the muscle book · mistake #1: ineffective diet the truth about bodybuilding is that muscle growth...

THE MUSCLE BOOKBy Athletic Xtreme

www.AthleticXtreme.com



TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Chapter 1: FIVE BIG MISTAKES YOU ARE MAKING TODAY THAT SABOTAGE YOUR MUSCLE BUILDING GOALS MISTAKE #1: INEFFECTIVE DIETMISTAKE #2: LIFTING LIKE A CHUMPMISTAKE #3: DOING THE WRONG EXERCISESMISTAKE #4: MORE SETS EQUALS MORE GROWTHMISTAKE #5: NOT LIFTING SMARTSUMMARY

Chapter 2: THE SCIENCE OF BUILDING MUSCLE MUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT #1: MUSCLES GROW OUTSIDE THE GYMMUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT #2: MUSCLE GROWTH OCCURS ONLY IF PROPERLY FEDMUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT #3: MUSCLES GROW ONLY IF THEY ARE FORCED TO GROWMUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT #4: MUSCLES GROW FROM OVERLOAD, NOT FATIGUE OR “PUMP”THE RECAP

Chapter 3: IT IS SIMPLE: DO THIS AND GAIN MUSCLE LET GO OF BAD HABITS… AND KILL THEM QUICKLYMAXIMUM RESULTSTHE TRAINING PROGRAMSUMMARY

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Chapter 4: EATING TO GROW

CaloriesProteinCarbohydratesFatsMeal DesignSUMMARY

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LET THE GAINS BEGIN

You want muscles? This program will provide the tools you need to achieve maximum muscle growth. Understand that it is going to be about efforts and rewards; you give 100% effort, and you will reap maximum rewards.

The concepts laid out in this book are your keys to achieving growth. Beyond that, you must stay subscribed to the email list to receive your weekly workout routine. That is right, a new workout plan every week! A professional train-er will design it and it is absolutely free! You will also receive nutrition tips & advice, moti-vation, advanced training tips, and more!

So, remember to stay subscribed to the email system to continue getting weekly advice from your trainer.

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Chapter 1 FIVE BIG MISTAKES YOU ARE DOING TODAY TO SABOTAGE YOUR MUSCLE BUILDING GOALS

Self-sabotage for a weight lifter is one of the worst things to experience, and one of the hardest things to recognize and overcome. Ninety percent of the men you see working out are not training correctly or effec-tively. Most of the men in that 90% have been seduced into following an unqualified routine they found in a muscle magazine or on the Web. Maybe a trainer or a friend passed their routine on to them. Moreover, 100% of these men experience either no gains or very slow, miniscule gains.

A major element of self-sabotage is that most men do not realize that their diet is compounding their train-ing mistakes because they have not geared it toward effective bodybuilding. Most men either eat too much

or they do not eat enough. They eat at the wrong time of day and are not consuming the optimal amount of macronutrients, or they are simply making other muscle-robbing mistakes.

A correct muscle building diet dictates that you consume a specific level of nutrients on a precise schedule. Let us take a moment to look at what are the

biggest self-sabotaging offenses made in the quest to pack on lean muscle mass. Odds are that you have

fallen victim to at least one of these, possibly even two or three. If you have not, then, you

simply may not have been working out long enough to fall into one of these traps. The hope is that, after reading

this, you never will.

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MISTAKE #1: INEFFECTIVE DIET

The truth about bodybuilding is that muscle growth occurs outside of the gym. It happens when you are sleeping, and it is highly dependent on your diet and nutrition. Unfortunately, proper diet and nutrition is as much a mystery to most weight lifters as it is to the rest of the population.

Most people who want to build muscle mass simply do not eat enough calories every day, or eat too many of the wrong type of calories. The weightlifter’s diet needs proper monitoring and maintenance. There should be specific daily meal times in which a premeasured amount of protein, fats and carbs are con-sumed.

Weight lifting and building muscle mass demands that you eat a large volume of protein, fats and carbs throughout the day. If you fail to do this, you will not grow. It is that simple. This is why the first mistake is consuming an ineffective diet. If you make this mistake, you are wasting your time and money.

You must be discerning about what you eat. If you eat too many “bad” calories you will gain muscle, but layers of fat will hide it. When you commit to the right diet and nutritional intake, you will experience gains that will astonish you and your circle of friends.

MISTAKE #2: LIFTING LIKE A CHUMP

It is no secret that constructing a magnificent physique means traveling a hard road. The commitment required is time, in energy, and in dedication is daunting to everyone. Even those who have the genetic disposition to be massive muscle bound superhero types have to make the commitment to train.

The training discipline required for maximum results reveals that, more often than not, most people train as though they really do not want it. They do not want to go through the pain. The good pain, that is, as the “no pain, no gain” philosophy is wrong…to a certain degree. To achieve the greatest gains, you have to take yourself to the redline (or “to failure”) every time you go to the gym. Notice I said to the redline, not past the redline. Going to the redline is how you will achieve the gains you want. If you do not push yourself to the redline every time, then do not expect much, if any, growth.

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Human beings will actively avoid pain and pain-inducing situations. In fact, as humans we crave pleasure inducing environments and circumstances. This subconscious drive will sabotage the goal to build up lean muscle mass.

Effective weight training is, by its very nature, uncomfortable and filled with pain and intensity. In the be-ginning, you WILL BE seduced into skipping the “final” exercise or you will dread the thought of doing just five more squats. No one relishes the next day’s soreness, whether it is your muscles, tendons or joints. The fact is that you must go through this slight discomfort if you want to blast through to your goals.Human beings will actively avoid pain and pain-inducing situations. In fact, as humans we crave pleasure inducing environments and circumstances. This subconscious drive will sabotage the goal to build up lean muscle mass.

MISTAKE #3: DOING THE WRONG EXERCISES

Most gyms have a disproportionate amount of workout machines. These machines provide limited value for the goal you are trying to achieve. They are practically worthless because they do not have the same ability to stimulate your muscle fibers constantly the way free weights do. Free weights are steel objects, such as kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells, adjustable pulley systems, and lat pull-down devices that require you to move the weight through three-dimensional space.

Machines essentially guide your muscles through the range of motion and do not provide resistance. Free weights force you to move the weight in opposition to gravity’s pull without any help or assistance. Without the guide of the machine, your muscles and tendons do not only have to move the weight, but they must also keep a specific body part and the weight stable throughout the range of movement.

In the history of modern bodybuilding, it is practically impossible to find someone who has achieved a “wow” chest by pressing weight on the Pec Deck Machine or the Machine Press. The “wow” chest is only possible from training using the raw steel of barbells and dumbbells.

In addition, many magazines and websites relate the advice that you have to alter your routine constantly. In truth, there are only three simple—but key—things that you have to do in order to become stronger and larger: 1) eat correctly, 2) give your body an ample amount of rest between workout sessions, and 3) lift heavier and heavier weights each workout session. This is the foundation for building mass—nothing else.

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By lifting more weight than the last time, you ARE altering your routine from the previous one.

If you are new to bodybuilding (or new to doing it correctly), the first thing you will need to do is establish a rock-solid foundation. You do this by executing the same core exercises week in and week out. This will include doing bench presses (or dips), deadlifts, dumbbell presses, squats, barbell curls, and other com-pound exercises. If you are executing these exercises with the correct form, you will see your strength and size increase much faster than you ever thought possible. Use your previous efforts as a benchmark. There will be no need to switch up your routine every couple of weeks.

These same principles are true for the gym vet who has an already established solid foundation of lean muscle mass, but is looking to target specific weak areas in his or her physique. The vet may have a differ-ent routine, but it does not consist of different exercises, just different weights and number of reps.If you are new to bodybuilding (or new to doing it correctly), the first thing you will need to do is establish a rock-solid foundation. You do this by executing the same core exercises week in and week out. This will include doing bench presses (or dips), deadlifts, dumbbell presses, squats, barbell curls, and other compound exer-cises. If you are executing these exercises with the correct form, you will see your strength and size increase much faster than you ever thought possible. Use your previous efforts as a benchmark. There will be no need to switch up your routine every couple of weeks.

These same principles are true for the gym vet who has an already established solid foundation of lean muscle mass, but is looking to target specific weak areas in his or her physique. The vet may have a differ-ent routine, but it does not consist of different exercises, just different weights and number of reps.

MISTAKE #4: MORE SETS EQUALS MORE GROWTH

If you are like me, you have a tight daily schedule and you do not have time to spend two hours in the gym every day. Workouts get long, because you are doing many sets of each exercise. Only a disillusioned fanatic believes muscle growth occurs when you are struggling through set 15. And, let us not forget about those people on “performance enhancing” drugs who will squat until they puke.

One of the most counterproductive things you can do during your quest to build lean muscle is over-train. Overtraining occurs when you do too many sets. This robs your muscles of the ability to grow.

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When you over-train you will feel perpetually tired, lethargic, and you will potentially lose muscle mass. In essence, if you spend 90 minutes doing an all-out assault on your muscles, there is a strong possibility that you will end up smaller and weaker.

When you over-train, you break down too many muscle fibers on a physiological level for your body to repair them adequately in an optimal timeframe. You do not want to under-train, though. Avoid both negative con-ditions by doing a workout routine specifically designed to achieve maximum muscle stimulation over a short period; one that your body can efficiently and effectively handle.

Adding more sets equals more time spent pumping iron, and this too can create an obstacle when it comes to reaching your strength and mass goals. Working-out releases hormones (including insulin, testosterone, and human growth hormone) into your bloodstream that are beneficial for stimulating muscle growth. Exercise also creates stress in the body and your body reacts to that stress by releasing another hormone into the bloodstream, cortisol.

Cortisol is completely counterproductive for weight training because it interferes with your body’s ability to effectively metabolize protein and it interferes with muscle growth. Once you stop exercising your body stops releasing cortisol. Workouts must be effective but it is important to keep them as short as possible.

Research has determined that a weight lifting routine lasting between 45 to 60 minutes is ideal to prompt op-timal muscle stimulation while limiting the production of cortisol. Your post-workout meal also plays a large part in controlling cortisol production. A later chapter will discuss post-workout nutrition.

MISTAKE #5: NOT LIFTING SMART

Nothing makes me cringe more when I am working out than when I see people haphazardly throwing weights around with a devil-may-care attitude. I cringe because I know an accident is going to happen at any time, and it is a completely preventable accident.

Proper weight lifting form needs to be taught, but more often than not people go to the weight rack and operate on instinct. This is a bad move. Instinct will not get you anywhere in the gym, because the science of weight lifting rules the day. Poor and/or improper form will put unnecessary strain on your tendons, joints,

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and ligaments. This unnecessary wear will lead to costly and painful injuries. These problems compound when the weight levels increase. Body parts, such as the back, knees, shoulders, and elbows, are the most likely to be injured.

Many people lack knowledge and are inexplicably more concerned with looking cool than properly develop-ing muscle mass and strength. One of the things you will learn through the program presented in this guide is the precise and specific form required to generate maximum muscle growth safely.

SUMMARY

It is not too difficult to put yourself in the proper position to gain muscle mass. Ultimately, what you have learned is that living in the gym, busting out “burn out” sets until you puke, and doing the wrong exercises while exhibiting poor form and munching on junk food will prevent you from achieving your goals. These five self-sabotaging mistakes are the main culprits that cause countless men and women to fail to meet their goals. Years can go by and you will not see the result you want. You will become frustrated and discouraged, if you are not already sitting on the sidelines.

How many people quit after six months or a year because they only see marginal gains? It is sad and it is because they have fallen victim to at least one of these mistakes. Now, you are probably asking yourself, “Okay, you have explained how to be a chump who wastes time and money; so how do I do it right?”

I thought you would never ask!

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Chapter 2

THE SCIENCE OF BUILDING MUSCLE

Nature itself defines the laws of muscle physi-ology, and as with everything else in nature,

there are specific, irrefutable, and observ-able laws to abide by. Any attempt to

rebel against the natural laws of the universe usually brings a not so pretty reckoning. Everything in

nature is about “cause and effect.” If you take the proper

actions, you will get the proper results. This is exactly what happens

with weight training. Take care of the right muscles, the right way, in and out of the weight

room, and you will experience the growth and change you are looking for.

There is no such thing as a “hardgainer.” You will only gain lean muscle mass by taking the right steps, pure and simple.

These basic principles may have been a secret to most people over the last few decades, but those who knew and followed

them forged some of the most sensational physiques that were ever seen. Many of these principles will be contrary to a great

deal of the information you have read or been told. After all, you would not be here if you knew the secrets, would you?

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THE FIRST MUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT: MUSCLES GROW OUTSIDE THE GYM

Every body is different and it is important to learn your body’s recovery time. This is a crucial piece of infor-mation. Contrary to what most people think, and have been told, muscle growth occurs when you are not working out. Most weight-training routines dictate that you train every other day. This is probably too often for the vast majority of us. Men and women who have fallen victim to this misconception need to realize that they will achieve better results via less training. The ‘less is more’ philosophy applies to weightlifting just as it does to everything else in life.

What is the science behind this? It is very simple. Muscles grow during the recovery period—the time between trips to the gym to work out the same muscle groups. When you overload your muscles (perform each set until failure), your body adapts to the stress by getting bigger and stronger in order to handle future overload situations more effectively. In order to adapt, your body needs sufficient rest and excellent nutrition.

Not giving your body enough time to rest and repair itself before training the same muscle group at the next training session will result in the loss of muscle mass and strength. Nobody wants this to happen. Learning to recognize the optimal amount of rest and recuperation time that your individual body needs, whether it be 48, 72 or 96 hours, and eating effectively during the same time period, will ensure maximum size and strength gains.

THE SECOND MUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT: Muscle Growth Occurs Only If Properly Feed

How important is nutrition? Put simply, it is everything. Let us get to the point. Diet determines 70-80% of how you feel and look. It determines whether you look muscular or look like a neglected child, which could mean the difference between looking ripped or sloppy fat. You could execute a perfect workout and still not make progress because you were not eating properly.

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Look at the people who go to the gym and take notice of the vast number of those who routinely work out but fail to show actual growth over a period of time. Nearly everyone who works out does the nutrition part of it wrong. They do not provide their bodies with what they require to build muscle quickly. Almost everyone knows that the body needs to consume protein for muscle growth. Not everyone knows how much, how frequently, or which kind.

Most people are also confused about carbs. Which kinds are best? How many? When should you consume carbs in order to maximize gains? Then, there are fats. Are they important? How many do you need, if any? What are the ideal methods to consume fats without putting on tons of weight?

Most importantly, how many calories must you eat every day? And, what should be the size of each of your daily meals? Answers to questions like these will be provided and more, so that you never again make a diet mistake that can prevent your body from achieving maximum muscle growth. Just remember to stay subscribed to the trainer system. Don’t forget you can ask your trainer any questions you have regarding your program.

THE THIRD MUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT: Muscles Grow Only If They Are Forced To Grow

This principle may appear to be a no-brainer, although it is worth saying, because too many people with the goal of gaining muscle mass do not completely understand the process. Physiologically speaking, lifting weights causes micro-tears in the muscle tissue. The body repairs these tears and adapts the muscles to be-come stronger and denser so that they can more effectively handle the next muscle-damaging situation. The precise term for this type of growth is hypertrophy.

If your weight-lifting routine does not fully assault the muscles and create enough micro-tears in the muscle fibers, then little to no growth will occur. Your body will determine that it the stress is not enough and will not grow effectively to handle the small level of stimulation. Now, remember that the first chapter talked about over-training. If your workout damages too many muscle fibers, the body will fail to repair them fully in a reasonable timeframe, thus stunting your muscle growth. Also, if your workout routine creates the optimal level of micro-tears in the muscle fibers, but you do not provide your body with the optimal amount of rest and nutrition, then again muscle growth will not happen.

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Therefore, there is a slight caveat to this commandment of muscle growth. In order to achieve optimal mus-cle growth, you must inflict a level of muscular damage to such a degree that it causes optimal micro-tearing but no more. You must also feed your body the correct amount of nutrients it needs to grow and give your body a generous amount of rest. Break this commandment at your own peril.

THE FOURTH MUSCLE GROWTH COMMANDMENT: Muscles Grow From Overload, Not Fatigue or “Pump”

In the aftermath of an intense workout, your muscles are usually burning, and many weightlifters errone-ously think this sensation is proof-positive that their muscles will grow between now and the next time they hit the weight room. However, this is completely wrong. The burning feeling is simply the build-up of lactic acid in the muscle tissue. Lactic acid is the waste product from muscles consuming their energy sup-ply. In truth, the lactic acid retards muscle growth and breaks down muscle fiber.

Likewise, “muscle pump” is a worthless indicator of potential muscle growth. The pump experienced after knocking out a strenuous set is the result of blood trapped in the muscle. You might psychologically enjoy this feeling, but that is all it is—a feeling. Muscle pump has no bearing whatsoever on if, or how much mus-cles will grow in the future.

With this in mind, it is clear to see that a high repetition workout will not only fail to trigger muscle growth adequately, it will also impede muscle growth. High rep sets cause your muscles to consume more energy from their stores and release the by-product of burning energy, lactic acid. As mentioned before, lactic acid impedes muscle growth. For this reason, do not fall for any routines that emphasize high reps as a means to pack on lean muscle. Incidentally, high reps are great for elevating your heart rate, thus helping you burn more calories and lose weight.

OK, so if the pump and burn are not signs of potential muscle growth, what does trigger muscle growth? The answer: overload. You must clearly order your muscles to grow, and the best means to execute those “orders” is through overload. You achieve overload by using heavy weights with short, intense low-repe-tition sets, working out to failure (which is when you can no longer perform a clean rep with proper form without help or at all), and capping your set at nine per muscle group.

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This training regimen will cause the optimal amount of micro tearing to your muscle fibers for the strength and growth gains you desire. Believe me on this. All the stuff you have read in the magazines about doing drop sets, supersets and giant sets is not going to work for 90% of those looking to gain muscle mass. The remaining 10% will see change only because of a genetic predisposition. The magazine prescribed training techniques simply do NOT trigger the growth the way straightforward, heavy sets do. After all, you are only in the gym for one reason, right.

THE RECAP

You have been given the Four Commandments—doing things differently will result in wasted time and feeble muscle growth. Thou shall not be feeble! Pack on the strips of lean muscle mass you desire and deserve. It is a simple matter of adhering to these commandments with religious fervor: lift to failure (overload), lift heavy, get maximum rest, and feed your body with the right amount of fuel it needs to grow. This is how you construct a powerful, ripped, and healthy body.

As you can see, it is much, much easier than the supplement companies and their crafty marketing depart-ments want you to believe. They will tell you anything so you will blindly buy their products. The specific workouts that you will be doing rely on this four-pronged foundation. If you relinquish any doubts or other ideas you may have and follow these prescribed methods, how rapidly you can transform your body will shock you.

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Chapter 3 IT IS SIMPLE: DO THIS AND GAIN MUSCLE

Today you start a fresh, new chapter in your saga to pack on lean muscle mass. By effectively utilizing the knowledge you will learn through following this program, you will gain strength and muscle mass at a

speed greater than you thought possible. You might be startled at how swiftly your body will fill out, and how

your strength will take off like a rocket at Cape Canaveral. The Muscle Book training program will work for everyone. If you have been told that you are a “hardgainer,” the one thing you will discover after following this program is that

you are not. If you adhere to this training regimen and dietary advice precisely, you WILL gain muscle mass like

never before. The muscle building philosophy that is going to be revealed to you will take you all the way

to reaching the upper limits of your genetic po-tential. This potential is much greater than most

people believe or think is possible.At its most basic, this manual is the most

comprehensive and effective training method for when you plan to build mus-

cle and get stronger. Whether you are looking to transform your physique by

packing on 30 pounds of lean muscle (by the way, any guy can achieve this) or just

bulk up by putting on 10 to 15 pounds, The Muscle Book is the most efficient

way to get there.

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LET GO OF BAD HABITS… AND KILL THEM QUICKLY The odds are that this weight-training regimen is markedly different than the routine you are currently following. Without a doubt, you will be familiar with the exercises recommended, but the fundamentals, philosophy and tactics will be fresh and unique.

This training routine is quite logical and rooted in hard science, backed by unquestionable results. The de-monstrable results will be quite evident to you within your first month of training under the program’s guid-ance and instruction, thereby proving their effectiveness. After the first month, you will no doubt acknowl-edge that this method is hands-down the best routine you will have ever tried.

If this all sounds too brash, please do not take it as such. This is not intended to imply that you have no idea how to train or that you have been doing it completely wrong all these years. The point is that you should approach this routine without any preconceptions, and be willing to move forward without a hint of skepti-cism. Follow the plan with an open mind and you will be happy with how your body responds.

MAXIMUM RESULTS One of the things you will experience is something the vast majority of people never do. Understand that each time you pick up a weight and execute a repetition, you are working toward achieving MAXIMUM muscle growth. It is this simple; one repetition is the initial step in the grand scheme to achieve the most progress in the shortest amount of time.

The Muscle Book system will deliver results while utilizing comparatively short workouts. By following the design of these short workouts, you will pack on the lean muscle mass in a matter of months. The Muscle Book formula will be responsible for explosive muscle growth, so get ready for a body transformation.

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THE TRAINING PROGRAM The Mucsle Book weight-training breakdown:

NOTE: The major muscle groups include; chest, back, shoulders, quads, and hams. The minor muscle groups include; biceps, triceps, and calves.

• Body parts per training session: The aim is to hit 1-2 major body parts per training session. The focus is on gaining muscle, so this is the ideal layout; however, that may change. Remember, your workouts will be emailed to you each week.

• Exercise sets: Each exercise is broken down into a number of sets. The focus will be on 2-5 sets per exercise. The range varies because you need to stimulate growth and progressively overload your muscles. he aim is to hit 1-2 major body parts per training session. The focus is on gaining muscle, so this is the ideal layout; however, that may change. Remember, your workouts will be emailed to you each week.

• Repetitions: Every time you lift a weight from start to finish is considered one rep. The number of reps per exercise will ideally range from four to eight. This number may change to ensure that you continue to stimulate maximum growth.

• Rest per set: The rest portion will vary greatly. The focus will be on gaining muscle. Muscles need to be recovered enough to ensure you can move maximum weight. Again, you are covered here because your trainer will be emailing your training program (and more) to you each week.

• Sets per body part: Stimulate, don’t annihilate. The focus is on ensuring you get the right amount of sets per exercise to stimulate growth.

• Training days per week: Ideally, you will train with weights 5 days per week. This will allow two full days for recovery. Recovery is essential for growth. Without recovery, you will not grow…period.

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THE MUSCLE BOOK

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By Athletic Xtreme


SUMMARY These are the core essentials of The Muscle Book weight training protocol. More than likely, this is a fresh approach to lifting. If this is the case, you cannot help being excited. In a few short weeks, you will be enjoy-ing explosive muscle mass gains by completing relatively quick, stimulating workouts that deliver the results other people dream about.

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Chapter 4 EATING TO GROW

Anyone who knows anything about putting on lean muscle mass knows and agrees with the fact that nutrition is an enormous piece of the puzzle. You hear people say that it is 70-80%, perhaps even 90% of the game. Honestly, this is 100% of the game. Lifting heavy and overloading your muscles goes hand-in-hand with proper nutrition.

You must also have the right attitude. If you want results, take nothing for granted; you must perform and consider everything at 100%. One single factor alone does not allow you to construct a fantastic body. The body you want requires a series of foundational understandings; if one is weak, the whole building will cave in on itself once it becomes overloaded. Essentially, you will not build any appreciable amount of muscle mass unless you train properly, which re-quires maintaining proper nutritional support, including proper hydration.

Your muscle growth will be diminutive without proper hydration. Ne-glecting to mentally attune yourself properly will cause your training sessions to be lackluster. See? Everything must be at 100%. You must have an “all or nothing” attitude about achieving your health and fitness goals. You need to be 100% about each el-ement you learn in this regimen if you want to achieve 100% of the possible results. Anything less in training, dieting, or attitude will result in a failure to achieve the greatest level of victory.

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Now let’s discuss nutrition, a prime pillar of muscle growth. The nutritional aspect of fitness is unbelievably powerful. Nutrition will be either your greatest ally or your ultimate enemy; elevating or destroying your results like a rival gladiator in the arena. There are various checkpoints on the road to massive muscles, and if you skip a few or try to sneak by them, your ultimate results will fall far short of what you are capable of achieving.

You must concern yourself with five aspects of nutrition when you plan on building muscle and shedding fat. Those five are 1) calories, 2) protein, 3) carbohydrates, 4) fats, and 5) water. Protein, carbohydrates, and fats are also known as “macro-nutrients,” and how you incorporate these into your diet is extremely impor-tant for your overall results. Your vitamin and mineral intake are the secondary concern; these are known as “micro-nutrients” and are essential for the body’s performance of various physiological processes associ-ated with building muscle and shedding fat.

Let us discuss each of these five aspects of nutrition.

CALORIES

A calorie is a measurement of potential energy gained from a given food source. Calories can come in several forms including protein, carbohydrates or fat. Similar to a racecar engine, your body requires fuel to function, and your body gets this fuel from food. One gram of protein has about four calories. A gram of carbohydrate also has about four calories. A fat gram has roughly nine calories. Regardless of the nutritional data source, these numbers hold more or less true.

Your body regularly burns food energy to execute a number of physiological processes. Your lungs, brain, heart, kidneys, and liver all demand energy to execute their given functions and enable your body to oper-ate smoothly. Your muscles need energy to extend and contract, and your body needs energy to build muscle and lose fat.

A variety of factors come into play that determine how much energy your body requires on a given day and, thus, how many calories you will need to eat to keep it energized. This is true regardless of whether your goal is to gain muscle, lose fat weight, or maintain your current weight and muscle mass level. Your body size, your amount of lean mass, your body temperature, the thermic effect of foods, stimulants such as caf-feine, and your level of physical activity all affect how many calories your body churns through every day.

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Knowing how to determine how many calories your body needs and how to translate the caloric value into precise amounts of protein, carbs, and fats is vital to boosting your muscle growth. Eating 225 grams of protein per day is far better in terms of achieving muscle growth than eating 100 grams of fat, even though you would be consuming the same amount of calories.

PROTEIN Your body requires protein for nearly every “growth” process it undergoes. Your body utilizes protein to re-pair and construct cells and to manufacture hormones and enzymes, both of which cause assorted chemi-cal reactions throughout your body. Your body also needs a hefty amount of protein to keep your immune system functioning optimally.

Weight training places a considerable amount of protein demands on the body, and as you put on more and more lean muscle mass, your body will require more and more protein to maintain the lean muscle mass. Imagine your muscles are protein basins; this is how your body views them. What do you think oc-curs if you create some muscle but do not give your body the necessary protein it must have to maintain that muscle mass? Your body will eat the muscle and thus reduce its protein requirements. Therefore, eating enough protein every day is the absolute fundamental component to increasing your strength and building muscle.

The importance of this aspect of forging muscle mass cannot be understated, because many people do not seem to acknowledge its importance. They skip meals and think that it does not matter. Nothing can be further from the truth. When you skip a meal, you are ensuring that your body is close to empty in its fuel reserves, and you may believe that the lack of fuel should not cause your body much damage. However, it does, in fact, cause great damage.

Not eating enough protein on a consistent basis throughout the day is a sure-fire way to ruin your gains, ce-ment you in a rut, and force you to quit. It happens to someone every day.

However, the daily quantity of protein intake is not the only critical aspect to consider. The frequency of protein consumption is equally crucial. The body breaks down proteins into amino acids, and then your blood transports the amino acids to various parts of the body for specific usage. In order to attain optimal muscle growth, you constantly need to inject amino acids into your bloodstream, so the body can use them for growth, repair and various other processes.

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Allowing too much time to elapse between meals (which must contain a specific amount of protein), will force your body to leach protein from its own muscles, thus making you weaker and smaller. Since this is the case, you are almost obliged to consume MORE protein than your body needs each day. Plan your pro-tein consumption poorly and you will lose the gains you have made.

In your weekly trainer emails, there will be a deeper look into the specifics of which proteins are the best to consume and when. For now though, the key thing to remember is to eat protein about every 3 hours to keep your body anabolic.

CARBOHYDRATES

The carbohydrate is without a doubt the most feared, maligned, and misunderstood macro-nutrient in the food universe today. Thank the dozens of fad diet plans and diet tips for this. The result is too many people believe that when they eat carbs they are eating fat. It is true that if you eat too many carbs, you will put on fat, but carbs all by themselves are hardly your enemy. In fact, carbs play a vital and specific role in muscle growth and overall body function.

Irrespective of the kind of carbohydrates that you consume—broccoli or key lime pie—the body breaks it down into two distinct substances: glucose and glycogen. Glucose is commonly referred to as “blood sugar.” It is the most readily available energy source that your cells can use to execute the wide variety of things they do.

Glycogen is a substance stored in your muscles and liver. Your body can readily convert it to glucose for immediate energy needs. When you weight train intensely, your muscles consume their glycogen stores to deal with the excessive energy requirements.

Now, let us look at why broccoli is good for you and key lime pie is not? It comes down to a few key things. One is that your body metabolizes broccoli very differently than key lime pie. You are most likely familiar with the term “simple” and “complex” carbohydrates, but do you know exactly what those terms mean? Have you heard about the glycemic index?

The glycemic index (GI) is a numeric system attributed to food, which indicates how fast your body converts the carbohydrates in the food into glucose. It ranks carbs on a scale between 0 and 100 based upon how

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they affect blood sugar levels after you have eaten the specific food. A score of 55 and under is considered a “low GI”, 56 to 69 is considered a “medium GI”, and 70 and above is considered high.

A “simple” carb has a high GI rank because the body converts it to glucose very quickly. These include such foods as honey, table sugar, and watermelon. A “complex” carb, such as broccoli, Granny Smith apples, and sweet potatoes, has a low GI rank and converts very slowly. It is highly critical that you know where on the glycemic index the carbs you eat fall because the body has a hard time dealing with energy levels constantly spiking and then plummeting. Consuming a tremendous amount of simple carbs all day will wreak havoc on your metabolism and cause you to gain weight.

Your fitness goals, whether they are losing fat or gaining muscle or both, will determine the amount of carbohydrates that you should eat each day. Putting on muscle demands that you consume a great deal of carbs. However, limiting your carb intake and increasing your protein intake is the ideal way to shed fat while maintaining muscle size and strength.

FATS Fats are the densest energy sources obtainable by your body. Each gram of fat contains more than twice the calories of a protein or carbohydrate gram. Healthy fats, such as those found in olive oil, avocados, flax seed oil, many nuts, and other foods, are an important element to your overall health. They help your body absorb the other nutrients you give it. Fats also help maintain cell structure, nourish the nervous system, and regulate hormone levels.

Certain fats, however, are not good for you and may lead to disease and other health problems. These kinds of fats carry the dubious names like “saturated fats” and “trans fats.” Saturated fats are primarily in animal products, such as dairy, egg yolks, and meat. Contrary to popular belief, there are also a few plant foods high in saturated fats. These include palm oil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil. Consuming an excessive level of saturated fats will adversely affect cholesterol levels, so only eat them in moderation. However, it is not necessary to eliminate them completely from your diet.

“Trans fats” are fats concocted in a laboratory and designed to provide foods with longer shelf lives. Many packaged food and nearly all junk food is chock full of trans fats (e.g. run-of-the-mill popcorn, peanut but-ter, and yogurt), as are the vast majority of frozen foods (e.g. frozen pizza, cakes, packaged pastries, etc.). Additionally, fried foods are usually fried in trans fats.

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Trans fats are bad news. The lead story on the 5 o’clock news making you shudder kind of bad. Eating too many can lead to all kinds of disease and complications. Trans fats have absolutely no nutritional value and need to be avoided altogether for this reason alone.

In the United States, too many people eat much more fat than is necessary; adding many excessive calories to their daily intake. When designing your diet, make sure to include a small amount of healthy fats every day and to avoid unhealthy ones all together.

MEAL DESIGN The vast majority of people have set up their meal plans to include too much fat. They skip breakfast, eat junk food of some kind at lunch, come home famished to have a massive dinner with some dessert, and fin-ish with a snack such as chips or popcorn while lounging in front of the TV until bedtime. This is a sure-fire disaster plan for their metabolic rate. The result will be packing on layers of unsightly fat.

The smart, savvy person designs their meals so that their breakfast is the largest meal of the day, and each successive meal becomes smaller and smaller as the day goes on. This meal plan is wise because the body’s metabolism is at its natural peak in the morning and then begins to slow as the sun goes down.

As part of this regimen,you should get accustomed to eating once every 3 hours throughout the day, as opposed to two or three times a day with a 5 to 6 hour gap between meals. Eating small meals six or seven times a day actually enhances your metabolic rate. Eating two to three meals each day slows your meta-bolic rate down. A high metabolic rate is better for weight loss.

PROTEIN The main reason for eating so often is so that you can consume a dose of protein every 3 hours or so. When you are training, you never want to go for more than 4 hours without putting some protein in your body (except while sleeping). If you do, your body will start to break down muscle to find the protein it is craving. So, you see, your body actually requires that you eat six or seven times a day, being sure to ingest about 30 to 40 grams of protein at each meal.e only exception to this is when you move on to muscles you have not warmed up yet. If you wer

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CARBOHYDRATES The ideal time for consuming carbohydrates is right after training. The post-workout meal should include medium-to-high-GI carbs. Incidentally, you should consume low-GI carbs with each protein meal leading up to dinner. The goal of consuming carbohydrates immediately after training is to rapidly restore depleted muscle glycogen.

When the body is depleted of nutrients, it tends to super-compensate and absorb them rapidly. This is due to the body being very intelligent in ensuring it survives. Glycogen is very depleted by the end of your work-out. So it makes sense to consume a decent bit of carbs, especially when the body is ready to absorb them into your muscles.

FATS The best time to have your daily fat intake is early in the morning, with either breakfast or lunch. As with carbs, avoid eating any fat for several hours before heading to bed because this can lead to fat gain. Fat is calorie dense and therefore burns slowly, releasing more energy than your body needs while sleeping.

SUMMARY You must have stellar eating habits if you plan to build a great body. This requires eating enough calories, fats, protein, and carbohydrates on the right schedule and drinking enough water. Making sure that your body has all the components it needs ensures that it can adapt to the focused training you subject it to.p

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Remember to keep an eye on your email. You will receive the weekly trainer email soon. Be sure to stay subscribed so you can receive the training program, as it will offer different tips each week. By following this program, within months, you will have a new body, you will feel good and proud about it, and know

exactly how your body responds to a wide variety of physical fitness goals. You will look great too!

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the muscle book · mistake #1: ineffective diet the truth about bodybuilding is that muscle growth...

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