about it!

LEARN it now, grow FOREVER… exploit your will!

Take it from me! I went from a guy who was all legs, and am now well on my way to being one of the world’s most balanced and symmetrical pros.

Pretty cool, huh!?

I think so, too

So to summarize:

The key is to overwrite old crappy movement patterns with new ones. For any lifter, especially serious bodybuilders, this is the number one reason you’re unable to grow. Knowing the OPTIMAL range of motion – how to fully lengthen (extend) and fully shorten (contract) a muscle – is the key to growing.

A muscle is weakest at the extreme points of the range of motion; i.e., when it is fully lengthened or fully shortened. Putting your muscle into these full ranges where we are most unfamiliar is critical to develop untapped and untrained muscle fibers. Strengthening these weak points of the muscle will strengthen the maximal ability of the entire muscle. It’s like when the worst player on the team gets better, even if it’s a small increase, the whole team benefits.

In my new MI40 System I’ll teach you the proper anatomical function of each muscle so you can learn how to manipulate everything from shoulder position, hip orientation, spine flexion or extension, wrist position and elbow position in order to isolate „weak” body parts and say goodbye to them FOREVER.

It is important to realize that it is just as easy to learn the RIGHT technique as it is to learn the WRONG one. So why not choose now to learn the right way and say goodbye to crappy results?!

CLICK HERE For 5 Tricks To Double Your Gains Immediately