Here’s some highly motivational feedback I’ve received recently from MuscleHack readers.

I know you’re skeptical about every testimonial I post on this site. You’ve every right to be, most bodybuilding and fat loss testimonials on the web are utter horse ****.

In the feedback below, I’ve given the person’s name and location if they gave me permission to do so. I’ve also linked to the relevant blog comment or Facebook profile if applicable.

Body Fat Drop On MANS

John Currie in the comments section here

“Hi Mark. Been doing MANS for 3 weeks now. I’m 43 years old and at 6′ 3″ was weighing in at 228 with 26% body fat. Now a mere 21 days later I’m down to 215 and 22.5% body fat. MANS truly is amazing and I feel great. After a diet consisting of crisps and beer I’d gotten totally out of shape but your plan is my saviour. My wife even remarked yesterday that she could see my ABS. After 3 weeks! I can’t wait to see what I look like after 3 months!  Thanks again.”

185lbs to 235lbs On The Bench Press!

James Philips Via Facebook

“REALLY like the new volume cycle THT… The weekly split is genius… PERFECT recovery setup. Wanted to let you know I went from doing 185lbs for 8 reps on my flat bench press to 235lbs just recently for 9 reps on THT, in about 5 or 6 weeks. Everything else went up as well.”

Success For Ectomorphic Body Type

Almost 20% Body Fat Drop!

Scott via email (no permission for full name or location)

“Mark. I wanted to thank you anyway because I have made what I think is significant progress. I am down to about 12% body fat from somewhere near to 30%. For many years I struggled with my weight and fitness. Much of that had to
do with my need for a special type of diet and, to be honest, a lack of motivation. In 2009 I decided to do something about it and began researching exactly what I needed to do. I tried any number of diets, training programs and other miracle solutions without success. In early 2010 I came across your site, Muscle Hack. I haven’t looked back since. I have followed your diet and exercise regime and have reduced my body fat percentage by ~ 20%, my overall weight by 77 pounds, and I am fitter than I have ever been. I still have a way to go to achieve what I want but I now have the tools to achieve. Follow Mark’s plan because, put simply, if you do it correctly it will work. No ifs, buts or maybes. Mark McManus changed my life.”

Big D Cuts Through The B.S.

Darshan Weerasinghe. Colombo, Sri Lanka (Darshan on Facebook)

You all know Darshan from his powerful testimonial in regards to Total Six Pack Abs. He is still getting queries from potential buyers about the program’s effectiveness. I felt that this would get to be too much for him recently and asked if he wanted me to remove his email address from this site; he responded:

“Hi Mark. I average 2-3 queries a week mostly via Facebook. I get back to all of them as I too am committed to dispelling all the BS out there. The new TSPA is great. The 15 step guideline is great, makes the new TSPA more supportive, motivational and an intensely personal experience. Cheers. Darshan”

Thanks again, Big D!

I don’t know about you, but reading this kind of stuff makes me want to hit the gym!

If you have any pics or words you’d like to share with the readers here, please tell me below. Or, if you haven’t friended me on Facebook yet, please do so now.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. Does Everyone Need A Different Workout Program To Build Muscle?

Detractors of low-carb, or anyone who believes there’s more to it than Calories, often say quite firmly:

Calories are the  bottom line!

This is usually followed up with:

The laws of thermodynamics cannot be violated!

No kidding? Do they really think we’ve never heard of the laws of thermodynamics, or that we believe in magic or something?

So to them, everyone else is a quack. It’s not that they know something we don’t, it’s that they haven’t taken the time to actually learn what we’re saying.

In short, I agree with the statement that ‘Calories are king’. This was what Anthony Colpo has been saying for quite some time, and in my opinion, he done a lot of people a good service by saying it.

Some people were under the impression that so long as they ate low carb, they could eat as much as they wanted and still lose fat. In fact, some were/are under the misguided impression that you can low-carb your way to a six-pack, irrespective of Calories. I think Colpo puts that to bed in his book The Fat Loss Bible.

So if Calories are king when it comes to getting lean, why go on a carb-cycling diet? 2 reasons:

1. Preservation of muscle mass
2. Satiation

I cover body composition quite thoroughly in Total Six Pack Abs 2, presenting studies proving that you’ll keep more muscle mass on my diet. You’ll also limit, but not completely eradicate, hunger. So I’ll let the book deal with those issues, let’s focus on Calories for now.

Let’s say that you could clone yourself, and that both of you want to lose some weight. You lock yourselves into a metabolic ward and eat the exact same amount of Calories, but with differing macro nutrients, would you lose the same amount of weight? In my opinion, yes you would.

There may be something of a metabolic advantage for the low-carber, meaning that he loses a little more weight. However, it would be rather small and in fact, may not happen at all. Let’s assume that there is no metabolic advantage for the purpose of this article.

Again, the favorable changes in body composition are enough on their own to warrant taking lower-carb route. Aside from that, we aren’t clones and we don’t live in metabolic wards.

Imagine that you ate a diet that actually stimulated MORE hunger! Imagine the Calories that you ate weren’t reaching the cells to be metabolized as planned, but were shunted off to be stored as fat. You’d get hungry again pretty quickly because the body isn’t sensing that you are eating as much as you really are.

You’d feel that hunger signal again and want to eat. Let’s explain by way of an excellent video from Fat Head the movie.

Like Dr. Eades said, if the food doesn’t reach the cells, we starve at the cellular level. Yes you ate it, but you didn’t benefit from it because you stored it instead.

The cells then say, “Hey, where’s the food”, and the hunger signal kicks in and tells you to eat again prematurely. This is actually unnatural. You should be able to trust your hunger signal.

If it’s unnatural, what’s causing it?

Insulin. Insulin is a storage hormone.

How do we elevate our levels of insulin? Eat lots of carbs, especially refined carbs and sugars. Eating in such a way elevates your blood sugar, and since high blood sugar is toxic, insulin is released to mop it up. If you’re body is not in a hurry for sugar (eg. your glycogen stores are empty), you’ll end up wearing those carbs as fat.

So by eating in such a manner, you’re partitioning more of your Calories off to fat storage. Then you’re left with the dilemma of ignoring your hunger signal, or caving in and eating again. The average Joe will eat again. The average Joe will get fatter.

To make matters worse, eating this way for a number of years can also lead to insulin resistance. This means that your insulin levels have been so high for so long that your cells become resistant to its effects. The body’s response? Produce even more insulin.

So you get even fatter, and you severely increase your risk of becoming diabetic.

So ‘Calories In Calories Out’ holds true. But we need to look to the cellular level for the whole story. The TYPE of Calories coming in affects the ‘Calories Out’ side of the equation. This in turn affects the ‘Calories In’ side of the equation and on and on it goes.

If you want your body to AUTOREGULATE your appetite to normalcy, control your insulin. I am doing this with the GLAD diet for bulking, and I use Total Six Pack Abs for cutting because I want my body to freely release its fat stores…. AND release a lot of it!

As a side note, since we lifters frequently empty our glycogen “tanks”, we can get away with carb-ups, or a higher Glycemic Load than the sedentary guy.

I’ve seen the following time and time again, maybe you have too. A young guy starts lifting and eating pasta, potatoes, bread, and so on like it’s going out of fashion. After all, he needs 500 extra Calories a day to build muscle, right? (he doesn’t). And fat’s bad for you, right? (it isn’t). So this necessitates a very high carb diet.

He’s getting very hungry and is thrilled with this. He thinks his body is demanding all those Calories because he’s building muscle like a needle-using “pro”. However, his body is very much in storage mode – fat storage mode. All those Calories aren’t going towards building muscle; they’re building fat.

In a few months to a year’s time, he’s quite a bit fatter. While he has built a few pounds of muscle, he’s also built a couple stone of fat. 1 stone = 14 pounds.  When he gets sick of holding his gut in in public, he knows it’s time to cut. I just hope he doesn’t go to the same sources for his cut that he did for his bulk. D’oh!

So now you should understand that there is no violation of the laws of thermodynamics. However, it is still true that carbs can make you fat, and now you know why.

So when they say, “It’s all about energy balance, not any particular macronutrient”, you can say that you generally agree, but you’d like them to read this post for the rest of the story.

Eat Smart!

Mark

Related posts:

1. And The Winner Is…..Low Carb
2. What Drew Carey Can Teach You About Fat Loss!
3. Saturated Fat: Not Guilty As Charged!

Afraid of saturated fat?

Think it’s going to kill you?

The lipid hypothesis is wrong. Dead wrong.

In fact, not only is it wrong, but your gains as a bodybuilder are being hampered by eliminating foods containing saturated fat and cholesterol – more on this later.

Two recent developments have helped bolster the claim that saturated is harmless, and in fact, beneficial to your health.

Make no mistake about it, the old paradigm is dying. An untrue assertion simply cannot stand the test of time when the facts tell a different story.

Since this particular nonsense has been going since the 1950′s, I think it has overstayed its welcome by a few decades at least!

I talked about this briefly in the new Total Six Pack Abs book, but I want to blog about it for the benefit of all those who haven’t purchased the program as yet.

Low Carb & Low Fat Diets

To test the efficacy or both low-carb and low-fat in relation to heart-health markers, a 2-year study put 307 subjects on either one of the diets.

The low-carb group consumed “limited carbohydrate intake (20g per day for 3 months) in the form of low–glycemic index vegetables with unrestricted consumption of fat and protein. After 3 months, participants in the low-carbohydrate diet group increased their carbohydrate intake (5g per day per wk) until a stable and desired weight was achieved.”

If any of you have ever been on the Atkins diet, you’ll recognise that this is exactly how that diet is to be undertaken.

On the other hand, the “low-fat diet consisted of limited energy intake (1200 to 1800 kcal/d; ≤30% calories from fat)”. So they were in a Caloric-deficit and eating less than 30% of their daily Calories from fat.

So while the low-carbers could eat unlimited amounts of fat and protein, the low-fatters ate little dietary fat within the context of a Calorie-restricted diet.

Conventional wisdom would certainly favor the low-fat approach. Let’s have a look at the conclusion of that study…

The study concluded that low-carb nutrition is associated with greater reductions in diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride levels, and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol levels, than a low-fat diet. Interestingly, weight loss was equal even though the low-carbers were allowed to eat as much as they liked.

By the way, it is your VLDL cholesterol that is the only good marker for heart health. Total cholesterol levels tell you nothing at all. People with low cholesterol levels die of heart attacks too!

According to Dr. Robert Lustig, you know your VLDL is decreasing if your HDL cholesterol increases (good) and your triglycerides decrease (also a good thing). Typically, this is what happens when someone goes on a low-carb diet.

(Ref: Weight and metabolic outcomes after 2 years on a low-carbohydrate versus low-fat diet: a randomized trial)

The second development I’d like to bring your attention to is a recent meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease led by Dr. Ronald M. Krauss. It looked at 21 studies that referenced saturated fat and heart disease. It concluded:

“A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD”.

Dr. Krauss has also stated,

“It’s the carbohydrate that appears to have most of the effect when it comes to dietary influences. Increasing saturated fat does not appear to reduce the benefits of limiting carbohydrate.”

This means that the heart-health benefits of reducing carbohydrate intake are not diminished by increasing your intake of saturated fat.

I’ve shared the following video before, but I think it’s particularly relevant here. It’s from the documentary,”Fat Head” by Tom Naughton. Check it out…

So I said above that a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet is not optimal for the natural bodybuilder. Why not?

Cholesterol is a precursor to the anabolic hormone testosterone. It is found in high-fat foods such as eggs, butter and red meat which promote maximum serum levels of the 3 muscle-building hormones:

1. Testosterone
2. Growth Hormone
3. IGF-1

A low-fat, low-cholesterol diet is therefore not desirable for anyone seeking to build muscle. Eat your eggs, red meat, nuts, seeds, and so on without fear. Of course you need to reduce your intake of refined carbs and sugar at the same time!

Do you know anyone that has been told to cut down fat consumption by their doctor in order to improve their heart health?

My mother was recently given this advice. She told him that she doesn’t eat a lot of fat but she was sent away with low-fat recommendations nevertheless.

I told her the problem was with all the sugar she consumes, she didn’t listen (I don’t have a white coat after all). See this post for why a high-sugar diet can give you a heart attack.

Anyway, she reduced her fat intake further and ignored what I said about sugar. At her next check-up, the doc told her the dietary changes didn’t work and she’d have to start taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. When I’ve been at her home lately, I’ve told her that she wouldn’t need the drugs if she just cut out all the sugar – she’s still taking the drugs. When a belief gets so deeply ingrained into the mass consciousness, it becomes very difficult to uproot.

The bottom line is this: eat the foods that nature provides in its natural form and you’ll be fine.

Even better, you’ll have more muscle mass and less body fat.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. And The Winner Is…..Low Carb
2. How People Get Fat & How To Stop It!
3. What Drew Carey Can Teach You About Fat Loss!

Total Six Pack Abs 2 is here!

The NEW official title is:

Total Six Pack Abs 2 – The Furnace!

This book is the single best piece of work I’ve ever done. I’m very happy and proud with how it has turned out.  :)

What does it mean for you?

I am convinced that this book details the FASTEST method for losing fat whilst preserving, if not BUILDING, muscle mass.

Let’s have a quick look at our TSPA 2 Calculator again. Input your figures to see how long it will take you to crack 10% body fat with this system…

Probably not as long as you thought, eh?

Apart from the minimum 1.5lb fat loss per week, there is the fat loss accelerator I call the FAT FLUSH. Readers of previous versions of the book will be familiar with an older version of this. The new FAT FLUSH burns more fat and PRESERVES muscle tissue within a short 24 hour period! This is one of the most EXCITING additions to the new program.

TSPA 2 is tailored to YOU! There are precise formulas in the book that allow you to discover the EXACT amount of protein, fat, carbs, and Calories you need at each stage of the program.

Furthermore, there are sample menus, numerous recipes, and an allowable foods list as well.

There are also free downloadable:

Workout Logs

Grocery Shopping List

Cardio “Pacer” mp3 track

At the end of the book I have included a new “Get Started Now” section, which effectively summarizes the whole program in 15 steps!

After this I detail an example of what someone about to embark on the TSPA 2 program does from day 1 to the day he breaks 10% body fat and reveals his ripped six-pack to the world.

We start with his current weight and body fat percentage at step 1, then take you through these 15 steps until he succeeds! This way you really can’t miss something in the book or be left guessing as to what to do next.

(By the way, TSPA 2 is for women too!)

This program is backed by SCIENCE. There are numerous references to studies to back up what I’m saying throughout the book – you don’t have to take my word for it! I’ve been researching this subject for years; this research has culminated in this 136 page no-fluff, no-hype, relentlessly practical system.

As with previous versions, there is an eight week money-back guarantee so you don’t have to take any financial risk to try the program. The refund policy is real and I’m an ethical guy. If, for whatever reason, you don’t feel like the program lived up to what I’ve said, let me know and I’ll give you your money back immediately and without question.

Sound like a fair deal? Good. Get “Total Six Pack Abs – The Furnace” Now!

Let’s Get Ripped!

Mark

Related posts:

1. The Six Pack Calculator. Input Your Stats Now!
2. Wow! 27% Body Fat To A Six-Pack! (Pics)
3. Total Anabolism 3.0 Is Here – Download Now!
4. How Did This 40+ Guy Get A Youthful Six-Pack?

You can now tell how long it’s going to take you to get a six-pack AUTOMATICALLY just by plugging in your stats.

In a previous post entitled “How Long Does It Take To Get Six-Pack Abs” I told you how to work this out manually for yourself.

Now you don’t have to!

All you need to know is your current weight and body fat percentage. If you don’t know what your body fat percentage is, plug your stats into my ‘Body Fat Estimator’ in the sidebar of this site.

Before you find out, let me preface this by saying the following…

The calculation is based on the new fat-loss formula contained in the NEW Total Six-Pack Abs

It tells you when you will hit the 10% body fat barrier, which is the level of body fat you need to break to see your abs. If you want to get totally shredded, yes it will take you longer

There are 2 answers- Best Case & Worst Case

Go ahead and check it out before I explain a little more…

How did it go?
Shocked? Surprised? Sound about right? Let me know below!

Can I always guarantee the best case? No. Most will fall somewhere between best and worst.

The calculation is using the least amount of fat you will lose on the program to calculate the worst case (which is 1.5lbs per week), and the most I expect you can lose per week as the best case. In the new Total Six Pack Abs you’ll see why this is mathematically certain to happen.

The New TSPA will drop on Monday 16th August! In fact, I’ve basically re-written the whole book. It produces faster results and is easier to follow than ever. I feel confident in saying that it’s the best work I’ve ever done!

There is NO guesswork involved. You’ll know exactly how many pounds of fat you have to lose. And now you’ll know at a glance how long it’s going to take to burn it off.

The program will detail the strategy that allows you to lose at this rate (based you YOUR individual body composition), and you simply apply it. Slowing or stalled fat loss is not an option either, this is well catered for.

Note: Total Six Pack Abs 2 will be available for FREE for those who have purchased a previous version. Also, you can buy the current version now and I will email you once the update is ready for download. So if you were thinking of purchasing, there’s no need to wait.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

P.S. Thanks to Adam Weichel and Jordan Hoskins for getting the calculator designed for me.

Related posts:

1. Total Six Pack Abs 2 – The Furnace!
2. Wow! 27% Body Fat To A Six-Pack! (Pics)
3. How Did This 40+ Guy Get A Youthful Six-Pack?
4. How To Build Six Pack Abs

Track the progress of your THT volume workouts!

I’ve created workout logs for you to download now.

Not tracking your workouts?

I can say with absolute certainty that your workouts are NOT optimal if you are not.

If your mind does not have a target to reach before each and every set, it will not fully engage your body 100% to hit or even surpass that target. It’s just the way it is.

Humans are capable of amazing feats of strength when they feel they HAVE to do it!

Having a clear target before EVERY set works on the same principle. Ignore this advice to your own detriment. You can’t go into the gym blindly and expect success in the long term.

If you are…

tracking your workouts (and NOT changing your routine every couple of weeks!)

training to failure

making small, incremental progressions at each workout

….then I can confidently say that it is only a matter of time before you reach your goal. Such is the reward for the intelligent bodybuilder.

Get your workout logs here at the forum. You need to log into the forum first (or register if you are not a member).

Notes for using the logs:

All logs are contained in this 1 file. Look to the bottom of your screen; you will see tabs labeled Monday through Friday. Click each tab for the relevant workout.

Sets utilizing the ‘pre-fatigue’ method are labeled as the same number, even though you are actually performing 2 sets back-to-back. Look at the image above, you’ll see set 3 is Pec Deck AND Barbell Bench Press. After Pec Deck the rest period is “none”. For these type of sets you should proceed immediately to the next exercise. They are also colored yellow so that you can easily identify them. (If you are confused about pre-fatigue please read my post on the THT volume workout and this article on the ultimate deltoid workout).

Go grab your workout logs now!

Stay Motivated!

Mark.

Related posts:

1. Targeted Hypertrophy Training – NEW Volume Cycle!
2. Total Anabolism 3.0 Is Here – Download Now!
3. Total Anabolism 3.0 – Frequently Asked Questions
4. Does Everyone Need A Different Workout Program To Build Muscle?

If you know the process of taking out and paying back a loan, you know all about building muscle!

The process of building muscle is not that difficult to understand.

If you’re confused (or you know someone who is) this analogy will end that confusion once and for all.

Let’s have a simplistic look at taking out a loan from the bank.

• Take out a loan (you’re now in debt)
• Interest rate applies
• Pay it back over time
• Because of the interest rate you pay more back than the actual value of the loan

So what has all this got to do with building muscle?

It’s exactly the same kind of process.

Taking out a loan and getting in debt = the workout itself. Remember that working out is catabolic i.e. it breaks muscle tissue down. Just like you can’t form scar tissue without first cutting yourself, you can’t BUILD more muscle without first breaking it down!

Catabolism stimulates anabolism. So when you train you create a ‘debt’ or deficit just like when you take out a loan. There now HAS to be a payback.

What’s the interest rate on that loan? If you took out a zero percent interest loan, you would not pay back any more than that which was taken out. This means that you would only COMPENSATE for the deficit.

In terms of building muscle, what is ‘only compensating’ or taking out a 0% loan?

Those people who do not seek to increase their reps and/or weights in every workout are only going to compensate i.e. they perform a workout of sub-maximal intensity and do not stimulate ADDITIONAL growth.

Yes, even these pointless workouts will create a deficit and therefore a necessity for recovery. However, the body will only compensate, not OVERcompensate i.e. put back more muscle than was there before the workout.

Are YOU borrowing at 0% interest?

Obviously we want more than 0% in this analogy i.e. we want more muscle put back than was broken down. How do we know if we have achieved this with our workouts? Answer: OVERLOAD.

Once you train beyond a certain INTENSITY you can be sure you have overloaded a muscle and that your body will not just compensate (0%), but overcompensate for the deficit created.

Your body perceived the workout to be of a sufficient THREAT to warrant an adaptive response i.e. pay it back with interest. Remember, building muscle is a defence mechanism. You can train every day for 10 years and not build a single pound of muscle if you don’t train with enough intensity. The point at which you cross this threshold of intensity is what we call Overload.

So ‘interest’ is ‘overcompensation’ in this context.

But paying back a loan, especially when there is a high interest rate, takes time. Building muscle also takes time and the more growth stimulated, the longer the payback (recovery and overcompensation) will take.

This is what I’ve coined as the ‘Peak Overcompensation Point‘ or POP.

A workout only STIMULATES growth. The growth itself happens in the inter-training periods. Quoting from Total Anabolism 3.0:

“Sufficient rest or recovery between stresses, or training sessions, must be allowed for adaptation to occur. Adaptation will only occur during the inter-training recovery periods.”

The body itself produces the growth, you just have to ‘stimulate’ it. A cut will heal all by itself, you only had to make the incision.

So we:

• Get in debt / train with intensity
• Loan has interest payments / OVERcompensation is stimulated
• Pay back over time / rest, recover and grow

By using the THT program we train with the requisite intensity to stimulate an overcompensatory adaptive response.

Then we allow our body to payback the debt we created by training i.e. wait until POP has occurred. Then we do it all over again with progression in mind to ensure overload is reached. Now repeat ad infinitum or until you’re happy with what you see in the mirror when standing butt naked.

In terms of this analogy, always ensure you take out a loan with interest and wait until it’s paid back before taking out another one!

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. How To Know If You Are Really Building Muscle
2. Does Everyone Need A Different Workout Program To Build Muscle?
3. How To Overload Muscle And Grow!
4. Discover What P.O.P. Is & Why It Promotes Maximum Muscle Growth

“Damn! What happened to Drew Carey!?”

That was my reaction when I opened my RSS reader this morning and clicked on Jimmy Moore’s ‘Livin La Vida Low Carb‘ blog.

Drew got thin!

I don’t watch a lot of TV so I haven’t seen the guy in a long time.

Not only did he lose the weight but he has been able to get off his diabetes medications. Drew says:

“I’m not diabetic anymore. No medication needed.”

How did he do it?

In his own words…

““No carbs,” Carey noted. “I have cheated a couple times, but basically no carbs, not even a cracker. No bread at all. No pizza, nothing. No corn, no beans, no starches of any kind. Egg whites in the morning or like, Greek yogurt, cut some fruit.”

While zero carbs is not necessary, he obviously found it something he could stick to (the man must love his meat!).

Success breeds success. Like I see time and time again with those skeptical of the MANS diet or even Total Six Pack Abs; once they begin the program and see results quite quickly, sticking to it becomes a pleasure!

“I was sick of being fat on the camera. Really, I just got sick of it,” he confided. “Once I started losing weight, again, like once I started dropping a couple pant sizes, then it was easy ’cause once you see the results, then you don’t wanna stop.”

Interestingly, according to Jimmy Moore in his post:

“Courtney Thorne-Smith revealed in a September 2009 interview that low-carb is how people in the industry eat and that it’s pretty common knowledge amongst industry insiders what you need to do to slim down is restrict your carbohydrate intake to primarily nuts, cheeses, meats, and non-starchy veggies. The problem is that while this way of eating is considered normal within the inner circles of the celebrity world, very few of them are out there talking about how the low-carb lifestyle changed their life.”

Stay Healthy!

Mark

Related posts:

1. The Science Of Fat Loss
2. And The Winner Is…..Low Carb
3. How People Get Fat & How To Stop It!
4. The Best Of MuscleHack

I wanted to share this little video with you.

I believe it’s from 2008 when the results of a study on 3 diets had just been published.

The diets were:

1. Low Carb
2. Low Fat
3. Mediterranean

The clip is from Good Morning America (I think).

I’m not offering this clip as proof of anything (I didn’t think the study was that great). It’s simply something interesting to watch. I’ve covered the effectiveness and safety of low-carb nutrition already on this blog and plan on doing more in the future. Stay tuned!

Of note is the girl’s quote at 27-30 seconds. Watch it first and I’ll tell you why I thought it was interesting.

So the quote I was talking about above was “Low-fat, ‘cuz you need carbs“. The girl was asked which of the 3 diets she would do.

The truth is that protein is ESSENTIAL. There are of course ESSENTIAL fatty acids. And carbs…….they’re not ESSENTIAL. Carbohydrate is the one macronutrient in the human diet you could knock out and still live a perfectly healthy life.

I say this of course to emphasize a point, NOT to recommend a ZERO carb diet. I don’t.

I do recommend either cycling your carb intake or taking a glycemic-controlled approach like GLAD. A permanently high carb diet means chronically elevated insulin and running the risk not only fat-gain, but heart disease and type 2 diabetes in the long term.

Stay Healthy!

Mark

P.S. If anyone out there has any more footage of Dr. Atkins on TV, I’d like to see it. There was an appearance on Larry King that I’ve never seen and doesn’t seem to be on YouTube. If you have any links etc. let me know.

Related posts:

1. What Drew Carey Can Teach You About Fat Loss!
2. Saturated Fat: Not Guilty As Charged!

Ever wonder if the stability ball is as effective as some of the fitness ‘experts’ would have you believe?

Can you really build an impressive midsection with a big piece of inflatable rubber?

Let’s take a look at this objectively.

First, let me state that I’m assessing this piece of equipment in relation to it’s ability to BUILD the muscles of the abdomen.

Stability Ball & The Abs

So, what does a stability ball do? It forces the ab muscles to contract because they have to in order to hold the body in a stable position. The instability provided by the ball itself is what forces this contraction.

However, the contractions that can be achieved are FAR from maximal.

Let’s take a quick look at the summary from the following study:

The Effectiveness of Resistance Exercises Performed on Unstable Equipment. Willardson, Jeffrey M. MS

The performance of resistance exercises on unstable equipment has increased in popularity, despite the lack of research supporting their effectiveness. Resistance exercise performed on unstable equipment may not be effective in developing the type of balance, proprioception, and core stability required for successful sports performance. Free weight exercises performed while standing on a stable surface have been proven most effective for enhancing sports related skills.

If “free weight exercises performed while standing on a stable surface have been proven most effective for enhancing sports related skills“, then a stable base is most definitely optimal when training for growth.

Weighted resistance movements like decline sit-ups or kneeling cable crunches also force contraction of the abs. However, they produce MAXIMAL contractions and MAXIMAL growth stimulation.

The amount of weight (and therefore overload generated) that can be used to contract against while on a stability ball is extremely low. Try crunching on one of these balls with 40 kgs on your chest and you’ll be in a world of pain, and possibly in an ambulance!

It’s quite a ridiculous position to recommend using INstability to enhance an ab workout! You actually perform BETTER with a stable base.

Don’t believe me?

You might want to take a quick look at this study which concludes that there is a LOSS of force output with instability – as much as 59.6% less than under stable conditions!!

Quoting from the summary:

The diminished force output suggests that the overload stresses required for strength training necessitate the inclusion of resistance training on stable surfaces.

I’m in the fitness industry along with the same guys that will whole-heartedly recommend swiss ball type exercises. Why do they do it? Well, there’s a HUGE difference between using your own critical thinking abilities to look at a subject objectively, and simply regurgitating what you read in a text book.

Unfortunately, the unassuming new client isn’t exercise savvy enough to know the difference and often times gets taken for a ride. (Actually, my text book recommended that you could start someone with regular crunches/sit-ups and later move them to the stability ball as a way of periodizing or progressing their workouts to make it more difficult. Jesus Wept! That would be the opposite of what you should do).

Hopefully this article helped some of you out there make better exercise choices.

It’ll also serve as a reference for you when helping other people improve their workouts. If they are shocked when you tell them that the stability ball sucks, simply point them to this article to take care of the rest. If they still want to use it after reading this…….well….some people just don’t want to be helped I guess.

Train Intelligently!

Mark

Related posts:

1. The Best Of MuscleHack
2. Total Anabolism 3.0 – Frequently Asked Questions
3. How To Overload Muscle And Grow!
4. Build Huge Biceps With This Unique Exercise!

I’m just back from a short holiday. Good times!

I ate loads of unhealthy food and picked up a few new freckles from all the lying around in the sun I did.

I beat my brother at golf, tried my hand at snorkeling (couldn’t breath properly!), and climbed my first wall – 15metres/50 feet; scared the crap outta me but I made it to the top.

Before the climb. Me in yellow tee. Decided to shave my head as well!

An eventful time. I’m still adjusting to normal reality again!

I’ll be back to regular blogging next week but I thought I’d put together a ‘best of’ post in the meantime. These are a combination of the most popular and most important articles I’ve written.

I’m always surprised at how many people haven’t read through the most popular articles; I’m judging this by the questions and comments I get.

If you haven’t read any of the posts below, grab a cup of tea or coffee and settle in for a good read; you’ll be glad you did!

Before I start, if you haven’t read the new THT volume cycle you’re missing out on gains! Go here: THT Volume cycle. The idea is to cycle this workout with the lower volume approach of Total Anabolism 3.0.

TRAINING

You’re never too advanced for a check up on muscle-building fundamentals – How to Build Muscle

Just what is “Overload” exactly? You NEED to know.

The Power Of The Anabolic Window

What the heck is P.O.P. and why if affects your gains - BIG TIME!

Certainly one of the biggest successes of MuscleHack in 2009 was the “Arms Blast Experiment“. This experimental Bicep & Tricep protocol is now available to all in the booklet, “The Arms Blast Experiment Revealed“.

The importance of training to failure. Are you doing it? Are you REALLY doing it?

Like controversy? The current trend for compound-only workouts are NOT optimal for muscle growth (though compound exercises are great). Go here to see why I defend isolation exercises.

FAT LOSS & CARDIO

How long does it take to get a six-pack? Hint: It’s not as long as you think if you know what you’re doing

The case AGAINST cardio. I expanded upon this and added even more reasons in the T.A. 3.0 book. In short, cardio sucks.

My article is featured above the logo: New Anabolic Fat-Blasting Diet!

It’s inefficient at best and counter-productive at worst.

FOOD & DIET

The ever-popular M.A.N.S. carb-cycling diet. A version of this diet was also featured on bodybuilding.com and was one of the cover stories in the December 2009 Iron Man Magazine! Strange thing is, I didn’t even know I had been published in the magazine until someone else read it and congratulated me!

Like carbs too much to cycle them. You need the G.L.A.D. diet – build muscle and lean out like these 2 US soldiers.

Food! All killer MuscleHack recipes can be found HERE!

SUPPLEMENTS

My guide to the Best Bodybuilding Supplements.

What is Creatine and how does it work?

MISC.

Ever hear people say you’re genetics suck? Or ‘that guy is a genetic freak’? Find out what those genetic factors are here.

One of my favorite testimonials here!

Enjoy the articles and I’ll be back with you guys real soon!

And if you’re about to head to the gym remember to BREAK ALL RECORDS!

Mark

Related posts:

1. 2 US Soldiers Get Ripped And Show You Their Pics!
2. How Did This Guy Gain 3 Inches On His Arms In 8 Weeks?

Ready to grow?

Want to stimulate each body part more than you probably ever have before?

The new THT cycle is here!

This is a higher volume (more sets) approach and looks more like the old T.A. 2.0 cycle.

I’ll be going away for a couple of weeks and I know that some of you will be finishing your first T.A. 3.0 cycle about now. I wanted to get this out there before I leave so you know how to progress and keep growing.

So this article doesn’t break it down FULLY, but when I release Total Anabolism 3.1 I’ll have it thoroughly fleshed out in there.

Here’s the concept summarized…

In the current T.A. 3.0 cycle you overload each muscle group in a single set then wait until the peak overcompensation point (P.O.P.), then do it over again. Each successive full-body workout should progress in reps or weight to ensure continuous muscle growth.

In this new cycle we place MORE overload on each muscle. This will stimulate more growth by imparting more muscle damage in each workout; anabolism (building up) is stimulated by catabolism (breaking down) which is a negative feedback control.

However, this means that the POP will be longer in coming i.e. you will have to take longer breaks between working the same bodypart. In short, you’ll ignite new growth in each muscle group then work it again one week later.

The fundamental principles of training for hypertrophy are:

1. Intensity
2. Volume
3. Frequency

If you change one of these factors the others must be changed to compensate. Intensity CAN’T change because high-intensity muscular contractions are absolutely required to stimulate growth. We CAN alter the other 2 variables however.

If you increase the volume, the frequency of working the same muscle must decrease. If you increase the frequency you must decrease the volume e.g. if you go from working your biceps once a week to 3 times a week, you can’t perform 25 sets per workout like drug abusers do.

Why not?

The short answer is that you’ll be overtraining. Read on for the long answer.

Remember that you don’t overcompensate (grow) until you’ve finished recovering. Too many sets will virtually guarantee that you won’t even be recovered let alone have grown before you hit that body part again. This means that you’ll reach a sticking point in your workouts and probably try all sorts of tricks to overcome it when you should actually:

• Reduce the volume, or
• Decrease the frequency

Here’s the Peak Overcompensation Point diagram from 3.0

Using the above as a guide we can define overtraining as working the same muscle before it has come out of the grey area. This second workout creates another ‘dip’ meaning that you never get to rise above the baseline and experience that delicious overcompensation you so desire.

This is the story of those unfortunate souls who drag themselves to the gym twice a day and throw in some counterproductive cardio on top of it all. Perhaps they got their advice from a roid-head, or perhaps they have bought into the notion that more work means quicker results. It absolutely does not!

Let’s get back on track…

This new cycle creates:

• a greater ‘dip’ into recovery
• a higher peak at point 2 – the Peak Overcompensation Point i.e. more growth
• a longer duration between points 1 (workout) and 2 (POP) i.e. lower frequency

So the fundamental principles of THT cannot be discarded, but 2 of the variables can be altered to vary the training cycles and help prevent plateaus and guarantee continuous growth.

Now here’s the weekly workouts:

• Monday – Shoulders & Traps
• Tuesday – Legs
• Wednesday – Chest & Abs
• Thursday – Back & Biceps
• Friday – Triceps

Stick to the above schedule as planned if possible.

Why?

It’s best to keep 48 hours between shoulders, chest, and triceps. Working one of these muscle groups involves one or both of the other. Therefore for optimal recovery and growth it is only prudent to keep a 48 hour buffer between them.

We also want to keep 48 hours between legs and back workouts since you can’t squat without involving the back, and you can’t deadlift without involving the legs.

THT ‘Volume Cycle’ Rules

Train to positive failure on each and every set

Pick a weight that forces you to reach failure between 8 and 12 reps i.e. train within the Anabolic Window

This means that you will probably have to drop-set i.e. lower the weight on successive sets of the same exercise. So if you got 9 reps @ 65lbs on your first set of preacher curls, you’ll use 55-60 lbs for your second set.

Cadence is a little faster with this THT cycle. Raise for 1-2 seconds and lower for 2 seconds.

Allow some CONTROLLED loose form to kick in at the end of a set where practical and safe to do so e.g. barbell curls is a good choice, deadlifts is VERY BAD one – strict form always with deadlifts.

Take the amount of rest displayed in brackets below and keep this constant throughout the cycle. Taking the same amount of rest between sets will allow you to assess your progress accurately.

So now it’s time to look at the workouts in more detail…

Monday – Shoulders & Traps

Set 1 – Overhead Press (4 mins rest)

Set 2 – Dumbbell Lateral Raises (no rest) followed immediately by

Overhead Press (4 mins rest)

Set 3 – Dumbbell Lateral Raises (no rest) followed immediately by

Overhead Press (1 min rest)

Set 4 – Overhead Press (Now take 4 minutes rest before hitting the traps)

Set 5 – Cable Shrugs/Trap bar shrugs or alternatively, Dumbbell (or EZ bar) upright rows (2 minutes rest)

Set 6 – Cable Shrugs/Trap bar shrugs or alternatively, Dumbbell (or EZ bar) upright rows (2 minutes rest)

Set 7 – Cable Shrugs/Trap bar shrugs or alternatively, Dumbbell (or EZ bar) upright rows

Notes: It will prove very beneficial to perform your overhead presses while seated at smith machine. This is because the muscle fibers of your shoulders will be so FRIED that it will be hard to maintain balance will performing this movement with free weights.

Tuesday – Legs

Set 1 - Barbell Squat (4 mins rest)

Set 2 - Barbell Squat (4 mins rest)

Set 3 - Leg Press (4 mins rest)

Set 4 - Leg Press (3 mins rest)

Set 5 - Leg Extensions (3 mins rest)

Set 6 - Leg Curls (4 mins rest)

Set 7 - Seated or Standing Calf Raises (2 mins rest)

Set 8 - Seated or Standing Calf Raises (2 mins rest)

Set 9 - Seated or Standing Calf Raises

Note: While squats and leg presses are great exercises, don’t skip the leg curls and extensions. Only these exercises can place maximum resistance to the quads and hamstrings in the fully contracted position or peak contraction point i.e. that point in the range of motion where all of the muscle fibers are recruited.

Wednesday – Chest & Abs

Set 1 – Flat Bench Press (3 mins rest)

Set 2 - Pec Deck (3 mins rest)

Set 3 - Pec Deck (no rest) followed immediately by

Flat Bench Press (4 mins rest)

Set 4 - Pec Deck (no rest) followed immediately by

Flat Bench Press (Take 5 minutes or more if you need it before proceeding to abs)

Abs

Set 1 - Weighted Sit-Ups (decline if you are strong enough) (2 mins rest)

Set 2 – Weighted Sit-Ups (2 mins rest)

Set 3 – Weighted Sit-Ups (2 mins rest)

Set 4 – Leg Raises or Reverse Crunches if you don’t have access to a leg raise machine (2 mins rest)

Set 5 – Leg Raises or Reverse Crunches (2 mins rest)

Set 6 - Leg Raises or Reverse Crunches

Note: Building the abdominal muscles requires no special exercises. The ones above are recommended because they place a lot of resistance on the abs at the Peak Contraction Point (P.C.P.) i.e. your spine is rounded and your abs have shortened and hardened to their full potential. Any exercise that achieves this is good. Some gyms have dedicated ab stations that fit the bill very well, go ahead and use them if you wish.

An example of an inferior ab exercise would be the ‘plank’ because the abs aren’t ever brought into the P.C.P., nor can the resistance be mathematically increased over time for progressive gains.

Thursday – Back & Biceps

Set 1 -Deadlift (4 mins rest)

Set 2 -Deadlift (4 mins rest)

Set 3 -Barbell Row (2 mins rest) optimized form really works best for barbell rows

Set 4 -Barbell Row (2 mins rest)

Set 5 -Lat Pullovers (pullover machine) or Decline Cable Pullovers or Seated Cable Rows (2 mins rest)

Set 6 -Lat Pullovers (pullover machine) or Decline Cable Pullovers or Seated Cable Rows (Take 5 minutes or more if you need it before proceeding to Biceps)

Biceps

Set 1 - Cable Preacher Curls (2 mins rest)

Set 2 - Cable Preacher Curls (2 mins rest)

Set 3 - Cable Preacher Curls (No rest) Proceed immediately to next set in superset fashion

Barbell Curls (straight barbell not EZ bar) (2 mins rest)

Set 4 - Barbell Curls (2 mins rest)

Set 5 - Barbell Curls

Note: Allow a little controlled movement in your barbell curls, especially at the end of the set

Friday – Triceps

Set 1 - French Curls (3 mins rest)

Set 2 - French Curls (3 mins rest)

Set 3 - French Curls (4 mins rest)

Set 4 - Tricep Pushdowns (3 mins rest)

Set 5 - Tricep Pushdowns (3 mins rest)

Set 6 - Tricep Pushdowns

Note: I haven’t included any dedicated exercises for forearms in this cycle. More than likely you’ll be experiencing muscle soreness in your forearms before you get to Friday. However, if you wish to work them directly, throw in 2 or 3 sets of wrist curls on Friday after your triceps.

This program works! The great thing is that you won’t have to wait very long to start noticing results!

Stay Motivated!

Mark

P.S. As I stated above, I am going away for a little while and won’t be able to answer your queries. This is a pity because I’d love to answer any questions you have and discuss this further with you. For this reason I’m going to switch comments off on this post. I am literally leaving in a few hours and spent quite a long time writing this article because I know some of you need the new cycle ASAP. I hope you understand. Enjoy the workout and your NEW gains!

Related posts:

1. Download Free Workout Logs For THT Volume Cycle
2. Total Anabolism 3.0 – Frequently Asked Questions
3. Myostatin Inhibitors – Do They Really Increase Muscle Hypertrophy?
4. Do Compound Exercises Really Build More Muscle?

If you’ve read Total Anabolism 3.0 in its entirety you’ve no doubt come across the awesome testimonials toward the back.

One of those is from a guy who now looks like a brand new person.

His name is Darshan Weerasinghe, from Colombo, Sri Lanka. When these pics arrived in my inbox I was startled by the transformation!

Not because I don’t know what Total Six Pack Abs is capable of achieving; the thing works and that’s not a sales pitch, it’s a fact!

It’s because of the client’s drive to see it through to the end when starting from a high body fat percentage.

My first cut was from 22% body fat – I seem to store 90% of my body fat on my midsection, the rest being dished out around the butt and thighs. Getting rid of that gut was a bitch to be completely honest. But then again, I hadn’t developed the Total Six Pack Abs program at that time and I went at it haphazardly.

So to see someone go from 27% to 9.8% was something to applaud, BIG TIME!

Here’s what Darshan had to say…

“Hi Mark,

I’d been a low carber for 18 months prior to starting Total Six Pack Abs and got decent results. However, with my regular low-carb diet I was stuck at a plateau for many many months. I knew I had to control the calories (which the other low carb approaches said was unnecessary) and be progressive with the weights.

What impressed me most was how precisely the TSPA system is laid out and the fact that you could pretty much predict when you would get your six pack.  It was the precision of your program that enabled me to finally get down to 9.8% bodyfat at 176 lbs and a 32 inch waist.

I’m around 11% bodyfat in the after photo below. I don’t have one when I was 9.8%. either way I’m sure you will agree that my results are impressive. People who haven’t seen me for awhile are totally blown away and even my close friends and family had trouble believing that such a simple no nonsense approach works. Mark thank you very much, I’m grateful.”

Darshan Weerasinghe. Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Here’s the before pic…

Here’s the after pic…

PLEASE NOTE: Tattoo is on the ‘other arm’ because Darshan is taking a pic of his reflection in the mirror in the second pic.

Darshan had the unenviable task of cutting from just under 30% body fat. I believe he deserves all the praise he gets for his accomplishment. It takes mental toughness and a ‘definiteness of purpose’ to start this journey and see it through to completion. If you’ve got the right mindset, I’ve got the right strategy for you.

Remember, Total Six Pack Abs is NOT simply about low-carbing your way to a six-pack – that’s just not possible. Getting very lean DOES involve a calorie-deficit. Total Six Pack Abs is about:

• Taking advantage of the hormonal benefits of a low-carb diet. Coupled with…
• An ever-increasing calorie-deficit
• Weekly spikes of carbs and calories. The amounts are PRECISE to your current body make-up. This keeps fat loss continuous
• Weight training as the primary method of exercise, not cardio
• The correct type of cardio in the correct amount
• KEEPING your muscle tissue as you lose fat
• Confident, predictable success. No more confusion.

Other systems advise you to aim for 1 lb of fat loss per week because it’s ‘safe’. If that’s how you want to do it, knock yourself out.

With Total Six Pack Abs if you’re not losing AT LEAST 1.5lbs of fat per week, you’re doing something wrong. More often you’ll lose more as the norm. And you will retain that muscle you’ve worked so hard to get.

Go here if you want to use a type of six-pack calculator to work out how long it will take you to get a six pack.

It’s summertime. Get lean & feel great!

Mark

Related posts:

1. 2 US Soldiers Get Ripped And Show You Their Pics!
2. The Six Pack Calculator. Input Your Stats Now!
3. Total Six Pack Abs 2 – The Furnace!
4. How To Build Six Pack Abs

It’s been a week since Total Anabolism 3.0 was unleashed to the public.

Questions have been coming in thick and fast which I will now address.

Some of the questions are answered clearly and emphatically in the book itself. I said right from page one that you have to read the whole book.

I put a lot of time and effort into research and writing (and re-writing) this book and putting out there for free. All I ask is that if you want to maximize your muscle gains, read the thing in its entirety.

Some questions that I’ve been getting are from people who obviously haven’t read the book. These questions will be ignored. It’s the equivalent of accepting a gift from someone, seeing that there is an instruction manual that comes with it, handing the manual back to the giver and saying, “I can’t be bothered reading it, YOU read it and then tell me how it works”.

So that’s the rant over. Now to the questions…

“I love the workout Mark but is this THT cycle the final one? The only one? Is this it?”

In the comments section of the previous article I wrote the following,

“TA 3.0 is a FIRST INSTALLMENT based upon the past year’s research. There will be 3.1, 3.2, and so on.

Put simply, the TA 2.0, higher volume (more sets) approach is NOT over and done with! It will definitely have its place in this new system. However, I just need to spend some more time testing and tweaking it to fit. In short, there will be cycles of TA 2-style training and you will then “cycle the cycles”, so to speak.

The principles of Intensity, Volume, and Frequency are fundamental, BUT you can vary them and make the necessary adjustments in the other principles to compensate.

I say in the ‘1 set to failure’ section that I am not 100% sold on the idea that 1 set stimulates as much growth as multiple sets and that I would clarify this in a future update of the book.

Here’s it in summary for those who can’t wait…
Example, if I do more sets (let’s say 6) I will stimulate more growth (if done correctly) but also need much longer to recover. This would mean a higher volume but also a longer training frequency (longer POP).

The THT principles still hold true but they have been MANIPULATED to vary the program which I feel will be necessary in the long-term.

Please note that I will have the updated version ready before any of you finish a 3.0 cycle, so you’ll know what to do before that time comes.”

“I don’t have access to a dip station, what else can I do instead?”

Don’t be too concerned. Do incline bench presses instead.

“I’ve downloaded the workout logs, but there is no log for the Consolidation workouts.”

There ARE logs for the consolidation workouts. The Excel file contains 3 sheets. Open the file and look to the bottom. You will see 3 sheets labeled, “Mass1“, “Mass2“,and “Consolidation“. Simply click on each one to display the corresponding log.

You should also have noted that each 4th workout is missing i.e. there is no Workout 4, Workout 8, and so on. That’s because these are consolidation workouts and you have to click on the appropriate tab to display these training logs.

(Be aware that I made a mistake in the consolidation logs. I wrote ‘squats’ where it should have been ‘leg presses’ – please correct accordingly.)

“How do I warm-up for this workout?”

Since this is a fully body workout I would suggest a minute or 2 on either a cross trainer or a rowing machine at LOW intensity. Follow this up with a light set of squats (50% of working set) to get the whole body warmed up. That’s all you’ll need for the whole workout. There is NO need to do a light set of every exercise before the real working set.

“I need replacement exercises since I don’t have the necessary equipment.”

Before I answer this it is important to note that this cycle of THT does require the exact exercises listed. I will list some substitutes here, but if you cannot get resistance at the PCP, or work a muscle according to its function, the workout will not be maximally effective.

It is not my job to create the most popular workout in the world, or the one that everyone can do, but to let the FACTS dictate the precise training stresses/exercises that are MAXIMALLY effective for muscular hypertrophy. Having said that, of course growth can still be stimulated with more traditional exercises.

• Lat pull downs SUB WITH pull ups or decline cable pullovers
• Cable Preacher curl SUB WITH Standing cable curls or barbell curls where you lean torso forward at the top to create resistance at the PCP
• McManus Push Downs SUB WITH Lying barbell french curls
• Cable Shrugs SUB WITH dumbbell/barbell shrugs or even get a shrug bar
• Dips SUB WITH Incline Bench Press
• Decline Sit-Up SUB WITH Regular Sit-Ups with a weight on your chest or any cable crunching movement if you have access to it
• Pec Deck SUB WITH Pec Deck-style movements with a cable crossover machine. If you have only barbells and dumbbells just perform bench presses since dumbbell flies provide zero resistance at the top of the movement. Also consider partial flies followed immediately by flat bench press, done in the same manner as the shoulder superset in THT.

I hope that helps.

Train, Progress, & You WILL Grow!

Mark

Related posts:

1. Total Anabolism 3.0 Is Here – Download Now!
2. Download Free Workout Logs For THT Volume Cycle
3. Total Six Pack Abs 2 – The Furnace!
4. The Best Of MuscleHack

It’s here!

Total Anabolism 3.0 is hot off the press and ready for your consumption.

I know you don’t want to hear me waffle on so let me just quote a few lines from the opening of the book…

Welcome to Total Anabolism 3.0 – the most effective version yet. If you were successful with T.A. 2.0, get excited because in the next few pages you’ll discover how you could double (if not treble) the speed at which your muscle gains come!

So I hope you’re ready to REVOLUTIONIZE your training!

If you want to pack on muscle faster than you ever have before, and you want to know the SCIENCE behind why it works, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s what you get (for FREE!)

• UNPRECEDENTED Gains In Muscle Size And Strength!
• Growth Stimulated In Every Workout – Not A Single Wasted Gym Session!
• Video Demonstrations Of All The Recommended Exercises
• Workout Logs To Track Your Progress
• Less Time In The Gym And More Time To Live Your Life

So how do you get your copy?

If you’re already on the MuscleHack mailing list, check your inbox for the download link now!

If you don’t get the email, you’ve either unsubscribed at one point or possibly marked one of my emails as spam. Tsk tsk! Either way you’ll have to sign up again to the mailing list – that’s the box in the right sidebar.

I know you just want to get on with reading the book so I’m going to finish this up now.

Go Read, learn, train, and GROW!

Note: Consider this a first installment. There will be 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and so on. The training protocol will be expanded upon in upcoming versions.

I look forward to hearing about your FANTASTIC results!

Mark

Related posts:

1. Total Anabolism 3.0 – Frequently Asked Questions
2. Download Free Workout Logs For THT Volume Cycle
3. Total Six Pack Abs 2 – The Furnace!

Barbell squats are one of the most complex movements in terms of multiple teaching points. And you HAVE to get it dead right or you’ll end up hurt.

Let’s have a look at how to do them safely and effectively.

(1) Set the safety pins just lower than the height the bar will be at the bottom of the rep.  If training alone you might want to use a smith machine

(2) Have the bar racked below shoulder height so you can get under it and lift it up and off.

(3) When getting ready for the lift ensure that your chest is raised up and your arms are not too far apart on the bar. Keeping a close grip brings the shoulder blades closer together, which provides a cushioned base for the bar to rest on. This is the number 1 reason why some guys experience upper back pain during squats; their grip is too far apart, the shoulder blades are wide open and the heavy bar is resting on bone, not muscle – ouch!

(4) Your lower back should NOT be rounded at any part of the lift. If it is you could badly hurt yourself. Practice without a weight if necessary or get someone to watch and critique your form. There should be a slight arching in the lower back and, again, your chest is out and raised up.

(5) Keep your feet shoulder-width apart (or slightly wider) and just like deadlifts and leg presses, have your toes pointed out (away from each other).

(6) Unrack the weight by straightening the legs and take a step back.

(7) The way squats are taught to beginners is to imagine that you are about to sit down; this is entirely correct. Your focus should NOT be on lowering the bar so much as on ‘sitting down’. The bar will lower as a result of course and you will be safely executing the squat.

(8) Your knees should be pointing out just like the feet. A bad practice you often see at the gym is bowing the knees by guys that are squatting a weight that they are just not ready for. The knees should never come in. Nor should they go wider than the toes.

(9) Squat down to a position where the thighs are parallel with the floor – use lighter weights if you need to, to accomplish this.

(10) To squat up, like leg presses, push through with the heels not your toes

(11) Throughout the whole rep keep looking forward. Your head should neither be down nor up at the ceiling – just look forward.

(12) Like deadlifts, it’s a good idea (and almost necessary at heavier loads) to take a quick breather and mentally reset at the end of the rep before starting your next descent.

(13) In training specifically for hypertrophy you want to emphasize the negative a little by lowering quite slowly under full muscular control. This is in contrast to power lifters who place little to no attention on the negative and focus slowly on the lifting. If it takes you a count of 2 to lift, lower for about 3 seconds.

(14) Pick a weight heavy enough to reach failure within the Anabolic Window.

Note: If you haven’t got a lot of back muscle to cushion the bar and are experiencing pain, you might want to invest in squat sponge until you bulk up a little.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. How To Do Leg Presses

Leg Presses are a great exercises that will be included in THT training.

So let’s have a look at the form as it pertains to a routine designed for hypertrophy.

(1) Keep your feet flat on the platform about shoulder-width apart. Have your toes pointing out slightly i.e. away from each other.

(2) Getting ready for the lift – Your upper and lower legs should be at about a 90 degree angle to each other.

(3) Also please ensure that your feet and knees are pretty much in line with each other. If your feet are much higher or lower than knee-height, you risk injuring yourself.

(4) Grab the handles.

(5) Release the safety pins.

(6) Push through with the heels, not the toes.

(7) Stop just short of locking out at the top of the rep so you don’t put an enormous stress on your knee joints.

(8) Lower slowly under full muscular control. The negative should take LONGER than the positive.

(9) At the bottom of the movement the lower leg should come down just passed a 90 degree angle i.e. the upper and lower legs will form an angle smaller than 90 degrees.

(10) Keep your back flat against the pad and your butt firmly on the seat throughout the set – this is important.

(11) Select a weight that forces you to reach failure within the Anabolic Window.

Note: Since I train at home and don’t have this machine, I’m using my Smith Machine to great effect. If you’re planning on doing this you’ll need a padded back support; I’m using a back rest from an old sit-up board.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. How To Do Barbell Squats
2. How To Do Weighted Dips
3. How To Deadlift Properly

The Deadlift is a compound exercise primarily for the lower back. They also work the:

• quads
• hamstrings
• gluts
• traps
• forearms

However, there is a high-risk of injury with the deadlift due to the nature of the movement and the amount of weight involved. It is therefore imperative that we get the form right.

I’ve prepared a video below. However, this clip is not enough – please read the notes below.

How To Deadlift Properly

* Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing out slightly i.e. away from each other

* The barbell should be rolled up to about an inch away from your shins.

* Your grip needs to be just wider than your legs. Otherwise your arms will be rubbing against your legs throughout the rep.

* Some people will advise you against using lifiting straps. This is silly – use them. If you are deadlifting enough weight, chances are your forearm strength will go before your back does, meaning that you have limited the growth stimulation that can be imparted to your WEAKEST body part. This is the ‘weakest link’ downside of compound exercises I commented upon in the compound vs isolation post.

Furthermore, deadlifts only provide an ISOMETRIC or static contraction to the forearms. They NEVER being those forearm muscle fibers into a position of maximum contraction – the point where the maximum number of muscle fibers are recruited and available for growth stimulation to be imparted. If you’re counting on deadlifts to develop your forearms, you’re going about it in a terribly inefficient manner. Use wrist curls as your primary method of developing your forearms and use straps on certain compound lifts to bypass the weak link.

If you really don’t want to use straps, or don’t have them, use an alternate grip i.e. one hand overhand, one hand underhand.

* Remember not to actually lift with the arms. Mike Mentzer used to say that you should visualize your arms as chains with hooks on the end. Your arms are only there to HOLD the bar, not to lift it so keep them straight with your elbows locked.

* Stick your chest and bum out, which will automatically arch the lower back. From a sideview, your head should be higher than you bum.

* Some sites advise you to start from a position where your thighs are parallel to the ground. Deadlifts are not primarily a leg movement and we use other exercises to develop our legs. Your thighs should therefore be higher than parallel from the start of the movement.

* Ensure that you are not placing your weight towards the front of your feet. Some people have a tendency to place their center of gravity on their toes from the start of the movement. If anything, keep more weight shifted towards the heels.

* Look forward – I have to admit that I have a terrible habit of looking elsewhere when I train. Specifically I tend to look at the muscle being worked. I’m working on this .

* Do NOT round your back at any stage – you WILL get injured.

* Now push the bar up starting with the legs, then move at the hip joint, not the other way around.

* The bar should remain close to the body throughout.

* There is no need to pull the traps back at the top like you see some people do. The top of the rep is simply when you are standing up straight.

* You will see strength trainers and power lifters drop the bar fairly rapidly when deadlifting. MuscleHack and THT is GROWTH-orientated. Since the negative or lowering portion of the rep will contribute more growth stimulation, lower the bar under full muscular control, nice and smoothly. Don’t overemphasize this however, especially at heavier loads. Taking 2-3 seconds to lower is good.

* Mentally and physically RESET after each rep i.e. let the bar rest for a second between each rep. I think that deadlifts are best performed in a manner akin to repeatedly attempting a 1-rep max.

There is no Peak Contraction Point with Deadlifts, and attempting to hold at ANY point in the rep would be quite dangerous at such heavy weights. Perform as described above and reach failure within the ANABOLIC WINDOW. If you can do more than 90 seconds worth of deadlifts, you need to increase the weight.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. Are Weight Lifting Hooks Better Than Straps?
2. How To Do Lat Pull-Downs Correctly
3. The McManus Tricep Pushdown!
4. How To Get Bigger Forearms With This 1 Exercise

Dips are a compound exercise for the:

• Triceps
• Shoulders
• Chest

In THT, we will perform them with parallel bars and also lean forward to really bring the chest into play. Furthermore, once you get past a certain level of strength you need to add weight in order to progressively overload the muscle and keep growing.

So this is a specific variation on the dip that we want to use in our THT workout.

How To Do Weighted Dips

If you require more weight than your body provides to reach positive failure before 90 seconds, add this before you start. The most common method is the belt and chain, but you could always throw a plate or 2 into a backpack and wear it.

* Most gyms have a dip station but parallel bars that are about shoulder-width apart will work also.

* The starting position is with your arm fully extended, knees flexed and feet crossed.

* Lower yourself under muscular control.

* In order to involve the pecs more, lean forward as you lower your body

*Again, in an effort to really hit the chest, bring your body to a point where your upper arms are BELOW parallel to the floor. However, you shouldn’t go really deep as this can cause injury.

* Push back up to a point of locking out of the elbows but do not hold in this position. There is no real Peak Contraction Point in Dips because locking out transfers the load to the skeleton to a large degree.

* In this exercise, simply keep the movements continuous and under muscular control.

* Personally, I like to finish this movement on a negative. Most people (even those that train to failure) will finish dips at the top of the rep. My advice is to go to positive failure then lower yourself once more slowly. At the bottom, simply let your feet touch the floor and stand up. Why? The negative portion of the rep contributes more to growth stimulation than the positive, why not have 1 extra? So end on a negative.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

P.S. I did shoot a vid for this one but because I use improvised equipment for dips, it looked terrible on camera.

Related posts:

1. How To Do Barbell Squats
2. How To Do Leg Presses
3. How To Do Lat Pull-Downs Correctly
4. How To Build Muscular Pecs Like A Cartoon Superhero!

What the heck is the McManus Tricep Pushdown?

Well you know that THT is all about MAXIMIZING muscle fiber recruitment.

You also know from a previous post that in order to achieve this in the triceps we need an exercise that will:

• straighten the arm (from a position of elbow flexion) and…
• bring the arm down towards the body

Previously I demonstrated the cable kickback as a way of meeting the above criteria. However, after some feedback from people saying that they found that exercise a little awkward, I hit the lab/homegym again.

I’ve now come up with a variation of the tricep pushdown that is, at least in the author’s opinion, better than the cable kickback and easier to do.

It works BOTH tri’s at the same time and allows for great resistance at that all important PEAK CONTRACTION POINT.

Watch the vid and if it seems like a regular pushdown, read the details below for those CRITICAL differences. (sorry this clip turned out a little blurry for some reason).

The McManus Tricep Pushdown

* Stand a few paces back from the pulley so that the chain is at about a 45 degree angle

* Bend at the knees

* Lean the torso forward and keep a straight back. Stick your butt out.

* You want to push the attachment down until your arms are fully extended. You DO want to ‘lock-out’ the arms in this exercise. This is the PEAK CONTRACTION POINT and because of the angle of arms and the chain, we place much greater resistance at this point where most tricep muscle fibers are recruited. We can therefore induce more microtrauma, which in layman’s terms means MORE GROWTH STIMULATION!

* Ideally, if you had a long rope attachment or something that would allow the arms to extend the arms BEHIND the torso, that would allow for an even FULLER contraction of the triceps. However, this really is EXCELLENT as it is – don’t be concerned too much. I’m using this type of attachment.

* Pause for a second at the PCP before performing the negative. You’ll know if you’re doing it right because the PCP will feel seriously INTENSE. I have the sound in the video muted but I’m making an audible groan at the PCP of every rep.

* You don’t have to let your forearms come up very far past the point where they are at right angles to the upper arms. Control the weight up. Don’t pause in this position, only pause at the PCP.

* Keep your elbows fairly locked into your sides. Contrary to what your instructor will tell you, a little bit of movement is fine and entirely natural once you start using heavier weights. In fact, towards the END of a set a little bit of upper arm movement will allow you to push through your weakest point in the range of motion and helps you complete another rep or 2. Higher Intensity = More Growth Stimulation. Just do it smoothly, no sudden jerking movements and you’ll be fine.

You’d think to hear some of theses gym staff that your arm will fall off or you’ll grow a third eyeball because you DARED to allow some momentum. “Oh My God! He CHEATED!”. Are there judges in these gyms that are marking your form out of 10 or something? Is it every trainee’s goal to score a perfect 10 because I could have sworn we were there to stimulate our muscle fibers to grow! Anyway, I’m off on a rant, back to the post.

It may take a little practice to ‘feel around’ for the correct balance of the body for this exercise. Do a lighter dummy set to get used to it first so that you don’t waste an actual working set.

Factor this in straight away and let me know how you get on.

Stay Motivated!

Mark

P.S. While doing an Amazon search I found these long tricep straps that look like they’d get the job done to great effect! I’m thinking about investing in them. If any of you guys have experience with these, let me know.

Related posts:

1. The Best Exercise For Big Triceps
2. How To Get Lats Like A Bat’s!
3. Build Huge Biceps With This Unique Exercise!
4. How To Stimulate MAXIMUM Muscle Growth In Every Exercise

I’m going to show you a shoulder exercise you’ve NEVER seen before. That’s because, to the best of my knowledge, I created it.

Now, I’ve already talked about what is possibly the best single set (utilizing the pre-exhaust method) for stimulating growth in the shoulders.

If you want to make it even BETTER, read this post.

I won’t waste your time in this post talking about WHY this is optimal for igniting new gains in shoulder size because I’ve been through it in this post (remember it’s all about recruiting the maximum number of muscle fibers and then stimulating them to grow).

I’ll simply demo the exercise and talk you through the form.

Then I want you to DO IT!

It’s a Cable Lateral Raise (with a difference).

In my version I am using the attachment that is designed for leg abductions and placing it around the top of my forearm. I’ll explain all in a little bit, for now watch the demo. Unless someone out there can tell me that this already exists, I’ll Christen it the ‘McManus Lateral Raise‘, and it’s incredibly effective.

Note: Use the abduction/adduction attachment around the top of your forearm, NOT on the elbow joint itself. Keep a 90 degree bend at the elbow joint.

Since the function of the deltoids is to bring the arm away from the body, we get maximal fiber recruitment at the top of the rep i.e. the point of maximal contraction or Peak Contraction Point. This exercise provides AWESOME resistance in this most important of spots. You want to pause here for a second on each and every rep.

The cable also applies a much SMOOTHER resistance than that experienced with dumbbells.

Importantly, using a cable from a floor pulley allows for resistance on the deltoids at EVERY STAGE IN THE REP. Using dumbbells as in dumbbell lateral raises, provides almost no resistance on the shoulders for the first few inches of the movement. In fact, the work doesn’t really kick in until the mid-point. This obviously isn’t optimal for stimulating growth especially in the negative (or lowering) portion of the rep since it is widely believed that the negative contributes more to growth than the positive.

Furthermore, the shorter lever length i.e. the resistance is physically CLOSER to the prime mover muscle, means that the load is pressing more DIRECTLY upon the deltoid itself. With dumbbell raises the grip and forearm strength come into play and this may contribute to the premature termination of the set and/or mentally distract you from really focusing on contracting the shoulder.

I would also contend that the short lever length can also lead to a better level of positive failure. Using dumbbells means that you have to move the weight a greater distance to achieve same level of deltoid contraction. This means that you run the risk of not being able to complete an extra rep or 2 that you can with the McManus Lateral Raise.

The only downside is that you have to work the shoulders unilaterally i.e. one at a time. If you have access to a cable crossover machine you could perhaps find attachments that would enable you to work both shoulders simultaneously. You can then proceed immediately to overhead barbell presses as described in this post. If not, simply do 1-arm dumbbell overhead presses after reaching failure on this exercise (which is how I am doing it at the moment).

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. The Ultimate Deltoid Workout
2. How To Get Bigger Forearms With This 1 Exercise
3. (Video) The Best Trapezius Exercise For Growth
4. The Best Exercise For Big Triceps

In my last article, I detailed how to do Pulldowns - a compound movement for the lats.

Now, Close Grip Pulldowns will also feature in the new THT program.

What Are Close Grip Pulldowns?

Close Grip Pulldowns are a compound exercise that will work the:

• Lats
• Biceps

Check out the vid I made to demonstrate…

Please ‘like’ this video on YouTube if you found it helpful.

• As the name suggests, your grip should be a lot closer than that adopted for regular pulldowns. About 10 inches apart is good, palms-up NOT overhand.
• Use a straight bar as we want to involve the biceps. Most often you’ll see people use the Double D attachment.  We DON’T want that as this makes it impossible to bring the biceps into a position of FULL CONTRACTION (remember what I said about the function of the biceps).
• Sit directly under the pulley, then lean back a little to allow yourself to be able to bring the bar down to your chest.
• It’s a great tip to arch your lower back a little and puff out your chest as well.
• Lower the bar under control.
• Pause at the bottom of the rep. This is the Peak Contraction Point and BOTH the lats and biceps are in a position of maximum contraction.
• Hold at this point for a second.
• Lower the bar again under control but DON’T lock out at the top. We want to keep the resistance on the lats and biceps right throughout the set.

I’ve got a few more exercise execution articles to publish then the new THT will be ready for you guys – I want to be able to link to each exercise in the book so people aren’t confused about form.

Stay Motivated!

Mark McManus

P.S. MuscleHack was hacked on Saturday 17th April and I just got the site back up and running correctly so that set me back a bit. Everything’s working fine now. Apologies if you came here over the last few days and got redirected to a spyware removal site.

Related posts:

1. How To Do Lat Pull-Downs Correctly
2. How To Do Weighted Dips
3. How To Deadlift Properly
4. Do Compound Exercises Really Build More Muscle?

In this article I’ll show you how to use Lat Pull-Downs to develop awesome lats, THT style.

Compound exercises don’t usually take the intended body part into a position of maximum contraction. They therefore cannot place any resistance in the one position where the maximum number of muscle fibers are recruited and ready to be overloaded.

However, the lat-pull down is one compound exercise that DOES:

• Work the lats in harmony with their FUNCTION
• Take the lats into the PCP and imparts growth stimulation there

As stated in a previous article, the function of the lats is to pull the arms down towards the body.

This is an easy exercise to do. Let’s take a look at the vid I’ve made to demonstrate…

How To Do Lat-Pull-Downs

(Please ‘like’ it on YouTube if this helped. Personally I preferred the 5 star rating system but what are you gonna do).

• Don’t use the angled handles. For most people this grip is too wide to be maximally effective. You won’t be as strong on this movement with your arms spaced that far apart. Grab the bar with a wide grip just before the bar bends (if anything my grip is still a little too wide here. I noticed it when watching this back – the bar used is longer than regular ones). Wider-than-shoulder-width is good.
• Pull down under control until the bar touches the top of your chest
• This is the Peak Contraction Point.
• Hold in this position for a second before slowly lowering the bar back up
• This is important: DON’T release the contraction from the lats at the top of the rep. You can’t tell from the video but I am stopping just short of locking the arms out and ensuring that my lats are still contracted at the top.
• Repeat until muscular failure

Note: When you get strong enough I suggest you use wrist straps to ensure that the set terminates when the lats have been fully overloaded, NOT when your forearm strength gives out.

Total Anabolism 3.0 is very much in the works guys. I want to have vid tutorials for all exercises contained in the new program, so when I get them all done and posted up here, the book will be ready!

Stay Motivated!

Mark

Related posts:

1. How To Do Close Grip Pulldowns
2. How To Get Lats Like A Bat’s!
3. The Best Exercise For Big Triceps
4. How To Stimulate MAXIMUM Muscle Growth In Every Exercise

Here’s 10 workout fails that really made me laugh.

I want to devote more time on getting the new Total Anabolism done and dusted for you guys so I thought I would publish a quick and easy article like this one.

It’s coming in the next week or 2 guys, please be patient. There’s only 1 of me!

Anyway, check out these fails in the meantime…

How NOT to do your sit-ups! One YouTube comment says, “Can I find this beat on iTunes?”

This one hurts. Check out his left hand grip. I could see this coming a mile off!

“Cool” Guy

Can’t help but feel embarrassed for this guy…

Momma!

Time to buy a slant board?

“Cool Guy” 2

There’s 2 fails in this one!

Insane laugh puts guy off. This actually happened me once. Laughing and lifting DON’T go together…

Not so funny. Just bloody painful! Get well soon kid

Related posts:

1. Download Free Workout Logs For THT Volume Cycle

The shoulders make a HUGE difference to your appearance.

They add a lot of width to your frame and make you look GOOD in general. So let’s develop some boulders on top of our arms!

Like any other muscle, to stimulate as much growth as possible we need to recruit as many fibers of that muscle as we can. In order to accomplish this we need to select an exercise that:

• works along the path of the FUNCTION of that muscle
• provides resistance at the PEAK CONTRACTION POINT which is the ONLY point in the rep where maximal muscle fiber recruitment occurs

What’s the function of the deltoid muscle?

To bring the arm AWAY from the body. It is important to note that because of the ball-and -socket joint at the shoulder, the arm can be moved away from the body in many directions.

This movement is facilitated by the fact that the deltoid muscle is 3 headed. They are:

1. The Anterior Deltoid (front)
2. The Lateral Deltoid (side)
3. The Posterior Deltoid (back)

I mentioned in my last article about compound vs isolation exercises that a great use for compound exercises was the pre-exhaust method when specializing a body part. However, a multi-functional muscle like the deltoid can make great use of this technique all the time to stimulate growth without needlessly overtraining by attempting to hit each small head individually.

Here’s the deltoid workout I’ve been employing recently to great effect.

• Lateral Raises, followed immediately by
• Overhead Presses

The lateral raise will work the whole shoulder but puts most focus on the lateral deltoid. The Overhead Press works all 3 heads. Take both these movements to failure.

Since the lateral head will be solely responsible for reaching positive failure on the lateral raises i.e. the other 2 heads will not reach the point of failure, the inclusion of more muscles in the compound overhead press pushes the lateral head BEYOND positive failure and stimulates AWESOME growth in that head. This will really help broaden your body at the top and accentuate that ‘V’ shape.

It’s like this: Imagine you are asked to pull a bus like some people do at charity events. After a while you just can’t pull it any further. Then 2 of your buddies come along to help you. They are now contributing significantly to the pull, but you are also working albeit to a lesser degree than previously. In this way, the assistance you are receiving allows you to push beyond the prior strength limit because the effective load is reduced somewhat.

The same is also true to a lesser degree for the other heads as well. They are involved in the lateral raises, then get assistance from the traps, triceps, and upper chest in the pressing movement.

But why single out the lateral head? I believe it’s too easy to overtrain the anterior and posterior deltoids.

The anterior deltoid is significantly involved in all pec exercises, whether it be the bench press or pec-deck. The same goes for the posterior head in back movements and even some triceps movements like the tricep cable kickback.

Therefore the way to stimulate maximum growth in all 3 heads without overtraining is with the above pre-exhaust set.

Let’s have a look at how it’s done…

(sorry about the poor quality of this clip)

(1) Grab the dumbbells in front of your thighs

(2) Raise the dumbbells up and out to the side. If it’s comfortable for you, raise the elbows just a little higher than shoulder height for a full contraction. If not, just stop at shoulder height. Remember this is the PCP of this movement.

(3) Try to ensure that the palms of your hands are parallel to the floor at the top of the movement. Many people have the habit of tilting the dumbbell as it rises so you might need to pronate the hands a little to get it right. This helps keep all that resistance firmly on the delts.

(4) Hold at the PCP for a second before lowering again

IMMEDIATELY upon reaching positive failure, grab a barbell and start the overhead press.

see this article on overhead presses for the tutorial.

And that’s it my friends. It takes a lot of will power to hammer this out fully but the growth stimulation is awesome.

Factor this one into your workouts ASAP!

Your Buddy,

Mark.

Related posts:

1. Cable Lateral Raise – Best Deltoid Exercise?
2. Do Compound Exercises Really Build More Muscle?
3. Targeted Hypertrophy Training – NEW Volume Cycle!
4. Download Free Workout Logs For THT Volume Cycle