One of the most frequent requests Jason Ferruggia receives is for a description of his vegetarian muscle building diet, I also often read on various forums people begging for advice because they already are or have been brought up in a vegatarian household. Since there is such great interest in this topic he would like to share it with you today. Here's what he has to say on the subject:
Mike let me explaine my daily routine.
At Breakfast- My day always starts with a shake. This will normally consist of rice, pea or hemp protein, or some combination of the three. I blend 30-40 grams of protein in 8oz of organic coconut milk and 8-12 oz water. I also blend in a banana, mixed frozen berries, a tablespoon of cacao nibs, and 2 tablespoons maca powder, which is tremendous for increased testosterone production and virility. This shake is absolutely delicious.
Snacks - Some time a few hours later, I will have a few tangerines and some pistachios/cashews or a couple apples with almond butter. The fresh ground almond butter from Whole Foods is one my favorite things and I could easily eat an entire container in one sitting. Sometimes for a treat at night I mix it with organic honey and kill the entire container, washing it down with a cup of hemp or almond milk.
I am big fan of high sodium intake for strength and energy production so I always have a few pickles every day and add sea salt to much of food.
Lunch - This will usually consist of some kind of legumes or beans, which are a mainstay in any vegetarian muscle building diet, with organic brown rice or quinoa. I will sauté black beans with peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic and mix that in with the rice. I top it with salsa and some fresh avocado. That is my Mexican style rice and beans. Sometimes I just mix the beans and rice or quinoa with marinara sauce.
I will sometimes have a salad with that or eat some raw veggies or mix some steamed kale or spinach into the whole thing.
Occasionally I will have a couple almond butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. I have cut out peanuts and peanut butter completely due to the deadly toxins that they contain, along with wheat because of it’s inflammatory properties, so these are not eaten as much as they used to be. I get some brown rice bread for the times I do eat these.
Snack - Similar to above. When I’m not near food I always carry Raw Organic Food Bars with me and a variety of nuts. If I am home and have had fruit for my first snack I try to make this snack with raw veggies and hummus along with a decent amount of nuts.
I also drink another shake some time during the day which is usually right after I train. It is similar to the shake above except that I don’t include the coconut milk or the cacao but I do use the maca powder. I blend a banana, almond milk, water, frozen spinach (you don’t taste the spinach at all so this is nowhere near as gross as it sounds) with Vega and some extra protein.
During my workouts I drink coconut water or regular water. And I try to drink at least a half gallon of water throughout the day out glass or my Sigg bottle and do my best to avoid plastic because of the estrogenic effects. I also drink a couple cups of green tea each day.
For Dinner - I normally cook some kind of stew consisting of a large variety of vegetables and some kind of legumes. For example, the other day I got home and all that we had was squash, onions, spinach and garlic. I threw it all in a pot with vegetable broth, salt, pepper and yellow peas, which have 10 grams of protein per ¼ cup (you would have to eat a lot of meat to equal the protein in two cups of yellow peas). I let that cook for 2 hours and then mixed in some quinoa. It was absolutely delicious. Other times we will mix brown rice in with a variety of other veggies and lentils. If I was trying to get lean I would probably skip the brown rice. Adding potatoes (even just one) to the stews makes them creamier and even more delicious.
I severely limit my soy consumption because of it’s estrogenic effects, but for the occasional cheat I will have some tofu with brown rice or some kind of meat substitue with brown rice pasta.
I also eat soy and wheat free veggie burgers one or two nights per week and always have a huge spinach salad mixed with tomatoes, broccoli, olives, peppers, onions, carrots, apples, berries, nuts, seeds, avocado, and whatever else I can fit in there. I top that with olive oil, Vega oil, Rice bran oil and balsamic vinegar.
Dessert - Occasionally, when I am going to cheat I will have some organic coconut milk ice cream. This is, obviously, made with coconut milk and not cows milk. It is delicious and pretty healthy. Coconut milk contains healthy Medium Chain Fatty Acids and has none of the dangers of cows milk. It is sweetened with organic agave syrup. I highly recommend it.
The only other cheat dessert that I will regularly eat is organic, dark chocolate. This has been shown to have a variety of health benefits. The brands I buy are those that support slave free, fair trade practices.
So that is a brief overview of my vegetarian muscle building diet. It’s very easy to follow, and a whole lot healthier than eating pounds of red meat and that saturated fat.
Let me say a bit more about Jason.
He is a world renowned professional fitness coach and writes for Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers and Today's Man magazines. His trademarked Muscle Gaining Secrets workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and other magazines and all over the Internet, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world build muscle in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For information on the Muscle Gaining Secrets workouts that will help you build muscle faster than you ever thought possible, please visit Muscle Gaining Secrets.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
How to build more muscle on a vegetarian diet
There are many reasons why you should consider becoming a vegetarian and they are:
- The negative effects on the environment and the contribution to global warming i.e methane from cattle.
- The contribution to world hunger.
- Forest clearance for cattle ranching.
- The cruelty to animals issue.
- The fact that the thought of eating animal carcasses grosses them out.
- Health reasons.
The question that plagues many of us, however is, “how do you build muscle on a vegetarian diet?” People often wonder if it can be done and I am here to tell you that it can.
So, how does being a vegetarian affect your ability to build muscle?
Probably a lot less than you would think or have been told.
First of all, humans were probably intended to be herbivores and not carnivores. Physiologically speaking, we have all the characteristics of a herbivore and none of the characteristics of a carnivore. We have the teeth, jaws, digestive enzymes, stomach acidity, and small intestine length of herbivores. Probably the most disturbing and revolting of those is the small intestine length. Carnivores have a small intestine that is 3-6 times body length. This is because meat rots very quickly and needs to pass through the body very rapidly. Unfortunately, humans have a small intestine length of 10-11 times body length. What this means is that long after the meat has gone rotten, it’s still in your body decaying and contributing to untold number of diseases.
When you add in all the chemicals and other unhealthy substances that our meat contains these days (just think of the antibiotics and vaccines that the animal receives) you can see that eating meat might not be in the best interest of those interested in remaining healthy long into the future.
With that out of the way let’s move on to the question of how to build muscle on a vegetarian diet. As I have mentioned plenty of times in the past, high protein diets are a scam. You don’t need all that much protein to build muscle. Although many people thought he was insane, Mike Mentzer first told us that back in the mid 90’s. I asked him his thoughts on protein intake and he screamed at me “That’s the biggest scam under the sun! Nobody needs that much protein. Muscles are 70% water. The only reason you read about the benefits of high protein area because that’s what everybody sells! It’s all a lie!”
Say what you will about Mike Mentzer, but I think he was ahead of his time and you have to respect his opinions.
In all fairness, being a vegetarian should not affect your strength gains at all. In fact it shouldn’t really affect your size gains much either. As you know, you need a caloric surplus to build muscle. To do this as a vegetarian, you need to focus on good fats like nuts, oils and avocadoes, starchy carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pasta and brown rice and for protein sources you will be limited to dairy and fish (if you eat them) or if you are a true vegan- beans, legumes, quinoa, soy, hemp protein, nuts, etc. Even though your protein will be lower than that of most meat eaters you can still build plenty of muscle.
Look at guys in jail. Walk into any prison and take a look at the weight pit. You will see some of the biggest, most jacked guys you have ever seen. How many grams of high quality protein do you think they eating per day? Very little, I can assure you that. Someone I know used to be a prison guard and told me of how big and strong the guys were. “How are they getting so big with no protein” I asked.
He told me that he had no idea because all they had to eat was grits, fake potatoes, rice and a small serving or two a day of very low quality beef, offal or a meat substitute. So maybe they were getting 90 grams of protein per day. Yet they were huge.
You simply do not need high protein diets to build muscle.
When it comes to adding muscle while maintaining bodyfat, this is the only place you may have difficulty. Because it will be impossible to get all the calories you need from veggies and fruits you are going to really need to pile down the starchy carbs like rice and bread. If you are lean, this shouldn’t be a problem. But since your insulin sensitivity is lower when you are fatter, you may have trouble staying lean by eating all those starchy carbs. This may slow down your size gains because you may end up with a buddha belly in no time.
To combat this problem, I would recommend carbohydrate cycling the way a normal meat eater would do it. Have super high carbs on training days and limit your starchy carbs on non training days. Maybe one day per week, only have vegetables as your carbs and eat nuts, and beans and fish and eggs that day.
Building a great physique as a vegetarian is really possible. Clarence Bass and Bill Pearl were vegetarians and a couple other legendary bodybuilders were as well. Robert Dos Remedios, is vegetarian and is a lean 240 pounds and in incredible shape. Jon Hinds is a vegan, in his mid 40’s and is jacked and strong as could be. The greatest tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez is also a vegetarian and obviously it hasn’t hurt him in the least.
You will progress just fine as a vegetarian. Good luck and train hard.
For more information on how to build muscle visit Jason Ferruggia at Muscle Gaining Secrets.
- The negative effects on the environment and the contribution to global warming i.e methane from cattle.
- The contribution to world hunger.
- Forest clearance for cattle ranching.
- The cruelty to animals issue.
- The fact that the thought of eating animal carcasses grosses them out.
- Health reasons.
The question that plagues many of us, however is, “how do you build muscle on a vegetarian diet?” People often wonder if it can be done and I am here to tell you that it can.
So, how does being a vegetarian affect your ability to build muscle?
Probably a lot less than you would think or have been told.
First of all, humans were probably intended to be herbivores and not carnivores. Physiologically speaking, we have all the characteristics of a herbivore and none of the characteristics of a carnivore. We have the teeth, jaws, digestive enzymes, stomach acidity, and small intestine length of herbivores. Probably the most disturbing and revolting of those is the small intestine length. Carnivores have a small intestine that is 3-6 times body length. This is because meat rots very quickly and needs to pass through the body very rapidly. Unfortunately, humans have a small intestine length of 10-11 times body length. What this means is that long after the meat has gone rotten, it’s still in your body decaying and contributing to untold number of diseases.
When you add in all the chemicals and other unhealthy substances that our meat contains these days (just think of the antibiotics and vaccines that the animal receives) you can see that eating meat might not be in the best interest of those interested in remaining healthy long into the future.
With that out of the way let’s move on to the question of how to build muscle on a vegetarian diet. As I have mentioned plenty of times in the past, high protein diets are a scam. You don’t need all that much protein to build muscle. Although many people thought he was insane, Mike Mentzer first told us that back in the mid 90’s. I asked him his thoughts on protein intake and he screamed at me “That’s the biggest scam under the sun! Nobody needs that much protein. Muscles are 70% water. The only reason you read about the benefits of high protein area because that’s what everybody sells! It’s all a lie!”
Say what you will about Mike Mentzer, but I think he was ahead of his time and you have to respect his opinions.
In all fairness, being a vegetarian should not affect your strength gains at all. In fact it shouldn’t really affect your size gains much either. As you know, you need a caloric surplus to build muscle. To do this as a vegetarian, you need to focus on good fats like nuts, oils and avocadoes, starchy carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pasta and brown rice and for protein sources you will be limited to dairy and fish (if you eat them) or if you are a true vegan- beans, legumes, quinoa, soy, hemp protein, nuts, etc. Even though your protein will be lower than that of most meat eaters you can still build plenty of muscle.
Look at guys in jail. Walk into any prison and take a look at the weight pit. You will see some of the biggest, most jacked guys you have ever seen. How many grams of high quality protein do you think they eating per day? Very little, I can assure you that. Someone I know used to be a prison guard and told me of how big and strong the guys were. “How are they getting so big with no protein” I asked.
He told me that he had no idea because all they had to eat was grits, fake potatoes, rice and a small serving or two a day of very low quality beef, offal or a meat substitute. So maybe they were getting 90 grams of protein per day. Yet they were huge.
You simply do not need high protein diets to build muscle.
When it comes to adding muscle while maintaining bodyfat, this is the only place you may have difficulty. Because it will be impossible to get all the calories you need from veggies and fruits you are going to really need to pile down the starchy carbs like rice and bread. If you are lean, this shouldn’t be a problem. But since your insulin sensitivity is lower when you are fatter, you may have trouble staying lean by eating all those starchy carbs. This may slow down your size gains because you may end up with a buddha belly in no time.
To combat this problem, I would recommend carbohydrate cycling the way a normal meat eater would do it. Have super high carbs on training days and limit your starchy carbs on non training days. Maybe one day per week, only have vegetables as your carbs and eat nuts, and beans and fish and eggs that day.
Building a great physique as a vegetarian is really possible. Clarence Bass and Bill Pearl were vegetarians and a couple other legendary bodybuilders were as well. Robert Dos Remedios, is vegetarian and is a lean 240 pounds and in incredible shape. Jon Hinds is a vegan, in his mid 40’s and is jacked and strong as could be. The greatest tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez is also a vegetarian and obviously it hasn’t hurt him in the least.
You will progress just fine as a vegetarian. Good luck and train hard.
For more information on how to build muscle visit Jason Ferruggia at Muscle Gaining Secrets.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Who's got man boobs? Time to get rid.
Fans of the ever so popular American sit com Seinfeld will never forget the episode in which Frank Costanza and Kramer invented the mansierre, which was a bra for men with excessive breast development. While most of us, burst our sides laughing, some people were just the slightest bit uncomfortable because the reality is that a significant number of men have “moobs,” or man boobs. If you want to lose man boobs then read on.
Being blessed with man boobs is often due to excessive body fat levels. But it can also be due to high levels of estrogen. Having high estrogen can not only cause you to gain body fat in the chest and lower abdominal area but it can lead to numerous health issues and diseases. Unfortunately more and more males are suffering from increasingly high estrogen levels and this is leading to the continued feminization of the male gender as we know it.
If you think you can't possibly be eating foods loaded with estrogens, think again. Meat and dairy products are laced with hormones, and vegetables and fruits are drenched in pesticides. Once inside the body, all mimic estrogen, the female hormone that causes estrogen disorders, including breast cancer in women. It literally castrates men.
This has to stop now before it’s too late.
How do you do that, you might ask?
Follow my advice below and you will start to get your estrogen levels in check immediately and hopefully eliminate your need for ever having to call up Kramer and Frank for one of their prized inventions.
1) Don’t eat fake foods. If a cavemen couldn’t eat it, you shouldn’t eat. All the chemicals and artificial junk that they put in most foods these days can lead to increased estrogen levels and numerous other health problems.
2) Avoid eating and drinking out of plastic as much as possible.
3) Eat only organic, pesticide and chemical free, organic produce, preferably purchased from a local farmers market.
4) Avoid all meat and dairy unless you are 100% sure that it is drug free and organic. All of the drugs and hormones that go into most animal and dairy products will wreak havoc on your body, dramatically boost estrogen levels and lead to heart disease and cancer.
5) Limit your consumption of fish to no more than once or twice per week. Fish is loaded with PCB’s and dioxins that you should really avoid as much as possible. You should also support clean water laws and organizations like Waterkeeper.
6) Only drink purified water. Our water quality continues to worsen all the time and is filled with numerous toxins and estrogenic compounds.
7) Consume citrus fruits regularly.
8) Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.
9) If you must drink alcohol try to avoid beer as much as you can because it is highly estrogenic. Red wine is a far better choice and may actually be anti estrogenic.
10) Eat a good amount of organic nuts and seeds. A high intake of organic nuts has been linked to increased virility in men.
11) Finally, be sure to only train with short, high intensity workouts that actually boost testosterone levels and decrease estrogen. This includes resistance training and energy system work. Unfortunately, the wrong training program can actually make things worse instead of better.
To skyrocket your testosterone levels, rid yourself of excessive estrogen and lose man boobs for good, go to Jason Ferruggias website and check out his muscle gaining secrets program.
Being blessed with man boobs is often due to excessive body fat levels. But it can also be due to high levels of estrogen. Having high estrogen can not only cause you to gain body fat in the chest and lower abdominal area but it can lead to numerous health issues and diseases. Unfortunately more and more males are suffering from increasingly high estrogen levels and this is leading to the continued feminization of the male gender as we know it.
If you think you can't possibly be eating foods loaded with estrogens, think again. Meat and dairy products are laced with hormones, and vegetables and fruits are drenched in pesticides. Once inside the body, all mimic estrogen, the female hormone that causes estrogen disorders, including breast cancer in women. It literally castrates men.
This has to stop now before it’s too late.
How do you do that, you might ask?
Follow my advice below and you will start to get your estrogen levels in check immediately and hopefully eliminate your need for ever having to call up Kramer and Frank for one of their prized inventions.
1) Don’t eat fake foods. If a cavemen couldn’t eat it, you shouldn’t eat. All the chemicals and artificial junk that they put in most foods these days can lead to increased estrogen levels and numerous other health problems.
2) Avoid eating and drinking out of plastic as much as possible.
3) Eat only organic, pesticide and chemical free, organic produce, preferably purchased from a local farmers market.
4) Avoid all meat and dairy unless you are 100% sure that it is drug free and organic. All of the drugs and hormones that go into most animal and dairy products will wreak havoc on your body, dramatically boost estrogen levels and lead to heart disease and cancer.
5) Limit your consumption of fish to no more than once or twice per week. Fish is loaded with PCB’s and dioxins that you should really avoid as much as possible. You should also support clean water laws and organizations like Waterkeeper.
6) Only drink purified water. Our water quality continues to worsen all the time and is filled with numerous toxins and estrogenic compounds.
7) Consume citrus fruits regularly.
8) Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.
9) If you must drink alcohol try to avoid beer as much as you can because it is highly estrogenic. Red wine is a far better choice and may actually be anti estrogenic.
10) Eat a good amount of organic nuts and seeds. A high intake of organic nuts has been linked to increased virility in men.
11) Finally, be sure to only train with short, high intensity workouts that actually boost testosterone levels and decrease estrogen. This includes resistance training and energy system work. Unfortunately, the wrong training program can actually make things worse instead of better.
To skyrocket your testosterone levels, rid yourself of excessive estrogen and lose man boobs for good, go to Jason Ferruggias website and check out his muscle gaining secrets program.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Fat Loss Secrets For Flat Six-Pack Abbominals, and Lean Stomach
My friend Mike Geary told me about an interview he did with a fitness professional from NYC, Certified Personal Trainer, Geovanni Derice. In it he reveals some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abs that everyone wants.
"GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself and how you can help our readers with their fitness and health.
MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning.
At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I'm 33 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.
I decided earlier in my 20's that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we've reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That's why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.
I've expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.
GD: Mike, one question is: there are so many things out there as to what works and what does not work... if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what would they be?
MG: The first and most important thing to get under control, in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is so important when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.
There's so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is... after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There's so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn't even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.
The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.
In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.
For the third thing, let's talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.
I provide a wealth of great abs exercises in my book, but one of the highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.
GD: Where are most people going wrong when it comes to developing the coveted "6 pack abs"?
MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is... are you ready for this?
They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Crazy, but it's true.
Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.
Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That's what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!
GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?
MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts. All these are described and illustrated in my book.
However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!
GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose body fat and keep it off?
MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I'll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.
For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).
Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.
The point is to not fall for some gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another.
Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.
GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.
I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several useful bits of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don't already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system I've developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!
"GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself and how you can help our readers with their fitness and health.
MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning.
At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I'm 33 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.
I decided earlier in my 20's that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we've reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That's why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.
I've expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.
GD: Mike, one question is: there are so many things out there as to what works and what does not work... if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what would they be?
MG: The first and most important thing to get under control, in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is so important when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.
There's so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is... after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There's so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn't even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.
The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.
In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.
For the third thing, let's talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.
I provide a wealth of great abs exercises in my book, but one of the highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.
GD: Where are most people going wrong when it comes to developing the coveted "6 pack abs"?
MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is... are you ready for this?
They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Crazy, but it's true.
Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.
Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That's what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!
GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?
MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts. All these are described and illustrated in my book.
However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!
GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose body fat and keep it off?
MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I'll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.
For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).
Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.
The point is to not fall for some gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another.
Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.
GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.
I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several useful bits of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don't already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system I've developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!
Monday, 14 November 2011
5 tricks to DOUBLE your gains IMMEDIATELY [free download]
Are you interested in doubling and even tripling your muscle gains IMMEDIATELY? If so, make sure you download this free report here:
Perhaps, THE brightest pro bodybuilder in the world - Benjamin Pakulski - just put the final touch ups on his content-loaded report, and instead of it being $24.99, it's FREE today!
In it, Ben reveals 5 overlooked mistakes REVERSING your gains and if you want to get big & lean in less time you're going to be shocked by these 5 undiscovered tricks no one has told you.... until now!
Grab it while it's free:
==> 5 tricks to DOUBLE your gains IMMEDIATELY
Enjoy it!
Mike C.
Sculpt yourself a Better Body with Post-Workout Nutrition
Post workout smoothie Ideas for healthy shakes to help build muscle and enhance fat loss
I was wondering about the subject of what is best to consume afer a workout to get nutrients back into my tired muscles, so I emailed Mike Geary who sent me this article.
Hi Mike
As you’ve probably heard before, your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day.
The reason is that when you’re finished with an intense workout, you’re entering a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and increased cortisol levels are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. These conditions are not good and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state) is to consume a quickly digestible post-workout meal (can be a shake or smoothie) as soon as you can after training.
The goal is to choose a meal with easily digestible quick carbs to replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair. The surge of carbohydrates and amino acids from this quickly digested meal promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle cells.
The post-workout meal should generally contain between 300-500 calories to get the best response. For example, a 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal, whereas a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere from a 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein to a 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein. While most of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy fats, keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum, since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the opposite of what you want after a workout.
When choosing what to make for your post-workout meal, the first thing to realize is that you DON’T need any of these expensive post-workout supplement formulations that all of the fancy ads you see everywhere will tell you that you absolutely NEED! I tend to prefer to make my own post-workout shakes from natural ingredients instead of using a commercial mixture, since many of them are low quality.
For the shakes that I make myself, here are some things to keep in mind if you try it...
A good source of quickly digestible natural carbs such as frozen bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup are perfect to promote an insulin response that will promote muscle glycogen replenishment and a general anabolic (muscle building) effect. The more you can assist the muscle repair process, the more you increase your metabolic rate and can help your fat loss as well.
The best source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey protein and some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a couple ideas for delicious post-workout smoothies that will kick start your recovery process:
Chocolate Banana – blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup milk (I prefer organic grass-fed milk for max health benefits), one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g protein, 72 g carbs, 1.5 g fat, 450 calories.
Pineapple Vanilla - blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g protein, 71 g carbs, 1 g fat, 430 calories.
When choosing a good whey protein, it's important to note that the quality vastly differs between brands and types. Most whey proteins are produced under high heat processes that destroy some of the fragile nutritional components of the whey. The best whey that I've found is this great new grass-fed RAW whey protein...since this is from grass-fed cows, it also has higher levels of muscle-building and fat-burning CLA (conjugated linoleic acid).
When looking to lose body fat, keep in mind that post-workout meals should have the opposite characteristics of all of your other meals throughout each day. While post-workout meals should have quick high glycemic index carbs and quickly digested proteins, all of your other meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins.
These are powerful strategies towards developing a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage. Another great thing about post-workout meals is that you can satisfy even the worst sweet tooth, since this is the one time of the day where you can get away with eating extra sugars without adding to your gut. Instead, it all goes straight to the muscles! But ONLY if your workout was super-high intensity and involved resistance training for large portions of the body. If all you did was some low intensity cardio, forget about doing this type of post-workout shake.
Enjoy!
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author of best-selling program: The Truth about Six-Pack Abs
A more detailed and comprehensive nutritional analysis with more of these various powerful dietary strategies are found in our best-selling #1 rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.
I was wondering about the subject of what is best to consume afer a workout to get nutrients back into my tired muscles, so I emailed Mike Geary who sent me this article.
Hi Mike
As you’ve probably heard before, your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day.
The reason is that when you’re finished with an intense workout, you’re entering a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and increased cortisol levels are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. These conditions are not good and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state) is to consume a quickly digestible post-workout meal (can be a shake or smoothie) as soon as you can after training.
The goal is to choose a meal with easily digestible quick carbs to replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair. The surge of carbohydrates and amino acids from this quickly digested meal promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle cells.
The post-workout meal should generally contain between 300-500 calories to get the best response. For example, a 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal, whereas a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere from a 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein to a 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein. While most of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy fats, keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum, since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the opposite of what you want after a workout.
When choosing what to make for your post-workout meal, the first thing to realize is that you DON’T need any of these expensive post-workout supplement formulations that all of the fancy ads you see everywhere will tell you that you absolutely NEED! I tend to prefer to make my own post-workout shakes from natural ingredients instead of using a commercial mixture, since many of them are low quality.
For the shakes that I make myself, here are some things to keep in mind if you try it...
A good source of quickly digestible natural carbs such as frozen bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup are perfect to promote an insulin response that will promote muscle glycogen replenishment and a general anabolic (muscle building) effect. The more you can assist the muscle repair process, the more you increase your metabolic rate and can help your fat loss as well.
The best source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey protein and some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a couple ideas for delicious post-workout smoothies that will kick start your recovery process:
Chocolate Banana – blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup milk (I prefer organic grass-fed milk for max health benefits), one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g protein, 72 g carbs, 1.5 g fat, 450 calories.
Pineapple Vanilla - blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g protein, 71 g carbs, 1 g fat, 430 calories.
When choosing a good whey protein, it's important to note that the quality vastly differs between brands and types. Most whey proteins are produced under high heat processes that destroy some of the fragile nutritional components of the whey. The best whey that I've found is this great new grass-fed RAW whey protein...since this is from grass-fed cows, it also has higher levels of muscle-building and fat-burning CLA (conjugated linoleic acid).
When looking to lose body fat, keep in mind that post-workout meals should have the opposite characteristics of all of your other meals throughout each day. While post-workout meals should have quick high glycemic index carbs and quickly digested proteins, all of your other meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins.
These are powerful strategies towards developing a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage. Another great thing about post-workout meals is that you can satisfy even the worst sweet tooth, since this is the one time of the day where you can get away with eating extra sugars without adding to your gut. Instead, it all goes straight to the muscles! But ONLY if your workout was super-high intensity and involved resistance training for large portions of the body. If all you did was some low intensity cardio, forget about doing this type of post-workout shake.
Enjoy!
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author of best-selling program: The Truth about Six-Pack Abs
A more detailed and comprehensive nutritional analysis with more of these various powerful dietary strategies are found in our best-selling #1 rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Important rules of muscle building nutrition.
It's been said many times that nutrition is responsible for at least 75% of your muscle building results. I think that is dramatically overstating it but nutrition is critically important to your muscle building efforts. Without proper nutrition you will never build the physique you desire. Below are listed a few easy to follow nutrition rules that will help you get bigger and leaner. Follow these rules and you will see results, ignore them and you could be in for years of frustration.
• Eat small meals every 2-3 hours. Doing this keeps your body in an anabolic state and keeps your metabolism running along at high speeds so that you don’t get fat. If you need 3,000 calories per day to build muscle, it is much more effective to have five 600 calorie meals or six five hundred calorie meals than it is to have three big 1,000 calorie meals. Doing that will lead to fat accumulation and also has you going too long without eating which only leads to muscle loss.
• Build your meals around lean protein. Protein is what builds muscle, so every time you sit down to eat should eat certain types of proteins. This should be the primary goal of every meal. Once you have covered that, then you can add starch, vegetables and healthy fats. As the daily protein needs, you should take one gram per kilogram of body weight per day. The only time you need more than that is when you are dieting and carbohydrates are very low.
• Eat vegetables at every meal except breakfast. Not only are vegetables incredibly healthy because they provide lots of nutrients and fiber, they also slow down the absorption of your meals leading to less bodyfat accumulation.
• Eat organic foods whenever possible. There is so much artificial junk in the food we eat these days that it is really a very wise decision to eat organic as often as you can. This includes meats, fruits, veggies and grains.
• Avoid sugar, artificial sweeteners and saturated fats as much as possible. Consumption of saturated fat and sugar is what leads to a wide range of health problems and diseases. Too much saturated fat and sugar also leads to inflammation in the body and can actually aggravate the nagging injuries and lead to further pain. Many people actually feel a reduction in pain in back when they cut saturated fat and sugar diet.
Some saturated fat in meat is ok from time to time, but you should really try to cut sugar and artificial sweeteners. Although they do not talk much in this country USA, there is much evidence that artificial sweeteners are not the least bit healthy.
• Eat most of your carbs at breakfast and immediately before and after your workout. Those are the times when your insulin sensitivity is highest and when you will use carbs most efficiently with the least risk for body fat gain. Don’t be scared to eat carbs at this time because most of them will be used for building muscle and will not usually add to body fat accumulation.
• Drink at least a half gallon of water per day peferably bottled water. Doing this keeps you well hydrated which keeps your performance levels high. Even a slight drop in hydration will cause a drop in performance. A half gallon is a good start but a gallon is usually better, especially in the summer.
• Pay close attention to your sodium intake. When I say that I mean in the opposite direction that most people and doctors will think I mean it. I think you must be sure that your sodium intake is adequate. This is especially true for athletes who play in the summer when it's hot and you sweat a lot. Without adequate sodium intake, your performance suffers greatly. Sodium levels also help maintain adequate strength levels during a diet.
Article written by Jason Ferruggia who is a world famous fitness expert, renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He is the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more muscle building nutritional tips and access to his training program, check out Build Muscle fast Program
• Eat small meals every 2-3 hours. Doing this keeps your body in an anabolic state and keeps your metabolism running along at high speeds so that you don’t get fat. If you need 3,000 calories per day to build muscle, it is much more effective to have five 600 calorie meals or six five hundred calorie meals than it is to have three big 1,000 calorie meals. Doing that will lead to fat accumulation and also has you going too long without eating which only leads to muscle loss.
• Build your meals around lean protein. Protein is what builds muscle, so every time you sit down to eat should eat certain types of proteins. This should be the primary goal of every meal. Once you have covered that, then you can add starch, vegetables and healthy fats. As the daily protein needs, you should take one gram per kilogram of body weight per day. The only time you need more than that is when you are dieting and carbohydrates are very low.
• Eat vegetables at every meal except breakfast. Not only are vegetables incredibly healthy because they provide lots of nutrients and fiber, they also slow down the absorption of your meals leading to less bodyfat accumulation.
• Eat organic foods whenever possible. There is so much artificial junk in the food we eat these days that it is really a very wise decision to eat organic as often as you can. This includes meats, fruits, veggies and grains.
• Avoid sugar, artificial sweeteners and saturated fats as much as possible. Consumption of saturated fat and sugar is what leads to a wide range of health problems and diseases. Too much saturated fat and sugar also leads to inflammation in the body and can actually aggravate the nagging injuries and lead to further pain. Many people actually feel a reduction in pain in back when they cut saturated fat and sugar diet.
Some saturated fat in meat is ok from time to time, but you should really try to cut sugar and artificial sweeteners. Although they do not talk much in this country USA, there is much evidence that artificial sweeteners are not the least bit healthy.
• Eat most of your carbs at breakfast and immediately before and after your workout. Those are the times when your insulin sensitivity is highest and when you will use carbs most efficiently with the least risk for body fat gain. Don’t be scared to eat carbs at this time because most of them will be used for building muscle and will not usually add to body fat accumulation.
• Drink at least a half gallon of water per day peferably bottled water. Doing this keeps you well hydrated which keeps your performance levels high. Even a slight drop in hydration will cause a drop in performance. A half gallon is a good start but a gallon is usually better, especially in the summer.
• Pay close attention to your sodium intake. When I say that I mean in the opposite direction that most people and doctors will think I mean it. I think you must be sure that your sodium intake is adequate. This is especially true for athletes who play in the summer when it's hot and you sweat a lot. Without adequate sodium intake, your performance suffers greatly. Sodium levels also help maintain adequate strength levels during a diet.
Article written by Jason Ferruggia who is a world famous fitness expert, renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He is the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more muscle building nutritional tips and access to his training program, check out Build Muscle fast Program
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