As I promised, here is an awesome homemade bodybuilding protein bar recipe from my friend and fellow bodybuilder Dave Ruel.  One thing that I love about this recipe is that it is not only tasty, but it allows me to control all of the ingredients as well as the amount of protein (and type) that go into the protein bar.  Also, you can’t beat the price per bar (49 cents)

Nutritional Facts

(Per Serving – 1 Bar)

Calories: 452
Protein: 50g
Carbohydrates: 36g
Fat: 12g

Ingredients

- 8 scoops of your favorite chocolate protein powder
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/2 cup 1% milk
- 3 tbsp crushed peanuts

Directions

1. Mix together the protein powder, oatmeal, peanut butter, honey and milk.
2. Form into 5 bars and then roll in the crushed peanuts to finish.
3. Place in the fridge for about 30-45 mins or until solid

Click Here to See The Video on How To Make These Protein Bars

P.S. – If you like the recipe above and are interested in more, Dave Ruel has a cookbook that I just spent all day reviewing. It features many protein bar recipes and over 200 anabolic, quick and easy to make bodybuilding recipes so that your bodybuilding diet does not have to be boring ever again. And best of all, the instructions are simple enough to where even a guy like me who knows nothing about cooking can get them going!

The best part of this is that Dave just came out with his latest edition of this cookbook and only until the end of this week he is offering his entire program at a HUGE discount. His program not only includes the cookbook, but also a Complete Quick Start Guide that shows you things like how to prepare a week’s worth of meals in 3 hours or less, what’s in your food and what to look for, how to read a recipe and the different cutting techniques and cooking methods. On top of that, you also get calorie calculators, muscle building meal plans based on your specific body type, a nutrition journal and much more.

Go check out the ready-to-make muscle building meal guides and super simple recipes at www.Anabolic-Food.com.

If you are interested in a book that will take the boredom out of your bodybuilding diet while helping you to achieve your goals and saving you cooking time, then by all means take advantage of the huge sale which will get you the full system, valued at over $400 for less than the price of a protein tub!

Get The Anabolic Cooking System Here => www.Anabolic-Food.com

More About Dave Ruel

Dave, who is better known as the “Muscle Cook”, is a strong believer that bodybuilding and fitness nutrition DOESN’T have to be plain and boring and only composed of boiled chicken breasts, baked potatoes and broccoli… without spending more time in the kitchen that you normally do, you can have meals that are full of flavours and that make it easier to reach your fitness goals…

He knows that it is possible to cook easy and tasty meals that will make you enjoy your lifestyle a lot more!

Over the past years he has helped thousands of people, in over 100 countries, getting incredible results. He has helped bodybuilders get shredded for bodybuilding shows, fitness models get ready for photoshoots and regular fitness enthusiasts transform their physiques!

Dave is also a competitive bodybuilder, a professional Fitness Coach and Nutritionist.. He now shares this information with anybody who is serious about building muscle, burn body fat, and who wants to enjoy bodybuilding and fitness nutrition completely.

But more importantly, Dave Ruel is the author of the best seller: Anabolic Cooking, the Cookbook and Complete Nutrition Guide For Bodybuilding and Fitness. This book is jam packed with more than 200 recipes that are all easy to do, full of flavours, and will promote muscle building and fat loss. Dave also shares in this book all his top nutrition and meal planning strategies, which makes it a must-have for anybody serious about their goals.

Dave believes that the majority of people are mislead and misinformed when it comes to nutrition and cooking, and he is here to change the rules!

To check out Dave’s 200 Recipe E-book go to: www.Anabolic-Food.com.

• 10 Anabolic Recipes For Your Natural Bodybuilding Diet

Cooking is not my strong point.  As a matter of fact, is not even a point you can say.  For that reason I delegate cooking to my better half and to others who can do the task much better than me.

The only thing I do know about the subject of cooking is that there is a huge misconception in bodybuilding that in order for your diet to work, the foods have to be bland and boring.  To be honest, nothing could be farther from the truth.

As a matter of fact, this past week one of my friends pointed out to me a nice e-book written by a natural bodybuilder called Dave Ruel. It turns out that for Dave cooking is a very strong point.  Not only is it a strong point, but all of his recipes are bodybuilding friendly and they tell you how many grams of carbs, proteins and fats you get per serving; something that makes it very simple to include his recipes on any sensible bodybuilding diet.

I contacted Dave, thanks to my friend who forwarded me his contact information, and he was gracious enough to let me share his 10 Anabolic Recipes E-book with all of you.  I also have some other items that he has allowed me to share such as a recipe video for making protein bars.  I will share that one with you tomorrow.  In the meantime, here is your 10 Anabolic Recipes E-book, courtesy of my new friend Dave Ruel! (Thanks Dave!!)

Click Here or On The Image Below To Get Your Anabolic Recipes Download 

More About Dave Ruel

Dave, who is better known as the “Muscle Cook”, is a strong believer that bodybuilding and fitness nutrition DOESN’T have to be plain and boring and only composed of boiled chicken breasts, baked potatoes and broccoli… without spending more time in the kitchen that you normally do, you can have meals that are full of flavours and that make it easier to reach your fitness goals…

He knows that it is possible to cook easy and tasty meals that will make you enjoy your lifestyle a lot more!

Over the past years he has helped thousands of people, in over 100 countries, getting incredible results. He has helped bodybuilders get shredded for bodybuilding shows, fitness models get ready for photoshoots and regular fitness enthusiasts transform their physiques!

Dave is also a competitive bodybuilder, a professional Fitness Coach and Nutritionist.. He now shares this information with anybody who is serious about building muscle, burn body fat, and who wants to enjoy bodybuilding and fitness nutrition completely.

But more importantly, Dave Ruel is the author of the best seller: Anabolic Cooking, the Cookbook and Complete Nutrition Guide For Bodybuilding and Fitness. This book is jam packed with more than 200 recipes that are all easy to do, full of flavours, and will promote muscle building and fat loss. Dave also shares in this book all his top nutrition and meal planning strategies, which makes it a must-have for anybody serious about their goals.

Dave believes that the majority of people are mislead and misinformed when it comes to nutrition and cooking, and he is here to change the rules!

• Check Out My Latest Natural Bodybuilding Article on February 2012 Edition of Natural Muscle
• Natural Bodybuilding FAQ on The “Anabolic Amplifier” Program
• Natural Bodybuilding Tips for Making Bulking Up Work Without Gaining Fat
• Hugo Rivera's Natural Bodybuilding Tips for Gaining Muscle, Getting Lean and Losing Fat while Still Enjoying the Holidays
• Natural Bodybuilding 30-Minute Shoulder Workout

Since the main subject of this week has been gaining muscle, here is an article that I just got from pro fitness model and natural bodybuilder Vince Delmonte on the subject of traditional bulking. This is really a GREAT article and everyone that is interested in gaining muscle needs to take a look at it.

10 Ways Bulking Can Ruin Long Term Muscle Growth
By Vince Del Monte and 21 Day Fast Mass Building System

In the days of the legendary bodybuilders like Arnold and Franco,
bulking up in the off-season and then cutting up was considered
gospel. Aside from the obvious health concerns linked to packing on
lard, extreme bulking is an inferior approach to trying to achieve
your best body. Here are ten reasons why you can RUIN your long
term muscle gains through extreme bulking:

Reason #1: You can not force muscle growth. Putting back 7,000
calories is not better than just taking 4,000 calories if that’s
what your body needs to grow. It’s not what you put in your mouth
that counts, it’s what gets digested and absorbed.

Reason #2: Extreme bulking leads to insulin-resistance, which makes
it harder to gain muscle down the road. Insulin-resistance results
in carbs going primarily to fat stores, not muscle tissue.

Reason #3: You’ll be forced to diet down harder, which can result
in losing the muscle you gained during the bulk up! That’s called 1
step forward, 1 step back. (Note from Hugo: More like 2-3 steps back
since extreme bulking will increase the number of fat cells in your body
which makes it harder to get lean and much easier to get fat!)

Reason #4: That fatter you get, the harder it becomes to get lean
because insulin resistance is hard to reverse. Ask anyone who
bulked up excessively if they had a pleasant time traveling back
down to low body-fat levels!

Reason #5: The primary metric for measuring success while bulking
up is gaining weight on the scale. Increased scale weight
does not mean increased muscle gain. (Note from Hugo: scale weight
includes water weight gain and fat as well)

Reason #6: Getting fat, intentionally or carelessly, results in
decreased thyroid production – not ideal, because thyroid is
critical for fat loss. (Note from Hugo: the less thyroid hormone, the
less calories your body burns on a daily basis, and thus, the easier it
is to gain fat)

Reason #7: Calories are not created equal. Calories from quinoa
and bison are great for adding muscle; calories from nachos and
beer are not. Bulking up with unhealthy calories can lead to high
blood pressure, diabetes, excess inflammation and cardiovascular
diseases.

Reason #8: The leaner you are, the easier it is to gain quality
muscle because your body becomes more efficient at nutrient
partitioning. This means when you eat, your body transfers the
nutrients to the muscle (as muscle tissue or glycogen) or in the
liver (as glycogen) and less gets transferred to your abdominal
wall!

Reason #9: The more time you spend bulking up, the more time you
spend cutting which means less time you have to gain muscle!

Reason #10: The biggest reason is that extreme bulking can lead to
fat cell hyperplasia. Essentially, when you overeat for a
prolonged period of time, your body increases its number of fat
cells. Sadly, you can not remove fat cells without surgery so by
adding new fat cells your body you’re actually making it more
efficient for gaining fat and worse at losing it! Bulking up and
then cutting down a few times in your life is forgiving, but
attempting to bulk up and cut down every year is a sure-fire way to
ruin your physique!

If you are looking to gain muscle mass without gaining fat and want to
try Cyclical Bulking, check out the 21 Day Fast Mass Building System.

To help you kick off the New Year, you can get the system at 1/2 price
($50) but this 1/2 price SALE ENDS SUNDAY AT MIDNIGHT. PRICE
GOES UP AFTER MIDNIGHT.

If interested, check out the system below:
=> Check out the 21 Day Fast Mass Building System

—- End of Article from Vince —-

I hope that you enjoyed the article above and that you don’t commit the same mistake that many of us made before just because we did not know any better. Luckily we now live in the information era and thus we can empower ourselves with KNOWLEDGE!

And in case you missed it, here are my thoughts on Cyclical Bulking.

If you enjoyed this article please click on the Facebook LIKE button, Twitter button and Google +1 button to share with your friends.

Until next time, take care and train hard!

• Natural Bodybuilding FAQ on The “Anabolic Amplifier” Program
• Natural Bodybuilding Tips for Making Bulking Up Work Without Gaining Fat
• Do You Need to Gain Excessive Weight To Gain Muscle?
• Creatine Basics Video Blog – What is Creatine and How Does It Work?
• Biceps Training Mistakes – Get Bigger Biceps by Training Them Properly

Because I have gotten tons of emails over the last few weeks asking about bulking up for gaining muscle, I decided to put this article together in order to clear up the confusion.

Problems of Traditional Bulking Up Methods

Many people who start natural bodybuilding and want to gain serious muscle mass make the big mistake of thinking that in order to get muscular you need to get fat.  As someone who has experimented numerous tactics over the last 2 decades, I can tell you that the strategy of eating like a pig in order to gain muscle will leave you, unfortunately, looking like one.

With the exception of the super fast metabolism of people that are hardgainers, most of us need to focus on consuming quality calories in order to gain muscle.  Furthermore, we cannot consume calories indiscriminately as again, doing so will invariable result in too much fat gain.

The worst is that once guys go over 10% body fat, and girls go over 14% or so, the body’s estrogen levels increase and, as a result, additional calories consumed are more easily stored as fat as opposed to muscle.  Thus, in order to make the best bodybuilding gains, it pays to stay lean.  As a matter of fact, the leaner one is, the easier it is to gain.

How Can I Bulk Up to Gain Muscle Without Gaining Fat

1-Get Lean First: In order to gain muscle at the most accelerated rate by using a clean bulk up method without gaining fat you need to first get lean.  There is no way around this.  If you are not lean enough,  your body simply will turn most of the extra calories as additional fat.

2-Prime Your Body For Gains: You have to remember that your body is an incredible machine who likes to remain in a state of homeostasis.  In other words, the body does not like to change much and will always fight change.  Thus, if you are constantly providing more calories to your body than what it burns, it will build muscle and store some fat.  If you are training hard, most of the gains will be in the form of muscle.  However, the minute your body gets used to your training routine, and also starts to adapt to the diet, your muscle production will go down and fat gain will go up.  And like I said before, after you go past 10% body fat, extra calories get more easily stored.  In addition, the body starts to become insulin resistant as well and that makes further muscle gains harder as well.  The key to priming your body is to diet down.  By following the right calorie restricted, fat burning diet, you get to lose fat, you optimize your insulin sensitivity and you start to prime your body for future muscle gains.  By depriving your body of calories you put your body in a state that it becomes very “hungry” for nutrients.  This is especially true after an extended fat loss period, such as the one prior to a competition.  When the body is “hungry” for nutrients, this is the optimal time to do a clean bulk up phase because when you do, most of the calories, if not all, are re-routed towards muscle production!  Any of you who have done a bodybuilding, fitness or figure show know what I am talking about.  If you are smart, after a show you will go back to the gym, raise your calories, and slowly but surely start upping the intensity as you regain your strength in order to make the best use of this anabolic effect that comes after a period of dieting.

Calorie Cycling – The Secret To Making Muscle Gains While Staying Lean

As you probably figured out by now, a good strategy to accelerate muscle mass gains is to alternate between periods of dieting with periods of bulking up as I propose in my Body Re-Engineering program.  If you are already lean, then you can also implement a strategy that I have used several times with great results where you do mini periods of bulk up cycles with dieting cycles in order to maximize gains while keeping fat gain away.  This mini periods allow you to gain at the fastest rate possible.

Like anything, the body gets used to anything if you keep it long enough, but you can use this strategy of mini bulk up and dieting periods for super accelerated muscle gains for about 6 weeks every six months.  And keep in mind that to get the absolute best results from such a strategy it is best to be as lean as possible.

How to Implement Mini Periods Of Bulking With Dieting

When I use this strategy, I personally, I like to do 2 weeks of high calories using a nutrient split of 50% carbs, 30% proteins and 20% fats followed by a week of lower calories with around 50% proteins, 30% fats and 20% fats.  During high calorie weeks I do 18 x lean body weight in calories and during low calories I do my lean bodyweight times 10.

As far as training, I modify my training to be high volume during the 2 weeks of high calories and lower volume but use heavier weight during my low calorie weeks.  (Please see the routines here: http://www.hugorivera.net/natural-bodybuilding-routine-with-periodization.html / My high volume training is like what you see in weeks 1-3 while my low volume training is what you see on weeks 4-6)

In regards to cardio, on the high calorie weeks I do two sessions of 45 minutes (monday/thursday) first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and during low calorie weeks I up that to 6 sessions a week.

For More Information On This Strategy

I know a couple of natural bodybuilding authors who have done a great job at covering this strategy so if you are interested in a program that makes use of this concept, check out the two free e-books below:

Download the Death of Bulking Here

Download the Anabolic Amplifier Effect Here

If you enjoyed this article please click on the Facebook LIKE button, Twitter button and Google +1 button to share with your friends.

Until next time, take care and train hard!

• Natural Bodybuilding FAQ on The “Anabolic Amplifier” Program
• Check Out My Latest Natural Bodybuilding Article on February 2012 Edition of Natural Muscle
• 10 Anabolic Recipes For Your Natural Bodybuilding Diet
• Hugo Rivera's Natural Bodybuilding Tips for Gaining Muscle, Getting Lean and Losing Fat while Still Enjoying the Holidays
• Natural Bodybuilding 30-Minute Shoulder Workout

Ben Pakulski and Hugo Rivera talk about how they feel about high carb diets, when carbs should be consumed, and how many fats you need in order to gain muscle naturally.

Don’t miss out Part 3 where Ben and Hugo talk about Bodybuilding Supplementation.

Get Ben Pakulski’s MI-40 Program Here:
http://www.mi-40.com

For my thoughts on Ben Pakulski’s MI-40 program go here:
http://www.hugorivera.net/ben-pakulski-mi40-natural-bodybuilding-system-review.html

Bonus: Natural Bodybuilding FAQ With Ben: Can I Get Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?

Bodybuilding Question: Ben, is it possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?  If so, how can I do it?

Answer from Ben: I’m not going to sit here and assume you all don’t already know how important nutrition is to optimizing growth. I KNOW you do.

People come to me all the time and ask “What is the BEST approach to take if I want to gain muscle and lose fat?”  Is that even possible?

Well, the truth of the matter is that, yes, it is absolutely possible. Is it easy? Of course not.

BUT it is SIMPLE.

Let me do my best to explain.

Your first consideration when it comes to nutrition is RECOVERY.  You need to always ensure that your body has what it needs to recover when it needs it.  It is very important to nourish your muscles around the workout.  Your muscles need protein, in the form of amino acids, present in the bloodstream ALL the time or the body will start to leach those aminos from other parts of your body (Read: break down your muscles). This is BAD NEWS for those of us trying to build muscle.

REMEMBER: Weight training is a catabolic process — it breaks down muscle! It’s when we leave the gym and feed the body that the growth and re-growth processes occur.

Whenever possible we want to minimize the amount of muscle breakdown during the workout. In order to do this, certain essential nutrients MUST be present:

— branch chain aminos
— glutamine
— arginine
— antioxidants
— glucose
— zinc

This is your first consideration when it comes to building muscle.  The other main considerations of an intelligent nutrition plan are timing of nutrients, and ratio of nutrients (percentage of fats/carbs/proteins).

How do I know WHEN to EAT WHAT?
I think by this point in my life I have probably read EVERY nutrition book ever written (or at least started to read them all. Some are terrible so I toss them out halfway through).  I have probably tried every single logical approach to nutrition at some point in my life.

I was once a vegetarian; I have tried really high carb, low protein; I have tried high protein, low carb; zero carb; zero fat; gluten free; Ketogenic diet; Metabolic diet; Hollywood diet; Fasting diet….you get the idea!  The only one I think I haven’t tried yet is raw food diet because I just don’t think I could support my bodyweight with the limited food sources.

I could tell you pros and cons of each one for someone trying to build muscle and optimize their body composition (a.k.a.,Lose Fat).

My approach to nutrition is very much a hybrid of them all. I believe I have taken the best points from each one and manipulated them to create a formula for people trying to build lean muscle without the excess fat.

3-Phase Nutrition to Doubling Your Muscle Gains

Phase 1 of “3-P” is the “recovery” phase.

This phase is centered around taking the time to ensure that your body is getting everything it needs to recover from the overload of weight training and daily stress that you subject it to.  The idea here is to take time to establish the EXACT minimum requirements to meet your bodies needs on a day- to- day basis. As the recovery process begins DURING the workout, so does the P-1 phase.
The calculations are quite simple and applicable to everyone.
Workout carb requirement:

Lean Bodyweight x 0.3= Liquid carb requirement for growth(G)

Lean Bodyweight x 0.3/2= Liquid Carb requirement for fat loss (FL)

We now use this number [(G) OR (FL)] as our baseline number.

Post workout Window- Protein Requirement:

Multiple your baseline number x 2 for your post- workout protein requirement.

Divide your baseline number by 2 to get your BCAA and Glutamine amount in grams. Split BCAA And Glutamine into 2 equal servings, pre- and post- workout.

So here it is in action…

EXAMPLE

Massive Muscle Builder #1 weighs 170lbs and is 10% bodyfat (therefore 153lbs lean). He is looking to gain muscle. His calculation looks like this:

153 x 0.3= 51 grams of carbs to be consumed *around workout.

1) He should try to consume 102g of protein in the 3-hr “POST WORKOUT Window”

2) He should consume 25g of BCAA and 25g of Glutamine each, divided into two servings. One pre- workout, and one post- workout. (12.5g each time)

Pretty simple, right?

Take the time to calculate YOUR ‘P1’ values NOW!

Do not waste another minute in the gym if you’re not supporting the recovery process.

Phase 2 of “3-P” is “Setting your metabolism”

The second phase of 3-PN is all about establishing your metabolism where YOU want it to be!

Yes, this is absolutely possible.  Someone wanting to lose body fat should look at getting their metabolism going as fast as possible before they start the fat burning process.  For some people, this may take up to 3 weeks; others may achieve it in a week. The standard amount of time for this “metabolic recondition-ing” is 10 days in MI40.

The timing of your food is extremely important. The ratio of protein/carbs/fats is also obviously extremely important.
This phase is also very important for teaching your body how to use nutrients the way you want it to. It’s no secret that 80% of North Americans do not use carbohydrates well. It will be during P-2 that we diligently time your nutrients and use the proper supplementation to allow your cells to re-learn how to properly use carbohydrates.

More effective use of carbohydrates = more muscle growth and less fat!

Phase 3 of “3-P”

Phase 3 of “3-P” is is the phase that is most important to directing and guiding your body exactly where YOU want it to go.

This is the phase where we add or remove calories/nutrients to achieve the specific goal we have set out to achieve.

Most of the participants of MI40 are going to be following what is called a “P-3+” phase.  This is specifically designed to ensure that your body is getting all the nutrients it needs AT THE RIGHT TIMES!  Nutrient timing is THE ONLY WAY to manipulate gains: WHEN your body gets WHAT is the number one most important growth variable outside the gym.

MI40 is going to be pushing your limits of physical performance and growth. Your body is going to require a greater amount of nutrients than it is used to. This is necessary to support all the growth processes.

“But, wont I get fat?”

NO. If you push your physical limits in the gym, your body is going to have a huge increase in demand for nutrients and will burn right through them.

To ensure there is NO FAT STORAGE, MI40 will also prescribe a certain degree of NUTRIENT CYCLING.  We give your body all that it needs to grow. Filly those muscles right up so they are strong and ready to grow and recover. Just when they are just about filled to the max, we manipulate the nutrient ratios and prevent spillage.  ALWAYS maintain your P-1+ status. This means you keep your recovery protocol exactly as prescribed above(+).

This is essential to maintain recovery and prevent muscle wasting.

Note:  For Those of You Who Missed the MI-40 Special Last Week and Are Still Interested in MI-40

==> MI-40 Super Saver Special (Get the MI-40 PDF Files + BRE for $29.95)

If You order, please forward me the receipt via email at hugo@hugorivera.net with the following in the subject line: Super Saver Special.

• No Related Posts

The fact that I already see stores getting stocked with Christmas ornaments lets me know that the Holidays are here. With Thanksgiving coming along at the end of November, the Holidays get officially started. Since this season carries with it a lot of get-togethers, parties, and above all, plenty of food, many bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts find it a task and a half to adhere to their bodybuilding lifestyle. This is due to the huge temptations of skipping your bodybuilding routines in favor of attending parties and eating foods that are not part of the typical bodybuilding diet. What is a bodybuilder to do?

With good planning and discipline, you can continue to move towards achieving your bodybuilding goals while you have your cake and eat it too; literally.

There are a few things that a bodybuilder can do in order to survive the Holidays and even come out a little bit ahead in terms of muscle mass:

1.The first step is to adhere to an abbreviated, though fully periodized, holidays bodybuilding workout routine so that you still get to gain muscle mass while minimizing the amount of time that you spend at the gym. If your schedule is really hectic, I would advise waking up early and getting training done, if possible, right before you go to work. If this is not possible, then try doing it at lunch-time or right after work so that nothing else interferes with your workout. On days off from work, definitely get the training done as early as possible.

Please refer to my personal abbreviated Holidays’ Bodybuilding Workout which has you working out only 3 days a week for about 75 minutes at a time (see routine at the end of this article below).

2.The second step is to plan ahead. Not only look at your December calendar and pencil down which days you will have Holiday activities, but also figure out at what times and days you will be training. I also suggest that you even identify which days you will select for your cheat meals and write them down on your calendar as well. Because of the amounts of get togethers and days that the gym may be closed, it is best if you decide a week ahead which days you will be attending the gym. In this manner, your chances of missing a workout due to parties or gym closures are eliminated.

3.The third step is to know how to cheat properly. By cheating the right way, and at the right times, you will not only maximize your muscle building potential but also minimize any fat gain.

Hugo’s Tips on Cheating Properly

Tip #1 Plan Your Cheat Days Wisely.
Look at the calendar and based on the days that you have parties and get togethers mark your cheat days. My advise is to attempt to space cheat days with at least 5-6 days in between, 6 being the better choice.

Tip #2 Eat Your Cheat Meals Wisely.
When you have a cheat meal, start eating the protein portion first as this will get you to start getting full. Leave the carbs for the end of the meal. Also, try to not stuff yourself. Instead allocate four hours and a half of cheating per cheat day. This will allow for 3 cheat meals (one every 90 minutes). After your cheat period, go back on your regular diet.

Tip #3 Have a tough workout before you cheat to minimize fat gain and maximize muscle.
Reason for this is because after a workout the body is primed to absorb nutrients in the form of proteins and carbohydrates. Thus, having a cheat meal afterwards will ensure that most nutrients are used for recovery and muscle production.

Tip #4 Take 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate and 300 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid.
Taking 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate and 300 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid at the beginning of your cheat period helps to increase your cell’s ability to accept insulin, and thus, assimilate the extra carbohydrates better. As a matter of fact, increasing insulin sensitivity is one of the reasons why I like to have a big workout prior to the cheat period.

Tip #5 Have some EFA’s with your cheat meal.
Research indicates that some Essential Fats like the ones found on flax oil or fish oils have anti-lipolitic properties. In other words, they inhibit some of the enzymes responsible for fat storage. By taking these fats with your first cheat meal of your cheat period, you can minimize some of the damage. I recommend you take 3-6 capsules of Labrada’s EFA Lean Gold prior to every cheat meal. 3 for the ladies and 6 for the guys will just do the trick.

Tip #6 Take some digestive enzymes with each one of your cheat meals.
This will ensure maximum nutrient assimilation and will also help you avoid feelings of excessive fullness and indigestion.

Tip #7 Three to five hours after the cheat period has ended have a 30-minute walk.
I’m not talking about anything strenuous; around 2.5 to 3 miles per hour is a good pace. Doing some cardiovascular activity after the cheat period has ended will start burning some of the carbohydrates that may still be lingering around. The more of these you burn, the less likelihood of storing body fat. If you cannot do this walk on the same day of the cheat period then try it on the morning after on an empty stomach.

Exercise Self Control and Discipline

As always, in order for these strategies to work, self-control, discipline and determination need to be exercised. When it comes to bodybuilding, this will always be a recurring theme.

What If Motivation Is Low?

If your motivation is lacking, there are a couple of items that I recommend you do:

1.Have A Clear And Concise Goal Of What You Want To Accomplish By A Specified Date: Set a deadline and be specific. For instance, my goal is to be in near contest shape by December 5th which is my birthday. For me, that means being 185-lbs at 5-6% body fat.

A specific deadline will offer you something to shoot for and achieve by a certain date which will put positive pressure on you and prevent you from skipping your workouts or having unscheduled cheat meals on the diet.

2.Get A Training Partner That Is Equally Passionate About Your Bodybuilding and Fitness Goal: A good training partner can fuel your motivation and accelerate gains tremendously. Good partners help you to push harder through your workouts and also inspire you to stick to the diet since you see how they progress. Ideally, get your spouse involved, or your kids if they are old enough. If not, a good friend will work too. I’ve found that the best gains in my bodybuilding career have been made when I train with someone who is equally dedicated to achieving the same goal.

Conclusion

If you apply yourself and implement the simple techniques described above, while everyone around you gains 20 pounds or more of fat and excess water during the Holidays, you will gain a few pounds of muscle and maybe 2-3 lbs of fat at the most. For the most disciplined of us, who actually increase the amount of working out as opposed to decreasing it, and who minimize cheat meals, then fat gain is not even a possibility.

Now you are armed with all of the information that you will need in order to actually improve your shape over the Holidays. It is up to you to put this knowledge into action and choose which person will you rather be; the 20 lbs of fat gainer, the 2-3 lbs of fat gainer with equal or more gains in the form of muscle, or the one who even gains as fat comes off? Choose your destiny. The fact that you are reading this article leads me to believe that you will choose wisely.

May your Holidays bring you tons of health and happiness!

Abbreviated Holidays’ Bodybuilding Workout

For the purpose of continued muscle growth and fat loss over the Holidays, I have used the principles of cycling that I always preach about in order to create a routine that will keep the muscle growth/fat loss process going during the next few months with minimum visits to the gym. While it is a low volume/abbreviated routine, it is by no means an easy one.

Loading Phase (Week 1)

Mon(13-15reps)/Wed(10-12reps)/Fri(8-10reps)

Superset:
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets (No Rest)
Close Grip Chinups (Palms facing you) 3 sets (60 seconds)

Superset:
Upright Rows 1 set (No Rest)
Bent Over Laterals 1 set (60 seconds)

Superset: Seated Incline Hammer Curls 2 sets (No Rest)
Triceps Dips 2 sets (60 seconds)

Giant set:
Lunges 3 sets (No Rest)
Leg Curls 3 sets (No Rest)
Squats 3 sets (No Rest)
Calf Raises 3 sets (60 seconds)
(Use either the machine or Barbell used for Squats)

(Week 2)

Mon(13-15reps)/Wed(10-12reps)/Fri(8-10reps)
Superset:
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 4sets (No Rest)
Close Grip Chinups (Palms facing you) 4sets (60 seconds)

Superset:
Upright Rows 2 set (No Rest)
Bent Over Laterals 2 set (60 seconds)

Superset:
Seated Incline Hammer Curls 3sets (No Rest)
Triceps Dips 3 sets (60 seconds)

Giant set:
Lunges 4 sets (No Rest)
Leg Curls 4 sets (No Rest)
Squats 4 sets (No Rest)
Calf Raises 4 sets (No Rest)
(Use either the machine or Barbell used for Squats) (60 seconds)

(Week 3)

Mon(13-15reps)/Wed(10-12reps)/Fri(8-10reps)
Superset:
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 5sets (No Rest)
Close Grip Chinups (Palms facing you) 5sets (60 seconds)

Superset:
Upright Rows 3 set (No Rest)
Bent Over Laterals 3 set (60 seconds)

Superset:
Seated Incline Hammer Curls 4sets (No Rest)
Triceps Dips 4 sets (60 seconds)

Giant set:
Lunges 5 sets (No Rest)
Leg Curls 5 sets (No Rest)
Squats 5 sets (No Rest)
Calf Raises 5 sets (60 seconds)
(Use either the machine or Barbell used for Squats)

Growth Phase (Weeks 4-6)
Mon(10-12reps)/Wed(8-10reps)/Fri(5-7reps)
Modified Compound Superset:
Incline Bench Press 3sets (Rest 90 seconds)
Close Grip Chinups (Palms facing you) 3sets (Rest 90 seconds)

Upright Rows 1 set (Rest 60 seconds)
Bent Over Laterals 1 set (Rest 60 seconds)

Superset:
Seated Incline Hammer Curls 2sets (Rest 90 seconds)
Triceps Dips 2 sets (Rest 90 seconds)

Modified Compound Giantset:
Lunges 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)
Leg Curls 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)
Squats 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)
Calf Raises 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)
(Use either the machine or Barbell used for Squats)

There you have it. After week 6 go into Active Recovery (Two full body workouts a week; a routine similar to the Growth Phase above performed only on Mondays and Thursdays with each set consisting of 10-12 reps; perform the same number of sets as suggested above). Also, do 20 minutes of cardio , first thing in the morning on the days off (Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays). Sunday is the total rest day.

The longest routine is the one from week 3. It lasts around 75 minutes. It is exhausting as well. Try it out and provided that you follow a good diet along with it (by just limiting yourself to pre-selected cheat meals in the manner described above) you should avoid the catastrophic effects that the Holidays leave behind in some people. As a matter of fact, you should look better.

Let me know how you like it if you try it.

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As I was reading some bodybuilding news online, I came across an interesting article from Ka Leo O Hawai’i, the campus newspaper of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, that reminded me of my days back in engineering school when I learned to be really creative in regards to keeping my bodybuilding diet requirements.

According to staff writer Andy Taylor in his article “Surviving Sodexho; Student Bodybuilders Struggle To Get Proper Nutrition”, it turns out that in the University of Hawai’i, if you live in the college facilities you need to buy a meal plan. Problem is that if you are a bodybuilder, the menu does not really follow your nutritional requirements.

This is not an unusual situation to be in. Hopefully one day all places will have both bad food choices and bodybuilding friendly ones so that everyone is taken care of. In the meantime, you have to get creative and in keeping with the mindset of a successful bodybuilder, you need to look for solutions rather than excuses. A few pieces of advice that I can offer are the following:

What To Do If You Had To Purchase The School Meal Plan

If you are in a situation like the one described on the article mentioned above where you had to purchase the meal plan and do not want to lose your money, try to see if the cafeteria has some sort of lean proteins such as chicken or turkey breasts. These are the protein choices that you need to look for. Since it is all you can eat, see about maybe packing some extra food to take with you for later meals (though some schools do not allow for this).

After you select your protein source, look for the cleanest complex carbohydrates that they may have, such as baked potatoes, and see if you can get some sort of green vegetables as well, if available.

Obviously, college campus’ meal plans will not feed you 6 times a day, as they feed you 2 times at the most, so you will need to get yourself some protein powder, and some old fashioned oats (which are easy to cook in the microwave) for breakfast. For in between meals, you can either use Meal Replacement Powders (MRP), a super convenient Ready-To-Drink (RTD) Shake, or a high quality protein bar to cover your nutritional requirements. If the MRPs, RTD’s or protein bars do not fit your budget, then powdered skim milk (1/2 cup to 1 cup as I used to do in college) mixed with with 1 scoop of protein and 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter will have to do for in between meals.

How To Carry Your Meals With You

The best investment you can make while on school is on a cooler so that you can carry your food, protein drinks and water with you for the rest of the day. That way you do not have to worry about being stuck without food for more than 3 hours. To this day I still use the cooler that I purchased for use during College.

How To Ensure That You Can Be Prepared Everyday

Wake up early! When in college, preparation is key. Make sure that you prepare your meals (the non cafeteria ones) well in advance or the night before so that when the day starts you can just pack things with you and go.

I also suggest you go to the gym at this time as well and get done with your bodybuilding workout so that the reminder of the day all you have to worry about is studying and eating. If you are really pressed for time, take a look at my Short 25-30 Minute Workouts for Busy Bodybuilders, which have you in and out of the gym in about 30 minutes.

Conclusion

As the author of the article mentioned above said: “For bodybuilders, eating choices can be a troublesome hindrance at times, but as long as the athletes are dedicated to their sport, there is always a way to work around it”.  I could not agree more with that statement.

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Halloween Natural Bodybuilding Survival Tips

1. Start your day with around 45 minutes of cardio: This will help to deplete your body of glycogen.

2. Keep your carbohydrate intake low during the day: Consume starchy carbs only with meal 1. For women, 1/2 cup of oatmeal with meal 1 will suffice while for men 3/4 cup of oatmeal (measured dry) is sufficient. Just eat vegetables like green beans, lettuce and/or broccoli with the rest of the meals along with your essential fats.

3. Have a tough workout before you start to cheat in order to minimize fat gain and maximize muscle: The reason for this is because after a workout the body is primed to absorb nutrients in the form of proteins and carbohydrates. Thus, having a cheat meal afterwards will ensure that most nutrients are used for recovery and muscle production. If you feel like challenging yourself try my full body challenging bodybuilding workout.

4. Take 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate and 300 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid: Taking 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate and 300 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid at the beginning of your cheat period helps to increase your cell’s ability to accept insulin, and thus, assimilate the extra carbohydrates better. As a matter of fact, increasing insulin sensitivity is one of the reasons why I like to have a big workout prior to the cheat period.

5. Eat Your Cheat Meals Wisely: Before you start your cheat meal have a protein shake. Since your cheat meal will come right after the workout it would be wise to consume a whey based protein shake (preferably whey isolate) in order to provide the amino acids that the body needs for repair. Then, once you have the sugars, the insulin release caused by it will deliver the protein right to where it belongs (the muscle tissue).

6. Try to Not Stuff Yourself: Definitely stop your cheat meal once you feel full. If you stuff yourself to the point that you can’t breathe you will not feel good at all. In addition, the low blood sugar period that will follow will make you feel even worse.

7. After You Are Done With Your Cheat Meal Go Back to Your Normal Bodybuilding Diet: No need to explain why we need to go back to our regular bodybuilding diet as soon as we are done with the cheat meal, right? Remember, it is a cheat meal; not a cheat day nor a cheat week.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

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That is right, you can have a cheat meal once a week and still get the weight loss results that you deserve.  You may be wondering how and think that this goes against the traditional mindset that the media or experts have told you, but I do it all the time and still stay in great shape.

However, if you are serious about achieving your fat loss goals, cheating should only be an option once a week.  Otherwise, you are putting yourself in danger of not getting the results you deserve.

When cheating, I recommend picking one day out of the week to eat whatever you want for one meal within reason.  Remember: This is only for one meal and not the entire day. It is also not an all you can eat stuffing session.  So for example, a slice of pizza with a regular soda and then a serving of ice cream is a good cheat meal.  Notice I did not say 20 slices, chased down with a gallon of soda and ice cream.

I like to eat my cheat meal earlier in the day so all of the food does not sit in me for a long period of time.  At night time, most people are sedentary and not burning calories.  Now that you have some general guidelines, I will give you some rules to follow for the day you decide to cheat.

Rules to a Cheat Meal:

1.  Drink around 12 ounces of water before you start eating.  This prohibits you from splurging as it will suppress your appetite a bit and will help you immensely from overeating.

2.  Make sure you have at least 3 hours before you go to bed when cheating as the food will not sit in your stomach for such a long period of time.

3.  Never eat 2 cheat meals in one week.

So now that you know why eating a cheat meal is not bad for you, simply follow the guidelines prescribed above and you should be just fine and still attack ugly stomach fat.

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