8 Sure-Fire Mental Techniques For Blocking Out Training Discomfort

Let’s face it; intense weight training is no easy task.

It’s no secret that if you want to see dramatic results in both muscle size and strength, you must be willing to push yourself to the limit every time you enter the gym.

This is one of the biggest reasons why most people don’t see the muscle-building results they desire; they just plain don’t train hard enough. And why don’t they? Here’s why…

It’s painful. It’s uncomfortable. It’s downright gut wrenching.

Too bad, so sad, my friend, because if you want real muscle gains then you’ll have to rise above and conquer the natural feeling of pain that is associated with intense sessions in the gym.

Luckily there are a few special techniques you can use to “mentally numb” these feelings and to blast through the pain barriers that separate you from the gains you deserve. Give some of the following methods a try and I think you’ll be pleased with the results...

1) Life-Threatening Situations

In the middle of your set, transport yourself to a life-or-death situation where your life or someone else's life depends on your ability to move the weight. For example, when performing chin-ups you could pretend that you are hanging from a cliff, or while deadlifting you could imagine that you are rescuing someone who is trapped underneath a car.

2) Magnetic Force

Pretend that the weights you are using are powerful magnets that are being attracted in the opposite direction. If you're performing a bench press, imagine that the bar is a magnet being attracted to the ceiling.

3) Envision Your Muscles

Remember that your purpose in the gym is to break down your muscle fibers in order to trigger an adaptive response from your body. While performing your sets, visualize what is happening inside of your muscle tissue. Imagine the fibers tearing and being engorged with blood and nutrients and realize that these processes will equate to muscular growth.

4) Have Someone Watch You

I'm not talking about using a spotter here, I'm simply talking about having a friend or training partner watch you perform your set. We usually tend to push ourselves harder when we know that someone is watching.

5) Positive/Negative Force

For pushing exercises, imagine that you are moving something negative away from yourself. You can associate anything with this: someone you don't like, a negative emotion or something material. For pulling exercises, imagine that you are bringing something positive towards yourself. It could be money, someone you love or a positive feeling.

6) Set Ridiculous Goals

If you need to perform 7 reps on a given set, imagine that your goal is to perform 100. Don't just tell yourself this; believe it. As you begin to perform your set, truly convince yourself that you will perform 100 reps.

7) Close Your Eyes

This should only be applied on certain exercises that are very simple to perform. You definitely wouldn't want to employ this technique when squatting or deadlifting. On other, simpler exercises, try closing your eyes. This will block out all of your visual stimuli and will allow you to focus 100% on performing the exercise.

8) Pretend It's Someone Else's Pain

Training to failure is physically discomforting. While you are approaching muscular failure, pretend that the pain you are experiencing is also being felt by someone that you dislike. The harder you push, the more pain you will transfer to them. It may seem like a cold-blooded technique, but it works.

If you're ready to put these techniques to use in the gym, I'll teach you several more of these psychological strategies and will provide you with a step-by-step workout plan that you can follow.

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Identifying an Existing Hot Demand

Every small business owner knows that competition is tough, but he or she may not be able to pinpoint exactly what changes are needed in order to get to the top. Conducting business as usual may no longer be sufficient. Investing in the technology that is now available can be a great help or a bank breaker. It seems that most small business and home based business are either starving (they don’t have enough technology) or they are obese (they have everything piece of new technology that comes down the pike).

There is, however, some fairly new technology that every small or home business owner needs. It can answer questions like; how can small businesses identify noteworthy trends, Identify an existing hot demand and make better decisions faster? Answer: business intelligence software. Business intelligence is the crystal ball of the 21st century.

Purchasing business intelligence (BI) software is one of the most strategic investments that a business can make. Using data mining, reporting and querying, BI helps businesses understand, monitor, manage and respond to specified situations. This software empowers decision-makers — and staff — to connect the dots around key business numbers in a way previously unimaginable. BI helps you figure out:

· Which customers are profitable?
· Which customers appear profitable but aren't?
· Are you close to — or far from — reaching critical milestones?
· When is the best time to launch a marketing campaign?
· What was the best performing product or service last quarter?

Business Intelligence software may be more of an investment than small businesses can bear. It can certainly be pricy. Small business or home business owners, however, can subscribe to BI services on the Internet at a fairly reasonable cost. There are several to choose from.

eBay also published a “Hot Items” list the first week of each month. It gives valuable information to eBay sellers who use drop shippers.

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Why Weight Lifting Is An Exercise That Delivers Top Health Benefits

While some individuals are strictly interested in obtaining muscle for aesthetics, for most people, this isn’t an interest. Instead, you’re more interested in knowing what health benefits weight lifting will have for you…

Far too many people overlook the many health and fitness benefits that weight training has to offer, and because of this, experience problems down the road with their body such as decreased bone density, a slowed metabolic rate, increased stress levels and other negative consequences that are associated with constant stress.

Increased Bone Density

Weight lifting, being one of the best weight bearing exercises you can do, will increase your bone density and help ward off osteoporosis or stress fractures in the future.

Many people think running is the best exercise for increasing bone density, but this isn’t necessarily true. If the truth is told, running actually promotes muscle breakdown in the body, while weight lifting, being an anabolic process, helps to promote the building of tissues.

Therefore, weight lifting is going to be much better at preserving your bone mass, not to mention it’s far less impact than going for an hour run.

Decreased Frequency of Injuries

When you strength train, not only are your muscles going to get stronger, but you’ll also work the ligaments and tendons that are connecting bones, muscles, and other tissues, thus reducing the chance they become injured when participating in other physical activities.

If you’ve ever been injured, you know just how frustrating this can be. In about 80% of all injury cases, the injury is a direct result of a tendon, ligament, or muscle not being strong enough when a stressful force is applied.

Since weight training will really hit all those deep tendons and ligaments, it’s the best injury prevention out there.

Reduction of Health Related Risks

Numerous studies have demonstrated that regular weight training can have a positive effect on health by showing reductions in the rate of insulin resistance, blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.

If you couple a solid weight training program then with a well-thought out diet, you’ll be putting your best foot forward at warding off these chronic problems

Prevention of Fat Gain

The more you weight lift, the higher your metabolism will be, thus the more food you can eat while maintaining your weight. If that isn’t good news for your future and the fight against body fat, I’m not sure what is.

Now, with all of this said, one big problem many people run into is the thinking pattern that using a muscle building program will make you big and bulky.

This is most certainly not the case.

Let’s look at an analogy to gain an understanding of this.

Pretend you have two teams and each are going to try and build a house using the exact same building technique.

One team is given 10,000 bricks to construct this house, and the second team is given only 1,000 bricks.

Who’s going to build the bigger house?

The choice should be obvious – team one since they have more bricks to build it with.
Now, think of those bricks as being the calories you put into your body. Unless you’re supplying enough calories, you aren’t going to build really big muscles. This is precisely what makes bodybuilders look like bodybuilders.

It’s not just about the way they train, but more about the way they eat (if you’ve ever had a teenage son in the growing process in your house, you likely know just how much food must be consumed when growing at rapid rates).

Whether it’s growing in height during puberty or trying to build bigger muscles later on, calories must be supplied for this growth process to take place.

You can’t build a house out of nothing. Likewise, you can workout all you want, but if those building blocks – in the form of amino acids, carbohydrates, and dietary fats are not there, you aren’t going to see too much muscle growth.

So, don’t get caught thinking that just because you add weight lifting to your workouts, you’re going to develop large bulky muscles. If you control your diet, this simply will not happen.
So, hopefully it is clear now that just because you’re weight lifting, it does not mean you will end up with bulky muscles as a result. Many people make this incorrect assumption – but it really is the diet that makes all the difference in how this weight lifting will shape your body.
When you make the decision to work with me using my 6-Pack Ab Quest program, I’ll take you through the weight lifting and ab techniques that will provide maximum results with minimal effort on your part (why spend more time in the gym than you have to?), as well as provide you with meal plans that are custom designed to ensure you get the best results from your training without the muscle bulk – in fact, the plans are formulated to help you shed the fat so you look leaner and more defined.

Not choosing to include weight training as part of your current workout program is without-a-doubt the biggest mistake you could make as far as your long-term health and fitness level is concerned. Don’t let this exercise pass you by any longer.

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The Critical Importance Of A Proper Weightlifting Warmup

One of the most costly mistakes that I see in the gym week in and week out is that the majority of lifters fail to recognize the importance of a proper warmup.

Some lifters perform a wimpy, worthless warmup that consists of 1 set of 20 reps using the weight of the bar, and others neglect the warmup process altogether.

There are two main reasons why a proper warmup will serve you well both in the short and long term...

1) A proper warmup will increase the amount of weight that you are able to lift during your actual workout, thereby maximizing muscle stimulation and growth.

2) A proper warmup will greatly decrease your chances of injury.

Now I don't know about you, but to me that looks like two perfectly good reasons to spend a simple 15-20 minutes before each workout properly warming up.

Don't you agree?

Good, now let me explain what a proper warm-up should consist of...

The first component of a proper warmup consists of 5 minutes of light cardiovascular activity. You can choose any basic piece of cardio equipment to perform this such as a recumbent bike, rowing machine or treadmill.

This basic cardio warmup will increase your body's core temperature, stimulate your heart and lungs and will also lubricate your joints by increasing the secretion of synovial fluid.

As you perform this 5 minute cardio warmup, envision the workout that you will soon be performing. Focus on mentally preparing yourself for the battle that lies ahead and accept that you will soon be putting forth a maximal effort.

It's crucial that you prepare both your mind and body for your workouts, since your mental attitude plays such a vital role in your success.

Once your 5 minutes is up, you can move into the next and final component of the warmup process. In this section you will be performing 5 warmup sets using the first major compound exercise of your workout.

For example, if you were training legs and squats were your main exercise, then you would perform 5 warmup sets for squats. The goal here is to start by using a very light weight with high repetitions and gradually increase the resistance while lowering the repetitions.

However, the most crucial aspect of these 5 warmup sets is this:

YOU MUST NOT FATIGUE YOUR MUSCLES WHATSOEVER DURING THESE 5 SETS!

Remember, this is merely a warmup that is designed to increase blood flow to the muscles and surrounding connective tissue. Its purpose is also to increase the amount of weight you will be able to lift on your muscle-building sets by preparing your mind and body for the heavy weights to come.

If you fatigue your muscles during these sets then you are completely destroying their entire purpose. Here is a basic formula you can follow when calculating how much weight to use and how many reps to perform on your warmups.

The percentage given is in relation to the weight that you will use for your muscle-building set. If you were planning on squatting 200 pounds, then the first set should be performed with 100 pounds for 10 reps as you can see below.

Set 1: 50% x 10 reps
Set 2: 60% x 6 reps
Set 3: 70% x 4 reps
Set 4: 80% x 3 reps
Set 5: 90% x 1 rep

Once you've completed these 5 basic sets you can move right into your actual workout.

Do not underestimate the importance of this warmup process!

It will go a long way in keeping you injury free and in preparing your body for those grueling workouts. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to perform and the benefits will far outweigh the costs.

If you're looking for more insight into the proper methods for structuring an effective muscle-building workout, You can gain instant access to a full step-by-step 26-week workout plan that has been used successfully by thousands of people from all over the world.

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And The 3 Keys to Smarter Ab Training

Smart trainees know that progression is the name of the game in fitness and strength training. However, as you continually test your limits of accomplishment, whether that’s reaching a new level of leanness, increasing your muscle mass or obtaining a new strength maximum, you often fall prey to the belief that you must push yourself to the point of complete “failure.” This is the point where you reach a level of fatigue and exhaustion that causes your muscles to literally give out (“fail”) and you can’t complete another rep.

Training with progression and intensity is important, but unless you’d like to trade a nice set of abs for a bad lower back, I’d strongly urge you to re-evaluate the concept of training to failure, especially when it comes to core and abdominal workouts and especially if you’re not a bodybuilder.

Why do so many people believe in failure training?

Training to “failure” became popular in part, because of bodybuilding culture and bodybuilding gurus such as Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones, and then the information filtered into the mainstream fitness world. Athletes, who tend to be as competitive with themselves as they are with their opponents, also sometimes push themselves as far as they possibly can in their quest for sporting excellence.

This approach may be misguided and possibly even dangerous.

There may be a small place for taking some sets to the point of failure in low volume bodybuilding programs. But even bodybuilders who train to failure too often may be gaining less benefit than they think, while increasing their chances of overtraining or even injury.

I believe strongly that the added stress of training to failure or total fatigue can cause more problems than it’s worth and the potential benefit is not worth the risk. I have rehabilitated many back pain patients because of their stubborn beliefs in “pushing it to the limit.”

Stimulate, Don’t Annihilate

Exercise places a stress on muscles, joint structures and the entire body. Exercising to failure places extreme stress on the muscles, body and the nervous system. There is positive training stress and negative training stress. Properly applied, training stress is “stimulation” which prompts an adaptation in the muscle – strength, stamina, size, or power. Improperly applied, training stress is damage beyond the point of necessarily stimulation. Even some of the top bodybuilders understood this, as former Mr. Olympia Lee Haney used to say, “Stimulate, don’t annihilate.”

Out of all the muscles and movements in particular, it is very important to stimulate your core and abdominals and not “annihilate” them. Be very careful not to over-train or over-stress your abs and core and this means, do not train your abs to failure.

One of the biggest problems with training the core and abs to failure is that the more fatigued you become, the more your form begins to break down. When your form breaks down, that is when injuries are most likely to occur. This is true for any exercise, but it may be truer for abs and core than any other type of exercise due to the susceptibility of the lower back.

Research by Dr. Laurence Morehouse of University of California at Los Angles found that when doing abdominal exercises, especially sit-ups, you over-work your hip flexor muscles - the psoas and the iliacus. When the exercises are performed quickly (form breaks) or all the way to failure (form breaks), the hip flexor’s pull on the lower back is increased.

When performing your core exercises, always be conscious about form, especially as you begin to get tired toward the end of a set. You should terminate your set at or before the point where you notice that your form breaks in the slightest, and that is usually a couple of repetitions before reaching muscular failure.

Progression Can Occur Without Failure

If you believe that stopping short of failure will hold back your progress, think again. Progress is a function of progression and progression can take place without failure. You can continue to improve your workouts and thereby your physique and performance by increasing repetitions and or resistance or even density… without ever training to failure.

Don’t Teach Your Nervous System “Bad Habits”

One point about proper form that few people realize is that if you train to the point of failure, which leads to a breakdown in form, this can lead to the development of poor motor engrams. Your nervous system can develop “bad habits” so to speak, as your body tends to automatically revert to what you practice the most. If the last repetitions of every set are usually done with poor form, then repeating that motor pattern is much more likely to occur in the future, leading to additional muscle and joint damage.

I design core conditioning programs in a specific way so you train smarter and avoid temptations that lead to poor form and potential injury. And that leads us to…

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The 3 Keys To Smarter Ab Training

First, I recommend that exercises are performed in a certain order

By placing the more neurologically demanding and form intensive exercises first in a carefully planned sequence, I help my clients avoid a situation where fatigue and form breakdown would be as damaging. If you attempt the opposite, you increase the chance of over fatiguing the segmental stabilizers of the spine and you produce poor motor engrams.

More details on exercise sequencing are beyond the scope of this article, but you can learn more in my Firm and Flatten Your Abs program and in my Six Weeks to Six Pack abs report

Second, I constantly emphasize form and control

Nowhere is strict form more important for your safety and results than in core and abdominal training. The simple advice of slowing down the tempo and focusing on form will increase results and help keep you out of the doctor’s office.

There are times when you may want to perform core exercises at a higher rate of speed with more velocity or explosiveness. This is often the case with athletic, sports-specific training. But speed and form are not mutually exclusive and the same rules about fatigue and failure still apply to explosive training.

I train elite boxers and when they first show up at my studio, they are often set in their old ways of failure, fatigue and overtraining. I’ve seen it over and over again: A new client’s routine consists of “workout till you drop” and then 1000 flat board sit-ups. I simply ask: “How is your lower back”? The answer usually is, “It’s sore” at best, or “It’s injured” at worst. Even if they’re simply experiencing unnecessary soreness, that gets in the way of sport-specific training and their progress is slowed all around or grinds to a halt.

Third, you must get clear about the desired outcome of your training

Many strength trainers and bodybuilders are convinced that the outcome of a workout should be “burn,” fatigue and failure. If you think that aching muscles is the desired outcome, then why even go to the gym? Come over to my garage and I’ll whack you a few times with my sledgehammer then sit you up on my barbecue grill. You’ll “ache” and “burn” alright!

Joking aside, you must get clarity about your real training objectives – they’re NOT pain, fatigue and failure. If you begin with the right end in mind, you’ll set about reaching that end more intelligently.

Your training objective is to strengthen your core region for support, stabilization and protection of your spine and body organs, and your ultimate outcomes are to be healthier, perform better and look better (perhaps in that order of priority!)

These objectives are best accomplished by performing your exercises with strict, controlled form, and by using movement patterns such as flexion, extension and rotation. However, any one of those movement patterns taken to extremes can eventually cause damage to joint structures, which can put you on the sidelines and only take you further away from your true objectives.

Train hard, but also train smart

Progression and intensity are often confused with the need to train to failure. From this day forward, I suggest you re-evaluate the scientific facts as well as your mindset towards your training. Get clear about your true objective and train to succeed, not to “fail.”

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Why Your Muscle Pumps Have Nothing To Do With Your Muscle Gains

Your back is firmly planted on the bench as you wrap your chalked hands around the cold, steel bar. Your training partner helps you un-rack the weight as you power the bar up and down, squeezing your chest and triceps on each grueling rep. You complete your 6 repetitions, re-rack the bar and stand up.

Your chest feels tight and engorged with blood. You take a look in the mirror, thrilled with how full and vascular your pecs appear. You feel strong, powerful, healthy and motivated to blast through the rest of your workout with your newly achieved “pump”.

Let’s face it, a pump feels incredible.

For those of you who aren’t quite sure what I’m talking about, a pump is the feeling that you get as blood becomes trapped inside your muscle tissue as a result of resistance training. The muscles will swell up and increase in size, vascularity and tightness.

There is certainly nothing wrong with achieving a pump in the gym, and it is simply a natural result of intense weight training. However, contrary to what the majority of weightlifters may think, a pump is in no way indicative of a successful workout. Anyone who uses the intensity of their pump as a gauge for the effectiveness of their workout is making a costly error.

On countless occasions I've heard lifters raving about the massive pumps they get in the gym as they share methods for achieving the best pump possible. "Dude, this will give you a crazy pump!"

If you have already been working out for a decent amount of time then you know exactly what I'm talking about. While a pump does feel extremely satisfying, just remember that it means very little in terms of muscle stimulation and growth.

A pump is simply the result of extra blood within the muscle tissue.

Think of it this way: if I took a pair of 10 pound dumbbells and performed 300 reps of a bench press movement, I would achieve an incredible pump. If muscle pumps meant muscle growth, then super light weight, ultra high rep programs would be the most effective way to grow.

Any serious lifter with half a brain knows that this simply is not the case.

Do you want to know how to truly gauge the success of a workout? Here it is…

Take your workout records (in terms of weight and reps) from the previous week and compare it to the current week. Did you improve? Were you able to either increase the resistance slightly on each exercise, or perform an extra rep or two?

If so, you had a successful workout, regardless of how much blood you were able to pump into your muscle tissue.

Building muscle mass and strength is all about training with 100% intensity on every given set and then striving to improve from week to week. If you are able to consistently achieve this, your muscle size and strength will increase faster than you ever thought possible, with or without a pump.

I hope this article cleared up your confusion on the issue of "muscle pumps". There's so much misleading muscle-building information circling around on the Internet these days that it can sometimes be impossible to know who to listen to. If you want to learn the truth behind 14 other common, counterproductive "myths",

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Will Eating Fat Make You Fat?

It’s been a popular misconception for a long time now that ingesting fat will MAKE you fat. Unfortunately, this is not true and anyone subscribing to this theory is doing themselves a huge disservice.

Did you know that if you starve your body of fats, it will start to hang on to fat even harder, which makes it even harder for you to lose the fat on your body. Don’t kid yourself. Dietary fat is not the same as body fat. Nowhere even close.

So, stop being freaked out about eating foods that contain fat, and start eating in a way that will not only help you with your fat loss goals but will make you a healthier person overall.

That being said there is a huge difference between the types of dietary fat you can choose to consume. Some types of fat are very harmful while others are highly beneficial.

The trick is to avoid hydrogenated oils and trans fats at all costs. The best rule of thumb is to avoid anything that’s ‘processed’ and try to stick with oils and fats that are as close to their natural state as possible.

Here’s some great foods that contain ‘healthy fats’ that you can (and should) incorporate into your diet.

Avocados

Avocados are full of oleic acid (a monounsaturated fat) which can help lower cholesterol. They are also high in potassium and countless other vitamins and minerals. They should be on the top of your eating list. Add them to salads or smear the pulp on toast for a tasty treat.

Nuts

Raw nuts are also a great source of healthy fats, as well as many vitamins and minerals. Don’t make the mistake of buying the salted and roasted kind. Usually they’ve been roasted in some kind of unhealthy oil, but another important detail is that just the act of cooking the nuts destroys some of the healthy properties otherwise found in raw nuts. Keep them raw for full health benefits and to keep the healthy fats intact. Some delicious healthy nuts are almonds, peanuts, cashews and walnuts. Toss them in salads or snack on them alone or with fruits and vegetables.

Seeds

Similar to nuts, these are also chock full of healthy fats. Again, skip the roasted and salted kind and eat them raw for the full health benefits. They’re great on salads, or even mixed in with your favorite yogurt to give it a little extra crunch. Some fantastic seeds to incorporate into your diet are sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds.

Flax seeds are also great but tend to travel through your body undigested unless crushed or ground before eating. But, flax seed oil is a fantastic source of healthy fat. You can buy flax seed oil at almost any store these days, but one word of caution: it is very unstable and can go rancid fast unless refrigerated. ONLY buy it from a store that keeps it in a refrigeration unit and get it home and into your own refrigerator immediately to avoid spoilage.

Salmon

Salmon is absolutely full of omega 3 fish oil, which has been proven wildly beneficial to health as well as fat loss diet programs. Make sure you’re getting enough salmon. Do yourself an even bigger favor and try to eat wild salmon as opposed to the farmed stuff whenever possible. The wild salmon tend to have higher levels of omega 3 and other excellent nutrients. If you aren’t a fan of seafood, pick up some krill oil capsules in your local health food store. You’ll get the same great benefits from consuming your fish oil this way.

Other Seafood

Tuna is also a great source of healthy fats, but beware to eat only in moderation due to mercury levels found in tuna. Once a week is plenty. Shrimp, prawns and other shellfish are also full of healthy fats but tend to be higher in cholesterol. However, there is good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) and unless you’ve been diagnosed with dangerously high cholesterol, I wouldn’t worry too much about the cholesterol in shellfish.

Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil has long been given a bad rap as being high in saturated fat. However, not all saturated fat is created equal and coconut oil is one of the most healthy good fats you can ingest. Coconut oil also happens to be a very stable oil, which makes it ideal for cooking. So, don’t be afraid of coconut oil anymore. Turns out it’s good for you.

Keep in mind as you incorporate these foods into your diet, that fat is more calorie dense than carbohydrates and protein so while you SHOULD be eating them, moderation is key so you don’t accidentally sabotage your weight loss efforts by over-indulging. Keep an eye on that caloric intake and keep it in check while adding these delicious foods into your dietary mix.

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Wimp Out In The Gym And Your Gains Will Be Gone In 60 Seconds

The margin of time that determines muscle building success or failure in the gym is a heck of a lot shorter than you might think.

Just as fraction-of-a-second moments during a 100 metre dash will make or break a sprinter's race, fraction-of-a-second moments will also make or break your body's muscle growth response in the gym.

In fact, your entire margin of success in the gym can ultimately be reduced to just a short time span of 60 seconds. That's correct, how you choose to handle a short 60 second time period during your workouts will translate to either poor, mediocre or significant muscle building results.

Although each entire workout will last for about an hour, only 60 seconds of that actual time will determine what kind of gains you achieve.

You may be scratching your head right now and wondering what the heck I'm talking about, but allow me to explain…

You see, every individual set that you perform in the gym is ultimately being performed for the benefits that will be achieved on the last 1-2 reps.

Muscles respond to stress, and the only truly stressful reps that actually trigger your body's muscle building mechanisms are those at the end of each set when the body is on the brink of muscular failure.

If a given set consists of 6 reps, then reps 1-4 are only performed in order to get to reps 5 and 6. Reps 1-4 will do very little in terms of stimulating muscular growth, but are necessary to perform in order to overload the muscles on reps 5 and 6.

In other words, it is only the very last 1-2 reps that will ultimately yield a muscle building response from the body. The longer you can push yourself to battle the weights during this small time frame at the end of each set, the greater results you will achieve.

Any of you who have read my articles know that I'm a big advocate of training to muscular failure. There is simply no better way to trigger your body's adaptive responses than to train until your muscles cannot move the weight another inch.

The closer and closer that you can come to muscular failure, the more dramatically your body will respond. This time frame is literally measured in single seconds. If you drop the weights 5-6 seconds earlier than the next guy (the margin is probably even smaller than this), you'll be significantly sacrificing your muscle growth.

So, where did the 60-second time frame come from?

Well, if we assume that you perform 10 total all out sets per workout and have a margin of 6 seconds between success/failure per set, this gives you 60 seconds of total time per workout to either battle through with full effort or to surrender and settle for mediocre results.

It really is true; your bodybuilding success is literally measured by the short, precise moments at the very end of each set and the amount of effort you are willing to exert during this time.

If you can force yourself to train to all out muscular failure, you'll achieve the best results possible. If you drop the weight 3 seconds before muscular failure, your growth will be compromised. If you drop the weight 8 seconds before muscular failure, your growth will be compromised even further.

If we multiply our 60-second figure by my recommended number of 3 workouts per week, this means that your bodybuilding success in the gym will literally be measured by how you choose to handle one short 3 minute long period per week.

I bet you never thought of it this way before!

You must train hard and with full effort at all times. When the weight feels heavy and your muscles ache and burn with discomfort, you must push through and continue until true muscular failure is reached.

If you stop short, even a second short, your gains will be compromised.

Keep this in mind at all times in the gym and you'll experience better results than ever before.

If you want to learn some awesome psychological techniques for breaking through the pain barrier and “mentally numbing” the discomfort associated with hard training, make sure to for details.

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Work Out With More Energy

Everyone works out to look and feel better right? Otherwise, what’s the point? So, are you sure you’re getting the maximum results from your training session?

Are you working out when your energy is highest, or just when it’s convenient to your schedule?

I understand that scheduling can be a bit of a problem in today’s world, but if you aren’t working out when your personal energy is jumpin’ then you may not be getting the maximum benefit from your training routine.

I know a lot of people who drag themselves through a workout first thing in the morning (like bright and early before the sun rises almost). However, these people aren’t morning people and they’re literally forcing themselves because they feel like they just want to get it over with, off their mind and get on with their day. But their energy is low because it’s just not their most energetic time of day. These same people feel a surge of energy at the end of their workday but since their workout is already done, don’t bother to take advantage of this surge.

There are many people for whom the complete opposite is true. They have barrels of energy first thing in the morning but feel that the time they have to spare only exists at the end of the workday, at their lunch hour or later in the evening.

Many people feel a huge drain of energy once the sun goes down so trying to work out in the evening in the dark (even in a lit room) can be very difficult. If they’d only worked out when their personal energy level was high, upon waking, they might have found that they can pour a lot more into their efforts and get a much better workout as a result.

I even have one friend that prefers to do her training session at midnight. Sure, she sleeps til 10am, but her energy just isn’t there until much later in the evening. So she works out right before bed because that’s when she can get her BEST workout done. Be careful with this tactic though, because many people find that a really late workout ramps them up too much to get to sleep afterward.

Personally, I’m not a morning person, but I also find that a workout before the workday starts gets me a good hard energetic training session and also gets me ramped up for a great workday with my brain firing on all cylinders.

So, I sleep a little later, work out mid-morning, and my workday is officially from about 1pm until about 9 or 10pm.

Sure, I’ve got the luxury of being able to schedule my workday around when my personal energy levels are optimized. I realize not everyone is able to do that. Some people hold jobs that expect them to be there from 9am until 5pm (or whatever shift work might be dictated).

To those people I can only suggest to keep an eye on when your personal energy levels are at their highest, and then adjust your personal schedules around your workday so that you can get your workout in when you can optimize for the most energetic workout possible.

Either. Or get it done after work, if that’s when you’re feeling the most energy.

If you’re a morning person who’s been working out at the end of your workday, get up a little earlier so you can get it done before you head to work. If you’re an evening person who’s been dragging your butt through your workouts first thing in the morning, sleep later, go to work and head to your workout afterwards or later in the evening. It’s ok if you stay up a little later, because now you’re sleeping later. Right?

Make sure your workout is the best possible by scheduling your time to ‘sweat’ for when you personally have the most energy, not when some textbook says is the best time. That will ensure you get the most energized workout possible.

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Working With Merchants

Contacting the merchant of your interested program is
an ideal way to increase your sales, which can save
you a lot of time and heartache. Once you contact
the merchant, be sure to let them know what you are
doing to promote their products, and ask for their
advice when it comes to marketing.

The merchant will know the product the best, and
they will have a good idea of the strategies that are
being used by other affiliates to make sales. By
contacting the merchant, you'll also show them that
you are dedicated to succeeding with affiliate
marketing.

Contacting the merchant also shows your enthusiasm
for marketing their products and services. Any
merchant who knows affiliate marketing also knows
that over 90% of sales are generated by less than
5% of the affiliates. Good merchants recognize your
efforts and provide you with information and resources
and may even boost your commission rates!

Dealing with merchants
If you email a merchant and they don't respond, try
again. If they still aren't responding, you should
think again about continuing the partnership, as a
lack of communication can indicate other problems
as well - such as payment.

Keep in mind that many merchants make big promises,
and set a high payout rate knowing that very few
affiliates will actually meet it. This isn't a
good way to do business, and you should avoid
working with these types of merchants.

Communication
When you communicate with merchants, you should
ensure that you use a professional tone. If you
have suggestions of how a merchant can improve their
offers, you should let them know. Many merchants
appreciate feedback, and know that any feedback they
receive can improve their programs.

Wise merchants always understand that good affiliates
are hard to find and will treat them with respect,
assist with resources, and be prompt with payments.
Wise affiliates are the same way, and understand
that merchants want quality promotion and sales
performance.

To get the most out of your partnership, you should
always be professional and understanding with your
merchant. Good merchants are always busy, which may
make them seem like they aren't that good. They
will answer your questions and emails, although it
may take them a little bit of time.

The longer you work with a merchant, the more you'll
understand how they do things. If you are just
starting out in affiliate marketing, a merchant
can help you understand how things work. If you
listen to them and show initiative, you'll be
well on your way to making it to the top.

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The 8 Week Diabetes Cure?

For a long time now it has been speculated that type-2 diabetes can be cured by adopting a low calorie diet. This claim has been met by scepticism in many corners, but now we have evidence to prove that it may actually be true. But I’m not so sure it’s all cracked up to be…

Scientists from Newcastle University in the UK conducted a two month long study which they believe shows that type-2 does not have to be a life-long illness.

There study involved 11 participants who cut their calorie intake to under 600 calories per day for 2 months. 3 months after the experiment finished, 7 out of the 11 participants were free of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is caused when there is too much glucose in the blood. Unlike type-1 diabetes, which develops in children when their bodies cannot convert insulin into glucose, type-2 is very closely linked with obesity. This explains why theorists have suggested that a low calorie diet could cure type-2 diabetes.

Just a week into the study, the pre-breakfast blood sugar levels of the participants had returned to normal. MRI scans taken at this time showed that the fat levels inside their pancreas had also gone back to normal. This means that the pancreas had now regained the ability to make insulin.

One of the participants in the study, who had suffered from diabetes for 6 years, said that 18 months on he still did not need to take his old diabetes tablets. This is great, but what about the others?

So now the question is, how can a diabetic go about adopting a new low calorie diet plan that could free them of this disease? Going for 600 calories straight away… I don’t think so, but you could build up lower calories until you reach your optimum level, and stay there for life. How does that sound?

I’m not saying that if you have diabetes you shouldn’t use this 600 calorie method, but I know from my dieters that they are able to sustain their weight loss after my diet and I believe it can be used to reverse diabetes too. Many of them simply reduce their lunch box and breakfast and meal sizes over time. They lose weight, get healthier and have more confidence.

You could just eat a 600 calorie Lunch Box from all day from breakfast to you evening meal but I think there’s the way I just described would be more effective, long term.

We need to remember that those on this study would have been working under strict conditions and if you’re overweight and have diabetes, the chances of switching and sticking to a very low calorie diet are very slim, especially if you’ve been a yo-yo dieter in the past. We need to consider so many different variables.

Slow and steady is the key when introducing any new eating habits so that the results can be sustained. I’d bet a fair amount of money that if 1,000 people tried eating 600 calories for 8 weeks and then maintaining a healthy weight, not even 10% would succeed long term because of the psychological and emotional battling that goes on when you restrict yourself for this long.

Low-Calorie Diabetes Diet Plan

As we have seen from the study, the participants restricted their calorie intake to 600 calories per day. So, the way a diabetic can design a new diet plan is to learn about the calorie levels in different kinds of foods and drop their calories down.

With this knowledge, a diabetic can plan their daily meals accordingly and make meals and snacks out of the low calorie foods they enjoy.

Before getting on to what kinds of foods are good to eat on this kind of diet, we need lay the ground-works. The key to dieting is not just about what you eat, but how you eat.

Eating Schedule

When starting out on a diet, it’s important to get a good eating routine going. Rather than just eating 3 large meals a day, it is much better to eat smaller meals, and then have snacks in between (ie from a Lunch Box). As I mentioned earlier, instead of reducing your calories to 600 straight away, you could use The Lunch Box Diet by gradually reducing the box size over time and then reduce the portion size of breakfast and evening meals so you’re reducing your calorie intake more steadily. This is how a lot of people have had amazing weight loss results on the plan.

Figuring out a rough time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day can start a good flow that your body will get used to. Then you can identify the mid-point between these meals when you can have a snack. So if you decide to have breakfast at around 8am each morning, and lunch at 12:30, you can have a snack (or eat from your box) in between at around 10:15am.

Eating in this way is important for all sorts of reasons. It fills your body with energy frequently and keeps you metabolism moving fast. It is especially important to eat this way with a very low-calorie diet, as you are likely to get hungry quite often. Eating more frequently throughout the day will make sure you are less hungry because there will be no large gaps in between your meals.

Knowing About Calories

So after working out a rough eating plan, the next step will be deciding what to eat. To ensure the eating plan stays low, knowledge about the calorie levels in different kinds of foods is needed.

With good knowledge of calorie levels, it becomes easy to design appropriate meals. It can even be a lot of fun to create meals out of the low calorie ingredients that are to your liking.

Low Calorie Foods

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To give a brief overview of the calorie levels of some common foods, here is a breakdown of some of the lowest calorie foods:

Under 50 calories (per 3.5oz):

Boiled Beans

Brocolli

Brussel Sprouts

Lentils

Fat-free yoghurt

Under 100 Calories (per 3.5oz)

Mung Beans

Low-fat Cottage Cheese

Low-fat fromage frais

Noodles

Porridge

Tofu

Under 150 Calories (per 3.5oz)

White fish

Lite Mayo

Boiled Bleached Pasta

Wheat Pasta

Boiled Chick Peas

Long Grain White Rice

Brown Rice

Spaghetti

Hopefully this list gives a good idea for what kinds of low-calorie meals can be designed to fit in with this diet.

With knowledge of calorie levels, creating meals can be a lot of fun, and involve a lot of creativity.

There are plenty of options for low calorie breakfasts, lunches and dinners. For breakfast you could enjoy a bagel with fat-free cream cheese, or oatmeal with raisins for less than 200 calories.

A simple tuna, turkey, or smoked chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes can be eaten for lunch at around 240-280 calories, or you’d have your lunch box to nibble on. It’s better this way because you’re blood sugar levels tend to spike when you’re just eating ‘lunch’. I try not to think of ‘lunch’ as lunch and just graze…

A low calorie dinner option could be salmon with a quick serving of brown rice, salad and low calorie salad dressing, or maybe a 2oz whole wheat pasta dish with frozen shrimp, feta cheese and marinara. Perhaps Asian stir-fry containing carrots, broccoli, red pepper and garlic would go down well with little over 300 calories.

For snacks in between meals, a tossed salad, a fruit salad or a slice of raisin bread is unlikely to be over 50 or 60 calories. If you’re on the go you could pick up a quick low fat cereal bar or rice cakes to keep you going.

These are just some of countless possible examples of how creative you can be with a diet like this. There are actually lots of low calorie eating options, so there are plenty of possibilities for making meals that contain the foods you like best. Obviously dieting is much easier if you enjoy the food you are eating, so you should focus on including your favourite low calorie foods as often as possible.

If you know all the possibilities available for designing low calorie meals and snacks, adoption this diet can be easy and a lot of fun. The health benefits of having a diet plan like this are vast. As we have seen, some people have been able to cure their diabetes for good by adopting a low calorie diet.

Even if the diabetes doesn’t go away, no-one can possibly not be in better health by eating a diet like this. Chances are having diabetes would be easier to cope with anyway, that’s if it doesn’t get cured all together.

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Workouts for a Busy Gym

Gyms are busy. Too busy. And it is always busiest when you settle in for your TT workout with its awesome fat-blasting supersets.

I know it drives you nuts when you are trying to pair lunges and
presses while someone is taking up valuable workout space chatting or doing some pointless fluff exercise. Why can't they just get out of your way and let you finish your super effective TT workout?

Crowded gyms are such a big problem that I designed the following TT workout that helps you perform my trademark "noncompeting" supersets - the most effective way to lift for fat loss - without letting anyone get in your way. This new version of TT lets you get it done right, even in a busy gym.

The secret to this workout is the pairing of two exercises that can be done at the same bench and often with the same weights. So you won't lose your spot between exercises. Camp out in your little area, work hard, and you'll get lean and lose fat faster than ever.

NOTE: This workout originally ran in Men's Fitness magazine, but I've actually improved the workout just for you! Always looking out for my TurbulenceTraining.com subscribers.

Workout Guidelines

· Workout 3 days per week alternating between workouts A &
B. Rest 1 day between sessions.

· In week 1, you will follow an A, B, A schedule. In week 2, a B, A, B schedule. In week 3, an A, B, A schedule, and in week 4, a B, A, B schedule.

· Each pair of exercises constitutes a "Superset". In each
Superset, do one set of the first exercise followed immediately by the next (1A & 1B) and then repeat.

· Rest 1 minute after completing the exercises in the
Superset (i.e. after 1A & 1B).

· Repeat each Superset until you've completed a total of three sets of each exercise in the pair, then move on to the next
pair.

· Use a 2-0-1 lifting tempo for all exercises (except for any holding exercises like the plank). Take 2 seconds to lower the weight, pause briefly, and then take 1 second to lift the weight.

· Finish each workout with stretching for the tight muscle
groups only.

· For full exercise descriptions and photos, see the Turbulence
Training manual.

Warm-up

· If you are limited by time, reduce the number of sets in the workout, but always perform the full warm-up.

· Never skip a warm-up.

o Perform this circuit 2x's using a 2-0-1 tempo:
- 10 reps of bodyweight squats or step-ups
- 20 seconds for the plank
- 8 reps of kneeling pushups or regular pushups
- 10 reps of inverted bodyweight rowing exercise or band pull

- Perform 2 warm-up sets for each exercise in the first Superset.
- 1 set of 8 reps with 50% of the weight you will use in your
"real" sets.
- 1 set of 8 reps with 75% of the weight you will use in your
"real" sets.

Turbulence Training Interval Training Guidelines

· Research has shown that interval training is very effective for fat loss.

· It is recommended that the stationary cycle be used for
interval training because it allows for an easy transition between
work and recovery.

· Finish each interval workout with stretching for the tight
muscle groups only.

Beginner Interval Workout:
· Warm-up for 5-minutes.
· Perform an interval by exercising for 30 seconds at a hard
pace (at a subjective 7/10 level of intensity) - i.e. fast walking.
· Follow that with "active rest" for 90 seconds by exercising at a slow pace (at a subjective 3/10 level of intensity) - i.e. slow walking.
· Repeat for 3-6 interval repetitions. Finish with 5-10 minutes of moderate intensity exercise for a cool-down at a 4/10 level of intensity.

Advanced Interval Workout
· Warm-up for 5-10 minutes.
· Perform an interval by exercising for 30 seconds at a very hard pace (at a subjective 9/10 level of intensity).
· Follow that with "active rest" for 60 seconds by exercising at a slow pace (at a subjective 3/10 level of intensity).
· Repeat for 3-6 interval repetitions. Finish with 5-10 minutes of moderate intensity exercise for a cool-down at a 4/10 level of intensity.

Workout A

1A) Wide-stance Squat (8 reps)
- Set your feet 4-6 inches wider than shoulder width, your toes pointed forward.

- This superset works best if performed in a squat rack that also has a chin-up bar.

1B) Chin-ups (6 reps)
- If this is too hard, perform a Reverse-grip Lat Pulldown.
- Rest 1 minute and then go back to Squats.
- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next
Superset.

2A) Barbell Step-ups (8 reps per leg)
- Use a step that's high enough so that your knee is bent 90 degrees.
- If you have to use DB's for the step-ups, take an extra 30
seconds rest when going from the step-ups to the rows.

2B) DB or Barbell Row (8 reps)
- Keep your lower back naturally arched.
- Rest 1 minute and then go back to Step-ups.
- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next
Superset.

3A) Side Plank (5 reps per side)
- Contract and brace your abs for 10 seconds per repetition
while keeping your body in a straight line.

3B) Stability Ball Jackknife (12 reps)
- Rest 30 seconds and then go back to Side Plank.
- Do this Superset 3 times and then go to the Intervals.

Workout B

1A) Low-Incline DB Chest Press (8 reps)
- Set the incline to one notch above the flat-bench position.

1B) DB or Barbell Romanian Deadlift (8 reps)
- Keep your lower back naturally arched for the entire
movement.
- Rest 1 minute and then go back to 1A.
- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next
Superset.

2A) DB Close-grip Chest Press (8 reps)
- Push the dumbbells straight up, not together.

2B) DB Rear-deltoid Lateral Raise (8 reps)
- Keep a tight arch in lower back and lean forward as far as possible.
- Perform this exercise extra slowly so that you don't use
momentum.
- Rest 1 minute and then go back to 2A.
- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next
Superset.

3A) Elevated Push-up (12 reps per side)
- Place one hand on a 4-inch step or box and lower your body as
far as possible.

3B) Stability Ball Rollout (15 reps)
- Keep your body in a straight line at all times--don't allow your back to round or bend backward.

Let me know how this workout goes for you and email me your
results. Better yet, take a before and after picture and some measurements to monitor your progress.

If you have any other questions, just let me know.

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Yes, You CAN Gain Muscle & Lose Fat at the Same Time

I have 3 BIG, and I mean BIG fat loss, body changing lessons to
share with you today...

First...

No one believes you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. I say, it's true. Not only do my Turbulence Training workouts prove it, but now science agrees.

Researchers from Purdue University showed men and women (with an average age of 61 - with one subject 80 years old!) were able to lose fat, gain muscle, get stronger, lower LDL cholesterol, and improve blood sugar control with a simple strength workout routine.

36 healthy men and women did strength training three times per week for 12 weeks, doing 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

By the end, the subjects gained an average of four pounds of lean mass and lost over four pounds of fat. This study show's it is possible to gain muscle and lose - at any age.

And you don't need fancy machines or an expensive gym membership, all you need is a professional program, like Turbulence Training, that you can do in the comfort of your own home.

Next...

I hear from men all the time who claim to be 6% body fat or less
(which is the level of a professional bodybuilder) but still have a
hard time seeing their abs.

This, by the way, is impossible. Listen, if you really are 6%,
you'll have an 8-pack, and you won't need any advice from me.

The problem is too many men and women believe that handheld body fat analyzers are accurate.

The truth?

Recent research shows these tools underestimate the amount of fat you are carrying on your body by 2.4 kg! That's 5 pounds of fat these handheld machines are neglecting to tell you about!

So don't get too smug with your handheld body fat readings, because it's likely underestimating the amount of fat on your body. Besides, its not about the machine, its about the mirror, how your clothes fit, and about losing the inches from your waist.

Worry about those, not some bogus readout on a machine.

And finally...

Everyone knows you don't burn fat with strength training, right? Wrong! A new study hot off the presses from the prestigous Journal of Applied Physiology showed strength training boosts metabolism by 10% after exercise and increases fat burning by 100%.

In this study, subjects did a standard 3-set strength training
program focusing on multi-muscle exercises and showed just how powerful "Turbulence" is for fat loss...

During strength training, you apply "turbulence" to your muscles, causing an increase in your metabolism and fat burning after the workout. That's how you build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

So forget about the "calorie readout" on the cardio machines. While strength training doesn't burn as many calories as traditional aerobic training during the workout itself, it continues to burn calories AND fat long after your workout.

And that's why you get a better body with Turbulence Training than you do with long, slow, boring, less-effective cardio.

Turbulence Training: Build muscle, burn fat, at the same time.

Get in shape fast with Turbulence Training,

PS - Here are the respective references for those 3 studies...

a) Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Apr;85(4):1005-13.

b) J Appl Physiol 102: 1767-1772, 2007.

c) Hormone Research 2007;68:8-10.

PPS - Cut your workout and enjoy more time OUT of the gym...

"I used to think you needed to spend hours in the gym everyday in order to see results. With the help of CB and TURBULENCE TRAINING, I have reduced my workouts from 2 hours per day, everyday, to 50 minutes every other day. All the while I have trimmed over 60 lbs. of body fat off my now lean and muscular body. Thanks CB!!!"
Rob Vickers

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You're Not A Beginner

… but you’re not at an advanced fitness level either. So how do you figure out which program is perfect for you?

Meet 5 foot, 8 inches tall Robert; a stressed out, fifty year old lawyer who had ballooned to a whopping 310 lbs. after years of neglecting his health and diet. But it’s not what you might think – Robert hadn’t stopped exercising completely.

In fact, according to him he was living a ‘semi-active’ lifestyle, and it was his arthritis and overly tight muscles that were mostly to blame for his less than stellar exercise commitment.

And so it was pretty clear from Robert’s current state that he wasn’t going to jump right into one of the more advanced Turbulence Training programs, but he wasn’t going to start from scratch either.

Robert needed a resistance program that was not only going to get rid of the fat he’d gained over the years, but do so in a way that wasn’t going to aggravate his sore knees and tight muscles.

Now maybe you’re not suffering from aching joints or tight muscles like our friend, Robert, but if you haven’t worked out in a while, then the best workout program to begin your body transformation is the Turbulence Training Intermediate Level Workout Program.

By combining dumbbell exercises and bodyweight exercises into strategically designed supersets, TT Intermediate will quickly help you build lean muscle, burn body fat, and boost your metabolism without jeopardizing your health.

And unlike a lot of other workout programs out there, TT Intermediate workouts are fun and fast. Remember, Robert was a busy lawyer, so he didn’t have 90 minutes a day to work out and do boring, useless cardio each week.

Fortunately, with these Intermediate level workouts you’ll not only maximize the little amount of time you actually do spend working out, but you’ll love the variety of the exercises, too!

By combining resistance training with short burst interval training exercise, Turbulence Training creates a perfect storm for extreme fat loss.

Yes, despite his aching knees and obese frame, Robert was able to achieve incredible strength gains and significant weight loss in just 45 minutes a day, three times a week on this program.

So if you can spare enough time for three short workouts each week, then you can dramatically transform your body, starting today.

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You Ain't Squat 'Till You SQUAT!

Simply put, squats are the most difficult, intimidating and painful exercise you could possibly have in your arsenal. They require massive amounts of discipline and willpower to perform correctly.

After you have performed a set of squats to failure, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. They are also a challenging exercise to master from a technical standpoint.

All this aside, squats are one of, if not THE most effective, growth-producing exercises you could possibly include in your workout routine.

They will pack more size and strength onto your lower body than any other exercise out there, and due to their high level of difficulty, they also force your body to release higher amounts of important anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone. This increased secretion of hormones will pack muscle size onto your entire upper body as well.

In addition, squats cause what is known as a "spillover effect": a strength gain in almost all of your other exercises. When I started squatting to failure, my bench press virtually increased by 20 pounds overnight. If you're looking for serious muscle gains and you don't already squat, you'd better get started.

Quite simply, they really, really work.

Unfortunately, many people have yet to experience the benefits of heavy squatting. It seems that people will come up with just about any excuse they possibly can in order to steer clear form the squat rack.

How many times have you heard the all too common "They're too hard on my knees", or "I heard they stunt your growth." What do I say to that? Nonsense!

If you're in the gym with the goal of maximizing your total body muscle gains, squats are an absolute must.

Proper Squatting Technique

For safety reasons you should always perform your squats in a power rack or cage. This way you can adjust the height at which you clear the bar, and you can drop the bar on the safety pins if you need to bail. The safety pins should be set at just below the depth you are squatting and the J Hooks should be set at about the level of your nipples.

At all times during the squat your head should be pulled back, your chest raised and you should have a slight arch in your lower back. You should always be looking straight ahead, and at no time should you be leaning too far forward, or be looking up or down.

Step up to the bar, placing your hands at about the same width as a bench press. Before clearing the bar, make sure it is placed evenly along your traps. The bar should rest on the lower portion of your traps and across your rear delts. It should almost feel as if the bar is going to roll off your back.

Now that you have cleared the bar, take only as many steps back as necessary. Most squat injuries occur when backing up, so make sure that you only back up as far as you need to. Your feet should be placed about shoulder width apart or slightly wider, and they should point out at a 45-degree angle.

Take a big, deep breath, and make your descent. You should not lower yourself straight down, but rather as if you were sitting in a chair behind you. At all times your knee must remain in line with your feet, and they should never bow in. Lower yourself until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground.

As soon as you have reached the bottom position, rise up immediately. Do not relax in the bottom position! Drive up with your heels and straighten your back as quickly as possible.

Once you are in the upright position again, take another deep breath, and continue the lift until you have completed the desired number of reps.

Final Thoughts

You have all the reason in the world to get into the squat rack, so go ahead and do it. Treat this lift with respect and you'll be shocked at the resulting muscle gains. I would recommend performing your squats once per week, for 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps. Focus on pushing yourself hard on this exercise and continually strive for more weight and more reps.

To learn about more highly effective, growth-producing exercises that you can include in your routine, Most trainees have no idea how to pick and choose the proper exercises and they dramatically limit their gains as a result.

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Your 3 Fat Loss Mistakes

Let me solve your workout problem.

I know that you are:

- Eating well
- Exercising regularly
- and TICKED OFF that you aren't making progress.

I've answered dozens of emails from new readers that have said exactly that. And after I get more info from them, here are the 3 mistakes commonly made:

1) Your perception of your nutrition "success" doesn't match the
reality of what, when, and how often you are eating. To learn the rules of fat loss, you need to read (scratch that, you need to
STUDY), Dr. Chris Mohr's Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines.

2) There is no variety in your training.

3) You need to up the intensity of your training.

Let's face it. Human beings like to stick to a routine. We don't
like change. We like our comfort zone - some more than others.

But if there is no change in your workout from month to month, then your body will not change either.

That is why I insist on changing your workouts every 4 weeks as you do in the TT workouts.

You won't succeed by doing the same thing over and over again.
Would you get ahead at work by doing the same tasks you did as the first day on your job? No way. You have to take on more challenges.

With variety in your training, you will continue to apply
"turbulence" to the muscle, and making your body use lots of energy (i.e. calories and fat) during the recovery period to repair the muscle and replenish the energy used. That will "jack up" your metabolism.

If your body is used to the training, the exercises, the sets, and
the reps, it will give a "ho-hum" response and your metabolism will flatline.

And that's why you need to raise the intensity of the workout as
well.

Slow, boring cardio doesn't jack up the metabolism like intervals.

And research has shown that 8 reps boost your post-workout
metabolism more than 12 reps. So you have to safely add a little
weight (try using 5% more weight with perfect form, of course), and decreasing the number of reps per set by 2. That's a good place to start.

So if you've been doing a machine circuit, then stop, and give this sample free weight Turbulence Training workout a try.

Warmup with a bodyweight circuit. 8 reps per exercise, go through it twice.

Sample bodyweight circuit:

i) Bodyweight squat
ii) An easy pushup
iii) A bodyweight row if possible, if not, do stick-ups

Then do 20 minutes of total body strength training done in
supersets.

ie.
1a) DB Squat
1b) DB Press

Do each exercise with a weight that allows only 8 reps. Do not rest between the squat and press. Rest 1 minute after the press. Repeat the superset 2 more times.

Next superset:

2a) DB Split Squat
2b) DB Row

Same as above.

On to intervals:

5 minute warmup.

6 intervals of 60 seconds at a "harder than normal cardio pace"
with 60-90 seconds recovery (at the easiest pace possible).

5 minute cooldown.

Stretch tight muscles only.

Done.

We don't do slow cardio. It does nothing for the man or woman who is short on time.

And of course, always train safe and don't do anything you are not comfortable doing...but if you are fit and healthy, you can
increase the intensity, change the variables, and burst through
your fat loss plateaus.

Sincerely,

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Your Key To Success Awaits...

We all have dreams and desires and I'm sure you do too.
That swanky brand new car...
That multi-million dollar house...
The ability to command respect and envy from our peers...
Having that confidence to go about doing anything in life...
Or just simply having that special partner in life to live
your days with
If you've always been struggling with various aspects of your
life,
Did you know? It has been estimated that we only use about 5%
of our brain consciously. There is simply too much potential
left unlocked within our minds

My friend Greg Frost has been spending years of research in
solving the mysteries of the mind. And he has finally confirmed
his suspicious - that the remaining 95% untapped power of our
minds can actually be unleashed through a variety of ways.

Using this untapped power, you will be able to:

1. Get things done faster and better

2. Eliminate all bad habits and build good ones

3. Develop an amazing memory that you never thought possible

4. Attain financial wealth that will send your friends green
with envy

People are jumping on this new secret, and I would urge you to
take a look today here:
P.S. I honestly don't know how long his revolutionary
system will be available online before it gets taken down.

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Your Affiliate Marketing Guide

Affiliate marketing is something that many webmasters know how to do. They know what it is about, and what it takes to be successful. However, if you are new to the webmaster world, you may just be wondering how you can get into affiliate marketing and making an income on the side for yourself. Doing so is not that complicated, and we have created this guide to get you started.

First of all, lets cover just exactly what affiliate marketing is. Affiliate marketing is when you sell or get leads for someone else’s service or product. You are going to find that there are so many people that do this. When a company needs some help making sales, and they allow people to sign up as affiliates, they are willing to pay a commission or a flat rate per lead or sale. Depending on the company, this percentage or flat rate will vary.

Affiliate marketing can be used to make a decent income several ways. You can use a website, a blog, newsletter, email, ads etc. The list goes on and on. However, the most popular form of affiliate marketing is done with a website. When you choose the market that you want to promote, be sure that you choose one that you are some what familiar with. This way you can become an expert on the topic, and everyone will know that you are the king of that market. Once that is done, it is time for a URL. There are many places that you can get your own domain from. Once you have decided where you will purchase that from, choose a URL that has the topic you are selling in the URL for the best results. For example, if you are wanting to market cat food, you wont use a URL that has dog in it. Make sure that everything is all relevant.

Now that you have your market and your URL chosen, you will want to determine the hosting that you will use for your website. You need dependable hosting for the best results. A hosting company that has more up time than down time is best because during the down time, your website will not be accessible. So, get some recommendations from others that have tried a few and use the best that you can find. It is worth it to pay for good hosting.

Once that is done, you are ready to get your affiliate links and website set up so that you can market the most effectively. Determine the amount of money that you want to make, and set up an outline of how you are going to make it. There are so many ways that you can get a website out there to be seen, and you will want to make the best decisions. So, finding out the best ways for you to do this is that is cost effective is a good start.

Learning SEO which is also known as search engine optimization is a great idea. Using SEO to get your site higher in the search engine rankings with keywords will pay off in the end. You can learn it yourself, or you can pay someone to do this part for you. It is up to you. However, you should know that learning and using SEO yourself is time consuming. Hiring an SEO guru might be better for you.

Write articles about the market that you are promoting from your website and submit them to all of the article directories. When you include a back link to the site that you are optimizing that will help you as well with the search engines.

Affiliate marketing is not anything that you can make money with over night. You need to be able to build up and keep adding to your website daily or weekly, and keep it going. You can do it, just don’t give up.

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The 80-20 Fat Loss Rule

What is Turbulence Training?

Turbulence training is my method of doing strength training
and interval training in one workout. So that you get in and out of the gym whether it's your home gym or whether it's a commercial gym. You get your workout done in 45 minutes.

We start with a 5-minute bodyweight warm up and then we do strength training for 20 minutes, whether it's bodyweight training or dumbbells. Sometimes we use barbells but most people that I work with train at home so we just use dumbbells and bodyweight exercises - no fancy equipment needed.

Then we finish with 20 minutes of interval training. We are using the most efficient and effective training methods. The stuff that gets you the most results in the least amount of time. So we are not doing long, slow cardio sessions and we're not doing 5 or 6 day per week bodybuilding training programs.

It's like the old business principle - 80% of your results come
from 20% of your efforts - so why do endless amounts of cardio and redundant strength training exercises?

Do only what you need to do and then get out of the gym.

Don't live in the gym,

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9 Easy-To-Make Muscle Building Growth Recipes

Think putting yourself on a muscle building diet has to be a painful process? Whether your goal is fat loss or muscle building, getting proper nutrition is at least 80% of the game. If you don't have that figured out, you are going to be a long time away from seeing results.

The good news is that your tastebuds don't have to suffer if you don't want them to. There are plenty of ways to get in your proper nutrition while keeping things interesting. If you think gaining muscle means suffering through can of tuna after can of tuna or pounding back a protein shake as fast as humanly possible, you need to think again.

Give one of these recipes a try and you'll be surprised just how easy it is to eat right, achieve your goals and actually ENJOY your food at the same time.

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Protein Fudge Nuggets

These are great to take to the gym as a post-workout treat or just for a snack to eat between meals. When you are trying to gain weight many of you really need to packing in the calories so you need calorie dense foods. These chocolate treats have it all.

8 scoops chocolate protein powder

1 cup oatmeal (can be ground depending on the consistency you'd like)

1/3 cup natural peanut butter

3 tbsp honey

½ cup milk

3 tbsp crushed peanuts

First mix together the protein powder, oatmeal, peanut butter, honey and milk. Form into small balls and then roll in the crushed peanuts to finish. Note that these can easily be frozen in plastic bags and consumed on a later date.

Nutritional Info (1/10 of the recipe)

234 calories

6.7 grams fat

18 grams carbohydrates

25 grams protein

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Pumpkin Pancakes

When you're craving a good home-made pancake breakfast, give these a try. They are filled with slow digesting carbohydrates that will keep your blood sugar steady throughout the morning.

¼ cup oats

1/3 cup canned pumpkin

5 egg whites

1 tbsp ground flax

½ tbsp cinnamon

Splenda to taste

First heat a frying pan until hot and then reduce to medium temperature. After mixing together all the ingredients drop by spoonful onto the plan, flipping when bubbles start to form.

Makes about 5 - 4" pancakes.

Nutritional Info (per recipe)

217 calories

23 grams protein

26 grams carbohydrates

4 grams fat

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Protein Jell-O

When you're craving something sweet but are on a very low carb diet, there often is not a lot of options. This recipe is the perfect dessert that will give you plenty of protein and not much else. Great for those on a very strict diet.

1 package sugar-free Jell-O (any flavour)

1 scoop Syntrax Nectar protein powder (any flavour - to match Jell-O)

Mix 1 cup boiling water with the Jell-O powder then stir in one scoop of the protein powder until dissolved. Once that's finished, mix in one cup of cold water and allow to set. Serve with low fat Cool Whip if desired.

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Blueberry Cookies

Everyone needs a good cookie now and then but not everyone needs the damage to their diet. Luckily with these not only will you be getting a great dose of protein, you will be getting plenty of antioxidants from the blueberries.

2 scoops vanilla protein powder

4 egg whites

½ cup oats

1 cup blueberries

First combine all three ingredients so they are blended well. Then mix in blueberries and drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degree Celsius for approximately thirteen minutes. Makes 10 cookies.

Nutritional Info (per cookie)

54 calories

6.5 grams protein

0.7 grams fat

5.5 grams carbs

Intramuscular Buffering Capacity

Finally, the last adaptation that’s seen with sprint training is the buffering capacity of the muscle. During glycoglysis, various byproducts are created such as lactic acid, and when these accumulate, it causes the extreme feelings of fatigue in the muscle tissues.

This then forces you to stop exercising as the fatigue sets in and often will be the end of your workout.

Overtime, sprint training will increase your ability to buffer these byproducts so that you can then workout for a longer period of time while maintaining that intensity.

So, next time you’re debating about whether to do a sprint training session or a moderate paced cardio session lasting for 40 minutes or so, opt for the sprint session.

The benefits you’ll receive are far more numerous and fat loss will be kicked up a notch as an added benefit. Keep in mind that for these type of benefits to occur, you want your sprints to last somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 seconds to 40 seconds, with a work to rest ration of about 1:2. Repeat this process a total of 6 to 8 times and begin and end with a five minute warm-up and cool-down.

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9 Killer Ways To Gain Muscle Naturally

Today I want to share with you some quality advice on how to gain weight. Now I caution you that this is for the really skinny guy looking to really gain weight because they barely have any meat on their bones. I know what it is like when you feel like you eat all the time and have nothing to show for it. I have been there. I also understand the feelings that you feel when people start to resent you because you can eat whatever you want and not ever gain a pound. They don't realize that to skinny guys, this is a curse more than it is a blessing at times.

However I also despise people saying that they have 'tried everything but nothing works'. This is the biggest lie that you need to stop telling yourself. You may have tried a couple of things but trust me, you just haven't tried the right things yet. Here are 9 tips that will help you to start to gain weigh in no time at all. These are tips I have personally used and I guarantee they will work for you.

Here are my top 9 Tips to Gain Weight:

#1 Train Under an Hour

You should be keeping whichever program you are doing to no more than 1 hour of duration. Be sure that you are focusing on keeping the intensity high rather than making the workout drag on. There have been countless studies on how nasty things happen in your hormonal state after training hard for more than an hour. Plus, when trying to gain weight, we want to work out harder rather than longer.

#2 Make Eating a Habit

Listen, I know in the beginning of this post I was sympathetic to your problem, but I am also here to say, Suck It UP. I can tell you that to gain weight, you need to focus on making your meals a habit rather than an afterthought. Your body is pre-programmed with your genetic disposition. And in your case, you have a very fast metabolism that digests and burns calories quickly.

So even though you might eat 3 meals a day, and they may be high calorie meals, your body is going to burn through these very quickly. Instead focus on having 5-6 meals a day spaced 2-3 hours apart so that your body is constantly being provided with something to metabolize and build muscle.

#3 Stop Relying on Supplements

I have been in your shoes, and I can't count how many times I have fallen prey to the supplement industry. You have to understand, a supplement is exactly as the name implies...A SUPPLEMENT. It is not going to make or break your gains in the gym. The majority of supplements being marketed to hardgainers looking to gain weight are focused on increasing water weight instead of muscle which after you come off the supplement, your weight will drop again. The only supplements I recommend are protein powder and perhaps some Gatorade after workouts.

#4 Take It Easy

As naturally skinny guys, you have to stop moving around so much. It's just a part of who you are, but you might fidget or move around a lot in the day. Learn to relax a bit more and try to limit activity outside of the gym as much as possible when outside of the gym so that your energy is put forth to good use.

#5 Understand Caloric Surplus

This is another thing I am very tired of hearing. 'No matter what I do or what I eat, I can't gain weight'. I have heard this countless times and I am here to tell you that you are dead wrong. That's OK, because I actually said the same thing until I realized the truth.

Most people think they are eating lots and you just may be. But no matter what you are eating, if you are not gaining, you are not eating enough. Most times, you should re-evaluate your diet as well and focus on more calorie dense foods. But you need to eat more if you are not gaining.

Also, when changing your body composition, you will need to 'force' things a little bit. Your body doesn't want to change and it doesn't care to gain weight. You need to 'coax' it along and yes at times it may be a little uncomfortable.

#6 Focus on Progression

As mentioned above, your workouts should really be under an hour if even that. But the main take home principle is to make sure you are progressing at a workout. It's so simply yet so many people screw it up. They put in more volume and more until their workouts are at about 2 hours.

Now some things to work for a while and you may see some results. But if you want to gain weight, you're better off focusing on progressing in either the number of reps or an increase in weight lifted within your main program. Just like overeating, this too will be tough and require you to PUSH yourself to the limits.

#7 Change Rep Range Every 3-4 weeks

Unless you are making great gains and progressing like nobody's business, I would suggest changing the rep range every 3-4 weeks to avoid plateaus. Changing the rep range will make your body adapt to the new stress causing you to gain weight in the form of muscle. This is a much better tactic than adding more sets and more work in your routine.

#8 Hit the Buffet

Remember, this is for the extreme skinny guy...But I want you to start hitting a buffet once a week. Try and position this eating frenzy after a hard workout so that the majority of calories get shuttled into the muscles which will really help you pack on those pounds and gain weight in the right places. Don't go too overboard, but this will train your body to 'accept' more food and it will increase your appetite in the days to come. Take advantage of this strategy.

#9 Consider a Mass Gainer

I know I bashed the supplement industry, but the truth is, if you really cannot eat any more whole foods (which is the better option) you could consider a mass gainer. A mass gainer is basically calories in the form of a shake. So instead of having rice veggies and chicken, you could replace with a shake.

These are another option for between meals. But make sure you have three meals of real food and no more than three of these gainer shakes. Better yet, make your own shakes with fruits and protein powder. Much better option. OK, so start putting these tips into action and you should be sure to start go gain weight in no time at all.

Good luck with your muscle gaining goals!

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A Bodybuilder’s Most Valuable Vitamin: Are You Getting Enough?

Everybody knows that consuming sufficient amounts of vitamins through their diet is an important way to maintain overall health and to keep the muscle building and fat burning processes functioning optimally.

If you are deficient in just a single vitamin, it can potentially have negative effects on literally thousands of different processes within your body.

While every individual vitamin plays an important role in the overall picture, there is one that definitely stands out among the rest... especially when it comes to the specific needs of a hard training bodybuilder.

I’m talking about the water-soluble Vitamin C; the one vitamin that no serious lifter should be short on.

Here are 6 ways in which sufficient Vitamin C intake will benefit you both in and out of the gym…


1) It is a powerful antioxidant.

When oxygen combines with other compounds as a result of intense exercise and natural bodily processes, it can form what are known as “free radicals”. Free radicals are metabolic waste products that attack cells, mutate cell membranes and that have also been linked with many diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Antioxidants battle against free radicals by either preventing their formation in the first place, or by latching on and neutralizing their effects. Through its effects as an antioxidant, Vitamin C protects the body from free radical damage.

2) It suppresses cortisol production.

Cortisol is a powerful catabolic hormone that is triggered as a result of stress, both from your workouts and from everyday life. Cortisol stimulates the breakdown of muscle tissue for use as energy, increases fat storage (particularly in the abdominal area), impairs nutrient transport into the muscles and inhibits muscle recovery in between workouts.

Vitamin C appears to have a measurable impact on reducing cortisol secretion in the body.

3) It assists in the formation of steroid hormones.

One of the major limiting factors that determines how much muscle a person can build is their natural anabolic hormone levels. Vitamin C assists in the formation of these hormones.

4) It enhances the absorption of iron.

Iron is what allows oxygen to bind to hemoglobin in the blood, which is then delivered to the muscles to enhance performance. Low iron levels will decrease the amount of weight you are able to lift in the gym and how long you are able to maintain a high level of intensity during your workouts.

5) It increases the integrity of the immune system.

Those following an intense training program should always be concerned with keeping their immune system functioning at optimal levels. This will help you to prevent sickness and to maintain top levels of performance throughout the week.

6) It reduces muscle soreness.

When taken close to workouts, Vitamin C has been shown to reduce muscle soreness in the days following a training session. While this doesn’t really have any direct positive physiological implications, it can be beneficial for those who would prefer to eliminate that deep aching that is usually felt in the muscles following a hard workout.


It should be clear by now that consuming adequate amounts of Vitamin C each day is an important part of maximizing the results from your program, whether your goal is to build muscle or to burn fat.

The recommend daily allowance for Vitamin C is just 60mg, however, this is a guideline set out for average everyday individuals and not for hard training athletes. Those who are following an intense muscle building and/or fat burning program will obviously require far higher amounts.

On the flipside, there are those who recommend taking “mega doses” of Vitamin C. Although Vitamin C is water-soluble (meaning the body can simply flush out an excess through the sweat and urine), mega-dosing is not natural to our biochemistry and could possibly interrupt other important bodily functions.

All things considered, I would recommend consuming Vitamin C in supplemental form in the range of 500mg-1500mg daily, spread out over 2-3 doses.

Try taking one dose in the morning, and another with your pre-workout meal. Most multivitamins will contain a small dose of Vitamin C in the range of 50-200mg, so purchasing a separate Vitamin C supplement is usually the best way to go.

You can also bump up your daily Vitamin C intake by increasing your consumption of natural foods such as tomatoes, apples, oranges and red/green peppers.

While you probably aren’t going to notice any immediate effects to your bottom line progress as a simple result of Vitamin C supplementation, it still can and should be part of an effective overall plan that will maximize your results over the long term.

If you want to gain access to more highly effective muscle building tips just like this, make sure to You can read all about my hugely popular natural bodybuilding program, "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System", and read my unbiased reviews on all of the top muscle building supplements available today.

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