Here are the 3 keys to successful and permanent Body Sculpting.

These are the same techniques that I have personally used to lose 70-lbs of fat permanently while reshaping my physique and increasing my productivity dramatically. They are also the same techniques that I use on my clients in order to achieve similar results by exercising less & eating more!

 

Step 1-Use Subconscious Mind Re-Programming

 

The first thing that I see clients who fail do is NOT BELIEVE in their ability to achieve the body that they are looking for. As a result, they never invest themselves fully into the program. By not fully committing themselves, they start to miss workouts, they mess up their diet and in short, they self sabotage themselves.

I can’t count how many people come to me and tell me that once they got this right, they really started to commit themselves 300% to the program and as a result, when obstacles would present themselves, instead of sacrificing a meal or a workout they would find a solution that allowed them to continue with the plan.

On the other hand, those who simply did not have the right mindset would jettison the program at the first sign of trouble. This of course would re-enforce the false belief that no program would work for them and that they are not capable of achieving the body of their dreams.

So the first thing that YOU need to do is STOP any self limiting belief that you may have and KNOW that the power to achieve greatness is WITHIN YOU.

Thus, I want you to start acting as if you already have that body and realize that like with anything good in life, obstacles will come but when you have the right mindset you will find a solution! You will also disregard any negativity that comes from your own mind or surrounding people who may tell you that you are wasting your time and that you can’t do this! Again recall that “The Power To Achieve Greatness is Within You!” Just forgive the naysayers and ignore. As far as negative thoughts? Replace them with positive ones. Change feelings of I can’t with I CAN! Keep your eye on the prize which is that dream body of yours.

In summary, to have a mindset that leads to inevitable success you need to:

1) Believe in your ability to achieve the success. Know that “The Power To Achieve Greatness is Within You!”

2) Eliminate any negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.

3) Take a few minutes each day to visualize yourself with the body of your dreams. Record how you feel with that body.

4) Imagine also that you already have that body and behave accordingly: no missing workouts, no missing meals. Full commitment to the program.

5) Find a solution for every obstacle that comes. For example, if it is too hard to stick to your diet plan because you have no time in the morning to prepare your meals, then prepare your meals the night before.

6) Ignore the haters. Remember that haters will hate when you are doing something right!

7) Ignore your own negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Change the “I cant’s” with “I CAN”.

 

Step 2-Stop Those 2 Hour Marathon Weight Training Sessions Immediately & The Long Traditional Cardio! Instead Focus on Short Highly Targeted Fast Paced Workouts

 

Shocking and counter intuitive but true. While one would think that the more one trains the more results one gets, too much training is viewed by the body as a stressful activity that may result in the death of the organism. Thus, the adrenal glands located on top of the kidneys start to secrete a stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol signals the body to burn muscle in order to use its amino acids for energy and to protect/store fat. This is a survival mechanism that the body has. Anyone who has done a Spartan diet and training program has experienced the weight regain that cortisol creates once they discontinue or even cut back on such programs.

People who focus their workouts on short 30-45 minute but fast paced and intense weight training sessions see the fat loss and muscle gains skyrocket by a factor of ten assuming that the nutrition component is in place. While short cardio sessions can be used as a supplement, most of my clients achieve extraordinary transformations with minimal to no cardio at all and only 3 sessions of weights per week! Some clients do 5 sessions of weights and some do 6, like myself, but that is because we love it. Three sessions will get you the results that you are looking for in no time.

Compare that to the poor souls who are at the gym enslaving themselves on the treadmill like a gerbil for hours to an end to only follow that with an extra hour or two of weight training…These poor people not only get nowhere fast, but eventually, stop the program as it is not sustainable. Furthermore, even for the minority that actually get some results from these programs, the minute they cut back or stop it, the weight regain immediately comes! Also note that emphasizing long traditional cardio training and doing too much weight training will increase your propensity to be fat due to a slowed thyroid, reduced calorie burning due to muscle loss and the cortisol increase we discussed above.

So What Does a Kick Ass Properly Designed Weight Training Session Look Like?

It will consist of properly executed free weight exercises that can be done even from a home gym and these exercises will stimulate the most muscle growth from every set and repetition performed.

There are ten (7-Minute) workouts I use to boost my metabolism while building muscle at home (with just a pair of dumbbells). These workouts will definitely give you a great start and set you in the right direction!

Download Your TEN 7-Minute Fat Burning / Muscle Building Home Workouts for FREE << Click to Download (You also get my FREE 1-Hour Body Sculpting Webinar Which Covers All Of These Topics In More Detail)

If you do as I advice and perform 3 bodyparts in one workout, this will allow you to perform a full workout in 21 minutes (7 minutes x 3 bodyparts = 21 minutes) and get ten times the results that you are getting now.

Every pound of muscle gained is 50 calories more that your body now burns every day in order to maintain that muscle. Thus, if you gain 10 lbs of muscle with the right weight training sessions, you can now burn 500 extra calories per day! Do you see why it is important to gain muscle? Instead of the metabolic rate being lowered as in other programs, by focusing on muscle growth as you lose fat you end up with a body that perhaps only burned 1500 calories when the program started, but when you end the program, it may be able to burn 2,500 calories! This is exactly what you want as in this manner, results are permanent!

Take for example one of my many female students who basically could hardly eat 1200 calories at first when she was overweight and at the end of her transformation can eat over 2,000 calories while being leaner than ever! Why is this the case? Because her body is not fighting her. There was never a huge accumulation of cortisol due to improper training and diet and as a result, her body is happy burning all of those calories. Most of my guys start up eating 2,000 calories and end up eating 3,000 calories or more at the end of their transformations!

And now that we have covered proper results producing training, let’s discuss, precision metabolic enhancing nutrition.

Step 3-Implement Precision Metabolic Enhancing Nutrition: Most Regular Diets Will Set You Up for Failure From The Get Go!

 

I cringe every time I hear someone tell me that they are on a diet that has them consuming 600 calories or some crazy low figure like that. In fact, an obese couple comes to mind They were so happy to tell me about a new liquid diet that their Doctor put them on. Now, I don’t know which Doctor would do this, but at any rate, they just had like a salad a day and various nutrition shakes during the day. Such a diet is not only wrong from the standpoint that the body is meant to operate on real solid food and NOT shakes but even a solid food diet that puts the client in a super calorically deprived state is asking for trouble at many levels.

Long story short they lost a ton of weight in 3 weeks (30-lbs or something but keep in mind that both of these people were over 350-lbs so just water loss alone was probably around 15-lbs and the rest was a combination of muscle loss and fat). They went to a get together after 3 weeks and lets just say that they heavily cheated on the diet. This not only caused a HUGE amount of distress in their digestive system (which by now was not used to solid food anymore and I will spare you the details) but also completely discouraged them as they stepped on the scale on the following day. Needless to say, the diet was abandoned.

Now because of time, I won’t get into all of the health issues that a crazy plan like that causes but I will focus on the main points.

A plan like this will reduce your muscle tissue as too much cortisol will be released since the body sees this as a starvation event. So for each pound you lose, you burn 50 calories less. Lose 10 lbs and now you burn 500 calories less each day. Cool stuff. And also remember that increased cortisol levels protect fat as well! Awesome sauce! Now I’m really excited! NOT!

Furthermore, a plan like this will force your thyroid level (which is the main hormone that regulates the metabolism) to dramatically go down in order to lower the energy cost of your body. Thus, with a lowered thyroid your ability to burn calories gets crippled!

So between the cortisol killing muscle and protecting fat while the thyroid gets toasted do you see how at the end of the madness you will probably gain more weight than whatever you lost?

So what is the solution? What you need is a balanced nutrition that does not deprive you and that will convince your body to lose fat as you gain muscle. As you gain muscle, the diet plan is adjusted in order to compensate for the extra calories that your body burns. So instead of doing like 99% of dieters do, which is to cut calories, you will in fact be ADDING calories since your metabolism should be going UP and NOT DOWN!

I always suggest having a Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner with protein shakes in between. In that manner your blood sugar and energy levels are always stable and you encounter no cravings.

A good starting baseline metabolic nutrition plan consists of

40% carbs (sweet potato, potatoes, oatmeal, brown rice, brown rice pasta, plain rice cakes)
40% protein (chicken, turkey, lean red meats, salmon, tuna, egg whites, whole eggs)
20% good fats (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, nuts like cashews/almonds, fish oils)

My advice is to record everything you consume.
Collect pictures, a waist measurement and your weight at the beginning of the program and at the end of every 2 weeks.

Based on results, adjust your diet. A good rate of fat loss is up to 3 lbs per week. Due to water rebalancing, on the first week some dieters lose as much as 10-lbs! Now, if after week 1 you lost more than 3-lbs, you will need to up the calories a bit. If you lost less than 1 lb then you need to reduce calories.

Every couple of weeks asses results and based on how you are progressing, then make the necessary changes. In this manner you will find EXACTLY the amount of macronutrients that your body thrives on at a specific time.

You will need to stop only using the scale to measure progress as the scale does not tell you how much fat you lost and how much muscle you gained. For example, if you gain 2-lbs of muscle and lose 2-lbs of fat the scale will show NO PROGRESS! But if you do some caliper readings (or at least use a tape measure to measure your waist) and also take digital pictures, then you will be able to see how much muscle you gained and how much fat you lost.

Remember that as muscle is gained, you will need to recalculate your proteins, carbs and fats so it is imperative that you measure body fat loss and muscle gained via the use of inexpensive calipers.

For more information on the subject be sure to download your Free 7-Minute Workout Report and the super informative one hour webinar on all these topics below.

Download Your TEN 7-Minute Fat Burning / Muscle Building Home Workouts for FREE << Click to Download (You also get my FREE 1-Hour Body Sculpting Webinar Which Covers All Of These Topics In More Detail)

 

Conclusion

 

So listen, here is what you need to win if you want to follow the same plan that I used to lose 70-lbs of fat permanently while reshaping my physique and increasing my productivity dramatically; and these are also the same techniques that I use on my clients in order to achieve similar results by exercising less & eating more!

1- Subconcious Mind Re-Programming: Achieve success by knowing that you can achieve greatness, visualizing success, living as if you have already achieved that success, and keeping your eye on the goal while turning self created negative thoughts of “I Can’t” into positive “I CAN” ones and disregarding the Haters.

2- Three Short and Highly Targeted Body Sculpting Sessions: Use short 20-45 minute periodized free-weights based training sessions with short cardio sessions only as an optional supplement. Traditional cardio is NOT needed for this program to work!

3- Precision Metabolic Enhancing Nutrition: Use balanced targeted and a highly personalized nutrition plan that is adjusted upwards as muscle is gained in order to accelerate the metabolism permanently. Track progress using digital pictures, the scale and calipers (or at least a tape measure to measure your waistline) in order to see how much fat you have lost and muscle you have gained.

Again, for more information on all this, be sure to access my informative 1-hour webinar and 7-minute workout report below:

Download Your TEN 7-Minute Fat Burning / Muscle Building Home Workouts for FREE << Click to Download (You also get my FREE 1-Hour Body Sculpting Webinar Which Covers All Of These Topics In More Detail)

Take care and train hard!

hugo_sign

 

 

 

About the Author

hugoHugo Rivera is an International best selling fitness author certified in personal training and nutrition with a computer engineering degree from the University of South Florida. Hugo is owner of www.hugorivera.net, an informational, free fitness and nutrition website. He is author of over 10 fitness books (with over a million copies sold) including his best sellers: Body Re-Engineering, The Body Sculpting Bible for Men, The Body Sculpting Bible for Women, the Weight Training Diary, and the Hardgainers Handbook of Bodybuilding. Today via his website HugoRivera.net, numerous articles, book publications, TV and radio appearances Hugo continues to educate the public on how to achieve the body of their dreams via the use of weight training exercise, good nutrition and correct supplementation. You can follow Hugo via:

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/hugoriverafitness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hugorivera.net
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hugoriverafitness
Google Plus: www.google.com/+HugoriveraNetnaturalbodybuilding
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hrfit
BodySpace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/hrfit/

 

SorenessTypesCauses

Soreness is a normal part of the recovery process that starts once you finish your bodybuilding workouts.

There are several degrees of soreness that we need to be aware of:

1. Typical Mild Muscle Soreness:

The first type of soreness is the typical mild muscle soreness experienced the day after a good workout. While scientists are still unable to pinpoint the true cause of such soreness, it is generally accepted that it is caused by micro trauma caused at muscle fiber level and by an excess of lactic acid. At either rate, what’s important is the fact that this is good soreness as it is of a mild nature and muscle function is not impaired. It generally lasts a day for advanced athletes and up to 3 days for a beginner. This soreness is a good indicator that you had a good workout the day before as you created the trauma necessary to trigger adaptation (e.g. muscle growth). When you are no longer experiencing this type of soreness then that is an indication that your body has successfully adapted to the training program; something that leads to no gains unless the routine is changed once again.

2. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness:

The second type of soreness is delayed onset muscle soreness, better known as DOMS. The term DOMS refers to the deep muscular soreness usually experienced two days after the workout has been done (not the day after). This soreness prevents the full muscular contraction of the muscle. This type of more severe soreness is caused when you either embark an exercise program for the first time or when you train a body part much harder than usual. This pain can last between a couple of days for an advanced well-conditioned athlete or as much as a week for a beginner. If you are being affected by this type of soreness and it is time to workout again, I find that the best idea is not to take the day off, but instead to exercise the body part doing an Active Recovery routine. The Active Recovery Routine that I am referring to here is a routine where all of the loads are reduced by 50% and the sets are not taken to muscular failure. For example, if you are to perform an exercise for ten repetitions, divide the weight that you usually use for that exercise by two and that is the weight that you will use for that day. Also, stop executing the exercise even though you will not have reached muscular failure once you get to repetition number ten. The idea of this type of workout is to restore full movement in the muscle and to remove the lactic acid and other waste from it. Also, to force high concentrations of blood into the damaged area in order to bring the nutrients needed by the muscle for repair and growth. I have always found that doing this is always more beneficial as by the next day you will not be as sore or stiff anymore as opposed to skipping the workout in the name of recovery and waiting for the pain to subside in a week or so.

3. Injury-Type Muscle Soreness:

The third type of soreness is the one caused by injury. This soreness is entirely different in nature from the ones described above as it is usually immobilizing in nature and very sharp. Depending upon the nature of the injury, it may be experienced only when the muscle is moved in a certain way or constantly. Sometimes these injuries become apparent as soon as they happen. Other times the day after. If you become injured, the first thing that you should do is apply the RICE principle (Recovery, Ice, Compression and Elevation). After consulting a doctor, some injuries may allow you to continue training while working around the injury (in other words, finding the exercises that target the injured muscle without involving the range of motion that triggers the pain). Other more serious injuries, like a muscle tear, may involve complete rest of the injured area, and depending on the severity, it may require even surgery. Therefore, when you weight train, please leave the ego somewhere else. Do not bring it into the weight room as it may cause you to get injured and injuries not only can take you out of the gym for a while, but they always seem to haunt you long after you think that you have fully recovered. So needless to say, the best way to prevent this type of soreness is by cycling your exercise parameters and by constantly practicing good form.

There are a few techniques that one can use to manage muscle soreness from the first two types:

1. Ensure proper nutrition:

While this should be obvious, a lot of people miss the boat on this one. If you do not take the proper amount of carbohydrates (1-2 grams per pound of body weight depending on how fast your metabolism is), 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight and 20% of your total calories from good fats, your body will not have all of the nutrients that it needs in order to recover and grow (regardless of what supplements you are taking).

2. Drink your water:

While this does not look fancy, muscle is over 66% water. Therefore it is of utmost importance that you drink your water. You need your body weight x 0.66 in ounces of water on a daily basis in order to function properly. So if you weigh 200-lbs then you need 132 ounces of water per day. Less water than that and you impair your ability to flush out toxins and thus your recovery will be adversely affected.

3. Periodize your training and keep training sessions to 60 minutes maximum:

If you train heavy all of the time, this will invariably lead to overtraining and even injury. The same is true if your volume is too high. Therefore, it is important that you periodize your workouts by manipulating the volume and how heavy you train. Alternate periods of higher volume and lower weights (10-15 reps) with periods of lower volume and heavier weights (6-8 reps). In addition, in order to maintain anabolic hormone levels high, refrain from training for longer than 60 minutes (45 minute sessions being even better). After 60 minutes testosterone levels go down while cortisol levels rise. As a result, training past the 60 minute mark leads to increased cortisol levels and thus impaired recovery. (Read more about Periodization or download my periodized 21-Day Routine below)

21-day-program

4. Do some cardio:

Believe it or not, three to four 30 minute sessions of cardiovascular exercise a week will actually help you speed up recovery since the extra oxygen and circulation helps to flush out toxins and lactic acid out of the system. So do not neglect your cardio.

5. Alternating hot/cold showers:

Alternating cold and hot showers (30 seconds of cold water followed by 1 minute of hot water) is a great method to help flush out toxins and lactic acid. The cold water creates vasoconstriction while the hot water creates vasodillation. You can use this simple method after a hard workout. Typically, I like to do 3-5 rounds of cold and hot.

6. Massage:

Massage can help with lymph movement (a fluid that helps to remove waste from body tissues), which combined with blood helps to supply oxygen and nutrients while helping to rid the body from wastes and toxins. While ideally, the higher the frequency of training, the more often one should get a massage, a massage performed once a month will do wonders for your overall recovery.

7. Enzyme supplementation:

store_sorenzyme_bigThere is an incredible amount of research that shows certain enzymes are not only good for digestion, but they are also good for anti-inflammation and recovery. I did not really believe this until I started using an enzymatic formula that has helped to reduce the soreness and inflammation that happens after the workouts with great results. The formula’s name is Sorenzymes, and it is composed of many enzymes that have healing properties and that reduce inflammation. At first, I really did not understand how enzymes can help to recover faster but Lee Labrada set me straight on this. Lee told me that this formula is composed of enzymes that work on a systemic level and address the issue of DOMS. He said: “One of the things that we have been finding from our research is that judicious use of enzymes can actually reduce the inflammation associated with DOMS, which increases recovery and therefore increase muscle growth – it can almost double it. It’s tremendous”. I must say that after I tried the formula, I was not disappointed and thus became a believer in enzyme supplementation. Just 4 capsules taken on an empty stomach after training do the trick for me.

8. L-Glutamine supplementation:

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in muscle cells. It is released from the muscle during times of stress (such as hard weight training workouts) and dieting. This amino acid not only has been shown to be a great anti-catabolic agent (protects the muscle from the catabolic activities of the hormone cortisol), to be a contributor to muscle cell volume, and to have immune system enhancing properties. For more information on glutamine please take a look at my article on Glutamine Basics.

9. Take Your EFA’s:

EFA supplementation has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties (amongst many other good properties). Take at least 14 grams per every 100-lbs of bodyweight. Good sources of EFAs are Fish Oils, Flax Seed Oil, and EFA Lean Gold.

10. Take your creatine:

Creatine has been shown over and over again to help improve not only in between set recovery but also recovery after a workout as well. Half a teaspoon (2.5 grams) before and after your workout will upgrade your recovery capabilities. For more information on creatine please take a look at my article on Creatine Basics.

11. Get enough sleep:

If you don’t get enough sleep your cortisol levels will go through the roof, recovery will be impaired, and your probability of getting injured and/or sick will increase. It is of utmost importance that one gets as much sleep as possible with 8 hours being optimal. For more information on the importance of sleep please take a look at my article on The Maladies Caused by Sleep Deprivation.

Now you have a few tricks up your sleeve in order to deal with soreness, start implementing these immediately so that you can go to the gym and train super hard!

Take care and train hard!

hugo_sign

 

 

 

About the Author

hugoHugo Rivera is an International best selling fitness author certified in personal training and nutrition with a computer engineering degree from the University of South Florida. Hugo is owner of www.hugorivera.net, an informational, free fitness and nutrition website. He is author of over 10 fitness books (with over a million copies sold) including his best sellers: Body Re-Engineering, The Body Sculpting Bible for Men, The Body Sculpting Bible for Women, the Weight Training Diary, and the Hardgainers Handbook of Bodybuilding. Today via his website HugoRivera.net, numerous articles, book publications, TV and radio appearances Hugo continues to educate the public on how to achieve the body of their dreams via the use of weight training exercise, good nutrition and correct supplementation. You can follow Hugo via:

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/hugoriverafitness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hugorivera.net
Google Plus: www.google.com/+HugoriveraNetnaturalbodybuilding
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hrfit
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hugoriverafitness
BodySpace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/hrfit/

plateaus

Bodybuilding plateaus is the biggest problem that male and female bodybuilders encounter.

Note: for me a bodybuilder is anyone who trains with weights and follows a diet in order to get a great physique.

While at first the gains of muscle mass come rather quickly, soon after you hit a plateau (a point where gains cease to come by). Sometimes it seems that no matter how hard you workout at the gym, the muscle mass just seems to remain the same. As a result, this causes frustration and leads most people to either give up, buy a whole bunch of supplements or even use anabolic steroids.

The good news is that this is the very reason I decided to write this report. I want to share with you a secret that I have found after years of trial and error of different training and nutrition strategies.

I have found that there is a way that you can accelerate your muscle mass gains and fat loss dramatically and prevent it from reaching the dreaded plateau. By applying this principle you will be able to fulfill your genetic potential as quickly as humanly possible.

Not only will bodybuilders double their results from each workout (and cut their supplement bill and training time dramatically), but they’ll also get to greatly accelerate results in terms of massive muscle gains, strength and fat loss.

But first a little bit about myself.

How I Got Started

My formal education background believe it or not is in Computer Engineering. I graduated from the University of South Florida back in 1998. So the question is: how did I end up from engineering to being a competitive bodybuilder and best selling fitness author?

Well, I actually used to be very overweight as I was growing up so at an early age I experienced the feelings of insecurity that come along with obesity as well as the scorn and ridicule from some people. Since I kept hearing that the reason for my weight problems was food and that I had to stop eating, I took the advice to heart being sick and tired of how I looked and felt.

So this resulted in me going anorexic at the age of 13 and losing a total of 70 pounds in less than a year. My family, very concerned about my health, took me to a nutritionist in an effort to put some sense in me and stop the anorexic cycle.

This nutritionist mentioned one thing that changed my outlook on dieting forever: “Eating food will not make you fat; only the abuse of the wrong sort of foods will.” After listening to that statement, it all seemed to make sense. I then began following the diet she gave me and started to study the effects of foods on the human physiology.

By the age of fifteen a girl that I really liked back then told me that I would look better if I had some muscle on me. She said that though I looked good, I was too skinny. Keep in mind that anorexia left me weighing a bit less than 100-lbs.

So I asked my mom to get me a muscle magazine, the May 1990 Muscle & Fitness (which I still have to this day) so that I could educate myself on the subject. After I saw an article called: “How To Get BIG” written by the one and only, Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was hooked! To me, Arnold just looked perfect so I chose him as the role model to follow. I also got inspired by the physiques of Lee Labrada, Shawn Ray, and Francis Benfatto who were competing extremely successfully back then. To me, all of these guys exemplified perfection, real works of art. They all ate 6 times a day and trained hard day in and day out.

So I simply started with following the training program and diet laid out by Arnold on his article. As I was so underweight and skinny at the time, even with Arnold’s training, which was pretty much overtraining, I still gained 40lbs during the summer. A proper six meal a day diet and regular training with me being very underweight really pushed on the muscle mass even if I did gain a little fat as well, but it was amazing to me and all my friends thought I was on steroids! Yet, I did not even have a clue of what steroids where at that time!

Come to think of it, I guess that I was on steroids due to the fact that I was a teenager back then producing tons of hormones (yes guys, if you are teenagers then you are on the most powerful stack of anabolic steroids; the one produced by your own body)! This, in conjunction with the fact that once I started to feed myself 6 times eating around 3,500-4,000 calories a day, made me grow beyond belief on a daily basis and I guess this is what got me really hooked and led me to become an avid natural bodybuilder.

After, gaining all that mass, I reached a plateau unfortunately; a sticking point I could not get past. As much as I loved Arnold I realized a natural bodybuilder like me could not keep up with the routines of professional bodybuilders who were taking drugs and so I took to reading countless books in my quest to find a perfect system.

The frustrating problem was that I started getting exposed to absolutely contradicting theories on how to best gain muscle and lose fat. Upset at the fact that no one could give me a straight answer I decided to take matters in my own hand and use myself as well as my training partner as guinea pigs in order to find out what worked. This was the first time I really knew that I was going to create my own system as I was going to test everything on myself, my training partner and friends in order to find out what worked and what didn’t so that I could then throw out the bad and keep the good.

I started my quest by recording everything I did down to the last detail. I’m quite analytical as a person, which is I guess why I became an engineer years later, but even early It showed as I read every book and article everywhere I could get my hands on. I was like a sponge for information, reading stuff from trainers from all over the world. I started to put together training routines and diet programs, and while some failed miserably some worked!

For instance, I will never forget what happened when I went from training 2-3 hours a day to training for 45 minutes. I went through a growth spurt again! So through endless training routines and diet combinations I started to really understand what worked and what didn’t for me and my training partners. I started finding principles and patterns of training that seemed to work on everyone I tried them on. Above all, the most exciting part of my discoveries was the fact that there was no necessity to stay all day at the gym in order to get results! Because I felt that not many people in the industry cared about trainees actually reaching their goals, I decided to create a web site and start conducting personal training during my college years in an effort to spread all of the knowledge that I had acquired.

Once I had dialed in the timing, frequency and the important details of training and nutrition cycling, that is when I created training routines that eliminated plateaus. It was at this point that I became passionate about sharing my knowledge with people as I fully understood I could help to double everyone’s results at the gym in half the time if they would employ my training and nutrition cycling principles.

Because I needed to put together a website in order to graduate from Engineering school (that was my Senior Project) that is how I started to post my first few fitness articles, and not much later became a best selling fitness author. Notice that it took me from the time I was 14 years old to after I graduated from college to learn all the secrets to muscle building and fat loss on my own. However, with this article, I am confident that I can save anyone from all the troubles that I went through.

Plateaus Don’t Need to Happen!

How many times have you heard that plateaus are inevitable? Well, it’s time to say goodbye to plateaus forever!

Typically, the people that make this statement are people who have been on the same routine for months to an end (or even years).

The thing to understand when it comes to plateaus is that they happen when:

1) Your training is not stimulating muscle growth because your body is absolutely used to it (thus, there is no stimulus to grow).

2) Your nutrition is off: meaning that you are not eating 5-6 times a day, and you are not consuming the amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats that your body requires in order to make great gains.

The key thing to understand is that the body is a living organism that will always adapt to any stress that you put it through. Thus, when people start to train, they make great gains at first since the body is not used at all to the stress of weight training. As a result, rapid changes in the body occur. However, as time goes by, the gains slow down and unless you do something about it, progress will come to a sudden stop.

I went through many frustrating years of this until I found out that if you change routines around, you make more gains. However, it was only when I found out that if you periodize your program in a logical manner (by alternating between periods of high volume/ high reps/ fast paced training with periods of lower volume/heavier weight/slower training) that makes use of the body’s own adaptation mechanisms you will make incredible “steroid like” gains.

In order for the body to respond optimally, it cannot be trained in the same manner all the time. The best way to make the body respond is through the correct variation of exercises, volume (number of sets times number of reps), intensity (how heavy the weight is), and rest periods between sets.

Workout parameters are going to be determined by the phase of the program you are in. There are going to be three phases that we will be repeating over and over again. The first week will be an “Active Recovery Phase”. In this phase you will only train with weights twice a week on a full body routine before you start the next phase which will be called the “Loading Phase”. The “Loading Phase”, which is three weeks in duration, is going to be a high volume phase with short rest between sets. Training volume gradually increases over the course of the three weeks in order to stress the body almost to the point of overtraining.

Then the next three weeks are going to be a higher intensity/lower volume phase (heavier weights) with longer periods of rest between sets. This phase is called the “Growth Phase”, as volume is reduced but weights are increased in order to let the body catch up and super compensate (grow muscle size and strength).

Here is a sample 21 Day Routine that you can use to get you started on your road to making some serious gains:

21-day-program

Download Your 21-Day Bodybuilding Program for FREE << Click to Download (You also get my FREE Top Supplements That Work Guide)

Now, as you get even more advanced, you can manipulate even more variables, such as the speed at which you perform the repetitions, the training splits used and you can also use advanced techniques such as drop sets, partial reps, forced repetitions, and even varying the speed in which you perform your repetitions in order to keep stimulating muscle gains.

Again, the trick is to always follow a program that takes your body to the brink of overtraining and then backs off a bit in order to allow your body to catch up, recover and grow at an accelerated rate. Of course, in order to make great gains your nutrition has to be top notch. Training without the right nutrition will not provide you the results you are looking for since you will be stimulating muscle growth BUT you will not have the raw materials to build it. It is no different than having tons of contractors ready to build a skyscraper but there is no cement for them to use. So because of that, you need to fuel yourself correctly.

Diet Is As Important As Training!

Nutrition is what gives us the raw materials for recuperation, energy, and growth. Without a good diet, your dreams of achieving your ideal body will never be reached. I cannot even begin to tell you how many trainees sabotage great gym efforts by not following the proper nutrition plan.

In order to gain solid muscle you need to be eating 5-6 small meals a day (at least a breakfast, a lunch and a dinner with protein shakes in between). You also need to take in
1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean bodyweight. Protein is what gives you the raw materials for building the tissues in the body (including muscle of course).

In terms of good fats, you need around 1-2 teaspoons of fish oils and/or flax seed oil three times a day (1 for ladies and 2 for guys). To be honest, I take as much as 1 tablespoon of Carlson fish oils 3x/day. You can also have a serving of nuts (if you are not allergic to them) or 1-2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil as well. The fact is that in order to gain muscle and lose fat properly you NEED good fats. Good fats provide you with the essential fatty acids that the body needs for brain function, energy production, joint tissue health, and hormonal production! If you eliminate fats from your diet completely, your muscle mass gains and fat loss will greatly suffer! So will brain function! Thus, you need good fats and these will make an incredible change in your health and appearance!

In terms of carbs, you do need good complex carbs for energy production. Slower metabolisms (on the average) can do 0.8-1 gram of carbs per lean body weight for 5 days
and 1.5 grams for 2 days. Hardgainers may need as much as 1.5-2 grams for 5 days and as much as 3 grams for 2 days.

(NOTE: For good sample diets check out the ones at the end of this article below.)

Sample Diets

Usually people associate the word diet with days of starvation and pain. However that is not the correct definition of a diet. The word diet refers to the food choices that we make on a daily basis. Even if you don’t think you that you are on a diet, guess what?! You already are following a diet. Whether you eat candy all day everyday, or oatmeal, that is your diet.

You Don’t Have to Starve When You Diet

A good bodybuilding diet needs to follow 3 rules:

1. It should favor smaller and frequent feedings throughout the day instead of smaller ones.

2. Every meal should have carbohydrates, protein and fat in the correct ratios: 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20 % good fats.

3. The calories should be cycled to prevent the metabolism from getting used to a certain caloric level.

While my article on Bodybuilding Nutrition Basics further elaborates on the reasons why the rules above need to be followed, in addition to a discussion on carbohydrates, proteins and fats, I’ll move now to present you with two examples of good bodybuilding diets.

Sample Bodybuilding Diet For Men

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
Meal replacement packet mixed with water or a protein powder (with around 40 grams of protein) mixed with 40 grams of carbs from cream of rice, grits, or oatmeal.

1 Tablespoon of Fish Oils (Carlson Fish Oil brand is best)

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Recommended Basic Bodybuilding Supplements For Men

(Essential to take)

Definitely make sure that you cover at least the basics of supplementation which are a Multiple Vitamin and Mineral formula, 3 grams of Vitamin C split in 3 equal servings throughout the day, 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate, and essential fatty acids coming from either fish oils, flaxseed oil or extra virgin olive oil. Also, for convenience purposes a good meal replacement or protein powder is a great way to add valuable calories and nutrients to your diet.

Performance Enhancing Supplementation

(Recommended for hard training bodybuilders who want to get the most out of their program}

In addition to those basic supplements, I would also recommend Creatine and Glutamine as these two supplements offer many of the same properties as anabolic steroids (such as increased recovery, increased strength, increased glycogen levels, enhanced immune system and higher nitrogen synthesis) without the side effects as they are not hormones.

Download Your Top Supplements Guide for FREE << Click to Download (If you already downloaded the 21-day program above, you will also get this document as well)

Sample Bodybuilding Diet For Women

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1/2 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1/2 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
1/2 Meal replacement packet mixed with water or a protein powder (with around 20 grams of protein) mixed with 20 grams of carbs from cream of rice, grits, or oatmeal.
1/2 Tablespoon of Fish Oils (Carlson Fish Oil brand is best)

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Recommended Basic Bodybuilding Supplements For Women

(Essential to take)

Definitely make sure that you cover at least the basics of supplementation which are a Multiple Vitamin and Mineral formula, 3 grams of Vitamin C split in 3 equal servings throughout the day, 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate, and essential fatty acids coming from either fish oils, flaxseed oil or extra virgin olive oil. Also, for convenience purposes a good meal replacement or protein powder is a great way to add valuable calories and nutrients to your diet.

Performance Enhancing Supplementation

(Recommended for hard training bodybuilders who want to get the most out of their program}

In addition to those basic supplements, I would also recommend Creatine and Glutamine as these two supplements offer many of the same properties as anabolic steroids (such as increased recovery, increased strength, increased glycogen levels, enhanced immune system and higher nitrogen synthesis) without the side effects as they are not hormones.

Download Your Top Supplements Guide for FREE << Click to Download (If you already downloaded the 21-day program above, you will also get this document as well)

Final Notes On Nutrition

You can experiment with various foods and also even substitute the protein shakes for real meals as well (though for most of you, protein shakes and meal replacements are more convenient). After 5 weeks of following this diet program, start adjusting your calories and cycling them as described in my Bodybuilding Nutrition Basics article.

Conclusion

Now you have a few tricks up your sleeve in order to add some pounds of solid muscle to your frame. Implement them and start to grow!!

Take care and train hard!

hugo_sign

 

 

 

About the Author

hugoHugo Rivera is an International best selling fitness author certified in personal training and nutrition with a computer engineering degree from the University of South Florida. Hugo is owner of www.hugorivera.net, an informational, free fitness and nutrition website. He is author of over 10 fitness books (with over a million copies sold) including his best sellers: Body Re-Engineering, The Body Sculpting Bible for Men, The Body Sculpting Bible for Women, the Weight Training Diary, and the Hardgainers Handbook of Bodybuilding. Today via his website HugoRivera.net, numerous articles, book publications, TV and radio appearances Hugo continues to educate the public on how to achieve the body of their dreams via the use of weight training exercise, good nutrition and correct supplementation. You can follow Hugo via:

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/hugoriverafitness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hugorivera.net
Google Plus: www.google.com/+HugoriveraNetnaturalbodybuilding
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hrfit
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hugoriverafitness
BodySpace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/hrfit/

comeback-male-2

There are many things that life can throw our way which may derail you from your fitness program: sickness, an injury, a life changing situation, a post contest rebound that de-motivated you, and many others. The good news is that no matter what circumstance got you away from your fitness program, you can always use your strong will to come back to it.

With that said, there are 3 mistakes that you need to avoid to make a successful comeback:

1) Don’t punish yourself for your current condition:

It is easy to feel bad and beat yourself over and over again for regressing and going back to a “Before Picture” condition. Yet, this is not productive. The best thing to do at this point is ACCEPT the fact that you are in whatever shape you are in and KNOW that with the plan you will implement the “After Picture” condition will be just around the corner.

 

2) Don’t embark into an overly ambitious program:

The worst thing you can do at this point is try to get back to the same program that you were doing before and use the same amount of weight that you used to lift. This is a rapid way to get excessively sore, and possibly injured as the joints need time to ease back into training. At the same time, you are opening yourself up to getting extremely frustrated as chances are that you cannot lift the same amount of weight that you used to do before. Remember, that at this point, the key is to not overwhelm your body with a complicated program that will send your cortisol hormone levels through the roof. Your comeback program should be one that focuses on getting you back into the swing of things, retraining your nervous system on how to activate its muscle fibers with each movement and getting your joints back into fighting condition.

3) Don’t embark into a fad diet:

Many girls who (and guys do this too) who get back after a layoff embark into a fad diet to speed-up the process. This is a sure way to fail as fad diets, like zero carb diets, cripple your thyroid levels and increase your cortisol levels. The end result is a lowered metabolic rate which means that it will be much easier for you to gain fat at a lower caloric range! And once your thyroid production is compromised it will take time to bring it back up to optimal levels.

 

How To Make a Successful Comeback

Now that we know what the 3 biggest mistakes to making a successful comeback are, here are my training and diet suggestions to making a successful comeback (please download the FREE 21 Day Program below):

21-day-program

Download Your 21-Day Bodybuilding Program for FREE << Click to Download (You also get our FREE Top Supplements That Actually Work Guide)

Successful Comeback Diet Guidelines:

Thus, ease back into a program where you are consuming a diet composed of 40% of its calories from protein, 40% from mainly complex carbs and 20% from good fats. This can be easily achieved by taking your approximate fat free mass (lean body mass = total bodyweight in pounds – approximate fat weight in pounds) and multiplying that number by 1. That gives you the total amount of carbs (in grams) that you need to consume per day. That also gives you the total amount of daily protein (in grams that you need). To calculate your good fats, simply multiply your lean body mass by 0.33.

So assuming a lean body mass of 150 lbs you are looking at 150 grams of carbs, 150 g of protein and 50 grams of good fats per day. That will give you the grams of fat that you need to consume each day. If you follow these simple formulas you will follow the perfect 40/40/20 diet plan suited to your body.

SAMPLE DIET for MEN:

• Meal 1: 1 cup of oatmeal with 1 packet of Meal Replacement Powder
• Meal 2: 3 rice cakes / Faye greek yogurt (1 cup) / 1 cup strawberries.
• Meal 3: 6 ounces (180 grams) of chicken measured cooked, 1 cup of rice (brown or white), 1/3 cup avocado, any combination of vegetables such as green beans, broccoli, onions, peppers, lettuce and tomatoes.
• Meal 4 (post workout meal): 1 packet of Meal Replacement Powder / 1 scoop of Power Carb:
• Meal 5: Wild Atlantic Salmon (130 grams), 300 grams of potatoes, any veggies (as above)

Optional Meal Before Bed: 1 cup of Greek Yogurt around 30 min before bed with 1 tablespoon of almond butter.

SAMPLE DIET for WOMEN:

• Meal 1: 3/4 cup of oatmeal with 1 packet of Meal Replacement Powder
• Meal 2: 3 rice cakes / Faye Greek yogurt (1 cup) / 1 cup strawberries.
• Meal 3: 4 ounces (120 grams) of chicken measured cooked, 1/2 cup of rice (brown or white), 1/4 cup avocado, any combination of vegetables such as green beans, broccoli, onions, peppers, lettuce and tomatoes.
• Meal 4 (post workout meal): 1 packet of Meal Replacement Powder / 1 scoop of Power Carb
• Meal 5: Wild Atlantic Salmon (85 grams), 150 grams of potatoes, any veggies (as above)
• Optional Meal Before Bed: 1 cup of Greek Yogurt around 30 min before bed with 1/2 tablespoon of almond butter

 

Additional Comeback Supplements:

One of the biggest complaints people have when they get back into a fitness program is muscle soreness and even joint soreness. However, there are some great natural supplements that can greatly help with your recovery making the process much more efficient while reducing soreness significantly. (Note: It is not essential to take these supplements in order to achieve success from this program. The key to success is the training and the diet. However, if you can add any of these supplements you will see a marked improvement in your recovery capacity and soreness levels.)

Download Your Top Supplements Guide for FREE << Click to Download

 

Additional Tips For Making a Permanent Comeback:

Be sure to track your progress properly.

Do not rely solely on the scale as the scale does not tell you how much muscle you have gained and how much fat you have lost. And remember, muscle weighs more than fat so if you gain 2 pounds of muscle and lose 2 pounds of fat in the same week, the scale will not move. However, your measurements should show an incredible amount of difference! Note: For more information on this subject, check out Cecile’s article on“Why The Scale Can Be Your Biggest Enemy.” Also, be sure to check out Hugo Rivera’s article on “Tracking Your Progress.

Be sure to lose no more than 2 pounds of fat per week.

Any more fat loss than that can compromise your ability to gain muscle. If you see that you are losing too fast and losing strength at the gym, increase your carbs and protein by 15 grams per day and the good fats by 3 grams. Remember that the goal here is to make a successful and permanent comeback. In order to do that, slow and steady wins the race. You need to convince your body that it is OK to burn off the extra fat while gaining new muscle. To do that, you must prevent the body from entering into emergency mode as when that happens, cortisol levels rise and the body begins to try and retain body fat while burning muscle. Therefore, be sure to not overt-rain and to follow the diet as I advised above.

 

Conclusion

So there you have it: all my tips on how to make a successful comeback. Just remember that like Rocky said “It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” So let’s access that inner strength ladies and make this transformation happen!

21-day-program

Download Your 21-Day Bodybuilding Program for FREE << Click to Download (You also get our FREE Top Supplements That Actually Work Guide)


About the Authors
CecileB

Cecile Bayeul is a Registered Nurse, International fitness model/author and natural female bodybuilding champion who beat anorexia by embarking into a fitness program. She believes that by embarking into a fitness program you can not only achieve any body that you want but you can take control of your life and take it anywhere you want! You can follow Cecile via her fan page: www.facebook.com/cecilebayeul, her twitter: www.twitter.com/cecilebayeul, her YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/cecilebayeul or her personal site:

www.CecileBayeul.com

 

 

 


hugoHugo Rivera is an International best selling fitness author certified in personal training and nutrition with a computer engineering degree from the University of South Florida. Hugo is owner of www.hugorivera.net, an informational, free fitness and nutrition website. He is author of over 10 fitness books (with over a million copies sold) including his best sellers: Body Re-Engineering, The Body Sculpting Bible for Men, The Body Sculpting Bible for Women, the Weight Training Diary, and the Hardgainers Handbook of Bodybuilding. Today via his website HugoRivera.net, numerous articles, book publications, TV and radio appearances Hugo continues to educate the public on how to achieve the body of their dreams via the use of weight training exercise, good nutrition and correct supplementation. You can follow Hugo via:

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/hugoriverafitness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hugorivera.net
Google Plus: www.google.com/+HugoriveraNetnaturalbodybuilding
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hrfit
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hugoriverafitness
BodySpace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/hrfit/

HugoSurvivalGuide

The holidays are approaching with Christmas leading the way followed by New Years not too far behind. During this time of joy and happiness unfortunately most people, including some of us bodybuilders, tend to forget about their bodybuilding workouts and nutrition plans. If thoughts of dumping your fitness and bodybuilding program have crossed your mind, allow me to remind you that this road only leads to a physique that could be used as a ‘Before’ picture on the latest fat burner ads.

However, what if I told you that with some planning ahead you can have your cake and eat it too? I promise you that if you practice self discipline and follow all of the tactics discussed below, your fat gain during the Holidays will be minimized, and provided that you train hard, even if you use my bodybuilding holiday routine described below, you will come out with new muscle that you did not have before.

Bodybuilding Tips & Advice For Staying Fit During The Holidays

There are some key steps that need to be followed in order to stay fit during the Holidays. Follow the steps below and I guarantee you that come New Year, losing weight will not be on your list of resolutions:

1. Plan Ahead, Be Organized.

Plan your bodybuilding workout days one full week ahead. 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. Simply take out your calendar and schedule your workouts and even write down at what times these will be performed. In this manner, your chances of missing a workout due to parties or gym closures are eliminated.

2. Get Your Workouts In Early:

Workout as early as possible, preferably first thing in the morning. If your schedule is really hectic, I would advise waking up early and getting the 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.

3. Hugo’s Holiday Abbreviated Bodybuilding Routine ( See Below For Full Routine)

If you feel that you really cannot dedicate more than 3 days a week to your training, then just try out my Abbreviated Bodybuilding Holiday Routine shown below. The routine is designed for a serious natural bodybuilder that wants maximum muscle along with definition and is willing to train 3 days a week for 75 minutes. Not everybody is trying to look like a bodybuilder , if your just looking to tone up , then just cut 1 set for all the exercises listed and this will bring down your gym time by around 15-20 minutes so each workout will be around 55 minutes long or so. So less than 3 hours in total out of your entire week.

4. Planning Your Diet Cheat Days:

Plan Your Cheat Days Wisely. I have to say that I am an expert at this one. Reason for this is because Thanksgiving is on the 24th, my birthday is on December 5th, Christmas on the 25th and New Year’s on the 31.

So those are my cheat days. My advice is to attempt to space cheat days with at least 5-6 days in between, 6 being the better choice.

5. Eating Cheat Meals Wisely:

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 six hours of cheating per cheat day and instead of having just one huge binge meal that prevents you from even being able to walk after you are done, have 3 smaller meals instead; one every 90 minutes. Take around 30 minutes to savor and make sure that after you are done with each meal you feel like you have a bit of room left. The best strategy is to eat until you are comfortably full.

After your cheat period, go back on your regular diet.

6. Workout Before Cheating:

Before a cheat period it is great to have a tough workout first in order to minimize fat gain and maximize muscle gain. 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.

7. Supplementing Before Cheating:

Take some 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate and 300 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid at the beginning of your cheat period. These supplements help 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.

In addition, you can also take some Nitric Oxide Boosters and creatine as well 30 minutes prior to the first cheat meal in order to take advantage of the extra carbohydrates and insulin spike.

Finally, a good thermogenic supplement like Labrada’s Charge ASF is a good idea as well since this will ensure that your appetite is kept under control.

8. Have Essential Fatty Acids:

Have some EFA’s with your cheat meal. Research indicates that some essential fats like the ones found in flaxseed oil or fish oils have anti-lipolitic properties. In other words, they inhibit some of the enzymes responsible for fat storage. Because of this, by taking these fats with your first cheat meal of your cheat period, you can minimize some of the damage. They also serve as a good natural appetite suppressant.

One tablespoon of Carlson Fish Oils or Spectrum Flaxseed Oil should do the trick. Capsules can be used but you would need 10-14 of them to equal a tablespoon of the liquid version.

9. Have Digestive Enzymes Prior To Your Cheat Meal:

Take some digestive enzymes prior to each one of your cheat meals. This will ensure maximum nutrient assimilation and will also help you avoid feelings of excessive fullness and indigestion. The best formula is a comprehensive enzyme formula with enzymes for proper digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

10. Have A Walk After The Cheat Period:

Three to five hours after the cheat period has ended, have a 30-45 minute walk. I’m not talking about anything strenuous; around 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.

Hugo’s Abbreviated 3 Days Per Week Routine

For the purpose of continued muscle growth and fat loss over the holidays, I have used the principles of cycling (the three training phases, loading, growth and active recovery) 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.

This is a 3 day a week routine but don’t let that fool you, it’s a tough routine and will do more than just maintain you. The longest routine is the one from week three. It lasts around 75 minutes.

Loading Phase

WEEK #1

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

Superset:
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets (No Rest)
Wide Grip Pull-Ups To Front 3 sets (60 seconds)

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

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

Giant-set:
Leg Extensions 3 sets (No Rest)
Leg Curls 3 sets (No Rest)
Squats (Wide Stance) 3 sets (No Rest)
Calf Raises3 sets (60 seconds)

WEEK #2

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

Superset:
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 4 sets (No Rest)
Wide Grip Pull-Ups To Front 4sets (60 seconds)

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

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

Giant-set:
Leg Extensions 4 sets (No Rest)
Leg Curls 4 sets (No Rest)
Squats (Wide Stance) 4 sets (No Rest)
Calf Raises 4 sets (60 seconds)

WEEK #3

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

Superset:

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 5sets (No Rest)
Wide Grip Pull-ups To Front 5sets (60 seconds)

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

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

Giant-set:
Lunges 5 sets (No Rest)
Leg Curls 5 sets (No Rest)
Squats (Wide Stance) 5 sets (No Rest)
Calf Raises 5 sets (60 seconds)

Growth Phase

Weeks 4-6:

Mon (10-12 reps), Wed (8-10 reps), Fri (6-8 reps)

Modified Superset:
Incline Bench Press 3 sets (Rest 90 seconds)
Chin-ups (Palms facing you) 3sets (Rest 90 seconds)

Modified Giant-set:
Rear Delt Rows (performed like a reverse bench press) 2 sets (Rest 45 seconds)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 2 sets (Rest 45 seconds)
E-Z Curls 2 sets (Rest 45 seconds)
Close Grip Bench Press 2 sets (Rest 45 seconds)

Modified Giant-set:
Lunges (press with ball of foot) 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)
Leg Curls (Toes Out) 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)
Squats or Leg Press 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)
Calf Raises 3 sets (Rest 60 seconds)

Active Recovery Phase

After Week 6:

Two full-body workouts a week; a routine similar to the Growth Phase (above) performed only on Mondays and Thursdays with two sets per exercise, each set consisting of 13-15 repetitions.

Also, do 20-30 minutes of cardio, first thing in the morning on the days off (Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays). Sunday is the total day of rest.

Holiday Bodybuilding Supplements Recommendation Summary

Below is a summary of the bodybuilding supplements you should be taking throughout the Holiday season:

Good Supplements To Take Prior To A Cheat Meal Period

200 mcg Chromium Picolinate
300 mg Alpha Lipoic Acid
Nitric Oxide Booster/Creatine Product Such As Labrada’s Labrada ReCharge
Digestive Enzymes
Essential Fats such as Flax or Fish Oils
Thermogenic/Appetite Suppressing Supplement like Labrada Charge Ephedra Free

Additional Basic Supplements

Comprehensive Multiple Vitamins and Mineral Formula (should go without saying)
Meal Replacement Packets or Protein Supplements to be used whenever not able to consume a real meal.
1 gram of vitamin C at Meals 1, 3 and 5. Extra vitamin C not only may help lower cortisol levels but also keeps immunity high during this period where most people catch colds.

Holiday Bodybuilding Dieting For Non-Cheat Days

Please take a look at the diet below so that you have an idea of what your bodybuilding diet during your “non-cheat days” should consist of:

Sample Bodybuilding Diet For Men

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
Meal replacement packet like Labrada’s Lean Body mixed with water or a protein powder (with around 40 grams of protein) mixed with 40 grams of carbs from cream of rice, grits, or oatmeal.

1 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil (Spectrum brand is best) or Fish Oils (Carlson Brand is Best)

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Same as Meal 2 but without flaxseed oil.

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)
2 scoops of slow released proteins like Pro V60 and 1 tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil or Fish Oils

Sample Bodybuilding Diet For Women

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1/2 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1/2 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
Meal replacement packet like Labrada’s Lean Body for Her mixed with water or a protein powder (with around 25-30 grams of protein) mixed with 25-30 grams of carbs from cream of rice, grits, or oatmeal.
1/2 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil (Spectrum Brand is Best) or Fish Oils (Carlson Brand Is Best)

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Same as Meal 2 but no flaxseed oil.

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)
1 scoop of slow released proteins like Pro V60 and 1/2 tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil or Fish Oils

Conclusion

Try out the tips and workout above, and provided that you follow a good diet along with it just limiting yourself to cheat meals on Christmas day and New Years Eve, you should avoid the catastrophic effects that the holidays leave behind in moat people. As a matter of fact, you should look better!

Best of Health and Happy Holidays!

Take care and train hard!

hugo_sign

 

 

 

About the Author

hugoHugo Rivera is an International best selling fitness author certified in personal training and nutrition with a computer engineering degree from the University of South Florida. Hugo is owner of www.hugorivera.net, an informational, free fitness and nutrition website. He is author of over 10 fitness books (with over a million copies sold) including his best sellers: Body Re-Engineering, The Body Sculpting Bible for Men, The Body Sculpting Bible for Women, the Weight Training Diary, and the Hardgainers Handbook of Bodybuilding. Today via his website HugoRivera.net, numerous articles, book publications, TV and radio appearances Hugo continues to educate the public on how to achieve the body of their dreams via the use of weight training exercise, good nutrition and correct supplementation. You can follow Hugo via:

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/hugoriverafitness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hugorivera.net
Google Plus: www.google.com/+HugoriveraNetnaturalbodybuilding
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hrfit
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hugoriverafitness
BodySpace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/hrfit/

plateaus

The biggest problem that bodybuilders encounter is that while at first the gains of muscle mass come rather quickly, soon after they hit a plateau (a point where gains cease to come by). Sometimes it seems that no matter how hard they workout at the gym, the muscle mass just seems to remain the same. As a result, this causes frustration and leads most people to either give up, buy a whole bunch of supplements or even use anabolic steroids.

The good news is that this is the very reason I decided to write this report. I want to share with you a secret that I have found after years of trial and error of different training and nutrition strategies.

I have found that there is a way that you can accelerate your muscle mass gains and fat loss dramatically and prevent it from reaching the dreaded plateau. By applying this principle you will be able to fulfill your genetic potential as quickly as humanly possible.

Not only will bodybuilders double their results from each workout (and cut their supplement bill and training time dramatically), but they’ll also get to greatly accelerate results in terms of massive muscle gains, strength and fat loss.

But first a little bit about myself.

How I Got Started

My formal education background believe it or not is in Computer Engineering. I graduated from the University of South Florida back in 1998. So the question is: how did I end up from engineering to being a competitive bodybuilder and best selling fitness author?

Well, I actually used to be very overweight as I was growing up so at an early age I experienced the feelings of insecurity that come along with obesity as well as the scorn and ridicule from some people. Since I kept hearing that the reason for my weight problems was food and that I had to stop eating, I took the advice to heart being sick and tired of how I looked and felt.

So this resulted in me going anorexic at the age of 13 and losing a total of 70 pounds in less than a year. My family, very concerned about my health, took me to a nutritionist in an effort to put some sense in me and stop the anorexic cycle.

This nutritionist mentioned one thing that changed my outlook on dieting forever: “Eating food will not make you fat; only the abuse of the wrong sort of foods will.” After listening to that statement, it all seemed to make sense. I then began following the diet she gave me and started to study the effects of foods on the human physiology.

By the age of fifteen a girl that I really liked back then told me that I would look better if I had some muscle on me. She said that though I looked good, I was too skinny. Keep in mind that anorexia left me weighing a bit less than 100-lbs.

So I asked my mom to get me a muscle magazine, the May 1990 Muscle & Fitness (which I still have to this day) so that I could educate myself on the subject. After I saw an article called: “How To Get BIG” written by the one and only, Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was hooked! To me, Arnold just looked perfect so I chose him as the role model to follow. I also got inspired by the physiques of Lee Labrada, Shawn Ray, and Francis Benfatto who were competing extremely successfully back then. To me, all of these guys exemplified perfection, real works of art. They all ate 6 times a day and trained hard day in and day out.

So I simply started with following the training program and diet laid out by Arnold on his article. As I was so underweight and skinny at the time, even with Arnold’s training, which was pretty much overtraining, I still gained 40lbs during the summer. A proper six meal a day diet and regular training with me being very underweight really pushed on the muscle mass even if I did gain a little fat as well, but it was amazing to me and all my friends thought I was on steroids! Yet, I did not even have a clue of what steroids where at that time!

Come to think of it, I guess that I was on steroids due to the fact that I was a teenager back then producing tons of hormones (yes guys, if you are teenagers then you are on the most powerful stack of anabolic steroids; the one produced by your own body)! This, in conjunction with the fact that once I started to feed myself 6 times eating around 3,500-4,000 calories a day, made me grow beyond belief on a daily basis and I guess this is what got me really hooked and led me to become an avid natural bodybuilder.

After, gaining all that mass, I reached a plateau unfortunately; a sticking point I could not get past. As much as I loved Arnold I realized a natural bodybuilder like me could not keep up with the routines of professional bodybuilders who were taking drugs and so I took to reading countless books in my quest to find a perfect system.

The frustrating problem was that I started getting exposed to absolutely contradicting theories on how to best gain muscle and lose fat. Upset at the fact that no one could give me a straight answer I decided to take matters in my own hand and use myself as well as my training partner as guinea pigs in order to find out what worked. This was the first time I really knew that I was going to create my own system as I was going to test everything on myself, my training partner and friends in order to find out what worked and what didn’t so that I could then throw out the bad and keep the good.

I started my quest by recording everything I did down to the last detail. I’m quite analytical as a person, which is I guess why I became an engineer years later, but even early It showed as I read every book and article everywhere I could get my hands on. I was like a sponge for information, reading stuff from trainers from all over the world. I started to put together training routines and diet programs, and while some failed miserably some worked!

For instance, I will never forget what happened when I went from training 2-3 hours a day to training for 45 minutes. I went through a growth spurt again! So through endless training routines and diet combinations I started to really understand what worked and what didn’t for me and my training partners. I started finding principles and patterns of training that seemed to work on everyone I tried them on. Above all, the most exciting part of my discoveries was the fact that there was no necessity to stay all day at the gym in order to get results! Because I felt that not many people in the industry cared about trainees actually reaching their goals, I decided to create a web site and start conducting personal training during my college years in an effort to spread all of the knowledge that I had acquired.

Once I had dialed in the timing, frequency and the important details of training and nutrition cycling, that is when I created training routines that eliminated plateaus. It was at this point that I became passionate about sharing my knowledge with people as I fully understood I could help to double everyone’s results at the gym in half the time if they would employ my training and nutrition cycling principles.

Because I needed to put together a website in order to graduate from Engineering school (that was my Senior Project) that is how I started to post my first few fitness articles, and not much later became a best selling fitness author. Notice that it took me from the time I was 14 years old to after I graduated from college to learn all the secrets to muscle building and fat loss on my own. However, with this article, I am confident that I can save anyone from all the troubles that I went through.

Plateaus Don’t Need to Happen!

How many times have you heard that plateaus are inevitable? Well, it’s time to say goodbye to plateaus forever!

Typically, the people that make this statement are people who have been on the same routine for months to an end (or even years).

The thing to understand when it comes to plateaus is that they happen when:

1) Your training is not stimulating muscle growth because your body is absolutely used to it (thus, there is no stimulus to grow).

2) Your nutrition is off: meaning that you are not eating 5-6 times a day, and you are not consuming the amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats that your body requires in order to make great gains.

The key thing to understand is that the body is a living organism that will always adapt to any stress that you put it through. Thus, when people start to train, they make great gains at first since the body is not used at all to the stress of weight training. As a result, rapid changes in the body occur. However, as time goes by, the gains slow down and unless you do something about it, progress will come to a sudden stop.

I went through many frustrating years of this until I found out that if you change routines around, you make more gains. However, it was only when I found out that if you periodize your program in a logical manner (by alternating between periods of high volume/ high reps/ fast paced training with periods of lower volume/heavier weight/slower training) that makes use of the body’s own adaptation mechanisms you will make incredible “steroid like” gains.

In order for the body to respond optimally, it cannot be trained in the same manner all the time. The best way to make the body respond is through the correct variation of exercises, volume (number of sets times number of reps), intensity (how heavy the weight is), and rest periods between sets.

Workout parameters are going to be determined by the phase of the program you are in. There are going to be three phases that we will be repeating over and over again. The first week will be an “Active Recovery Phase”. In this phase you will only train with weights twice a week on a full body routine before you start the next phase which will be called the “Loading Phase”. The “Loading Phase”, which is three weeks in duration, is going to be a high volume phase with short rest between sets. Training volume gradually increases over the course of the three weeks in order to stress the body almost to the point of overtraining.

Then the next three weeks are going to be a higher intensity/lower volume phase (heavier weights) with longer periods of rest between sets. This phase is called the “Growth Phase”, as volume is reduced but weights are increased in order to let the body catch up and super compensate (grow muscle size and strength).

Here is a sample 21 Day Routine that you can use to get you started on your road to making some serious gains:

21-day-program

Download Your 21-Day Bodybuilding Program for FREE << Click to Download (You also get my FREE Top Supplements That Work Guide)

Now, as you get even more advanced, you can manipulate even more variables, such as the speed at which you perform the repetitions, the training splits used and you can also use advanced techniques such as drop sets, partial reps, forced repetitions, and even varying the speed in which you perform your repetitions in order to keep stimulating muscle gains.

Again, the trick is to always follow a program that takes your body to the brink of overtraining and then backs off a bit in order to allow your body to catch up, recover and grow at an accelerated rate. Of course, in order to make great gains your nutrition has to be top notch. Training without the right nutrition will not provide you the results you are looking for since you will be stimulating muscle growth BUT you will not have the raw materials to build it. It is no different than having tons of contractors ready to build a skyscraper but there is no cement for them to use. So because of that, you need to fuel yourself correctly.

Diet Is As Important As Training!

Nutrition is what gives us the raw materials for recuperation, energy, and growth. Without a good diet, your dreams of achieving your ideal body will never be reached. I cannot even begin to tell you how many trainees sabotage great gym efforts by not following the proper nutrition plan.

In order to gain solid muscle you need to be eating 5-6 small meals a day (at least a breakfast, a lunch and a dinner with protein shakes in between). You also need to take in
1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean bodyweight. Protein is what gives you the raw materials for building the tissues in the body (including muscle of course).

In terms of good fats, you need around 1-2 teaspoons of fish oils and/or flax seed oil three times a day (1 for ladies and 2 for guys). To be honest, I take as much as 1 tablespoon of Carlson fish oils 3x/day. You can also have a serving of nuts (if you are not allergic to them) or 1-2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil as well. The fact is that in order to gain muscle and lose fat properly you NEED good fats. Good fats provide you with the essential fatty acids that the body needs for brain function, energy production, joint tissue health, and hormonal production! If you eliminate fats from your diet completely, your muscle mass gains and fat loss will greatly suffer! So will brain function! Thus, you need good fats and these will make an incredible change in your health and appearance!

In terms of carbs, you do need good complex carbs for energy production. Slower metabolisms (on the average) can do 0.8-1 gram of carbs per lean body weight for 5 days
and 1.5 grams for 2 days. Hardgainers may need as much as 1.5-2 grams for 5 days and as much as 3 grams for 2 days.

(NOTE: For good sample diets check out the ones at the end of this article below.)

Sample Diets

Usually people associate the word diet with days of starvation and pain. However that is not the correct definition of a diet. The word diet refers to the food choices that we make on a daily basis. Even if you don’t think you that you are on a diet, guess what?! You already are following a diet. Whether you eat candy all day everyday, or oatmeal, that is your diet.

You Don’t Have to Starve When You Diet

A good bodybuilding diet needs to follow 3 rules:

1. It should favor smaller and frequent feedings throughout the day instead of smaller ones.

2. Every meal should have carbohydrates, protein and fat in the correct ratios: 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20 % good fats.

3. The calories should be cycled to prevent the metabolism from getting used to a certain caloric level.

While my article on Bodybuilding Nutrition Basics further elaborates on the reasons why the rules above need to be followed, in addition to a discussion on carbohydrates, proteins and fats, I’ll move now to present you with two examples of good bodybuilding diets.

Sample Bodybuilding Diet For Men

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
Meal replacement packet mixed with water or a protein powder (with around 40 grams of protein) mixed with 40 grams of carbs from cream of rice, grits, or oatmeal.

1 Tablespoon of Fish Oils (Carlson Fish Oil brand is best)

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Recommended Basic Bodybuilding Supplements For Men

(Essential to take)

Definitely make sure that you cover at least the basics of supplementation which are a Multiple Vitamin and Mineral formula, 3 grams of Vitamin C split in 3 equal servings throughout the day, 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate, and essential fatty acids coming from either fish oils, flaxseed oil or extra virgin olive oil. Also, for convenience purposes a good meal replacement or protein powder is a great way to add valuable calories and nutrients to your diet.

Performance Enhancing Supplementation

(Recommended for hard training bodybuilders who want to get the most out of their program}

In addition to those basic supplements, I would also recommend Creatine and Glutamine as these two supplements offer many of the same properties as anabolic steroids (such as increased recovery, increased strength, increased glycogen levels, enhanced immune system and higher nitrogen synthesis) without the side effects as they are not hormones.

Download Your Top Supplements Guide for FREE << Click to Download (If you already downloaded the 21-day program above, you will also get this document as well)

Sample Bodybuilding Diet For Women

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1/2 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1/2 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
1/2 Meal replacement packet mixed with water or a protein powder (with around 20 grams of protein) mixed with 20 grams of carbs from cream of rice, grits, or oatmeal.
1/2 Tablespoon of Fish Oils (Carlson Fish Oil brand is best)

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)
Same as Meal 2

Recommended Basic Bodybuilding Supplements For Women

(Essential to take)

Definitely make sure that you cover at least the basics of supplementation which are a Multiple Vitamin and Mineral formula, 3 grams of Vitamin C split in 3 equal servings throughout the day, 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate, and essential fatty acids coming from either fish oils, flaxseed oil or extra virgin olive oil. Also, for convenience purposes a good meal replacement or protein powder is a great way to add valuable calories and nutrients to your diet.

Performance Enhancing Supplementation

(Recommended for hard training bodybuilders who want to get the most out of their program}

In addition to those basic supplements, I would also recommend Creatine and Glutamine as these two supplements offer many of the same properties as anabolic steroids (such as increased recovery, increased strength, increased glycogen levels, enhanced immune system and higher nitrogen synthesis) without the side effects as they are not hormones.

Download Your Top Supplements Guide for FREE << Click to Download (If you already downloaded the 21-day program above, you will also get this document as well)

Final Notes On Nutrition

You can experiment with various foods and also even substitute the protein shakes for real meals as well (though for most of you, protein shakes and meal replacements are more convenient). After 5 weeks of following this diet program, start adjusting your calories and cycling them as described in my Bodybuilding Nutrition Basics article.

Conclusion

Now you have a few tricks up your sleeve in order to add some pounds of solid muscle to your frame. Implement them and start to grow!!

Take care and train hard!

hugo_sign

 

 

 

About the Author

hugoHugo Rivera is an International best selling fitness author certified in personal training and nutrition with a computer engineering degree from the University of South Florida. Hugo is owner of www.hugorivera.net, an informational, free fitness and nutrition website. He is author of over 10 fitness books (with over a million copies sold) including his best sellers: Body Re-Engineering, The Body Sculpting Bible for Men, The Body Sculpting Bible for Women, the Weight Training Diary, and the Hardgainers Handbook of Bodybuilding. Today via his website HugoRivera.net, numerous articles, book publications, TV and radio appearances Hugo continues to educate the public on how to achieve the body of their dreams via the use of weight training exercise, good nutrition and correct supplementation. You can follow Hugo via:

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/hugoriverafitness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hugorivera.net
Google Plus: www.google.com/+HugoriveraNetnaturalbodybuilding
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hrfit
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hugoriverafitness
BodySpace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/hrfit/

In case you did not know about this, check out my YouTube show with Rodzilla (see playlist below) where we answer tons of frequently asked bodybuilding & fitness questions about training, nutrition, supplementation, rest/recovery, mindset and goal setting. Whether you are a man or a woman or your goals are to gain muscle or lose fat, this is the show for you. In addition, we also show some of our home workouts as well! Let us know what you think and feel free to comment below and submit your own questions!

 

rodzilla-hugo

This is what happens when you get too big. You stop to fit on a normal couch..LOL!

Powered by www.labrada-nutrition.com.

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Also be sure to check out our full workout routines below which you can get for as little as a $1.

(Over 1 million people worldwide have used these principles and routines with great success!)

Until next time, take care and train hard!

hugo_sign

 

 

 

bre-marketing

In today’s natural bodybuilding video blog, Rodzilla and I cover what gets us motivated to stay on our bodybuilding and fitness programs. What motivates you?

youtube-subscribe

most-muscular-1Based on the amount of emails that I have been getting,
I can see that there is a huge amount of confusion regarding
the amount of carbs to consume in order to grow.

Thus, today I will be sharing an article from Ben regarding
how many carbs you need to grow in order to gain lean
muscle while burning fat.

Pay attention as this strategy is an incredible one…

The Truth About How Many Carbs You Need to Grow
by IFBB Pro Ben Pakulski

What you do now affects your body down the road. If you cram yourself full of carbohydrates on a daily basis, regardless of type of carb (even low GI carbs), your body must process these carbs and your insulin sensitivity will be decreased. Over time, insulin resistance (the inability to use carbohydrates) is inevitable for 98% of the population. Your cells just won’t work as well as when you were younger and it has little to do with “age.” It has to do with the level of abuse you have put on your pancreas and the cells of your body
with high sugar foods and massive carbohydrate consumption.

Emulating your favorite IFBB pros’ carb intake is not always an
advisable approach. Pro athletes alike are typically not only
gifted physically, but also in their ability to utilize
carbohydrates.

Yes, carbs are absolutely necessary for growth and optimal
performance.

Yes, massive amounts of carbs in the short term will make you grow
at faster rate than lower carb protocols, but this growth rate will
be short lived.

Eventually, fat will start to accumulate as cells will start to
become resistant to insulin and growth will slow down dramatically.
The unfortunate part is that sometimes you may never be able to
gain that same sensitivity back again.

Typically, once your cells stop functioning optimally or loses the
ability to efficiently utilize insulin, your pancreas is forced
into overdrive and pumps out more insulin in response to elevated
blood glucose (if your cells are resistant to insulin, your blood
glucose remains elevated because the cells wont “accept” the
glucose). Your cells simply won’t take up anymore glucose, so you
store it as fat.

Depending on the level of insulin resistance, it may take a very
long time to regain sensitivity again.

I wont be so bold to say you may never gain it back, because all of
you reading this are obviously intelligent, active, and
hard-working people. Diabetics aside, with hard work and
intelligent nutrition you can absolutely regain insulin
sensitivity. It just may take a really long time, and typically
only last as long as you maintain the strict regiment of exercise
and low/moderate carb that you used to gain it back.

So, what do I do about it?:

Exercise is a great way to improve insulin sensitivity in the short
term, but cramming a bunch of simple sugars into yourself post
workout and out the window goes insulin sensitivity again. (This
is why taking in whey protein or BCAAs without
carbs has become so popular).

Now, of course, the amount of carbohydrate that is necessary to
cause insulin resistance is completely variable from person to
person. For some people it may be 20g at a time while others may
need 100-120grams. Some may take 1 year while others 10 years. A
lot of that is genetically correlated, or dependent on your youth
(blame your parents).

An extended period of low carbohydrate intake is also a great way
to improve insulin sensitivity. Anywhere from 4hrs to 3 days on low
carb has been utilized by intelligent people with great results.
WARNING: Any longer than that and you could be looking at some
metabolic shutdown.

Carbohydrate cycling, or varying your intake from day to day, has
become an effective method for fat loss because it allows people to
optimize carb sensitivity and maximize carb uptake and utilzation,
all while seeing minimal metabolic shutdown(metabolic damage).

A common example of carb cycling is: two low carb days, followed by
one high carb day.

By the way, just as a friendly reminder, this coming Tuesday
I will be re-opening my Hypertrophy Max System, which is a
full year worth of muscle building workouts and coaching!
And for those of you who sign up via Hugo’s Newsletter you
will also get tons of valuable bonuses. Be sure to not miss
out as I will be taking new members from Tuesday to Friday only.

[Hugo Note : be sure to check out my review of H-MAX here:
H-Max Review and Bonuses for You]

BPak
—————-END OF ARTICLE—————-

Take care and train hard!

As promised yesterday here is another great article from
my friend and mad scientist Nick Nilsson. Got great feedback
from many of you who went ahead and started to implement
Nick’s crazy non stop technique for incinerating fat! Today,
I want to share with you a technique that Nick has which
is great not only for fat burning but for muscle building as
well! This technique will make you get way more results
in just 1 set!

 

While normal sets only work a select type and number
of muscle fibers, Nick’s Triple Add Set technique can
work EVERY muscle fiber you’ve got in a SINGLE SET!

[Read more…]

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