I am very excited to announce that I am currently getting ready for my first fitness competition and it is just a little over 3 months away. I know that there is plenty of time ahead of me, but I am going to take the safe approach (for once) and start leaning out now. My main focus will be to burn fat around the clock while maintaining and even building new muscle mass. Now, as a former skinny guy who found it almost impossible to build muscle, I have always been a little afraid of “cutting”. I always had that fear that I might end up back where I started…however I have come to terms with the fact that this is not likely to happen…at all.
You see, losing muscle mass is close to impossible for anyone regularly lifting weights and over 4-6% body fat.
“The only time your body will use muscle for energy is when your body is demanding more than it can supply.”
Today I wanted to go ahead and share an example of what my daily meals and supplements look like at the moment. This diet and supplementation regimen is allowing me to burn fat without sacrificing muscle AND without having to do ANY steady state cardio. That is right, I plan to get ripped without cardio! I am doing two days of 15-20 minutes HIIT and THAT’S IT! Not to mention, despite being in a calorie deficit, my energy levels are much higher and stress levels have even decreased drastically.
Calculating YOUR Simple Six Pack Diet
The calculation for calories is very simple. Take your bodyweight and multiply it by 14. The number you get will be the amount of calories you will consume on a daily basis. Pick one day out of the week and make that your “weigh in day”. On that day (weigh in day) you will take your weight and recalculate your calorie intake.
For example:
183 pounds x 14 = 2,562 calories per day
Divide your daily caloric intake into 6 meals.
2,562 calories per day = 427 Calories per meal
2011 was a phenomenal year for expanding my muscle building knowledge. The things I’ve learned in 2011 have made me realize that when it comes to fitness, I have only scratched the surface. Just the techniques and knowledge I acquired in the last 4 months are mind blowing and could help ANYONE transform their bodies. The best thing about it all is that I have come to find that I have so much more to learn and so much more to share. So without further adieu, let’s get to the sharing part.
10 Muscle Building Techniques I Learned in 2011
1. Train with intention
This is one technique I learned from IFBB pro and creator of one of the best selling muscle building programs online titled “MI-40”, Benjamin Pakulski. Most people walk in the gym to train “legs” (for example) and don’t stop to think about what part of the leg, what workouts target those areas, and the ROM that is best to get the results they want. Instead, they have an idea of what workouts they feel like doing that day, focus only on training heavier, and put no emphasis on how to actually target that muscle for optimal growth.
2. NEVER have fats post workout
I was never big on fats after my workout, but I never really had a legitimate reason aside from “fats slow down the process of absorption”. If you want to take full advantage of the most important anabolic window of the day, it is crucial that you have the right meal following your workout. Putting fast acting carbohydrates in your body along with enough protein is crucial for increasing insulin when energy is low. However, insulin is a storage hormone and I am assuming you can guess what happens if you throw fats in your post workout shake/meal. Yep! You guessed right! The fat will only slow down the absorption of the protein to the muscle and the insulin will cause you to store the fat.
I was recently introduced to what may have been the most inspiring fitness documentary I have seen to date (and believe me I have seen them all). This documentary is titled “I want to look like that guy”. This film follows an “average Joe” on his journey to discover what it really takes to look like the guys on the fitness magazine covers.
What better way to look like a fitness model than to train like a fitness model right? This is why he hired IFBB pro Jeff Willet to help him with his transformation. What Stuart (MacDonald) discovers on his journey to a ripped six pack is shocking. And even more shocking than his discovery is his physical transformation. Over 40 years of age with a close to 30% body fat, Stuart manages to build a noticeable amount of drug free muscle mass while cutting down to a razor sharp 6% body fat with a simple diet and even simpler exercise plan… oh and did I mention this all happened in about 6 months?
I was so inspired by Stuart’s story that I had to share it with you guys. Before I just wrote a quick post about the film in hopes that you guys would check it out, I decided to reach out to Stuart and see if he would be interested in doing an interview. To my surprise, I was able to contact him and he was nice enough to let me conduct an interview. So without further adieu, let’s find out how this “average Joe” managed to transform his physique and look like the guys in the muscle mags without steroids or any dangerous drugs.
“I want to look like that guy” – Stuart Macdonald Interview
Stuart, can you tell me a little about yourself and what really pushed you to want to get a body like “the guy” in the fitness magazines?
Stuart: I’m a filmmaker and have been for the past 13 years. I’ve made about 300 commercials and corporate videos plus a short movie drama. I’m also into fitness. When the idea for the documentary struck I was struggling with my weight and thought about making a movie about my progress. The concept for the movie came out of pure curiosity. I did see the movie “Supersize Me” and thought it was great. That documentary was followed by others of the same kind of topic but no one was attempting something extraordinarily hard. That being said, I started a quest to explore what it takes to achieve the ideal body we are all sold when buying fitness products. The best part about my research showed me was that everyone has been affected by unrealistic expectations found in nearly every marketing piece I came across. The magazines with the guy or woman with chiseled abs on the cover or the perfect looking fitness model on TV telling you that “this product got me this incredible body in just 4-6 weeks!” The marketing these products use to back their products is like a perpetual money motion machine. They don’t work so the customer tries the next new “thing” and the cycle starts over. It’s basically an industry that’s selling snake oil on a scale so huge nothing can stop it. The only “out” these fitness and diet products have is the legal ease found deep in the fine print. “Results may vary, best if combined with diet and exercise.” The bold and large print on the label tells the consumer that the product will make you lose more weight in less time or cause your muscles to grow faster than any other method. To me, that’s fraud. People struggling with weight problems need an easy plan based on science and physiology NOT gimmicks. I also found the worst violations are the photos of the bodybuilders on steroids in photographs for supplements telling consumers that the product they use will give you HUGE gains, more power and lift heavier. The perceived result is that you’ll look like that guy in the photo, but you can’t unless you take steroids and trim down to 3 or 4% body fat, a very risky level that’s incredibly hard to maintain. The last sentence is really the thrust of the movie. The photo of fitness models is usually taken after months of dieting or in the case of bodybuilder’s right before or after a competition. No one is telling the world the reality of what it takes to look like that, until now.
When it comes to training your back, it is important that you target the different areas. There is the upper back which consists of mainly the traps. Then there is the mid back which consists of the rhomboids. Finally there is the lower lats or latissimus dorsi. In order to perform an entire back workout, you must train with different grips or hand positions in order to attack the target area of the back muscles.
I personally am one to train the entire back on “back day” because I feel it is what works best for me. Others may train upper back and mid back one day, then lats on another day. Some may even train mid and lats and leave traps for another day. Either way you go, you will develop an awesome back as long as you know what you are training as opposed to just walking in the gym and just “doing back”.
Here is one of my personal full back and lat workouts for size and strength:
Note: I personally like to warm up with a few sets of pull ups, you can warm up as you find fit for you. Typically I recommend warming up the muscle that you are going to train.
Most of us have probably fallen victim to holiday weight gain. This time of year is all about the four “F’s”… family, friends, fitness, and finances. It is the time of year where everyone gathers around their friends and family to enjoy amazing (not so healthy) food. For the most part, this is accompanied by financial stress from all of the holiday shopping. We all know how much stress can contribute to weight gain especially when surrounded by all of this awesome food. So today I am going to give you all a little treat. I am going to give you three simple tips you can start using today to get that holiday weight off and be on your journey to a ripped six pack.
Fat Burning Tip #1: Carbohydrate Timing
You might hear about these ridiculous diets that require you to drastically reduce your carbs and some may even have you eliminate them all together. If you have tried any of these, you can agree that they not only make you a grump and don’t allow you to work as well, but these side effects make them impossible to stay on for more than a short period of time. This is why I recommend about 40-45% of your calories come from carbohydrates (Complex carbs)…only you will time them in a way that will provide optimal fat loss without feeling like complete shit.
The only time we NEED carbohydrates are a couple of hours before our workout and for about 3 hours following our workout. Any other time and they are completely useless. You see, unless you are training first thing in the morning, your breakfast should consist of only protein and natural fats. The “meat and nuts breakfast” is not only a great way to avoid an insulin spike in the morning after a 7-9 hour fast, but it also regulates your blood sugar levels and increases energy and mental focus.
Daily Meal Example: Meal 1: Protein and Fats Meal 2: Protein and Carbs – Pre workout meal Meal 3: Protein and Carbs – Post workout meal (0-15 Minutes Post Workout) Meal 4: Protein, Carbs, and Fish Oils (45 Minutes Follow Post Workout Meal) Meal 5: Protein, Carbs, and Fish Oils (3 Hours Following Meal 4) Meal 6: Protein, 1 cup of veggies, fats (avocado, olive oil, mixed nuts)
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About Me
My name is Alain Gonzalez and I am NOT a bodybuilder. However, I have managed to gain over 40 lbs of drug free muscle in record time and I am here to show you how you can as well.
