It’s tasty and couldn’t be easier! Seriously, it kinda tastes like french toast .

Ever heard of halloumi cheese? I hadn’t until last week.

I saw a pic for a cheese recipe that looked just like the one at the top of this article. I thought, “Ok, I see the chicken, but where’s this halloumi cheese?”.

Turns out that’s not chicken, it’s the cheese! I had to try it out.

So I head to Tesco and pick up a packet, looks like the one below (although I didn’t buy the ‘light’ version).

When I got home I ripped open the packet and saw the following….

Hmm, didn’t look too appetizing!

Anyway, I cut some slices and got my frying pan warmed up. I then threw on the slices and was surprised when the cheese didn’t melt all over the place; it just turned a little crispy.

So I flipped them over and crisped the other side too.

The taste? Really good!

I experimented with a sprinkling of chopped chillies placed on top before frying. This was delicious BUT really burned the mouth off me - NEVER AGAIN!

Anyway, here’s the nutritional breakdown of halloumi…

A perfect M.A.N.S. snack. It’s also a great Total Six Pack Abs snack for the carb-controlled portion of the diet. High-carbers can purchase the lighter version to get the benefits of this tasty high-protein snack.

This will only take a couple of minutes to make so there’s no excuses guys!

Your Buddy,

Mark

I mean, is there one rule that can sum it all up?
1 word?
1 phrase?
1 sentence?

This 1 principle should contain all others and should be simple enough to be understood by ANYONE that wants to real deal on how to build muscle.

Before we really get into this, let’s look at WHY the body builds muscle in the first place.

Did you realize that building muscle is a DEFENSE mechanism that the body employs?

If the proper stimulation is not given, the body WILL NOT build any new muscle. Basically, your body needs to be brought to its 100% maximum strength limit which prompts it to ‘think’….

“Hey I better protect myself from more of these brutal onslaughts. In order for this same intensity of exercise to feel easier next time, I’ll synthesize more muscle tissue.”

However, next time (if you’re smart and read MuscleHack.com ) you don’t lift the same weights or complete the same amount of reps; you INCREASE the intensity and once again push the body to it’s MAXIMUM, and now higher, strength limit.

By this time the body is wondering what the hell is going on and once again builds more mass to cope better with your intense workouts.

Repeat this cycle over and over and you have the simple logic of building muscle mass. You’d think it would be obvious to most gym-goers, but surprisingly it’s not.

Now, if your answer to my question in the second sentence of this article was ‘Progressive Overload‘, your answer was incomplete.

Yes, you absolutely MUST increase weight and/or reps over time to continuously build muscle. Simply put, you NEED to get stronger to get bigger. A good muscle building program is, in essence, a strength training program.

HOWEVER, strength gains are a means to an end for us Muscle Hackers, NOT the end itself.

But progressive overload doesn’t describe it all…

What about intensity? Should we train to failure?
Should we reach failure on the 2nd, 10th, 20th, 100th rep?

What we need is a concept that sums up the following…

1. Get stronger by lifting progressively heavier weights
2. Train to failure to ensure 100% maximum intensity
3. Reach failure at progressively heavier weights to force the body into ongoing adaptation
4. Work in a rep range that activates the ANAEROBIC pathways, NOT the aerobic ones

After a few hours lying in my back yard catching some rays and mulling this over, I got it!

Here it is. Drum roll please…

The principle of Progressively Maximizing Anaerobic Intensity

In a nutshell, the above principle states that in order to maximize muscle growth you have to force the body to grow/adapt by pushing it to ever-increasing strength limits by working with 100% intensity of effort in an anabolic rep range. Phew!!!

This one phrase encompasses all the following…

1. You must get stronger to get bigger
2. Your effort must be maximal AND ever-increasing i.e. working to failure at higher and higher weights
3. You must stimulate muscle GROWTH above all else i.e. reps should not be too low where strength gains take precedence, and reps cannot be too high which is essentially an aerobic workout

If you memorize this concept you’ll NEVER go far wrong my friends. No gym rat or muscle rag will ever lead you astray again.

P.M.A.I. - Please pass on this concept to any beginners you know or anyone that you know who’s doing it all wrong.

Your Buddy,

Mark

I love it even more when there are pics attached!

Earlier today I received an email from Jason Glover, a guy in Jersey. Jason is an ectomorph or ‘hardgainer‘ as some people call it.

Yes, some people do find it harder to build muscle BUT always remember that we can ALL GROW. There is no-one on this planet who cannot add pounds of muscle to their frame.

Train and eat correctly and you’ll grow. Don’t start getting upset because somebody, somewhere in the world is growing faster than you. You are GROWING, and you are doing it CONSISTENTLY - that’s all that matters.

If you really knew how many people are training year in year out without gaining a single pound of muscle, you’d count yourself lucky. These unfortunate souls keep training in the same (terribly ineffective) manner and expecting a different result - hey wasn’t that someone’s definition of insanity??

First, the BEFORE pics…

Now, the AFTER pics…

Jason said…

“The ‘before’ pics were taken a year ago but I only started training 5 months ago - the ‘after’ pics were taken last night.

I’m living proof of an ectomorph that threw away all the other garbage and just took what you had to offer and applied it.

5 months ago I started off at 69kg and in that 5 months my weight has increased by about 6-7kg; I’m now 76kg [7kg = 15.4 lbs].

I’ve never taken fat measurements as I’ve never had any, I’ve always just been skin and bone.

Maybe you can judge the fat situation by looking at the pics; as far as I’m concerned its all muscle size and maybe a bit of water from the creatine.

Thanks bud, lets keep growing!!”

It’s always gratifying to hear such messages. Thanks Jason, I’ll add your message to the testimonials page. By the way, if anything, I think you may have lost a little fat in the process of adding those pounds of lean beef to your body.

I hope this has been inspirational, especially to the naturally-thin types. Always remember: no matter what your current level of developement - EVERYONE can grow!

Train Intelligently!

Mark

For me it’s shoulders and upper chest.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m VERY happy with my pecs overall. However, I would like to develop the upper portion a little more to enhance the separating line in the middle of the chest.

Now, obviously we all know that the incline bench press is a great way to go about developing the upper chest. However, I wanted to know if there was a faster, more direct way to hit the upper chest with enough intensity to stimulate faster growth

There are 2 REALLY fantastic ways of building up your upper chest…

1. Partial incline close-grip bench press
2. Incline dumbbell bench press (dumbbells touching at the top)

You’ve probably heard of number 2 so let’s focus on no.1 - Partial Incline close-grip bench press.

You might be thinking, “Close grip bench press - that’s for the triceps”. You’d be right, but when you perform a PARTIAL movement it is most definitely a chest exercise.

If you’re skeptical about this hitting your upper chest, that’s fine, I was too. I could hardly believe how much direct stimulation these gave the upper portion of my pecs!

A quick note on the incline dumbbell bench press. Pushing the dumbbells straight up will NOT be as effective as having them meet (and touch) at the top of the rep.

Specifically, it’s the top of my RIGHT pec that I am unhappy with. What I am doing with this exercise is raising my left arm straight up and bringing my right arm over to meet it at the left side. This maximizes the intensity I can place on my right pec in particular.

At the top of the rep, the shape resembles the top of a right-angle triangle [does that create the right image for you? Can you visualize the form? If not, let me know and I'll clarify in the comments below].

I’m very confident that I can now fill out my upper chest to match the bottom half (I’m more than happy with THAT part ).

If you are unsatisfied with your upper chest development, you MUST start to factor in one of these exercises into your chest workout.

Train Intelligently!

Mark

image credit: imdge1

Faaarrrrrr too many aspiring bodybuilders hop on the scales once a week (if not more!) desperately hoping to see a weight increase, thinking this is a good indicator of muscle growth.

This is a mistake. I know because it’s one that I used to make, REPEATEDLY!

You probably all know my story…

• Skinny guy turns skinny-fat (big gut)
• Skinny-fat guy wants to lose the gut and ends up very skinny again through low calorie dieting and insane cardio
• Repeat this cycle over and over for a few years….and then….
• Skinny-fat guy finally learns how to build muscle WITHOUT accumulating fat AND how to blast fat WITHOUT losing muscle – at last!

Folks, it was jumping on those scales every week that largely contributed to developing a big gut. Let me explain…

See, as a skinny bloke I REALLY wanted to build muscle fast. I believed all those ‘I-just-regurgitate-everything-I’ve-been-told’ gym rats that told me, “You have to eat like crazy to build muscle!”.

Of course, I know now that you only have to eat SUFFICIENT calories in order to build the maximum amount of muscle possible for you. But, I was dumb back then…

I ate a LOT and lifted hard. I wanted to see about a 2lb increase on the scales every week – as if I was going to build 104lbs of lean muscle in a year! :0

So, I ate until I saw this type of increase. If I only gained 1 pound a week, I wasn’t happy.

The vast majority of this weight gain was fat. As I got fatter, I looked at my belly in disbelief! “How can this happen when I’m lifting so hard and often?” I thought.

The point is this…

How much do you think the scales are going to budge, even if you have a great week as far as workouts are concerned?

Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning with 1/4 inch added to both your arms. That’s a lot for one day! However, your scale weight would have increased by mere ounces, not pounds. It’s unbelievable to think that many natural bodybuilders would be UNhappy about this weight increase!

This is THE cause of the never-ending ‘bulking’ and ‘cutting’ cycles that people go through. ‘Bulking’ is meant to mean a phase of muscle gain; unfortunately for many people it’s simply about getting fatter! Then they’ve a LONG way to go when they want to get lean in the summer.

Stop this nonsense once and for all!

SUFFICIENT calories are needed to build muscle, not EXCESS calories. Work out how many you need and add muscle, NOT fat.

Yes I know you’re not a saint; you’ll endulge in at least some unhealthy food throughout the year. It will slowly accumulate and you’ll have a little bit of cutting to do before summertime. However, cutting from 13% body fat is a WORLD AWAY from cutting from 23%!

After all, imagine a ¼ pound beef pattie in your hand. Now imagine this spread out over your body as new muscle tissue. Now realize that accumulating this small amount of muscle EVERY week without cessation will result in a RADICAL change in your appearance.

Get 52 x 1/4 pound beef patties and throw them on top of your kichen table, now imagine this MOUNTAIN of beef glued onto your body as lean muscle tissue, no fat. Pretty MASSIVE change don’t you think?

Small increases in LEAN weight is what you should be pursuing. Before long these small, incremental changes will add up to a COMPLETELY transformed physique.

When bulking I recommend you take tape measurements of certain body parts along with a body fat reading every week or so. Take weight readings bi-weekly at most.

Patience my friend. Keep progressing, eat SUFFICIENTLY and you’ll reach your goal!

Train & Eat Intelligently!

Mark

Does science actually back this idea up?
Are there other alternatives to carbs? Let’s have a look.

There’s no doubt that the majority opinion is that carbohydrate is the superior fuel, especially with results from studies like the 1939 Danish endurance test [1], and the Second World War ‘Pemmican’ study [2].

But the one weakness of these types of studies is DURATION i.e. a couple of days to a week! This is hardly long enough to really assess the effect of low-carb/ketogenic diets on performance.

We know that a body that burns fat as its primary source of fuel requires different enzymes to function than a carbohydrate metabolism. Synthesizing the correct enzymes in sufficient quantities to become a fat-burner takes a little time. Only THEN can we truly access the effects of a low-carb diet on exercise performance.

Once adapted, exercise performance is as good as ever. The truth is that if you are working out for less than an hour (as we do with THT workouts), the body doesn’t rely much on stored carbohydrate (glycogen) for fuel, ketones can easily take care of it.

One 8-week, metabolic ward study by Dr. Stephen Phinney [3] tested the above hypothesis i.e. that there is no detrimental effect on exercise performance after fat adaptation has occured.

“Treadmill performance testing of these subjects included determinations of peak aerobic power (VO2max) after a 2-week weight maintenance baseline diet, and again after 6 weeks of the ketogenic weight loss diet. Endurance time to exhaustion was quantitated at 75% of the baseline VO2max.”

The endurance test was undertaken during…

1. baseline, maintenace diet
2. 1 week into the ketogenic diet
3. after 6 weeks on the ketogenic diet

Some interesting observations here. Yes, the subjects did see a decrease in endurance after 1 week on the ketogenic diet but lets see what happens after 6 weeks.

Endurance time on the keto diet was significantly INCREASED over the baseline value. Also, the oxygen/energy cost of the test was significantly DECREASED compared to baseline. According to conventional wisdom, that’s not supposed to happen!

Now, the subjects did lose weight, in fact, they lost an average of 22lbs! However, this was compensated for by making the subjects wear a backpack during training, which weighed the same as the weight they had lost.

An interesting point is that the keto diet employed in this study was quite low fat and low calorie! A higher fat content can MORE than cope with the demands of weight training AND intense cardio sessions like HIIT.

Secondly, as far as energy expenditure goes, weight training is not as costly as long cardio sessions. Short bursts of energy with longer break times in between for a total of 40-50 minutes can easily be supported by a ketogenic diet.

A second study [4] [5] was carried out by Phinney to correct for weight loss and possible fitness improvements of the subjects. Already highly-trained, competitive bicycle racers adapted a high-fat diet (83% of total calories) which was carefully designed to prevent weight loss.

While this study didn’t show actual improvements in performace in the keto group (as expected), it did corroborate the position that fat is AS GOOD an energy source as carbs for athletes.

Aside from the studies, there is also the information we have about inuit populations surviving off diets virtually free of carbohydrate. I thought the following from Dr. Phinney was an interesting historical note…

“One of the earliest documented demonstrations of physical stamina during a ketogenic diet was the Schwatka 1878–80 expedition in search of the lost Royal Navy Franklin expedition…The leader of this expedition, Lt. Frederick Schwatka, was a graduate of both West Point and Bellevue Hospital Medical College. His summary of the expedition was published as a news article in the New York Herald in the Fall of 1880…In one notation, Schwatka provides an interesting insight into his weaning from their initial supply of carbohydrate-containing food. ‘When first thrown wholly upon a diet of reindeer meat, it seems inadequate to properly nourish the system, and there is an apparent weakness and inability to perform severe exertive fatiguing journeys. But this soon passes away in the course of two or three weeks.’  ”

In summary, the point I’m making is that BOTH carbs and fats are good energy sources. Which one you use is simply up to you. I feel that for reasons of a boosted anabolic hormone profile AND the preservation of lean muscle mass, low-carb (or carbohydrate cycling to be more exact) is more advantageous for the bodybuilder.

Can someone run a marathon on ketones? I don’t know, nor do I care. I won’t be running one any time soon . If YOU are and you feel they help, eat them. I know from some online buddies that it certainly is possible for them to complete one while in ketosis. However, it would take a ward study to actually prove it.

I’m really not that interested. As long as I can lift the iron and perform my cardio come cutting time, I’m happy .

By the way, I’m not an anti-carb crusader. In fact, after my summer cut I will be employing my higher-carb GLAD diet for my next bulking cycle. This method stabilizes blood sugar and still allows enough fat to keep testosterone leves high.

references…

[1] Christensen EH, Hansen O: Zur Methodik der respiratorischen Quotient-Bestimmungen in Ruhe and bei Arbeit. Skand Arch Physiol 1939, 81:137-71.

[2] Kark R, Johnson R, Lewis J: Defects of pemmican as an emergency ration for infantry troops. War Medicine 1946, 8:345-52.

[3] Phinney SD, Horton ES, Sims EAH, Hanson J, Danforth E Jr, Lagrange BM: Capacity for moderate exercise in obese subjects after adaptation to a hypocaloric ketogenic diet. J Clin Invest 1980, 66:1152-61.

[4] Phinney SD, Bistrian BR, Wolfe RR, Blackburn GL: The human metabolic response to chronic ketosis without caloric restriction: physical and biochemical adaptation. Metabolism 1983, 32:757-68.

[5] Phinney SD, Bistrian BR, Evans WJ, Gervino E, Blackburn GL: The human metabolic response to chronic ketosis without caloric restriction: preservation of submaximal exercise capability with reduced carbohydrate oxidation. Metabolism 1983, 32:769-76.

[6] Stackpole EA, ed: The long arctic search: the narrative of lieutenant Frederick Schwatka. Mystic CT. The Marine Historical Society 1965.

Your Buddy,

Mark

#4 - Always THINK 1 Rep Ahead

#5 - The Pretense of 1 Set Only

#6 - There’s a Crowd Watching You!

#4 Thinking 1 Rep Ahead

You already know that I highly recommend keeping workout logs. The reason is that you NEED to know before every single set what your target rep number is in order to ensure progression.

So here’s what you do…

• Bring your logs with you to the gym
• Before EVERY set, look at how many reps you got for that set last week
• Add 1 (or 2) to this and start mentally repeating this number over and over again in your head before your next set
• The exception being that if you got 12 reps last time, you’ll want to increase the weight lifted rather than go for 13 reps

Just like I stated in ‘The Arnold Secret‘, what we’re doing is giving our subconscious instructions on what we want it to bring about. See yourself completing this extra rep in your mind’s eye while you rest between sets. Now step up to the bar and watch yourself succeed!

#5 The Pretense Of 1 Set Only

NEVER think about your whole workout; it can get overwhelming! Only focus on the set ahead.

What I actually do is trick myself into thinking that the next set is the ONLY set that I’ll be doing. This allows for much more energy and intensity on that set. When the set is over I forget about it and once again tell myself that I’m only there to perform 1 set - the NEXT ONE!

So, forget the past, forget the future. When in the gym, focus on the present moment ONLY!

#6 There’s A Crowd Watching You!

I’m not 100% sure why this helps but it works wonders for me. It’s probably my favorite hack and the one I employ most often. Here’s how it goes….

Vividly imagine a crowd watching you while you perform each set. There are 2 ways to implement this:

1. They’re cheering you on, encouraging you to complete your target reps
2. They DOUBT you! They doubt you’ll hit that extra rep - it’s your job as the underdog to PROVE THEM WRONG!

I use both. Whichever one feels more motivating at the time, that’s what I go with. Whether they are strangers or people you know is up to you. Remember guys, it’s YOUR mind. You have complete control over it.

Use your imagination in any way that empowers you. The body is the servant of the mind - take advantage of this fact right now!

Your Buddy,

Mark

Mind Hack #1 - The Mindset Of ‘1 More Rep’

Mind Hack #2 - Use Music For More Muscle & Strength!

Mind Hack #3 - The ARNOLD Secret!

I certainly visualize, and I know it’s something that Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended.

In fact, visualization is something that almost all successful people have in common, no matter what their particular field of expertise.

I’m a big believer in the idea that anything we can get our subconscious to believe as true, will come true i.e. that which we impress upon our own subjective minds as real and true, will sooner or later clothe itself as concrete, objective fact.

So, what did Arnold do?

Let’s hear from the man himself,

“I also used a lot of visualization in biceps training. In my mind I saw my biceps as mountains, enormously huge, and I pictured myself lifting tremendous amounts of weight with these superhuman masses of muscle.”

We know from research that imagining lights up the same parts of the brain that illumine when you’re actually working out. Visualization produces electrical and chemical changes that activate the muscles that are being mentally ‘worked’.

There are 2 ways to implement this; Inside the gym and outside the gym.

Just before and during a set, see in your MIND’S EYE the intended body part as bigger and stronger than it currently is. I mean really EXAGGERATE that body part, or imagine your idol’s biceps, legs etc. as being on YOUR body.

Arnold imagined that his muscles would fill the entire room! I’ve found that doing this produces a mental response of strength and certainty. From the beginning to the end of your set continue to see those MASSIVE, cartoon-like muscles lift that weight with relative ease.

Outside the gym take some time out of your day to sit and visualize your body as you want it. If you want massive pecs, see them with crystal clarity in your mind over and over again until this subjective picture takes on the tones of reality i.e. you begin to FEEL as though it were true in the present moment.

You may find it useful to mentally repeat some affirmations during this exercise. As you’re seeing your perfect body, cite some positive statements like:

“Man, I’m really HUGE now!”

“Look at the size of my [insert a body part]” - No, not THAT body part!

“It feels great having this body!”

It doesn’t matter what the statement is. YOU say whatever makes YOU feel as though it is a present reality. It may also help to imagine others complementing you on your new size or successful fat loss. What you’re doing here is giving your subconscious a BLUEPRINT for what you want it to bring about.

The subconscious differs from the conscious mind in that it does not differentiate between true and false statements. Whatever you mentally affirm often enough will eventually be accepted as fact by the subconscious. It then works day and night to bring it about by AUTOMATICALLY influencing your behavior and thought patterns.

I’ve written a couple of other articles in this vain, check them out:

The Most Unusual Way To Build Muscle - How visualization produces strength increases

How To Make A ‘Mind Movie’ For Your Dream Body - How to create a ‘movie’ that impresses the subconscious for automatic success!

Dream Big!

Mark

image credit: longanthony

Mind Hack #1 - The Mindset Of ‘1 More Rep’

Mind Hack #2 - Use Music For More Muscle & Strength!

Mind Hack #4, #5, #6 - Thinking 1 Rep Ahead | The 1-Set Only Mindset | There’s A Crowd Watching!

For years I’ve believed that listening to music IMPROVES workout performance. I always noticed how music, especially heavy/aggressive music, gave me an added BURST of energy and enthusiasm when lifting.

However, I’ve never actually looked for any scientific evidence for this belief; turns out there is data out there to back up this position, though not truly definitive.

So let’s have a look at some evidence suggesting that music helps you hammer out more successful workouts…

THE EVIDENCE

An Ohio State University study compared running with and without headphones. The headphone group reported that they felt less tired using a standard scientific measurement called ‘Rate of Perceived Exertion’. These people were also capable of running longer and with more intensity than the non-music group.

One added benefit recorded here is that the bodies of the ‘headphone runners’ released fewer stress-related hormones. Their perception of feeling less pain and stress was therefore backed up by their body chemistry.

This is obviously good news to us Muscle Hackers as want to avoid a catabolic environment and promote an ANABOLIC one as much as possible.

Emery, who conducted a similar study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing says…

“Music may help organize the stimulus activity in your body that comes from exercise….We think exercise fires up the neurotransmitters in the brain and your hormonal system. Music can organize the response to that stimulus.”

Now moving specifically to music’s effects on physical strength, there is again more evidence that up-tempo music will help boost your gym performance.

In the following study [Pearce, 1981], subjects (33 male and 16 female undergraduate students) were split into 3 groups to test the effects of music on grip strength:

(1) Stimulative music

(2) Sedative music

(3) No music

There was significantly decreased strength in the ’sedative music’ group compared to the ’stimulative music’ and ’silence’ groups. Strangely, no statistically significant difference was observed between the ’stimulative music’ and ‘no music’ groups.

From this we can see that the TYPE of music plays a HUGE role! ‘Opt for more stimulating music’ is the take-home message. The lack of significant difference between stimulative and no music is surprising to me as personal experience has taught me otherwise.

As far as FAT LOSS is concerned, an increased heart rate is desirable when performing cardio. Up tempo songs most definitely increase heart rate, probably due to the emotional response it can illicit.

CONCLUSION

Is it all just the placebo effect?

Some may suggest that it’s simply the BELIEF that music is going to improve your performance that causes you to act in accordance with that belief. It’s a good and valid point. The truth is no-one really knows.

There’s no doubt in my mind that music provides a welcome distraction for the mind from the pain of muscular stress during heavy workouts. Perhaps this is all there is to it.

In defense of the position that music does help, irrespective of whether or not you believe in it, I would say that no-one ever told me years ago to expect better workouts from having music blaring in my ears, but it really made a NOTICEABLE difference.

If you haven’t got some stimulating vibes on while you’re hitting the iron, I advise you to start today!

EXTRA TIP! Harder music usually works better, AND, use in-ear earphones for MAXIMUM effect.

Crank It Up!

Mark

Mind Hack #1 - The Mindset Of ‘1 More Rep’

Mind Hack #3 - The ARNOLD Secret!

Mind Hack #4, #5, #6 - Thinking 1 Rep Ahead | The 1-Set Only Mindset | There’s A Crowd Watching!

Mind Hacks Series - Mind Hacks For Brand New Muscle Gains’

…that will promote BETTER workout performance and help generate NEW muscle gains.

By ‘Mind Hack’ I simply mean some sort of psychological trick you play on yourself to help POWER you through incredible workouts.

So without further ado, here’s Tip #1

The Mindset of ‘1 More Rep’

You know by now that THT requires you to reach muscular failure in every set. However, you COULD be ‘failing’ before you should, thereby missing out on potential gains!

About a year ago while watching Jeff Willet’s training DVD’s (one of the best purchases I ever made), I noticed that on a lot of sets he seems to reach failure, then manages another rep! What’s going on here??

I noticed what he was doing was taking a longer break between the second last and last rep. This very short break allowed FULL completion of another rep.

Here’s an example….

• You’re performing Barbell Bicep Curls.
• You’re raising the bar up and down without any pauses
• You’re on ‘Rep 9’ and you just KNOW it’s your last
• When you complete the negative part of the rep, you let the bar ‘hang’ and take the tension off your arms
• Take a deep breath (1-2 seconds only)
• You lift again and complete an ‘EXTRA’ rep!

Now, after watching Jeff, I experimented with this myself and would estimate that I can complete another rep about 30% of the time (depending on the exercise). That’s huge in terms of gains!

If a supplement could do this, the majority of the bodybuilding world would buy it! However, you can have it FREE with proper use of your own mind!

This may seem more like a physical hack than a mind one but trust me, it takes the mental BELIEF that you CAN squeeze out another rep in order to do it. Let’s face it, at the end of a set you just want to drop that bar and rest.

You need this ‘CAN DO’ attitude of mind to get you through it.

Please note: You don’t want to rest too long; this rep has to be part of the same set – a 1-2 second pause MAX works well here.

I actually find it useful to mentally say, “One More Rep!” during this slight pause. I can see and feel myself completing that rep - try this out yourself.

Now just allow maximum recuperation as per the THT guidelines and do it again next set too.

CAUTION: If you work out alone you may want to skip this tip for squats and bench press. Better safe than….eh….dead, right?

Tomorrow’s Tip: Music - Does Science Actually PROVE That Music Will Help You Get More Reps??

‘Til Next Time Hackers….

Your Buddy

Mark

Mind Hack #2 - Use Music For More Muscle & Strength!

Mind Hack #3 - The ARNOLD Secret!

Mind Hack #4, #5, #6 - Thinking 1 Rep Ahead | The 1-Set Only Mindset | There’s A Crowd Watching!