Christian Thibaudeau - DR - Jekyll & MR - Hyde
Christian Thibaudeau - DR - Jekyll & MR - Hyde
Christian Thibaudeau - DR - Jekyll & MR - Hyde
Chapter 1
What is a body transformation?
Page 2 of 200 2
“TC, it looks like you will let anybody write for your magazine. That new
guy, Christian Thibaudeau doesn’t even look like he trains, why should I
trust him?”
- Dan W.
11/16/2002
INTRODUCTION
Not so long ago when men went out they might spend a few minutes
combing their hair and made an effort to select the shirt that wasn’t as dirty
as the others and that was it. Now we have men going to the hairdresser right
before hitting the supermarket, selecting the right fuchsia tank top to fit
perfectly with their brand new shirt… unbuttoning said shirt just enough to
let that tank peak just right, giving that “neglected” look (that’s right, men
now spend 30-45 minutes adjusting their clothing in such a way that they
look neglected). Basically looking good is now just as important for men as
it is for women. Face it; most men want two things when going out:
Page 3 of 200 3
And in many circumstances focusing on clothing will work. Just buy the
coolest treads, get a jazzy haircut (or go for the shaved look… all real men
are shaved you know!) and voila, you are an instant sex symbol. However
what happens when your amour of illusion (your clothes) aren’t there to
improve your image? When the clothes fly off? Do you look good nekkid?
You bring a smashing girl to your place; she was seduced by how great you
looked when you met her. You get ready to start to know each other when all
of a sudden your armor falls off and, as Homer Simpson would say “Look at
that flubber fly”. You built yourself pretty high up and now you’re sure to hit
the ground pretty hard when you fall of your pedestal sire!
This book will be adequate for both the natural trainee and the enhanced
one. Each of Christian’s chapters will deal will the natural ways (training
and nutrition) of improving your physique and will provide complete plans
to reach your goals. Anthony’s chapters will be tagged after each of
Page 4 of 200 4
Christian’s chapters and will provide “advanced” ways of making the
training and nutrition plans outlined more effective.
In the world of strength training there are several specific goals, reasons why
people slave and sweat day-in and day-out lifting heavy things for the heck
of it (are we crazy?). Many of these goals are pretty much well defined and
understood by most as they’ve been around for a long time: gaining strength,
building muscle size, losing fat, improving performance, getting “in-shape”
(whatever that means) and, for most … making friends while pretending to
be training! To that list of objective we now must add body transformation, a
catchy term that is actually simple to understand. But before we get into that,
here’s a table describing the different types of goals that peoples who train
with weights may have.
Goal Description Comments
Can either be general, as in strengthening every muscle group for
its own sake; or specific to a greater objective? For example
improving squat/bench press/deadlift strength for a powerlifting
Strength gains Consists of training to improve the capacities of the competition; the snatch and clean & jerk for an Olympic lifting
muscles to lift heavier weights. competition; or specific events if competing in strongmen
competitions.
Page 5 of 200 5
A real life story of a genetic anomaly – The Christian Thibaudeau’s
story
A thought suddenly
entered my mind: how
could I expect peoples to
follow my advice if I
looked like hot fecal
matter (notice the nice euphemism). After all, if
my job is to get peoples in great shape, how come I
wasn’t?
Page 6 of 200 6
lost more than 30 pounds of fat while gaining some muscle. Going from
18% body fat (and that’s being nice!) to 5% body fat.
If you are fat and want to become lean and ripped we’ll show you how. If
you are skinny and weak and want to become muscular and strong we’ll also
show you how. Basically this is not merely a book: it’s a roadmap to the best
body you can achieve!
BEFORE WE GO ON …
Just a little something before we get back to showing you how to become
sexay. One thing that often boggles our mind is how many “experts” or
“gurus” publish training or nutrition books about how to become muscular,
lean or both and yet don’t even look the part themselves. If someone touts
himself as a specialist in body transformation he should normally be able to
get himself in good shape, no? I mean, if he has all the answers the tricks of
the trade and the secrets that can unlock one’s capacity to get a beautiful
body it goes to reason that he would be able to use some of these to get into
good shape himself (unless the out of shape “expert” likes to be weak or fat
for some unexplainable reason).
Now, don’t misinterpret what we’re saying, having a lean and muscular
body is in no way an indication of one’s knowledge about getting in shape.
Some are genetically gifted to have a lean, muscular body and will get
results from the dumbest approach possible. We are not implying that an
expert trainer should be as muscular as a pro bodybuilder, look good as a
Calvin Klein model or be as strong as a top powerlifter. We do have some
genetic limitations to the ultimate best we can reach; an expert may very
well be genetically cursed in the muscularity department. However,
everybody can make tremendous strides in appearance. Every man can go
down to at least 8-10% body fat and build some muscle. Considering that
fact, I would be weary of any self-proclaimed expert that doesn’t even look
like he applied his own techniques.
Page 7 of 200 7
Christian used to be a fat tub of lard (although he was pretty strong with a
600lbs full squat, 420lbs raw bench press and 365lbs clean at the time) but
when he decided to get ripped, he was able to do so in minimal time despite
having the worst genetic and sociological background for being lean.
Everybody wants to look good, even the “experts”, it is human nature. So
when someone supposedly has all the tools to get it done, cannot even get
past an average-guy look I’d be at least a bit weary about sending him/her
some money for his secrets.
As we saw earlier if you want to build a kick ass physique you will need to:
a) build muscle
b) lose fat
c) improve posture
The four basic strategies that we will use to mold your physique are:
1. Strength training (to build muscle, lose fat, improve your posture)
2. Energy systems work (to lose fat)
3. Nutrition (to build muscle and lose fat)
4. Supplementation (to magnify the muscle-building and fat-loss strategies)
If you get these basic four strategies, let’s call them the four wheels of body
transformation, perfect you will be able to build the body you want without
trouble. However it’s still not an overnight thing. The best training methods,
nutrition and supplements will not allow you to improve faster than your
genetic makeup will allow you to.
Page 8 of 200 8
process. However it cannot replace the four wheels: if you car has a flat in
one or two of its wheels, adding more power to your vehicle will not allow
you to drive faster or better. However if everything is in order, adding a
supercharger will improve the performance of your car.
Unless you’re genetically blessed with a naturally lean physique, if you want
to develop a body that will turn heads you must make sure that all four
wheels of the car are taken care of. Face it: if you bought this book in the
first place you are not a genetic freak and you are not blessed with the
capacity to build a lean physique easily. That’s nothing to be ashamed of;
most of us are in the same boat as you! It also doesn’t mean that you cannot
build a body to die for. It simply means that to get it, you must do everything
right.
Each of the wheels (and the supercharger) will be explained in the early
portion of this book. Christian (Dr. Jekyll) will tackle the training and
nutrition portions in his chapters while Anthony (Mr. Hyde) will focus on
the supplementation (both natural and pharmaceutical) aspects.
Afterwards we will give you several specific plans depending on your goals,
body type and initial shape. Finally we will include a “how-to-maintain”
guide. Once you get the body you want, how can you get back to a normal
life without getting back to being a fat slob? After all, who wants to look
good only 2 months out of the year?
Page 9 of 200 9
WHEEL NO.1: STRENGTH TRAINING / BUILDING MUSCLE
The first part of building a lean and muscular physique is to have muscle! A
marathon runner might have only 5-6% body fat, yet he looks about as
muscular as an anorectic runway model. Furthermore, the more muscle you
have, the easier it is to lose fat (muscle being one of the biggest energy user
in the body).
Why do muscles grow when we lift weight? It’s more than just pumping
some iron and downing protein shakes! Yes resistance training can lead to
gains in muscle size, especially when a proper nutritional plan is followed.
However the mere act of going to the gym and doing some random
exercises, for an unknown number of sets of an arbitrary amount of
repetitions is not a guarantee of significant muscle growth. Indeed some
individuals will spend years working out without making an ounce of
progress. You got to admire their tenacity though … they spend hours upon
hours in the gym yet still look like a coat rack or the Michelin man’s fatter
brother! A total lack of results will not discourage these poor chaps, no sir!
Well I’m here to tell you: don’t be that guy. If you are not making the kind
of progress you’d like chances are that you are not doing everything
optimally. Chances are that new muscle growth is just around the corner if
you learn how to unlock the door to maximum hypertrophy.
2. The duration that the muscle is placed under that level of tension. This is
also called the time under tension (TUT).
When you lift weights you inflict some damage to your muscle fibers. This
is called microtrauma. Simply put, the more damage you inflict, the greater
will the body’s response be. And the response to muscle damage is muscle
growth. This response, making the muscle tissue stronger and bigger, is a
defense mechanism designed to protect the body if the same type of physical
stress would ever occur again.
In that regard training is much like a vaccine. A doctor will inject a weak
form of a virus into your body; this is a form of physiological stress. Your
body perceives that stress and adapts to it by building anti-bodies against the
injected virus. So if that same virus ever surfaces again, the body will be
equipped to fight it.
However what would happen if instead of a weak from of the virus, the
doctor would inject the real thing? Would you build even more anti-bodies?
No, you would get sick! Same goes with training: the more damage you
inflict on your muscles, the greater the growth stimulus will be, however if
you exceed your capacity to recover you will regress not progress.
Page 11 of 200 11
Acceleration
Mass
Load to be lifted and Force necessary to Intramuscular tension
accelerated lift and accelerate necessary to produce
the load the necessary force
So basically you can increase force output either by lifting big weights or by
lifting explosively. So basically, the heavier you lift the faster you create
microtrauma. However when you lift big weights it’s impossible to have a
long TUT because only few reps are possible. So even if you create muscle
damage at a fast rate, the total amount of muscle damage created will be
small unless you perform a ton of sets (which isn’t always the best idea as its
very stressful for the nervous system).
On the other hand when you are doing a lot of reps per set or using a slow
lifting tempo you spend a lot of time causing muscle damage. However since
the load you will be able to use with such training parameters will be
relatively low, the total amount of microtrauma will also be small. So as
you can see to stimulate maximum hypertrophy limit weights (90%+) or
high reps (15+) are not the solution. Your best bet is to use a load heavy
enough to cause muscle damage rapidly, but low enough so that you can
perform sets lasting 30-60 seconds.
From the table above you can see that to stimulate maximum muscle growth
you should work in the 6-12RM zone (70-85%). That’s not to say that
training in the other zones is worthless. In fact including some low rep/high
intensity work (in the 3-5 reps range) can be very beneficial for muscle
growth, strength gain and improved muscle density. Training with higher
Page 12 of 200 12
reps (15-20 reps range) can increase capilarization and sarcoplasmic (non-
functional) hypertrophy. And working with even higher reps (30 or more)
can serve as active recovery following an intense session. The following
table briefly explains the benefits of each training zone.
To explain that fact we can use a simple analogy: a man starts to work a
physically demanding job (e.g. farm work). He does manual labor 8 hours a
day. At first he sure will get extremely tired at the end of the day and
painfully sore the next morning. But over time, the more experienced he
becomes at his job, the daily workload doesn’t affect his body as much. His
body has adapted to the very brutal physical demands of his work.
Same goes for strength training (which is basically artificial manual labor).
The more years a trainee has put in the trenches, the better his body is at
handling training related stress. So it should be obvious that the more
experienced a trainee is, the higher the training stress level should be to elicit
progress.
Page 13 of 200 13
Christiane Lamy knows a thing or two about manual labour, having worked on a farm for years.
Now understand that even if you train under the optimal intensity threshold,
or even under the acceptable intensity range, you can still stimulate some
muscle growth. However this increase in muscle size will mostly be of the
non-functional type. This is called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and it refers to
an increase in the elements of the muscle cell other than the muscle fibers.
As a result of this type of hypertrophy a muscle can get bigger but its
strength will not improve much, if at all.
Page 14 of 200 14
- +
Time Under Tension
Intramuscular tension
+ -
Mostly Functional hypertrophy/increase in muscle Mostly non-functional hypertrophy/increase in
fiber thickness sarcoplasmic volume
TENSION
Duration
12 secs. 20 secs. 30 secs. 50 secs. 70 secs.
80% 60%
Hypertrophy training zone
HORMONES AND TRAINING
Page 15 of 200 15
inform some tissues or structure that they must initiate a certain action. For
example, insulin sends the message to open up the storage room to facilitate
the entry of new nutrients to be stocked.
Lipogenesis Neoglucogenesis
Open
Insulin up!
Page 16 of 200 16
Hormonal responses to training
Page 17 of 200 17
Continued…
Lack of oxygen
increases the release.
Glycogen depletion
increase
catecholamines
response up to 3 fold.
During the recovery
period there in an
insulin rebound
which facilitate
Increases the entry of energy The production of insulin glycogen resynthesis
substrates in their respective decreases as soon as exercise and protein synthesis.
reserves. begins and blood levels starts to
fall when the intensity reaches When exercising,
Insulin Inhibits the release of the 50-75% of the max VO2. muscle contractions
stored substrates. can increase the
At intensity above 75% of the uptake of glucose by
Favors protein synthesis and max VO2 there is an increase in the muscles without
prevents muscle breakdown insulin blood level. any need for insulin.
Page 18 of 200 18
Continued (2) …
Increases fat
deposition/storage.
Moderate increase in plasma During ultra-
testosterone dependent on the endurance events the
Increases protein synthesis intensity level. cortisol/testosterone
(anabolism). ratio can go from 25
This increase is not due to a (at rest) to 120 (end
Partially inhibits the action of greater production, but rather to a of event).
Testosterone cortisol (anti-catabolic). lower hepatic clearance of the
hormone. Lifting heavy
Favors fat loss. weights and using
Significant decrease (35-60%) compound exercises
Increases glucose storage in during endurance events; might seems to lead to a
the muscles. be due to an increase in prolactin greater level of free
or to a restricted blood flow to and total testosterone.
the testes.
In the long run,
exercise will induce a
Regulates the hunger/satiety Leptin variations are more loss of bodyfat which
mechanism. dependent on the athlete’s will decrease leptin
Leptin nutritional state. production. However
Has a certain impact the hypothalamus
metabolic control. becomes more
sensitive to this
hormone (obese
peoples have tons of
leptin circulating but
they are resistant to
it).
Increases protein synthesis
(anabolism)
IGF-1 levels increases in Both insulin and
Insulin-like growth factor 1 Might increase muscle cell proportion of hGH but with a 12 hGH are needed to
(IGF-1) proliferation and ultimately hours delay. So what applies for stimulate the release
hyperplasia (production of hGH also applies to IGF-1. of IGF-1.
new muscle fibers).
Page 19 of 200 19
Some useful observations
Compound movements that involve more than one joint at the same time
and a large amount of muscle simultaneously seem to cause a greater
testosterone production.
When using energy systems work (cardio) to loose fat it is best to stay
below 75% of your max VO2 because that’s where insulin levels are
decreases and thus when fat use for fuel is facilitated. Above 75% there
is an increase in insulin levels and that might block fatty acids release.
Page 20 of 200 20
So to recap …
Hormonal
responses
CNS
activation
External
resistance and
type of
contraction
Page 21 of 200 21
So we can make the following comments:
Heavy lifting and higher reps work can both increase hypertrophy, but
via different pathways.
Testosterone and hGH can both be anabolic and biolytic; these two
hormones are maximized by different types of training (heavy lifting and
high density work) so both types should be used to maximize
hypertrophy.
To get the most out of your training you should use methods that target
both the muscles and the CNS.
EXCELLENT!
Page 22 of 200 22
Chapter 2
What is chemical body transformation?
Page 23 of 200 23
Welcome to the darkside…my side of body transformation. If you aren’t
familiar with this side of body transformation, don’t worry. It’s not all about
injections and drugs. Body Transformation appears to happen on the outside,
but in reality, you change from the inside out. There
are chemical and biological changes which occur
inside of you, well before you start to notice the
changes on the outside. First, I’ll tell you a bit about
them- then in later chapters, I’ll tell you how to
“tweak” them by using a variety of nutritional…and
yes, chemical, tricks.
As Christian so eloquently put it, we need to think of the body as a car. Our
car can not run without tires and an engine, and we need to remember that.
The addition of performance (and appearance) enhancing drugs or
supplements can not replace the foundations of solid training or nutrition.
Rather they should be thought as
adding a supercharger to a car.
Actually, we’ll be adding a
supercharger, a custom exhaust,
better gears, and a new body!
Page 24 of 200 24
Testicular Axis and androgens in general (including both endogenous and
exogenous androgens), the GH/IGF axis (including insulin), the Thyroidal
axis and thyroid gland, and finally the adrenergic system. Although this list
is by no means all-inclusive of every system contained within the human
body, by focusing on these key systems (and manipulating them) we’ll be
able to see maximum results in minimal time.
So we’ll take a look at each of those four key areas in this chapter, so that in
later chapters you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about, and you can
decide if tinkering with them is something you’re interested in. But let’s be
realistic about things…
So now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at the
first of those four systems I told you about.
Your body has within it a system of glands that secrete substances internally.
This is known as your endocrine system. The way I remember this is that it’s
the internal version of sweating. When you sweat, your body senses a
change in the temperature of your body (heat), and begins to release sweat to
cool it off. This is a way that your body maintains a comfortable temperature
for your skin- in other words; it’s a way of maintaining healthy body
temperature. Your body strives to maintain homeostasis, or a state of
equilibrium where normal function within the body is maintained. This is
your body’s way of maintaining the status quo. Internally, your endocrine
system works the same way. It maintains a healthy environmental
Page 25 of 200 25
equilibrium for you by secreting or not secreting certain hormones.
However, this homeostatic system is not particularly great for us if we want
to look good (or great) at the beach or on a stage.
But this system has evolved over thousands of years, and has developed over
that time to help you survive. And you know what helps you survive? Well,
for starters, the body likes to maintain a nice, healthy layer of adipose tissue
(fat) in order to help you survive hunger and famine. But I’m going to guess
that if you’re reading this book, chances are you won’t have to survive
through a famine any time soon …and the last time you were hungry you
probably walked to your ‘fridge and got a snack.
None.
But the thing is, your body is the result of thousands of years of evolutionary
progress…and it doesn’t like change. In other words, it hasn’t quite gotten
with the times yet…it hasn’t figured out that there’s no famine in your near
future. And unfortunately, this means it wants to hold on to as much fat as
possible.
You see, too much (excess) muscle is not a great idea, from an evolutionary
point of view. You see, your body doesn’t like to build too much muscle,
because that muscle aids in the burning of stored body fat for fuel. And your
body is still in cave-man mode when it comes to this idea- it wants to protect
you against that next famine. Cave-men, as you may recall, could not just
run to the supermarket for some food.
Page 26 of 200 26
mass you’ll carry, and an inversely proportionate relationship to the amount
of fat you carry.
So you see, in your body is a system of hormones which we can use to help
us…and the first hormones of interest to us is our primary androgen, or male
sex hormone; testosterone. Androgens are substances with the ability to
develop and maintain male sexual characteristics. In addition to this
characteristic, they also aid in building muscle as well as burning fat. As you
may suspect, your body isn’t too fond of allowing too much of them to
circulate. Don’t worry, though, we can always add more (to be discussed at
length in a later chapter). Testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) are
the primary androgens in the body, but there are other (less than natural)
androgens which are all similar in that they create both an anabolic (muscle
building) as well as androgenic effect, serving to build muscle as well as
burn fat. Clearly, we want to elevate these hormones as much as humanly
possible. If you remember one thing about androgens, remember the point I
touched upon in the preceding paragraph: Levels of androgens in your body
will directly correlate with the amount of fat free mass you have, and
inversely correlate with the amount of stored bodyfat you carry. As Christian
explained in the preceding chapter, one way that we can elevate testosterone
is by resistance training. As you might expect, another is to inject it.
Well, bear with me for a second, because this may get slightly complicated.
Testosterone is synthesized from cholesterol. So, that stuff that you were
always told was bad for you (cholesterol) is actually converted within your
body into testosterone. As you might suspect, eating a high cholesterol diet
often produces an increased level of
testosterone. This isn’t a license to begin
eating all the fried eggs and bacon that you
want, however. There is a diminishing
return on dietary cholesterol and its ability
to be converted to testosterone…in other
words, some cholesterol in your diet is
actually good, but too much is still bad.
Still, the world renowned powerlifters of
Westside Barbell club mostly swear by a
high cholesterol diet. And having met quite a few of them personally, I can
tell you that they swear a lot…
Page 27 of 200 27
Cholesterol is converted into testosterone by something called the Leydig
Cells, which (in men) are located in the testes. To do this, 2 enzymes
(cytochrome P450 and 3 and 17 ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases) are
required, in addition to cholesterol. When these enzymes interact with
cholesterol, they can form Testosterone in your body. Then, after
testosterone is produced it can elicit a variety of anabolic and androgenic
effects. As previously stated, this is a good thing, because the more
testosterone you have circulating, the more muscular you will likely be. So
now that we have covered where testosterone comes from, how does the
body actually receive the signal to release it from the testes?
So, once testosterone is created it has the ability to in turn to undergo various
metabolic processes that will inhibit GnRH, which in turn inhibits the
secretion of LH and FSH, and that brings a halt to natural testosterone
production. This is the negative feedback loop.
Page 28 of 200 28
One of those metabolic processes is called “aromatization”. This is the
conversion of testosterone into Estrogen via the aromatase enzyme. And
guess what? The more estrogen you have in your body, the less muscular
and more fat you’re going to be. Think of it as the hormonal opposite of
testosterone.
The production of estrogen as well as other factors all add up to put a halt to
the production of testosterone as well hindering our body transformation
efforts. And once testosterone has stopped being produced, it no longer
converts to the hormones which send the negative feedback signal, and
GnRH eventually begins to do its job again when it senses the need for more
testosterone. In this way, your body prevents excess hormones from being
secreted and thus maintains homeostasis- the dreaded status quo.
Nervous system
Hypothalamus
Feedback loop to
‘inform’ our body GnRH
HPTA to inhibit or (Gonadatropin
increase testosterone releasing hormone)
production
Pituitary
Estrogen DHT
Aromatase 5-alpha
reductase LH (Luteinizing hormone)
FSH (follicle stimulating
hormone)
Cholesterol
Page 29 of 200 29
So now we know that we want some testosterone (as much as possible)
floating around, but how does it actually do what it does?
Once the androgen arrives in the nucleus, it begins a process known as “gene
transcription” which basically means that it delivers a message to your cells.
The message can be a variety of things, build more muscle or burn more fat
(i.e. transform my body!).
Capillary/Blood vessel
Testosterone
Receptor
Dimer
DNA
mRNA
Protein
Nucleus
mRNA
Page 30 of 200 30
It’s important to note that testosterone and the actions of testosterone and
other sex steroids also play an important role with regards to modulating and
regulating both the Thyroidal and GH/IGF Axis, as well as having some
interaction with the adrenergic system. If you haven’t guessed by now, the
four main areas I’m going to focus on are all inter-related.
Remember that enzyme that deactivates DHT (3a-HSD)? Well, just because
DHT is not anabolic per se in muscle tissue, doesn’t mean that it can’t be
tweaked and modified to be anabolic. Indeed, most synthetic
anabolic/androgenic steroids (AAS) were developed by tweaking either
testosterone, DHT, or a version of testosterone which has had a slight
modification to the 19th carbon position (the last one being known as 19-nor
steroids). These modifications to the base molecules of various AAS were
made to meet the various and differing needs of clinical androgen
deficiency. And, of course, we (yes, you and I) can use them to meet our
body transformation goals.
Page 31 of 200 31
nor family. Some steroids in the testosterone family of derivations, such as
methyltestosterone and fluoxymesterone are only relatively androgenic and
don’t produce much actual muscle gain (despite their very high anabolic
ratings) and they are the ones typically indicated for both male and female
androgen replacement therapy; while others like the DHT-derived
oxandrolone are highly anabolic and produce very little in the way of
androgenic effects. So what we have in our arsenal of anabolics is a wide
range of varying effects and potencies, as well as special properties- all of
which we will exploit in our quest for body transformation (if the chemically
enhanced route is one you are going to pursue).
There have been literally hundreds of catalogued synthetic AAS that have
been developed throughout the years, although their widely varying modes
of action are not completely understood. Surprisingly, although we’ve been
studying the human body for two millennia’s, this also holds for the
naturally occurring androgens as well- testosterone and DHT. Androgens are
able to exert at least some of their actions through binding to the Androgen
Receptor (AR) and some of them quite independently of the AR. The
androgen attaches to a receptor, forms a homodimer with another
Androgen/AR pair, and travels to the cell nucleus, initiates a process known
as gene transcription, then travels back to the cell membrane.
You still with me? Basically, we need to think of this like going to a party,
alright? Let’s think of the androgen as a car, and the receptor as a parking
space, ok? Once the car is parked, the people can get out, go inside to the
party, and do their thing. At some point, later on in the night (or the early
morning, if you’re like me), the people leave and go back to where they
came from. Got it?
Page 32 of 200 32
This type of androgen action on various target cells, as I said previously,
remains only partially understood. Originally it was believed that androgens
exerted their various and differing effects only through what is known as a
cytosolic androgen receptor present, which was located only in sex-
dependent tissues of the body. However, now we know that things are
actually much more complex. There are actions exerted b y androgens
known as direct (or genomic, i.e. requiring gene transcription) as well as
effects characterized as indirect (or non-genomic). Both types of effects have
furthermore been uncovered in virtually every tissue of the human body.
Androgen receptors have also been localized and characterized in many
tissues previously not considered androgen sensitive. Now we know that
androgen receptors are present in both two differing parts of the cell; the
cytosolic as well as nuclear cellular compartments. So how does all of this
factor into body transformation?
Well, we need to manipulate these hormones and have the body receive the
messages we want it to receive, not the ones it has been receiving all along.
If the body continues to maintain the same levels of testosterone, the same
levels of Growth Hormone, and the same level of thyroid activity, then the
body will maintain the same look that it has had previously. We’re trying to
transform the body here, not maintain it. And as Christian said in the first
chapter, there are many reasons for wanting to change the look of your body.
But we want it to function well also, as he and I both come from athletic
Page 33 of 200 33
backgrounds…and manipulating hormones is only one piece of the body
transformation puzzle. But we need to understand what we’re manipulating
first, as I told you, the changes will occur on a cellular level before you start
to notice them in the mirror. So lets get back to androgens, and continue
figuring out what they do, ok?
Now where was I? Oh…direct and indirect actions of androgens. Now that
you have a better understanding of those 2 types of androgen action, I’ll
finish up with androgens and the HPTA. Hold on because we’re almost
done…Now, although androgens possess both genomic (direct) and non-
genomic (indirect) actions, we typically see that the majority of their actions
is through direct activation of DNA transcription (this is the people at the
party, remember?). This all takes place through AR stimulation which
occurs, as you know, by interaction with the androgen. Although the AR is
generally thought to reside primarily in the cytoplasm of the cell, there is e
androgen (ligand) diffuses into the cytoplasm and binds to the part of the
receptor called, and eventually causes the transcription of RNA into mRNA.
This messenger RNA (mRNA) which was created from the DNA template
of the gene then leaves the nucleus and enters the cytoplasm, where it serves
as a template for the construction of a specific protein which will cause a
particular effect within the body. Since this transcription involves genes, it is
(obviously) a genomic effect.
Interestingly, (and oddly) androgens may also act indirectly on cells without
the presence of an AR. In this case, it may be that androgens might act as
mediators of secondary transcription factors, either acting in the regulation
both autocrine and paracrine mediators of gene expression or that they may
(either instead or in addition) influence the secretion of various other
hormones that in turn mediate androgen effects in distant tissues. Some of
these effects may also be the result of some (plasma protein bound)
androgen interaction with other extracellular receptors.
Finally, the various structures of our androgen responsive genes vary in such
a way that some genes are apparently more easily activated by certain
androgens, with particular structures, than by others with differing
Page 34 of 200 34
structures. This could explain how/why there are divergent effects from
various steroids as well.
GH can stimulate the body’s cells to both increase in size, as well as undergo
more rapid cell division. It also enhances the movement of amino acids
through cell membranes and helps to increase the rate at which these cells
convert these molecules into proteins. These effects have an anabolic
(muscle building) effect in the human body.
And since we’re talking about transforming our bodies here, it’s important to
note that GH has the ability to cause cells to decrease the rate at which they
Page 35 of 200 35
utilize carbohydrates, and concurrently increase the rate at which they use
fats.
Additionally, since we’re concerned with performance and not just looks,
it’s important to note that Growth Hormone can actually improve
submaximal aerobic ability and also exerts a positive effect on
erythropoeisis (bringing more oxygenated blood to your muscles).
But Growth hormone isn’t just another hormone that is both a fat burner and
an anabolic (as we see with testosterone); it also has the ability to stimulate
the production of cartilage. This may require the presence of a mediator
substance, Somatomedin (IGF), which is released from the liver in response
to GH. A majority of the anabolic effects of growth hormone are in fact
mostly due to IGF-1 acting on its target cells, and not GH directly doing so.
Of course, this is why it’s called an indirect effect. GH, however, does not
need to produce IGF to elongate bone tissue. And finally, GH causes the
secretion of IGF and actually increases insulin resistance, IGF-1 increases
insulin sensitivity. WE want to be more insulin sensitive, to burn more fat
and use our foodstuffs more efficiently.
Page 36 of 200 36
Nervous system
Hypothalamus
GHRH
(growth hormone
releasing hormone)
Pituitary
Growth Hormone
Bones
Liver
IGF-1
IGF-1
IGF-1
Skeletal muscle
Page 37 of 200 37
Protein synthesis
Insulin sensitivity
IGF-1
Number of muscle cells
Muscle hypertrophy
Page 38 of 200 38
is called T3, or also called triiodothyronine. If you’ve been playing along at
home, you have probably guessed that this one has 3 iodine atoms.
I I I
OH
O O
I I I I
CH2 CH2
CH2
CH CH
CH
But, this isn’t the only way to raise body temperature. You have a distant
cousin of the temperature elevating thyroid gland in the short lived effects
you experience from stimulation of your adrenoreceptors.
What am I talking about? I’m talking about the final piece of the
puzzle…and one that typically gives the user the most instant gratification
out of all the stuff I’ve covered so far: Beta and alpha 1 and 2 (or in some
less important cases, the third type, or type 3 receptor) agonists and/or
antagonists. These are the two types of adrenergic receptors, alpha and beta,
and there are various sub-types of each.
The most well known of the adrenoreceptors are the beta receptors. Beta
receptors are embedded in the cell's outer phospholipid membrane, and are
stimulated by all the really popular stimulants…ephedrine, clenbuterol, etc...
These can further be divided into three subtypes 1, 2, & 3, (of which we are
primarily concerned with types 1 & 2) while the alpha receptors are broken
only into subtypes 1 & 2.
Alpha receptors differ from beta receptors in that they are activated at
significantly lower catecholamine levels than are the beta receptors. A
catecholamine is simply an organic compound that affects the sympathetic
nervous system. For example, dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine are
all catecholamines.
Page 40 of 200 40
to know more about them in order to transform our bodies…and I’ll tell you
why.
So what do beta receptors have to do with all this? Well, when you stimulate
your beta receptors, it causes something called vasodilatation (increased
blood flow). It also stimulates the breaking down of fatty acids into the
blood stream for use as fuel (eventually)…and as I’m sure you can guess,
the breaking down and transport of fatty acids to be used as fuel will cause a
reduction in fat. Therefore, we can see that both beta 1 & 2 receptors have
the ability to increase energy expenditure and free up body fat to be used as
fuel. Also, when they are stimulated both Beta-1 adrenergic stimulation and
Beta-2 adrenergic stimulation can also increase your body temperature a bit
(just like your thyroid, remember?) by increasing heat production in the
cell’s powerhouse, the mitochondria, and also increase your basal metabolic
rate, and decrease your appetite.
So when I noted that women have less of those receptors and more of a
particular alpha type, this means that women will store fat in their hips and
ass because they posses a higher alpha2 binding ability in lower body
adipose than men, and have a pronounced decreased energy expenditure in
gluteal obesity due to having less beta receptors in the area. Later on in the
book, we’ll learn how to stimulate the right beta and alpha receptors to elicit
the ideal fat burning effect and rapidly transform our bodies from flab to fab.
Page 41 of 200 41
Chapter 3
Energy systems work/Fat
mobilization & oxidation
Page 42 of 200 42
ENERGY SYSTEMS WORK (CARDIO)/FAT LOSS
The second part of our body transformation equation is minimizing body fat.
It’s one thing to have a muscular base, it’s quite another to be able to show it
to the world! Face it, you can have all the muscle mass in the world, if you
have an inch of blubber covering your whole body you won’t look good
nekkid.
Shedding body fat to very low levels can actually make you look bigger. It’s
true. While the scale and measuring tape might tell you that you’re
technically getting “smaller”, the fact that you are gaining muscle definition
and separation creates the illusion of more size.
Take a quick look at the before and after pictures of Sébastien Cossette, a
young bodybuilder I trained for his first competition in 2005. In the “before”
pictures he is actually something like 15-20lbs heavier than in the “after”
ones. However we will all agree that he looks much bigger after his
transformation.
Page 43 of 200 43
Still not convinced? Here are a few more examples. Below you can see two-
times Olympian Pascal Caron,
who looks very muscular. He has
what most would define as the
perfect “beach body”. Many
people when they see him think
that he is at least 190lbs (on
5’8”) yet he barely tips the scales
at 165lbs! But since he carries
less than 6% body fat year round,
he looks much bigger than he
Page 44 of 200 44
really is (btw, he has bench pressed 425lbs and 225lbs x 33 reps at that body
weight).
In the “casual” shots she is actually around 10-15lbs heavier than in the
contest shape pictures.
So as you can see the amount of body fat covering your muscles can make a
huge difference on how muscular and large you look (and face it, it’s about
looking good; nobody goes to the beach with a measuring tape or a scale to
prove how big they are).
Now that we’ve established the importance of minimizing body fat (if you
want to look good) we’ll briefly tackle the first part of the fat loss equation:
energy systems work, also known as “cardio”.
Let’s face it, writing and reading about cardio is about as boring as doing it!
As bodybuilders or lifting enthusiasts we love everything related to hoisting
weights, we could read or talk about it all day. But when it comes to cardio,
if you’re like me, you tend to skip right through those chapters … right?
Well, don’t do it this time. I’ll take it easy on you and will only give you the
Cliff notes version. But take the time to assimilate the info because if you
want to get very lean and muscular you’ll probably have to become friend
Page 45 of 200 45
with the treadmill, stepmill, stationary bike or other such instruments of
torture.
When it comes to losing body fat, cardio can either be used as an indirect fat
loss agent (by increasing caloric expenditure) or as a direct fat loss agent (by
increasing fat mobilization and oxidation). We will first talk about the
indirect effect as it’s the simplest one. Let’s take a look at the following
figure:
CALORIC CALORIC
INTAKE EXPENDITURE
This figure shows how the difference in caloric intake vs. caloric
expenditure can stimulates fat loss or fat gain. Basically if you “burn” more
calories than you ingest you’ll have to dip into your energy stores (either fat
stores, glycogen stores or, God forbid, our amino acid reserves) to provide
the necessary energy to function. This is where energy system work can
have an indirect effect: by increasing the amount of calories we “burn” each
day. In that regard it doesn’t matter if the type of “cardio” we perform relies
on fat or glucose/glycogen for energy; as long as it helps create a caloric
deficit, it will help stimulate fat loss.
Page 46 of 200 46
Without going into too much details, note that strength training also have a
profound impact on caloric expenditure. First it directly increases it (you
need to burn calories to fuel your workouts) but it also raise caloric
expenditure indirectly by increasing muscle mass. The more muscle you
have, the higher your metabolism will be.
a) increasing fat mobilization (pulling out fatty acids stored as body fat to
fuel the activity)
In regard to fat mobilization, take note that the more intense the effort (e.g.
interval training, sprinting) the more you’ll rely on glucose/glycogen for fuel
(so the less fat you’ll directly use). On the other hand, the more intense the
work is, the more calories you use per minute. So if you go too low on the
intensity scale even if most of the energy comes from fat oxidation, the total
amount of fat burned will not be significant. The following table shows
where the fuel comes from when training (cardio) at various intensities of
effort:
So as you can see, to directly stimulate fat use the ideal training intensity is
between 65 and 70% of your maximum heart rate. Training below that range
will increase the proportion of fat use, but the caloric expenditure will be too
low to have a significant impact on fat loss (unless you perform the activity
for a very, very long period of time).
Page 47 of 200 47
LONG AND SLOW OR SHORT AND HARD?
There are several types of “cardio” you can perform on your way to
leanness. All of these can normally be grouped into two camps:
1. Long and slow: low intensity of work (65-70%) for a relatively long
period of time (30-45 minutes).
2. Short and hard: high intensity of work (75-90%) for shorter periods of
time or intervals. GPP work such as sled dragging, sledgehammer striking,
sandbag carrying can also be included in this camp.
Both types will help you lose fat but not via the exact same action. The long
and slow techniques will favor direct fat oxidation over the total caloric
expenditure increase while the short and hard techniques will act primarily
via an increase in total energy expenditure rather than on direct fat
mobilization.
If you are on a very restrictive diet you should avoid short and hard
cardio work because you are already causing a severe caloric deficit,
dipping too low could lead to muscle loss.
If you are on a low-carbs diet you should also avoid short and hard
sessions because these rely heavily on glycogen for energy. When you
don’t consume a lot of carbs your body will not be able to store a lot of
glycogen and the little that you have will be needed to fuel your strength
training workouts. Performing short and hard cardio work while in a
glycogen-depleted state also increases the risk of muscle catabolism as
the body will tend to breakdown muscle tissue into amino acids to
produce new glucose from them.
Page 48 of 200 48
If you wish to quickly deplete your glycogen stores (if you are using a
cyclical low-carbs diet and wish to deplete your glycogen stores after a
carb-up to get back into a fat burning state as fast as possible) you can
perform a short and hard session.
There really is no need to explain long and slow cardio work as it’s pretty
straight-forward: train for 30-45 minutes at an intensity level of 65-70% of
your maximum heart rate. You can use the treadmill, stepmill, stationary
bike, recumbent bike, x-vest walking, etc. as long as you are in the proper
intensity and duration range you’ll be fine.
But what about short and hard techniques? Well, here are a few of my
favorites:
400-Meter Running
I discovered the high fat-burning potency of 400 meter sprints without really
looking for it. I use a lot of 400m running with my hockey players, mostly
because it develops the energy system they require the most during a game.
However, I quickly noticed how lean they were getting shortly after starting
400m runs. They were not only getting leaner but stronger!
I then experimented with the 400m for fat-loss purposes and found time after
time how efficacious it truly was. To this day I still believe that few things
can match up with 400m runs for fat loss.
For mathematically impaired Americans who never ran track in high school,
400 meters is one lap around a standard track.
Page 49 of 200 49
I recommend using 400-meter sprints once per week at first as they’re very
hard work! However, some of my athletes use up to three sessions per week,
two being the norm.
Interval Running
This form of training is a bit less intense and stressful than 400-meter
sprints. It can be started at a frequency of twice per week, building-up to
three or four times per week for maximum fat loss. Stay with two weekly
sessions if you're trying to build muscle.
Here's an example:
Page 50 of 200 50
CARDIO: WHEN TO DO IT?
There is a big debate regarding the optimal time to perform cardio to shed a
maximum of fat. The biggest aspect of that debates is in regard to morning
(upon waking up) cardio. Some say that it can drastically increase the
amount of fat you use while others state that it can actually be quite
catabolic especially if performed in a completely fasted state. So, who’s
right?
Pro #1: Morning cardio could potentially increase the amount of free fatty
acids (FFA) used up as fuel. This is not due to performing cardio in a
glycogen depleted state though, since this isn't happening here. Unless you
go to sleep in an already depleted state, you won't wake up in such a state.
During sleep almost 100% of the energy expended comes from fatty acids
because of the extremely low intensity of the activity and because of the
natural hGH burst which occurs 30 minutes or so after you enter the deep
sleep phase (hGH increases fatty acid mobilization).
So you really aren't depleting your intramuscular glycogen stores during the
night. You might be tapping your hepatic glycogen stores slightly, but even
then that can't account for much since at best this contains maybe 200-
300kcals of stored energy. So it's a fallacy to believe that when you wake up
your muscles are emptied of their glycogen.
However, since fat is the primary energy source during your sleeping period,
chances are that upon waking you have a greater amount of free fatty acids
available. Since you don't have to mobilize them (they're already freed up)
they become easier to oxidize for fuel and are thus more readily used up
during morning cardio.
Pro #2: Fasted morning cardio could also potentially be glycogen-sparing for
the same reason as stated above: the greater availability of FFAs reduces the
reliance of glycogen for fuel during low-intensity energy systems work.
Pro #3: Fasted morning cardio could lead to an improved fatty acid
mobilization during exercise and increase insulin sensitivity afterwards. This
might be true of exercise at a low level of intensity (50-75% of max VO2)
Page 51 of 200 51
since this decreases insulin levels via the stimulation of adrenergic receptors.
A lower insulin level can increase fatty acid mobilization.
However, a higher intensity of work (above 75% of max VO2) can actually
have the opposite effect. So in that regard a moderate or even low intensity
of work would seem to be superior in the morning as far as fat mobilization
goes. (Galbo, 1983, Poortmans et Boiseau, 2003)
So in that regard, morning cardio in a fasted state could increase fat loss
during a cutting period and allow a bodybuilder in a bulking phase to
significantly increase his carb intake without gaining more fat.
However there aren’t just bright aspects to fasted morning cardio. If fasted
state cardio could potentially increase fat mobilization, it's also potentially
more catabolic to muscle tissue. This is due to an increase in cortisol
production during fasted exercise. Since cortisol levels are already high in
the morning, this could lead to more muscle wasting than during non-fasted
cardio.
In fact, cortisol levels could increase muscle breakdown and the use of
amino acids as an energy source. This is especially true if high-intensity
energy systems work is performed. If an individual uses lower intensity
(around 60-65% of maximum heart rate), the need for glucose and cortisol
release are both reduced and thus the situation becomes less catabolic.
However, I'll also play devil's advocate and say that morning cardio won't be
drastically more effective than post-workout or afternoon cardio work when
it comes to fat loss.
Page 52 of 200 52
Pre-strength workout cardio
Some peoples claim that performing the cardio first will provide for a good
warm-up and thus reduce the risk of injuries during the session and even
improve performance by increasing body temperature. This is actually true,
and a short 5-10 minutes warm-up before hitting the weights is certainly a
good idea in most cases; it really doesn’t apply to a full blown fat-loss cardio
session. While a short, low intensity warm-up can help with your
performance slaving on the treadmill for 45 minutes or hitting it hard with
intervals is a sure way to drain yourself and as a result it will end up sapping
your much needed strength thus reducing the efficacy of your lifting
workout. So if you decide to perform your cardio work along with your
lifting session it is much better to lift first and run second.
The last option is to perform your cardio on a non-lifting day. This can be
adequate if a low-intensity approach is used as it will not reduce recovery
capacities (it might actually help you recover faster). However if you decide
to use a short and hard approach, it might not be the best option (to do it on
your days off) especially if you are hitting the gym 4-5 times per week. A
high intensity cardio session is just about as stressful as a lifting workout, so
you basically are not giving your body any break. While this may be okay if
fat loss is your only concern, it really isn’t right if you are interested in a
body transformation because muscle is built while you are recovering.
CONCLUSION
To get to a very low level of body fat, most peoples will need to perform
cardio work. The type of cardio selected will depend on the type of diet and
training program used. And while there will not be a huge difference in
progress depending on when you perform you sessions, the morning and
post-lifting windows seem to offer the best options in most cases.
Page 53 of 200 53
Chapter 4
Chemically-enhanced fat loss: the
adrenergic system
Page 54 of 200 54
In the second chapter I told you that we’d be going over something called
the adrenergic system. And since this chapter comes after the one on cardio,
I’m thinking that you already suspect that it somehow ties into that. Well,
the compounds I’m going to discuss in this chapter are going to make all of
the cardio you do on Christians’ program more effective. In other words,
these drugs are going to raise your metabolic rate so 20 minutes of cardio
gives you the same effect as a much longer session.
If you don’t remember, now might be a good time to brush up on what I said
previously in the chapter on the adrenergic system (Chapter 2, near the end),
because that information is going to be very relevant here, when I cover
some drugs which are agonists to the beta adrenergic system. If you’ll recall
(or if you cheat and go back and take a look at chapter 2), you remember
something about the adrenergic receptors, and that stimulating them causes
an increase in metabolic rate. Now, if you’re paying attention, you’ll
probably be realizing that this increase in metabolic rate will allow you to
burn calories (and body fat) around the clock, but would make your cardio
more effective as well. So here we are, after the cardio chapter, and I’m
going to let you in on some compounds that will help you burn more body
fat during your cardio.
Page 55 of 200 55
burned for energy, and the beta-receptor- stimulation also carries with it the
benefit of releasing more free fatty acids into the blood to be burned up as
energy. That’ll help you shed some of your body fat, and get you along your
way to a body transformation…ephedrine is probably the compound that
produces the quickest and most noticeable results in the least amount of
time. You’ll feel the elevation in body temperature and heart rate within half
an hour of taking it.
stimulates
Release of norepinephrine
binds to
Adenylate cyclase
Increases
cAMP levels
phosphorylates
stimulates
Page 56 of 200 56
Unfortunately, one thing you won’t feel immediately is the huge receptor
downgrade you’ll experience with ephedrine. Your beta receptors are the
“parking spaces” that different adrenergic chemicals “park” in. When you
keep parking “cars” in the spot, eventually you wear it down a bit. When
you use ephedrine, the receptors downgrade very quickly, and you notice a
diminished effect over time. This is called receptor down-regulation.
Stimulants are notorious for downgrading receptors, and ephedrine is one of
the worst offenders.
Page 57 of 200 57
because it keeps you from being hungry; and stimulation of the beta
receptors will also keep your appetite somewhat at bay, in and of itself.
It also helps many people focus in the gym, similar to caffeine, but with the
notable difference that you aren't going to be able to write or perform
complex or creative mental tasks very well. This is due to its ability to
stimulate the beta receptors, and this unfortunately results in a subsequent
(temporary) cognitive impairment, though this is really only noticeable when
performing complex mental tasks.
Page 58 of 200 58
stimulation. So, caffeine will improve cognitive function and ephedrine
won't, although they're both stimulants.
Caffeine can also activate the sympathetic nervous system, but due to its
adenosine receptor antagonist action, it's actually going to cause an increase
in cognitive function. You see, while ephedrine relies on its ability to
agonize your beta-receptors to cause its stimulatory effects, caffeine actually
depends on its ability to reduce adenosine transmission in the brain to
Page 59 of 200 59
achieve bodily stimulation. So, caffeine will improve cognitive function and
ephedrine won't, although they're both stimulants.
Page 60 of 200 60
When you take clenbuterol, it acts on your
beta-2 receptors to increase your body
temperature via increased heat production
in the mitochondria. It also increases your
basal metabolic rate, and decreases your
appetite; Beta-2 agonists directly stimulate
fat cells and increase fat loss. This all
makes clen a highly effective
repartitioning agent, and even used alone,
it can positively alter your (FFM) to fat
mass (FM) ratio. Most of the compounds
discussed in this chapter are similar in this respect: they offer nearly instant
gratification.
Clenbuterol also has the widely disputed ability (or does it?) to aid in muscle
gain and prevent muscle loss, through beta-2 receptor stimulation. Although
this has been widely proven in multiple animal studies, studies in humans
have been inconsistent at best- or haven’t examined this potential at all. This
is largely due to the FDA, and the fact that they aren’t huge fans of this
compound- hence studies on it performed within North America, on humans,
are rare.
You see, clenbuterol was never actually approved by the FDA for use in the
United States of America, though at the time of this writing, you can easily
purchase it off the internet through a research chemical company. However,
the reason clen was never approved is because it has an inordinately long
half life and slow rate of elimination from the body. Clenbuterol
concentrations in the body decline with a ½ life equivalent to 7-9.2hours and
then again up to as much as 35-36 hours later. The FDA doesn’t like this and
they prefer medications like clen to be in and out of the body as quickly as
possible. This is the reason Albuterol has been approved as an asthma
remedy in the US of A, while clenbuterol has not. Although the half life and
rate of elimination may be interesting, it doesn’t really help us that much
when we’re deciding how many times each day clen should be taken. We’re
not taking it every 36 hours, or every ten- so 3 x a day dosing are
appropriate. This means if we’re taking 3 clenbuterol tablets, we’d be
splitting those doses into 3 separate times throughout the day. Taking clen in
this manner keeps its stimulating effects from becoming overpowering, and
causing anxiety, the shakes, or insomnia.
Page 61 of 200 61
As previously stated, clenbuterol can, cause insomnia (and as with all
stimulants, can cause anxiety or restlessness). I’m much more comfortable
recommending separated doses.
My personal dosing protocol is the same for both men and women, as long
as both are healthy with no history of high blood pressure. Basically, I think
a good starting point is to take 20mcgs upon rising, and then repeat that
same dose again later in the day, and finally once again in that day…if side
effects are tolerable. Thus, I start with 20mcgs, and then repeat that dose 2
more times that same day if I can tolerate it (usually I can) I can then start
increasing the dose gradually. Although, I wouldn’t work my way up to
more than 200mcg/day, and probably nowhere near that...60-120mcg/day is
an average dose. Typically, if you can keep your blood pressure under
140/90, while on Clen, you’re in a safe area. If you go over that, lower the
dose.
Page 62 of 200 62
There is, however, a shorter acting “type” of clen-like medication, and it’s
called Albuterol. Essentially, it’s this stuff is clenbuterol’s shorter acting
cousin. All of the beta-2 stimulating capabilities of clenbuterol are also
found in Albuterol- meaning it has all of the effects of clenbuterol, but is
eliminated more quickly by the body. This
could be a contributing factor in a lot of the
studies I’ve seen on Albuterol, which have
shown it to be a bit more useful to athletes
than clen may be; it would seem (somehow)
increase stamina (where clen has been shown
to reduce it in some studies), as well as
strength.
Page 63 of 200 63
Now, I know I had mentioned that the next two compounds have potentially
interesting methods of delivery, and here’s what I meant. In lieu of taking
yohimbe orally, you can actually inject tiny amounts of the prescription
yohimbe into lower body fat stores (where alpha receptors are usually found
in larger numbers); this could aid in producing localized fat loss. Another
method would be to apply a yohimbe topical solution which has been
dissolved in a transdermal carrier of some kind. This, again, would produce
localized fat loss. Also, since yohimbe can increase peripheral blood flow,
applying it topically would probably give you a good chance to burn more
fat.
I think products like beta-stimulants are very useful for overall and systemic
fat loss. Really, I’m at a loss to think of any medications which will take fat
off a person (and transform their body) as rapidly as they do. I consider them
to be really powerful and nearly indispensable tools for body transformation
(the leaning down portion, anyway). Something like a yohimbe cream would
be added when abs are nearly visible, and then only applied to the area
where results are desired. Transdermal creams like that are useful, but are
really only polishing up tools- not something to be used frequently, or for
long times. Doing so would defeat the purpose. Orally active yohimbe (pills)
would be more appropriate for long term use.
Now, there’s one final compound that I need to tell you about, as it is a
stimulant and has many other interesting effects.
Nicotine
Page 64 of 200 64
enhancer. The Nicotinic systems in the hippocampus play important roles in
memory function, and in fact, a reduced nicotinic receptor concentration is
associated with severe cognitive impairment, like that seen with
schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.
Nicotine and nicotinic agonists are strongly and positively correlated with
improved memory function, and even have a strong anti-depressant effect.
Nicotine will have the additional effect of diminishing your appetite, which
is a huge benefit when on a diet, as well as having some degree of aromatase
inhibiting effects. Yes, I’m saying that the aromatase enzyme is actually
inhibited by nicotine, and this can occur locally (via a transdermal cream or
something to that effect) as well as systemically via another route.
Increases metabolism
Appetite suppressant
Aromatase inhibition
Page 65 of 200 65
hormone known as cortisol. Although I’ve primarily focused on its catabolic
effects, it is also important to note that cortisol is involved in both the
distribution as well as the deposition of fat. In this regard, cortisol, in turn is
regulated by the activity of an enzyme which Glycyrrhetinic acid blocks the
action of. This reduces the ability of cortisol to regulate (promote storage of)
fat cells, resulting in an overall loss of body fat to the area the cream is
applied to, much like the other transdermal creams we’ve looked at.
Page 66 of 200 66
Chapter 5
Nutrition to maximize muscle
growth and fat loss
Page 67 of 200 67
“Bodybuilding is at least 80% nutrition”
- Bodybuilding Guru Vince Gironda
“If you're not growing, it's probably your diet, not your training, that's
holding you back”
- Dr. John Berardi Ph.D.
Put it anyway you want, if you want to build a lean and muscular body,
nutrition is key. Rarely do peoples serious about building their body fail to
train hard enough (although they often fail to train smart enough), in fact
many unsuccessful would-be body transformer actually train harder and
more often than more successful ones. How is that possible? Genetics?
Maybe in some rare cases, but most of the time you’ll find your answer at
the kitchen table. Without proper nutrition you will not be able to reach your
goal of a perfect body, especially if you are genetically average.
Let me be perfectly honest with you: nothing can affect body composition as
fast and as drastically as the food you eat, not even drugs! Let’s talk fat loss
for example, a substance like synthetic T3 (e.g. cytomel) or T4 (e.g.
synthroid) can boost metabolism and daily energy expenditure by around
10%. If you are anywhere between 175 and 225lbs we’re talking about 200-
300 calories per day which is basically the amount of calories in ½ cup of
rice measured dry or of a bagel. When we consider that your average fast
food hamburger can provide anywhere from 750 to 1000 calorie and that an
hour of cardio will “burn” an average of 450 to 500 calories; it’s quite easy
to see how simply controlling our food intake can have a huge impact on
how our body looks.
MASS-BUILDING NUTRITION
Page 68 of 200 68
The three approaches I’ve seen are:
b) Clean bulk: with this type of approach you also increase your total food
intake drastically (more on what is needed later in my answer) however you
consume exclusively “clean” or “bodybuilding-friendly” food. Basically you
eat like you would during a fat-loss phase, but you eat more of everything.
For avid T-nation readers this approach is exemplified in Dr. Berardi’s
massive eating plan. The merit of this method is that it minimizes fat gain
while supporting muscle growth with adequate nutrients. The downside is
that eating 5000kcals + per day of only clean food can be hard for some
people. Plus, it’s still possible to gain some fat even though you are only
ingesting good food. If caloric intake is high enough compared to your daily
expenditure you will gain some fat. However I’d say that this approach is a
good compromise in that it will allow you to gain a lot of muscle while
avoiding excessive fat gain. Expect a 1:1 ratio of gain with this method.
c) Lean gain: in this final approach the athlete strives to stay very lean year-
round. Caloric intake is only slightly higher than maintenance and only clean
food is consumed. With this approach muscle gain is slower this is mostly
due to lower levels of circulating insulin which is one of the most anabolic
hormone in the body. Insulin favors muscle gain by shuttling amino acids
and glucose into muscle cells. It can also increase the hepatic release if IGF-
1, the master anabolic hormone. On the other hand, insulin also facilitates fat
Page 69 of 200 69
gain and decrease fat mobilization. With this approach you can stay very
lean but you’ll have to accept that you will gain muscle mass at a slower
rate.
How much energy is needed to build one pound of muscle? This is a very
important question because it will help us design a plan that will allow us to
provide our body with what it needs to build muscle without risking gaining
too much fat. Some people have tried to answer that by simply taking into
consideration the composition of a pound of muscle. Muscle tissue is around
22% protein, 5% fat, 3% carbs and the rest is water, minerals and trace
elements.
Since one pound = 0.455kg, it’s sometimes believed that one pound of
muscle is composed of:
Since there are 4 calories in one gram of protein and carbs, and 9 calories
per gram of fat they assume that one thus needs around 660kcals to build
one pound of muscle. According to that (erroneous) logic if one wanted to
gain 10lbs of muscle he would need to consume 6600kcals more than his
maintenance level over a certain period of time. For example if he wanted to
gain 10lbs over 3 months he’d have to consume 70 calories above
maintenance per day.
This is a mistake. The actual process of building muscle tissue requires a lot
more energy beyond its simple composition. The body must take the
nutrients absorbed and synthesize muscle tissue. This is a very energy-costly
process! Basically when you are building muscle it’s like when you are
building a house: not only do you have to pay for the raw material needed,
but you also have to pay the construction workers.
Studies have found that for each gram of protein synthesized into new
muscle tissue, 220 calories are needed to turn the raw protein into new
muscle mass. Since one pound of muscle contains approximately 100g of
Page 70 of 200 70
protein it is thus clear that to build one pound of muscle we actually need
more than 20 000kcals. Quite a bit more than the earlier estimated 660!
Now that we know how much calories are needed to build one pound of
muscle, it becomes important to know exactly how many pounds of muscle
we can build in a certain period of time. Obviously our body has a limited
growth potential. If it could use all the nutrients ingested to build muscle we
would only have to consume 15 000kcals/day and we’d all be 300lbs muscle
freaks!
Now keep in mind that I’m talking about dry muscle weight. Every gain in
muscle size will also lead to increases in glycogen storage among other
things. It is possible to store up to 40g of glycogen per 100g of muscle
(around 15g in an untrained muscle, up to 40g for a well-trained individual).
So for 10lbs of new muscle, you’d also gain up to 4lbs of added glycogen
storage. So you can gain around 14lbs of scale weight, not just the 10lbs.
Page 71 of 200 71
consume 3700 to 4400kcals per day to build the desired amount of muscle.
More than that and you’ll risk gaining fat, without actually increasing
potential muscle growth.
Your body cannot be "forced" into adding muscle mass. Understand that
regardless of how good your training program is and how much good food
you ingest, your muscle growth potential is ultimately limited by the
physiological rate at which you body can fabric muscle tissue. This is one of
the reasons why using performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids, hGH,
IGF-1 and insulin can lead to greater gains: they bypass your natural
physiological limit by basically changing your internal biochemistry. So
individuals venturing into the darkside of body transformation can (and
should) eat more food during their mass gaining phase to take full advantage
of their enhanced biochemistry. In fact, I’ll go as far as too say that ingesting
insufficient calories while “chemically-enhanced” will not provide much
more muscle growth than if you were training naturally.
Your muscles are like a house made of bricks. The bricks are the protein
necessary to build the house and the carbs/fat represent the money you give
to your employees.
Now, each man on your staff can only work as fast as his physical capacities
will allow it. Even if you give him a lot more bricks or even a lot more
money, there comes a point where he just cannot work any faster.
Now, if you do not give the employees enough bricks or cash, they won’t
work as fast (that's why it's harder to gain size while dieting down). So at
some point, it's beneficial to increase food intake. But once the optimal
intake is reached, there is no sense in eating more.
Page 72 of 200 72
town! The cleaner you eat while getting the necessary protein and calories it,
the greater will be your success at the end of the line.
In conclusion …
The advice to “eat everything in sight” is not necessarily a good one. It’s
true that food is the most anabolic substance known to man, and that under-
eating is the simplest way to limit your muscle gains. However past a certain
point, eating more food will only lead to increased fat gain especially if you
are natural. Fat is not muscle. Gaining fat doesn’t facilitate muscle gain.
Additional nutrients increase muscle building, additional fat doesn’t! So if
you want to add muscle you will need to jack up your caloric intake.
However doing it so blindly by eating everything in sight is certainly not the
best way to go.
Knowing how much calories are required to maintain your current body
weight is an important thing to know. Even though these measures are only
an approximation, they still give us a number to start from. We can adjust
this number up or down depending on our goal (fat loss or muscle gain).
Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) simply means the amount of energy used
by your body during a 24-hour period if no activity is performed. In other
words, if you're inactive for 24-hours straight, you'd still "burn" the amount
of calories equivalent to your BMR.
Your BMR is a function of your size, sex, and age. It's also influenced by
your metabolic status (hypo or hyperthyroid state for example). I opt for a
modified Harris-Benedict formula to calculate the BMR. I say modified
because I prefer to use the lean body weight (total body weight minus fat
weight) to set up caloric intake.
For Men
Page 73 of 200 73
So for a 30 year old bodybuilder of 235lbs with 10% body fat, so a lean
mass of 212lbs (96kg) on 5'11" (178cm) it comes up to:
For Women
BMR = 655 + (9.6 x lean weight in kg) + (1.7 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age)
So for a 28 year old figure girl of 140lbs with 15% body fat, so a lean weight
of 119lbs (54kg) on 5'6" (165cm) it comes up to:
By sedentary we mean doing nothing all day (sleeping and watching TV).
By very light activity we mean doing nothing physical. Working a desk job
or on a computer and not performing any type of physical activity during
your day.
Page 74 of 200 74
By light activity we mean having a non-physical job (desk, computer, etc.)
but performing some sort of physical activity during the day (e.g. above
average walking) but no hard training.
By extreme activity we mean a very physical job and daily hard training.
The following tables give basic guidelines on how to set your average
caloric expenditure depending on your goal.
Page 75 of 200 75
Approximate average caloric intake by goal and lean body weight in men (presuming a moderate activity level)
Lean body weight 1* 2 3 4 5 6
130lbs 2860kcals 2634kcals 2409kcals 2071kcals 1846kcals 1621kcals
140lbs 3054kcals 2813kcals 2573kcals 2212kcals 1972kcals 1731kcals
150lbs 3296kcals 3037kcals 2777kcals 2388kcals 2128kcals 1869kcals
160lbs 3539kcals 3260kcals 2982kcals 2564kcals 2285kcals 2006kcals
170lbs 3733kcals 3440kcals 3146kcals 2704kcals 2410kcals 2117kcals
180lbs 3973kcals 3663kcals 3350kcals 2880kcals 2567kcals 2254kcals
190lbs 4217kcals 3885kcals 3553kcals 3055kcals 2723kcals 2391kcals
200lbs 4412kcals 4064kcals 3717kcals 3196kcals 2848kcals 2501kcals
210lbs 4606kcals 4244kcals 3881kcals 3336kcals 2974kcals 2611kcals
220lbs 4848kcals 4467kcals 4085kcals 3512kcals 3130kcals 2748kcals
230lbs 5043kcals 4646kcals 4248kcals 3653kcals 3256kcals 2859kcals
240lbs 5284kcals 4868kcals 4452kcals 3828kcals 3412kcals 2995kcals
250lbs 5527kcals 5091kcals 4657kcals 4003kcals 3658kcals 3133kcals
260lbs 5721kcals 5270kcals 4820kcals 4144kcals 3694kcals 3243kcals
270lbs 5963kcals 5494kcals 5025kcals 4283kcals 3850kcals 3381kcals
1 = Maximum muscle gain while accepting a moderate fat gain
2 = Significant muscle gain with a small fat gain
3 = Average muscle gain without gaining fat
4 = Average fat loss with small muscle gains
5 = Moderate fat loss with no muscle loss
6 = Maximum fat loss while accepting some muscle loss
The amount of calories we consume is only the first element that can play a
role in our fat loss or muscle gain efforts; simply adhering to the adequate
caloric intake doesn’t guarantee success. Surely you understand that
2000kcals in the form of donuts and 2000kcals in the form of veggies will
not have the same effect on body composition! So when we are talking about
improving body composition we should not simply focus on “how much?”
but also on “how good?”
The basic rule is that protein intake for individuals with a lean and muscular
physique objective should be at least 1.0g per pound of bodyweight. This is
the minimum that you should take in each day to get the best possible
Page 76 of 200 76
results. However, depending on your situation and present goal, other
amounts might be better suited:
When you are in a fat loss phase you should increase you protein intake
regardless of if you are natural or enhanced. During a caloric deficit the
added protein will have an anti-catabolic effect (the body will not need to
breakdown muscle tissue to form amino acids because there is an
increased supply of them). If one is drastically cutting carbs, the added
protein can be used to produce glucose via a process called
neoglucogenesis. Normally the body would breakdown its own muscle
tissue to perform that function, but with an increased protein intake we
are “protecting” our muscles.
Page 77 of 200 77
Optimal protein intake for body transformation purposes
Natural athlete Enhanced athlete
Total body Fat loss Maintenance Muscle gain Fat loss Maintenance Muscle gain
weight phase phase phase phase phase phase
130lbs 160-195g 130-160g 130-160g 225-260g 195-225g 225-260g
140lbs 175-210g 140-175g 140-175g 245-280g 210-245g 245-280g
150lbs 185-225g 150-185g 150-185g 260-300g 225-260g 260-300g
160lbs 200-240g 160-200g 160-200g 280-320g 240-280g 280-320g
170lbs 210-255g 170-210g 170-210g 295-340g 255-295g 295-340g
180lbs 225-270g 180-225g 180-225g 315-360g 270-315g 315-360g
190lbs 235-285g 190-235g 190-235g 330-380g 285-330g 330-380g
200lbs 250-300g 200-250g 200-250g 350-400g 300-350g 350-400g
210lbs 260-315g 210-260g 210-260g 365-420g 315-365g 365-420g
220lbs 275-330g 220-275g 220-275g 385-440g 330-385g 385-440g
230lbs 285-345g 230-285g 230-285g 400-460g 345-400g 400-460g
240lbs 300-360g 240-300g 240-300g 420-480g 360-420g 420-480g
250lbs 310-375g 250-310g 250-310g 435-500g 375-435g 435-500g
260lbs 325-390g 260-325g 260-325g 455-520g 390-455g 455-520g
270lbs 335-405g 270-335g 270-335g 470-540g 405-470g 470-540g
280lbs 350-420g 280-350g 280-350g 490-560g 420-490g 490-560g
290lbs 375-450g 300-375g 300-375g 505-580g 450-505g 505-580g
Let’s say that you have an individual with the following characteristics:
Male
23 years of age
5’11” (178cm)
210lbs
12% body fat
185lbs of lean body mass (210lbs minus the 12% in body fat) or 84kg
Moderate activity level
Natural trainee
Starting a mass gain phase without wanting to add much fat
So…
Page 78 of 200 78
2. His daily energy expenditure on average would be:
He now has 2548-2915 calories to distribute in the form of fats and carbs
Page 79 of 200 79
There are four main approached when it comes to selecting the amount of
carbs and fats in your diet:
2. The fat dominant approach: this is the opposite of the carbs dominant
approach in that the bulk of your energy comes from fats. This is
similar to the Atkins-type of diets. This type of dieting is very
effective for losing fat but for muscle-building purposes it is not your
best option. Still, using this approach 80-90% of your energy comes
from fats and 10-20% for carbs. Note that this is not a ketogenic diet
(a ketogenic diet has you consuming less than 50g of carbs per day), it
is a low-carbs diet, not the same animal, for one thing you’ll be able to
function much better than during a keto diet. Okay, so we still have
2700 calories to distribute, 80-90% as fat and 10-20% as carbs. This
comes up to 2160-2430 calories or 240-270g of fat and 270-540
calories or 60-120g of carbs per day. To that we add our previous
240g of protein.
Page 80 of 200 80
day (carbs + protein meals should be consumed earlier in the day or
around workout time while fat + protein meals should be consumed
later in the day). So of our remaining 2700 calories 50% will come
from carbs and fat. That comes up to 1350 calories or 335g of carbs
and 1350 calories or 150g of fat plus our 240g of protein.
For maximum muscle gain phases the balanced non-mixing diet is best.
For significant muscle gain phase with limited fat gain the cycling
approach is best as it allows you to include low energy days to control fat
gain.
For individuals who are super active or have a lightning fast metabolism
and want to gain size the carb dominant approach is best.
Page 81 of 200 81
bloated and tired afterwards. They also provide better insulin management
which is conductive to increase muscle mass and lowered body fat.
So now that we know that we should divide our daily caloric intake over 5-7
meals, the question remains “how” de we repartition what we eat among
those meals? When using a mono-dominant energetic nutrient approach
(either carb dominant or fat dominant) we should divide the nutrient intake
pretty much equally over all of our meals.
The table below illustrates how to divide your nutrients among your meals if
you are using a carb or fat dominant approach. We will stick to our 210lbs
bodybuilder example for the sake of simplicity.
Now, even though the nutrients are divided equally among the six meals, it
doesn’t mean that the actual food choices will be the same. This is especially
true of a carb dominant approach where high and low glycemic carb should
be used at different times during the day, more on that later.
If we are using a balanced non-mixing approach (still with 6 meals per day)
we also repartition the nutrients equally, but not on the total meals of the
day; rather on the meals of the same constitution. We will include three
protein + carb meals and three protein + fat meals. So the total amount of
carbs ingested during the day should be divided equally among those three
meals and the same thing is true for fat.
The following table illustrates this type of diet. We will again stick to our
now famous example!
Page 82 of 200 82
Food repartition on a balanced non-mixing diet
Parameter Balanced non-mixing approach
Total daily caloric intake 3600 calories
Grams of protein per day 240g
Grams of protein per meal (assuming 6 meals a day) 40g
Grams of carbs per day 330g
Grams of carbs per meal (assuming 3 carb meals per day) 110g
Grams of fat per day 146g
Grams of fat per meal (assuming 3 fat meals per day) 49g
40g of protein
110g of carbs
negligible amounts of fat (less than 5g)
* Once again, the type of carbs will vary depending on the function of the
meal.
40g of protein
49g of fat
Negligible amounts of carbs (less than 5g)
While it’s true that ultimately there exist only carbs, protein and fat and that
once fully digested it all boils down to a mix of glucose, amino acids and
fatty acids. Yet, different types of food have different effects on our body
biochemistry. As body transformers we can use these effects to improve our
physique; adding muscle or losing fat.
I’ll assume that it is not necessary to explain how and why junk food and
fast food should be avoided during a body transformation program (except
for the occasional cheat meal).
This obviously includes any type of food you find in fast food joints (yes,
even the salads which actually have more fat than some burgers!), cake and
bakery goods, ice cream and related product, any type of candy, chocolate
and such, cookies or any kind, breakfast cereals, etc. But when it comes to
Page 83 of 200 83
body transformation it also refers to “empty” foods which are basically over-
processed version of acceptable products. For example white bread and pasta
should be avoided while whole grain versions of these products are
acceptable at certain times. Bagels, muffins, croissant, basically any type of
bread-like food should be avoided too.
The simplest way to understand how to eat while trying to transform your
body is to focus on foods that are as close as possible to their natural state.
Lean cuts of meat, fish, poultry, egg whites (some egg yolk too) and cottage
cheese are all prime example of good protein sources while on a body
transformation diet. Oatmeal, cream of wheat, rice and veggies are the best
carb sources with whole wheat bread, rye bread, fruits and yogurt are
acceptable secondary sources.
If you are using an approach that allows you to have some carbs you want to
include both starchy carbs and fruit in the morning as well as fast and slow
absorbed protein. This will ensure that you can quickly break the catabolic
state imposed by the night fast and continue to have a flow of nutrients for 2-
3 hours, until its time to eat your next meal.
Page 84 of 200 84
Example of good food choices for breakfast
Starchy carbs Fruit Fast-absorbed protein Slow-absorbed protein
Oatmeal Orange Whey isolate Egg white
Cream of wheat Apple Whey concentrate Cottage cheese
Rye bread Any type of berry BCAAs Yogurt
Whole wheat bread Pineapple Amino acids Egg yolk
Buckwheat pancakes Mango Miscellar casein
(no syrup) Grapefruit Low fat cheese
Grits Peach Tuna
Chicken
Post-workout meal
The post-workout meal is similar to the breakfast in that the body is very
efficient at soaking up the ingested nutrients. Furthermore, the faster we can
give nutrients to our body, the faster can the recovery/muscle building
process start.
During the post workout meal we want to focus solely on fast-absorbed high
glycemic carbs that will provoke an insulin spike as well as fast-absorbed
protein. The ideal solution is to use a specialized post-workout drink (e.g.
Surge by Biotest or Vitargo/waxy maize + whey isolate powder) instead of a
solid meal. However, during more restrictive dieting periods, I feel that it’s
best to include at least some solid food during the post-workout meal as this
increases satiety and makes diet compliance easier. For that second option
the following carb choices are adequate (note that the protein portion of the
meal should still be in the form of a whey isolate drink):
The quantity of carbs to include in the post-workout meal will depend on the
type of diet you are using as well as your set caloric intake.
Other meals
Page 85 of 200 85
Beside the post-workout and breakfast meals, you should only ingest foods
that have a low impact on your insulin levels. Basically we want to have an
elevated insulin level in the morning and after a workout because your body
is in a state that favors storage in the muscles (and liver) instead of in the fat
cells. However if insulin levels are kept elevated all day, it will become hard
to shed body fat. You see, insulin is a storage hormone. It tells the body to
stock up on nutrients to fill its reserves. However it also tells your body to
prevent the stored nutrients to be released for use. So if insulin levels are
elevated, it becomes next to impossible to mobilize and burn body fat.
If you are using a carbs-dominant approach you should select very low-
glycemic carbs as well as slow-digesting protein (any type of animal food).
Page 86 of 200 86
Chapter 6
Chemically assisted nutrition
Page 87 of 200 87
In the last chapter, Christian told you how to optimize your diet. So if you
follow that diet, and those recommendations, you’ll have no problem getting
your ass in shape.
But what if you want more? What if “in shape” isn’t enough? What if you
want to look great, and not just good? Well, then you might need to read this
chapter. This chapter is all about getting more out of your diet.
Since that’s what this chapter is all about, let’s review a bit of last chapter.
As Christian has already told you, you can absorb a bit more protein if you
eat it after a workout and/or with come simple carbs. But now, I’m going to
tell you how to use a few dirty tricks to get even more of that protein into
your muscles, using several different compounds which have been briefly
touched upon previously.
First, we’ll take a look at insulin. You may know someone who is diabetic
and has to inject this stuff a couple of times a day. But it can also be used to
increase muscle mass.
You see, insulin is a protein secreted by the pancreas which acts on the liver
to stimulate the formation of glycogen from glucose. This also inhibits the
conversion of non-carbohydrates into glucose, which is clearly a beneficial
effect in some respects (we don’t want our protein becoming glucose,
because we want it to. Insulin is able to exert effects on muscle cells because
(of course) there are insulin receptors in muscle cells.
Now, here’s the interesting part, for our body transformation goals: high
concentrations of insulin have been positively correlated with stimulating
muscle protein synthesis. Insulin is anabolic, therefore, as it can make
ingested amino acids (protein) more efficient at building muscle by
facilitating the transport of amino acids into muscle cells.
So we see that on its own, Insulin is highly anabolic. But, in fact, it may
actually be that Growth Hormone’s ability to stimulate Protein Synthesis
may be related to insulin. Another strong (related) resemblance we see is
between insulin and (no surprise here) Insulin-Like Growth Factor. This is
both structurally, as well as with regards to an anabolic effect. I would think
that insulin is probably anabolic, at least in part, because it not only closely
resembles IGF-1, but it also increases your body’s IGF-1 levels.
Page 88 of 200 88
So there’s definitely some kind of resemblance between insulin and GH as
well as IGF-1, and we definitely want some insulin in our bodies…probably
more than our body wants to give us. This is because there is a “negative
feedback loop” in effect with insulin. Basically, this means that when you
eat a something, insulin is then released from something called your beta
cells. After that, there is a hormonal cascade, and what eventually happens is
your body gets the message to stop secreting insulin, until more is needed.
But if you’re reading this chapter, that’s probably not acceptable to
you…you want to optimize the amount of insulin your body has in it, to
absorb more nutrients and push more amino acids into your muscles. And
that means using injectable insulin.
Page 89 of 200 89
can push you in to a coma and kill you? Well, now I have. This is why the
proper type and amount of carbs needs to be taken when you are using
insulin.
Whichever way you decide to use, insulin can still be dangerous. I’ve used
it, and feel the way I’ve done so is safe- but again, I’m just telling you how I
did it, not to personally do it yourself, ok?
I used Humulin- R, which has a fairly rapid onset and peak for its effects,
and is much easier to deal with than the other types of insulin which are
available. It’s fast, but not the fastest and I only needed to worry about
optimizing my post-workout nutrition when I took it. In other words,
although you can utilize injectable insulin by taking a little bit with each
meal, in doing that, you may have to eat a certain amount of carbs at each
meal (to insure that you don’t into a coma), and this would probably make
you fat. What’s the point of taking insulin if you are not going to be able to
transform your body the way you want with it?
Anyway, the way I used it personally was to inject 2iu the first day,
immediately after my weight training workout. At that time, I was also
eating between 100-200 grams of mixed (complex and simple)
carbohydrates and 50 grams of whey protein. Every day following that, I
upped my post workout insulin dose by one iu until I reached 10iu per post
workout shot. My nutrient intake remained the same throughout.
Unfortunately, insulin has the ability to make you gain fat as well as muscle,
so I was also using anabolics as well as a thyroid medication at the same
time, to make sure that my insulin was creating nice new muscle tissue for
me instead of ugly fat.
Don’t take it at night before bed, because you won’t know if your blood
sugar is going low and that's making you drowsy (slipping into a coma) or
you are just tired because it is time for bed. And if you ever feel yourself
getting drowsy after using insulin, get some simple sugars in you quick!
Also, keep your insulin refrigerated, as Insulin needs to be kept cold.
Finally, don’t use regular needles to inject insulin. They’re too big, and
you’ll never be able to measure out the correct amount of units you’ll be
using.
Page 90 of 200 90
An alternative to using insulin is using a
hypoglycemic drug. Here, I’m talking primarily
about metformin HCL, typically sold under the
trade name of Glucophage. This drug is an oral
anti-hyperglycemic used in type-II diabetics.
This drug does not directly act on cells as
insulin does, but rather it seems to “help”
insulin do all the cool stuff we want it to do. The
difference is that in this case, it is your own
insulin being secreted and doing the work, with
the aid of an outside compound.
Of course, this means that metformin is both safer and less effective than
injectable insulin. However, there is still a chance of going into a coma with
this stuff. Some people have gone up to some pretty high does, but typically,
I have had results with 1 tab 3 x a day, with meals- following the same rules
as I did with the insulin meals…adequate carbs and protein, with just a little
fat. And speaking of “just a little fat”…it is important to remember that
insulin and metformin both have the potential to make you fat if you don’t
watch yourself. But of course, there’s a way to “watch yourself” by
introducing something different to your pharmacological regimen.
Page 91 of 200 91
Taking your insulin with IGF (at some other point in the day) would
probably make both of those compounds more effective (anecdotally, I have
heard this from several bodybuilders). In fact, with or without insulin, IGF-1
is probably one of the single most effective compounds you can take to
make your diet produce optimal results, due to its systemic effects. Those
effects include nitrogen retention as well as protein synthesis…all the things
we would want in order to make the protein we’re eating on Christian’s diets
more effective. And since it will increase insulin sensitivity that means it
will make the carbs we are eating more effective as well. And finally, it
bears mentioning that protein (amino acid) supply within muscle cells must
be adequate in order for IGF-1 to have it’s diet-related effects, so don’t
skimp on the protein! And what if we want to make the protein we’re eating
even more likely to transform our bodies?
Well, the compounds (drug) which will aid protein synthesis will also assist
greatly in keeping fat off of you, and as a bonus one of them will most likely
act synergistically with either insulin or IGF-1. I’m talking about Thyroid
hormones here, specifically T3 (Cytomel) and T4 (Synthroid).
The first option is to take some supplemental Cytomel. Taking Cytomel will
aid your body transformation goals by (as you may have guessed) increasing
the uptake of various nutrients into the mitochondria; also their oxidation
rate (the rate your body “burns” up foodstuffs and the like), by will increase
as Cytomel enhances the various activities of enzymes which are also
involved with the oxidative metabolic pathway. Your body will then be
producing more ATP, giving you more energy to expend (and a vastly
Page 92 of 200 92
increased basal metabolic rate), and less food stuffs will be stored as body
fat. This will all add up to help you burn (expend) more calories, while also
making them preferentially be shuffled away from the storage of body fat,
and towards energy or creating new muscle tissue. Sounds like body
transformation to me!
Different brands of T3
Unfortunately, some portions of this oxidative process are less than ideal.
Your body can create energy out of food, muscle, stored fat, etc…and we
certainly don’t want any of this energy to come from muscle. So what we
want is for the T3 we are taking to be somewhat picky with regards to where
it produces energy from. This brings me back to the other compound I’ve
mentioned in this chapter: Insulin. Insulin use will send a message to your
cells to preferentially push amino acids (protein) into muscle cells, over
other nutrients. So clearly, insulin and thyroid medication are (speaking
logically) synergistic and can be combined to aid our diets in pushing more
protein into muscles and by pushing more carbs and fat to be burned up as
fuel.
However, there is an alternative to using T3, and that alternative is to use the
relatively inactive hormone T4 (brand name “Synthroid”), and hope that it
gets converted in a large enough quantity into metabolically active T3. Well,
the good news is that if we are following Christian’s dietary and training
advice, and using insulin along with our post workout meal, there should be
an increased conversion rate of T4-T3, so taking T4 instead of would
actually be a viable strategy.
Page 93 of 200 93
available thyroid replacement drugs on the market (not counting “Armour”
which is a combination product containing both T3 and T4 thyroid).
Different brands of T4
Although bodybuilders typically prefer the quick results they see with T3,
there is some merit to taking Synthroid and allowing it to convert naturally
to T3. Actually, Synthroid is the more prescribed thyroid medication in the
US of A as well as Canada. This is because if you have lower T3 levels,
most doctors prefer to see your body convert the extra T4 (Synthroid) into
higher T3 levels. Of course, this assumes that the conversion pathway isn’t
inhibited, at which point you need to supplement T3 to raise your T3 levels.
Oh…and clearly if your T4 levels are low, then supplementing with T3 is
pointless. But here, what we’re concerned with is the way this drug can
influence your body transformation, and it’s a little known fact that the
conversion process of T4 into T3, and the enzymes involved, can actually
have a very beneficial effect on the anabolic state of your body. This would
appear to be synergistic with IGF-1 as well as insulin.
Page 94 of 200 94
might not burn as much body fat on Synthroid, but they seem to keep more
muscle on a hypocaloric diet. So depending on which of Christian’s diets
you follow, and how you apply his advice to your diet, Synthroid may be the
better choice for you. If you hold onto muscle easily while dieting, and have
a lot of fat to burn, then Cytomel may be the choice. What I’m saying here,
is that it’s your body transformation, and you need to figure out which of
these approaches to manipulating the thyroid seem most applicable. This
may mean Cytomel, Synthroid, or nothing at all. Of course, nothing at all
would be the cheapest route…Cytomel burns the most fat per mg, and
Synthroid may have the advantage in terms of being slightly anabolic.
However, what we’re looking at here is body transformation, and I think that
should mean that if at all possible, we’re trying to make the body utilize
nutrients as efficiently as possible. That means that we are on a diet, drug,
and training program which could possibly make optimal the use of
Synthroid, Cytomel, or nothing at all.
Page 95 of 200 95
All of the preceding compounds will aid in making the most of our diets. If a
true body transformation is to take place, it starts with the diet. The
compounds I just told you about don’t take the place of a good diet. What
they will do is make a good diet into one that will transform your body in
ways that would be otherwise impossible. The other thing they will do is aid
your body in transforming from bad to good and from good to great- in a
much shorter time period.
What the aforementioned drugs will not do is take the place of the diet you
just read in Christians’ chapter. They’ll help, but no amount of drugs will
compensate for eating a dozen doughnuts every week, or cheating every
other day. They’re a tool; just like any tool, they won’t build anything
without someone using them properly.
Page 96 of 200 96
Chapter 7
Strength training techniques to
maximize muscle growth
Page 97 of 200 97
In the first chapter we explained the basic principles responsible for the
growth of new muscle tissue. We will now take that information and turn it
into something that you can actually take to the gym! This chapter will thus
deal with the various training techniques you can use to spark muscle
growth. Each technique represents one more tool you can use to reach the
body you want. Later on in the book we will provide you with complete
long-term training programs making good use of these techniques to allow
you to not only get the body you want, but also to get it fast.
Before getting into the specifics we’ll backtrack to the hormonal response to
training. A better understanding of how to manipulate the hormones
responsible for the modeling of our body will allow you to comprehend the
reason why certain training techniques are effective, why others aren’t and
what technique pairings are the most effective at stimulating maximum
muscle growth.
When it comes to building muscle mass the hormones that interest us the
most are:
Insulin (for its anti-catabolic property, its role in shuttling nutrients to the
muscles so that they can recover and grow and for its stimulatory role in
IGF-1 production)
Page 98 of 200 98
Heavy exercise to
boost testosterone
output
The higher the
testosterone/cortisol ratio
is, the more anabolic your
body will be
Ingest a
BCAA/glutamine
solution during the
workout to
minimize cortisol
output
Special technique
to get a huge surge
in lactic acid which hGH stays elevated for up
stimulates hGH to 1 hour post-training.
When hGH and insulin are
production both elevated at the same
time there is an increase in
IGF-1 production (IGF-1 is
Loaded pulse probably the most anabolic
hormone in the body). The
stretching to up loaded stretching up
regulate IGF-1 regulated the IGF-1
receptors receptors so they are
especially responsive to an
elevation in IGF-1. This
equals more anabolism
Drink a post
workout shake of
carbs,glutamine,
protein and leucine
to boost insulin
Page 99 of 200 99
To maximize the anabolic action of the increased testosterone levels we also
want to decrease the production of cortisol. Ingesting a mix of BCAA and
glutamine (5-10g of each) during the workout can significantly lower
cortisol levels (ingesting simple carbs also work, but can make fat loss
harder). We can also add a phosphatidylserine supplement (400-800mg
before the training session) as it has been shown to decrease cortisol
production during training by as much as 30%. This is our second step in the
establishment of an anabolic cascade.
These methods are thus very effective at increasing the quantitative aspect of
the training adaptations. However, because the level of intramuscular tension
(proportional to the force output) produced during the set is relatively low,
these methods don’t lead to maximum improvement in the muscle’s
functions.
A. Sets to failure
This is your basic bodybuilding scheme. You select a load that is 60-80% of
your maximum in a lift and you perform reps until failure (the point where
completing another rep is impossible).
Ideally:
Novice lifters will want to use a load permitting 12-15 repetitions and
perform 2-4 sets per exercise.
Advanced lifters will want to use a load permitting 6-8 repetitions and
perform 4-6 sets per exercise.
B1. Post-fatigue
The logic behind this method is that in complex (multi-joint) movements the
weaker muscle groups will always fail first, leaving the prime movers under-
stimulated. For example, in the bench press the triceps or deltoids are likely
to fail before the stronger pectorals, thus leaving the pectorals under-
stimulated.
By adding an isolation exercise for the pectorals (e.g. flies) right after your
set of bench presses you will be able to fully fatigue and stimulate your
pectorals. The more stimulation you put on your muscles, the more protein
degradation occurs, the higher the anabolic response.
This is certainly the most difficult hypertrophy method of all, and probably
the most effective as well. It simply is a mix of the pre-fatigue method and
post-fatigue method. It leads to the greatest possible hypertrophy response of
all the methods that you can use in the gym. Because this method is so
intense, it should not be used for more than 2-3 weeks straight.
1. Targeting the same muscle group during the pre-fatigue exercise and
the post- fatigue exercise; this will place a large hypertrophy
stimulus on the targeted muscle group.
Example of the first type of pre/post-fatigue : cable flies (isolation) followed by a bench press (compound)
and then by cable crossovers (isolation)
Example of the second type of pre/post-fatigue : cable flies (isolation chest) followed by a bench press
(compound) and then by overhead rope triceps extensions (isolation triceps)
Drop sets can be a very effective way to stimulate muscle growth, however
most trainees do them all wrong. The basis is fairly simple: you perform a
regular set to muscle failure and then reduce the weight to continue on with
more reps (without rest). While one can perform several drops within one
set, most overdo it; they often don’t remember the ideal intensity threshold
to stimulate muscle growth: they often work their way down to weights so
low it’s ridiculous. Always remember that growth is stimulated both by load
and duration. If you go down in weight too much, the load factor is too low
to stimulate growth even if the duration is very long.
Ideally one should stay in the total hypertrophy zone when it comes to total
reps per set. So we are basically talking about sets of 15 for beginners and
intermediates and 12 for advanced. Normally only 1 or 2 drops would be
necessary. Once again remember, we don’t want to go above 12-15 total
reps, regardless of the number of drops. For example:
Mini-set 1 (185lbs) = 7 reps (so the trainee has 5-8 reps to perform)
Lowers the weight to 165lbs and without rest continues his set
Mini-set 2 (165lbs) = 4 reps (so the trainee can still perform 1-4 reps)
Lowers the weight to 155lbs and without rest continues his set
Mini-set 3 (155lbs) = 3 reps
Set is over (total 14 reps)
The less drop-off (weight reduction) there is from mini-set to mini-set, the
more effective the set will be.
C. Iso-dynamic contrast
Don’t let the complex name fool you, this training method is actually quite
simply: you perform a regular exercise normally except for the addition of a
2-5 seconds pause during the movement on each rep. During that pause your
muscle(s) should be contracted as hard as possible. This training method will
not only increase the TUT without you having to significantly reduce the
load, but it will also help you recruit up to 10% more muscle fibers! The
more fibers you recruit, the more you grow.
The position of the pause will vary depending on the type of movement:
While you are not going through a full range of motion, your muscles are
still contracting and the muscle fibers must perform the work. This allows
you to continue to place more training stress on the muscles even when the
nervous system/lactate accumulation prevents you from completing full reps.
1. Low-position burns: once you reach full range of motion failure, you
continue to perform partial reps at the initial ½ or ¼ (as fatigue sets in)
portion of the concentric (lifting) phase. You basically perform these
partial reps until you cannot move the weight at all.
E. Double contraction
This technique is often called one & a half reps. It is somewhat similar to
burn reps in that each set is a mix of full range of motion and partial reps.
The difference is that each “repetition” in the set includes one full range
of motion action and one partial action. For example, you can squat down
then squat back halfway up (until the knees are at a 90 degrees angle)
F. Tempo contrast
This method is fairly simple: you alternate between superslow reps and
superfast reps within the same set. My classic template is to use a
604/explosive contrast, meaning that the slow reps are performed with a 604
tempo (6 seconds eccentric, no pause, 4 seconds concentric) while the fast
reps are done as fast as possible.
Rep 1: 604
Rep 2: 604
Rep 3: explosive
Rep 4: explosive
Rep 5: 604
Rep 6: 604
Rep 7: explosive
Rep 8: explosive
The following methods are those that should be used for the first exercise of
your workout. Ideally you select a compound lift in which you can use a lot
of weight. If you are training a muscle that really isn’t train using compound
movements (biceps, forearms, calves, traps for example) you should select
the exercise for that muscle group that allow you to use the most weight (e.g.
a barbell curl is better than a concentration curl).
Simply pick a compound/heavy lift and perform sets either in the absolute
strength zone (3-5RM or 87-90% of your maximum) or functional
hypertrophy zone (6-8RM or 80-85% of your maximum). Anywhere from 3
to 6 sets should be performed. Contrary to lactate-inducing methods, you do
not have to reach muscle failure with max tension methods as the nature of
the techniques will lead to adequate fast twitch fiber recruitment/stimulation
anyway.
H. Cluster training
The methods I will present can be grouped into a category called “cluster
training” or “rest/pause training”. While I will present several different
methods, they all share three common characteristics:
And most of all, they will stimulate gains at a truly amazing rate!
This first method is the grand daddy of all cluster training approaches. I’ve
been taught this method by international level coach Nelson Ayotte and find
it to be one of the most effective ways to boost strength and size gains.
Note that between each repetition you rack (of let go) the weight. So a good
partner might be useful.
Set no.1 Set no.2 Set no.3 Set no.4 Set no.5
1 rep at 87% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 92% 1 rep at 92%
7 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 12 sec. rest
1 rep at 87% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 92% 1 rep at 92%
7 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 12 sec. rest
1 rep at 87% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 92% 1 rep at 92%
7 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 12 sec. rest
1 rep at 87% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 92% 1 rep at 92%
7 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 10 sec. rest 12 sec. rest
1 rep at 87% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 90% 1 rep at 92% 1 rep at 92%
This second method was a favorite of the great bodybuilder, Mike Mentzer.
While we may all have opinions regarding his super-low volume and
frequency workouts, this one method of his is actually quite effective.
Obviously, being a believer in slightly more training volume than what
Mentzer advocated, I modified the set variable. This method is slightly more
demanding than the classic cluster. However it can lead to even greater
gains, but because of the fantastically high neural demands, it cannot be used
for more than 3 straight weeks.
Note that between each repetition you rack (of let go) the weight. So a good
partner might be useful.
This cluster differs from the classic cluster in the following aspects:
It uses a greater load initially (only 10lbs or so less than your 1RM)
It includes a 10% drop between the 3rd and 4th rep
This is a favorite of mine. You start the exercise with the maximum load that
you can lift 5 times (5RM or around 85%). You perform your 5 reps (try for
Note that between each repetition you rack (of let go) the weight. So a good
partner might be useful.
This method is similar to a classic cluster, but with one difference: you
decrease the amount of weight used on each repetition, making each rep a
maximal rep.
However at this point percentages are hard to use, instead you should go for
a 5-10lbs drop on each rep (depending on the movement). So something like
the following is more practical.
There is still 7-12 seconds between each repetition, time enough for you or
your partner to decrease the weight accordingly.
Introduction
Eccentric quasi-isometrics (EQIs) (Siff 1994) are not your ordinary type of
stretching. As such, they may be able to deliver results and benefits that you
won’t see with any other type of stretching.
Please notice that I say, “may be able to.” This statement is in reference to
the fact that no direct research has been done on the effects of this specific
type of muscle action. All of the information presented below is based on
either published research on topics indirectly related to EQIs or on anecdotal
evidence gathered from the real-world application of EQIs with athletes.
Please make no mistake about it, the effects of EQIs have not been written
about in many other publications. Thus, the information presented below is
theory based on direct anecdotal and indirect empirical evidence.
To better understand just what EQIs are, it is best that we take a look at an
example.
EQI Push-up
In this example, the athlete is in a push-up position with his hands on blocks.
This is the starting position. In this position, the athlete will attempt to hold
an isometric contraction. As time goes on, the athlete will begin to fatigue.
Because an isometric contraction is nothing more than a slow eccentric, the
athlete will slowly start to “sink down” between the blocks. The athlete is
still attempting to hold an isometric contraction, but it has turned into a very
slow eccentric contraction.
As the athlete sinks lower and lower, the muscles (and their associated
connective tissue) begin to lengthen. The athlete continues to attempt an
isometric contraction. This contraction in the lengthened state is where most
of the benefits of EQIs are derived. Note that weights (dumbbells, barbell)
can also be used. You only have to reach the stretched position of a strength
exercise (e.g. bottom portion of a fly) and hold the weight.
Benefits of EQIs
From the picture, we can see that the contractile component (CC) of muscle
is “in series” with an elastic component (the SEC).
Having the SEC in series with the contractile component means that the SEC
will be under tension when the contractile component produces tension
(Levangie and Norkin 2001).
With the PEC things are a little different. The PEC is an elastic component
of muscle that functions in parallel with the contractile component. This
means that as the contractile component lengthens or shortens, so does the
PEC (Levangie and Norkin 2001).
What does all this have to do with EQIs? Well, there are two types of
tension, active and passive. The PEC is responsible for producing passive
tension, while the contractile component is responsible for producing active
As the PEC lengthens it produces more and more passive tension. However,
the contractile component of muscle has a specific range in which it
produces the greatest amount of tension. If the contractile component is
shortened or lengthened beyond this range, then the tension it produces will
decrease. This is known as the isometric length-tension relationship
(Levangie and Norkin 2001).
Let’s go back and relate this information to our EQI push-up example. At
the beginning of the action the athlete is producing tension with the
contractile component of muscle. Since the SEC acts in series with the
contractile component, the SEC is also under tension. However, since the
athlete has not yet begun to fatigue and “sink down,” the contractile
component is not lengthened significantly and therefore, neither is the PEC.
As the athlete begins to fatigue and sink down, the contractile component
begins to lengthen, and so does the PEC. At this point, both passive and
active tensions contribute to the total tension.
This is one of the strengths of EQIs over other stretching methods. It allows
the athlete to stretch both the SEC and PEC at the same time.
Since passive static stretching primarily impacts the PEC, the SEC is left un-
stretched. This is important to note because one of the primary applications
of passive static stretching is to re-lengthen the muscle after work that
involves contraction (i.e. strength-training). However, passive static
Secondary Benefits
It has been shown that changes in activity can promote subsequent changes
in the structure and strength of connective tissue (Komi 2003; Hayashi et al.
1996). This is one of the reasons that EQIs have the potential to reduce
injury. EQIs may also produce changes in the SEC that allow more elastic
strain energy to be stored by the tendon.
Hypertrophy and possible hyperplasia: The work of Dr. Jose Antonio with
birds has shown us that a prolonged, weighted stretch of a muscle can result
in a 318% increase in muscle mass (Antonio and Gonyea 1993). In addition,
this same study showed an 82% increase in fiber number. This study was
performed on birds that were stretched for hours and days at time however.
The types of results seen in this study are not likely to be replicated with
EQIs, but some hypertrophy (and possibly hyperplasia) may result.
Lactic acid tolerance: One peculiarity of EQIs is the fact that blood cannot
effectively travel into or out of the muscle due to the strength of the
contraction (assuming the strength of the contraction is great enough). This
results in a build-up of metabolic by-products that cannot effectively be
cleared from the muscle until the contraction has stopped. One of these by-
products is lactic acid.
Increase mental toughness: Anyone who has ever done interval training, or
any other type of work where lactic acid builds-up in the body, knows what
a challenge it is to keep going when your body is telling you to stop. EQIs
can present this same challenge. The difference is, there is nothing else to
look at, nothing else to concentrate on. For an athlete, this can be a very
effective tool to increase mental toughness and relaxation. If, while doing
EQIs, you start to think about how hard it is and how you don’t want to go
Admittedly, the nearly static nature of EQIs is also one of the downsides to
using them for postural analysis, as sports involve dynamic actions.
However, EQIs can be an important weapon in the analysis arsenal, because
more information about an athlete’s condition can translate into the
formulation of a more effective training program.
Using EQIs after a training session will re-lengthen the contracted tissue.
This is important because if the muscles are left in a contracted state, then
blood flow to the muscle will be significantly reduced (Zatsiorsky 1995).
This is bad news for those of you who are worrying so much about post-
workout nutrition. If blood can’t effectively reach the muscle, then how do
you expect it to utilize the various nutrients in the blood to repair itself?
One of the first benefits people notice is that they are not nearly as sore the
next day if EQIs are done after a training session. This is most likely
because the muscles have been re-lengthened, allowing for optimal recovery.
The implications of this are great. If the body can achieve complete
recovery at a rapid rate, then more training sessions are possible in a given
time-period. To further accelerate the recovery process, take advantage of
reactive hyperemia by drinking your post-workout shake 15-30 minutes
before doing your EQIs. This will provide the exhausted muscles with a
large dose of the substrates they need to recover.
Conclusion
Traditional stretching has recently been looked down upon, and rightly so,
by many as being ineffective at promoting flexibility during dynamic
sporting actions, as well as being ineffective at relieving muscle soreness.
While both of these criticisms are valid, traditional stretching has often been
removed with nothing to take its place.
EQIs not only do a better job of enhancing dynamic flexibility and relieving
muscle soreness, but they offer a myriad of other benefits to the strength
coach and the athlete who are willing to put in the hard (and painful) work
involved.
If you read Chapter 2, you’ll remember that steroids are not magic- instead
they are a means of optimizing your own network of hormones to produce
optimal results in minimal time. But if you have ever seen the kinds of
results that they produce, they sure can seem like magic. If you are a
beginner and have seen their effects first hand (perhaps in a friend or on
yourself) they probably still seem like magic to you. I assure you that there´s
no magic here…perhaps a little hormonal slight of hand, or chemical
trickery, but certainly no magic.
So let’s get to work figuring out what kind of cycle would be appropriate to
compliment Christian’s training and diet routine(s). This will require a bit of
mental effort on your part, because instead of throwing some drugs and
cookie cutter dosages and cycles at you, I’m going to do something a bit
different. First I’m going to ask you to figure out where you are in your
training age. This means you need to know how many years you’ve been
training. I strongly advise against using steroids at all if you’ve been training
The next question you need to ask yourself (if you’ve been training for at
least two years) is “have I done steroids before?” If the answer to the second
question is yes, then you still might (or might not) be a beginner to the world
of anabolic use.
So you’ll notice a few things here, and I’ll explain them one by one. The
first thing that I suggest is that a beginner should run a twelve week cycle.
Well, basically, I happen to think that 12 week cycles are ideal (I usually
recommend them for all levels). This is because as a beginner, I feel like you
want to have some time to deal with your cycle and make gains from it.
When athletes go on and off steroids, for set periods of time, this is known
as “cycling”. When on a cycle, if two or more anabolic steroids are used at
the same time, it is typically known as "stacking". Athletes and bodybuilders
often stack anabolic steroids with each other to optimize and combine the
best qualities of each, to produce a desired
result. In this case, we’re concerned with
body transformation, so the steroids we’re
going to take a look at are very specific,
and most suitable to achieve this goal.
Now, let’s look at another cycle, which is primarily targeting someone who
is lean and shows abs all the time, but has problems gaining any kind of
decent muscle mass:
Mass cycle for a lean beginner who has trouble gaining size
Week Testosterone Dianabol (optional)
enanthate or cypionate Methandrostenolone
1 300 to 400mgs 20 to 40mgs every day
2 300 to 400mgs 20 to 40mgs every day
3 300 to 400mgs 20 to 40mgs every day
4 300 to 400mgs 20 to 40mgs every day
5 300 to 400mgs 20 to 40mgs every day
6 300 to 400mgs 20 to 40mgs every day
7 300 to 400mgs
8 300 to 400mgs
9 300 to 400mgs
10 300 to 400mgs
11 300 to 400mgs
12 300 to 400mgs
Combined with Christian’s diet and training routine, there is no reason why
a cycle like this shouldn’t provide a beginning steroid user with a good
twenty+ (or more) pounds. If you’re following this cycle, training and diet,
and you live in Canada where Christian is from, you can probably expect
good ten (or more) kilograms, eh?
Now, even if you are naturally pretty lean, some of this weight is going to be
water retention, since the two steroids being used can both convert to
estrogen, which can cause water weight to be accrued. However, by
following (Christian’s) clean diet, the bloated look that’s common with first
time steroid users can be certainly avoided. Also, it is important to note that
it’s a very good idea to do your cardio work when using steroids, not just to
transform your body, but to keep your cardiovascular system running
optimally, and able to support all of the new weight (and stress) you are
placing on it.
The final cycle we’re going to have a look at is the classic testosterone +
Deca (Nandrolone) stack. All of the things I had said about testosterone still
hold true, but in this case we’re going to add in the option of taking some
Deca along with our testosterone. This option is for someone who is right in
the mid range of being of average size and leanness. Sure, he could get
The compound we’re looking at here is (of course) Testosterone with the
addition of Deca-Durabolin (or Nandrolone Decanoate, commonly just
called “Deca” by bodybuilders.
Now that I’ve explained some compounds and cycles for beginners, we
should probably move on to intermediate cycles. It’s relatively easy to figure
out what a beginner to steroids is…and it’s probably easy to figure out what
an advanced user is as well. But the next couple of cycles are for that person
who falls in the grey middle area of steroid use…the intermediate user. I
define intermediate (with regards to training and steroids) as having been
lifting for at least 3 years and done at least 3 cycles, with multiple
compounds in at least one of those cycles. Intermediate users have different
needs for their cycle design than both beginners as well as advanced users,
and here I’m going to outline two body transforming cycles for the
intermediate. We’ll look at a lean bulking cycle first:
Ok, so what we have here is a nice lean bulking cycle that uses testosterone,
nandrolone, Oral-Turinabol, and Arimidex. This cycle is really for someone
who has some experience with steroids, and needs some size to really
transform their body.
I think Oral-Turinabol is a nice bulking drug, and with the recent emergence
of so many quality UG Labs, it is reasonably easy to find as well. I’ve
included it at the beginning of the cycle because it gives the user an increase
in strength and size almost immediately, and with the use of the short estered
products, this cycle should produce quality gains from the outset on through
the completion.
A cycle like this can give the intermediate user a good fifteen plus pounds of
new body weight, as well as the strength that accompanies it, and with the
Mass gaining cycle for intermediates who gain fat easily and hold water
Week Testosterone Masteron Trenbolone Arimidex
Propionate Acetate
1 100mgs/EOD* 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
2 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
3 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
4 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
5 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
6 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
7 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
8 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
9 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
10 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
11 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
12 100mgs/EOD 100mgs/EOD 75mgs/EOD .5mgs/day
* EOD = taken every other day
Now, we’re looking at two totally new drugs in this cycle, both of which
need some explaining. Masteron is derived from DHT, and is an excellent
hardening drug. It won’t add much weight to the user, but all of the weight
gained will be very lean, high quality muscle. It also has some anti
estrogenic properties and is well
known for producing very
noticeable strength gains. The
other (new) drug in this cycle is
Trenbolone, which is a 19-nor
derived steroid, and will help the
user put on several new pounds
of quality muscle mass, with no
water retention whatsoever. It’s
known for being a slightly
“harsh” steroid, and can kill your ability to do intense cardio. Most people
find the trade off to be acceptable, however, as Trenbolone can produce lean
gains which are almost unrivaled by any other steroid.
In a later chapter we will also provide info on how to structure you diet
depending to be synergistic with the training program. We will also provide
a pharmaceutical plan adapted to each of the training cycles. Understand that
to reap optimum benefits, all the related factors should work together, not
independently.
* In this program the A1./A2.(or B1./B2.; C1./C2.) denotes alternate sets (not supersets). You perform one set of A1., rest for 60
seconds then perform a set of A2., rest 60 seconds then go back to A1. etc.
* In this program the A1./A2.(or B1./B2.; C1./C2.) denotes alternate sets (not supersets). You perform one set of A1., rest for 60
seconds then perform a set of A2., rest 60 seconds then go back to A1. etc.
The other cycles I’ve outlined aren’t integrated in this way, and they allow
you to mix and match with whatever cycle, training, and diet you wish to
combine. This cycle will take you from the start of autumn straight through
to the beach next summer.
At this point, the final 4 weeks of Phase 4 should be run, and a break taken:
Recovery
Week Aromasin Nolvadex HCG Vitamin E
1 20mgs/day 20mgs/day 500iu/day 1,000iu/day
2 20mgs/day 20mgs/day 500iu/day 1,000iu/day
3 20mgs/day 20mgs/day 500iu/day 1,000iu/day
4 20mgs/day 20mgs/day
I'm not the biggest fan of feminist extremism; you know, the type that claims
that men and women are equal in everything. This just isn't true! Men and
women each have different strength and weaknesses as well as different
needs. Their respective training programs should reflect this.
Since the dawn of time, big manly physiques and strength have been bonded
together tightly, so much so that many women were led to believe that if
they got stronger they'd build a big, bulky, manly physique. Those of us who
are slightly more illuminated know that an increase in strength can be
associated with neural factors as well as muscular factors. As a result, just
because a woman gains a lot of strength doesn't mean that she'll look like Jay
Cutler with hooters. Here's why:
I find this to be true, especially when the women get passed the
"I don't want to get huge" mindset and they finally give it their all.
It's obvious that most men have a hard time gaining 15-25 pounds of muscle
in a year (in my opinion this size improvement will lead to significantly
visible changes). So women should not be too worried about morphing into
the Incredible Hulk!
I'd say that a woman can build 7-12lbs of quality muscle tissue in a year
(once she's past the beginner level), which will give her a nice firm body!
And to quote strongwoman competitor Patricia Smith:
I do firmly believe that most women would look better with the addition of 5-
10lbs of LBM anyways. And that the current trend of that too skinny look
has just got to go!
I used to tell my female clients that they weren't going to wake up one
morning screaming "My God, I went too far at the gym yesterday and now
I'm HUGE!!!"
2. Reduced risk of sport injuries. While women are no more prone to weight-
training injuries than men, it's true that women who practice sports are often
more prone to injury than their male counterparts. But this is probably
because, by tradition, men have been involved in a more serious off-season
strength training regimen, which can help reduce the risk of injuries. A
woman who is heavily involved in sports has a much smaller chance of
being injured if she trains seriously in the gym.
Type of training plan None, repeat same Periodized with periods Periodized with periods
program over and over of loading and of loading and
unloading unloading
The preceding table gives a good guideline when planning training programs
for females. You must understand that women can lift relatively heavy
weights, do a greater volume of work than believed by most (in fact they
have a greater tolerance for volume than most men), and should focus on
multi-joint exercises.
Basically, women should train almost exactly like men, with a few minor
differences:
1. Slightly more reps per set: Women do not have the capacity to recruit as
many motor units as men do. As such, they'll need 1-2 more reps to fully
stimulate their muscles. So when training for strength, a man should use
between 1 and 5 reps while a woman will benefit more from doing 3-6 reps.
When training for muscle gains, men will benefit from doing 5-10 reps while
women should stick to 7-12 reps.
2. Slightly more sets per exercise: The reason is the same as above. Most
women will need to perform 1-2 more sets of an exercise to achieve the
3. Slightly less intensity: This is not to say that women aren't as strong as
men. But since they need a few more reps and a few more sets, the relative
intensity must be decreased a little to allow for proper progression.
So roughly a year ago, I began researching women and steroid use, with no
idea that this would end up being a chapter in this work (mostly because I
didn’t even know I’d be writing this!). I had figured that my name was
recognizable enough to give me a modicum of credibility, and not someone
with vested (and unsavory) interests. I contacted all of the women I was on
good terms with (not surprisingly, a relatively small number), and had them
introduce me to some likely candidates to anonymously talk about their drug
use.
Several figure, fitness, and bodybuilder women were all gracious enough to
speak with me, very frankly and candidly (on the condition of anonymity). I
have also retained a few connections with first division athletes in various
colleges around the country, so I have decent insight into the world of
female athletics as well. So I ended up doing dozens of interviews, and
collecting reams of data on female anabolic use from various female
competitors (and even a couple of recreational users). This data is important
on many levels, for a woman trying to figure out which anabolics to use, or
if she should use them at all.
Anyway, a typical off season weight for a female bodybuilder is only about
10 lbs higher than a figure or fitness competitor, if they are all still in
reasonable shape (not super-fat). This immediately made me think that their
drug intakes, diet, and training routines would be shockingly similar, and in
some regards I was correct, and in others I was not. This is why real care and
precaution needs to be taken when a female is attempting a body
transformation aided by anabolics.
Let’s go over what I’m talking about here, so we’re all on the same page.
Fitness girls do the same physique comparison rounds as the figure girls, but
also have a routine which contains compulsory moves. Figure girls are
compared doing quarter turns in both a one and two piece “swimsuit”. It’s
So what do I think are the best drugs for women to take (in small doses)?
Typically, I think the safest choices for female anabolic use are Primobolan,
Anavar, Winstrol, and Masteron. This is, as previously stated, for a little
edge in body transformation, and only for 12-16 weeks at most (perhaps the
summer). Perhaps slightly higher (dosage-wise) amounts of these drugs
would be permissible in the off season (*when on a yearly body
Most of the side effects I’ve seen in women are manageable, and only
temporary. Yeah, horror stories exist, but they’re few and far between.
Permanent deepening of the vocal chords is very uncommon, and I’ve only
seen it with much larger female bodybuilders- who typically don’t go off
steroids long enough to have their voices recover before it becomes semi-
permanent. I know of one woman who lost the highs in her voice, but it
didn’t deepen…she was, however, under the mistaken impression that her
voice had started out much higher than it really did. I think a little precaution
here goes a long way. In particular, women need to be more receptive to
what their bodies are telling them when they’re on a cycle, and they need to
The side effect most commonly ignored (believe it or not) is the growth of
body hair, and hair loss (from the head). Most women I know brush off the
growth of body hair by rationalizing that they have to shave anyway, and the
loss of any hair from their head is quickly re-grown after the cycle is over.
Body hair growth doesn’t go away usually, but girls who are blonde (natural
ones, anyway) usually only grow a very fine layer of mostly unnoticeable
hair, and brunettes who compete often have to do regular full body shaves
anyway. Ever see any hair on the arms of a bodybuilder (male or female)?
Yeah, that’s how that one goes down. The men and the women usually shave
every day or every other day anyway, so it’s going to be growing back a bit
heavier and coarser. If you wanna compete, you have to shave…so this side
effect is usually ignored. And the thinning hair just doesn’t faze the women
too much because they have so much of it.
Some slight clitoral enlargement is common, but usually (mostly) goes away
for the most part when the woman stops using the drugs. Some slight
enlargement is going to be permanent, but the “man-like” level of
enlargement is really not common at all. And here’s a hot tip: Some do it on
purpose. To be perfectly frank, most women appreciate the temporary effect
of clitoral enlargement and swelling, because it makes it much easier for
them to orgasm- and combined with the libido increase experienced through
But is it permanent? Lets think about this objectively for a moment, ok?
Men use tons of DHT based anabolics, in much higher doses, and we never
hear of grossly enlarged and permanent external genetalia enlargement in
men, from those compounds. Topical DHT has been used successfully to
treat inordinately small penis size in males (technically called Microphalia),
but this is really only marginally successful and involves rubbing DHT on
the area every day, for months on end. And no, this isn’t something I’ve
needed to try- thank you very much.
One of the alarming trends I see with female competitors is that they usually
are listening to men, with regards to their drug intake. Contest Prep “Gurus”
(read: drug dealers) usually recommend the “mild” drugs which are used in
the world of male bodybuilding as cutting agents. This includes Anavar,
Primobolan, Proviron, and Winstrol, most commonly. These are obvious
choices for men, because none of them aromatize (convert to estrogen).
When you take a look at their androgenic rating, they’re all quite low, and
have very decent anabolic effects. None of them really provide any huge
weight gains, but they do provide very high quality gains, of mostly muscle,
and very little water retention. In low doses, any of them are reasonably safe.
Sounds great, right? Surely, this is why men recommend these drugs to
women- when they use these drugs, men typically experience very hard,
quality gains in muscle, with only small increases in muscle, on the level of
a few pounds, with no water gain. This is just what women usually want out
of their cycles, so the reasoning behind these recommendations is sound-
almost.
Did I mention that all of the drugs I just listed are also the most expensive
anabolics on the market? Not a bad deal for the “gurus” who recommend
them…
The reason men experience very nice gains with the DHT family of steroids
is that they not only reduce estrogen, but they also are very potent
androgens, despite their misleadingly low androgenic ratings. Androgens in
men produce far less of an effect on a Mg for Mg basis, than they do in
women, and this is due to the differing endocrinology of the two sexes.
Their threshold for experiencing undesirable side effects is also very low, so
doses need to be increased incrementally, and this isn’t usually done. Let’s
discuss why. The popular brands of Anavar used by most women, for
example, typically come in 5mg tabs. So when a woman decides to up her
dose, she goes from one tab to two. That’s a huge increase, and I’ve never
heard of a woman going from five to six mgs, or anything like that. Winstrol
comes in amps of 50mgs, and it’s very difficult to measure out 1/th of a ml
in a syringe. Consequently, most women use a quarter ml every other day,
and then they jump to double that dose when they move up. The pattern here
is that doses are doubled every time they’re increased, and this is something
unique to women. A man doing 500mgs of testosterone per week will
usually jump to 750mgs if they aren’t receiving the effects they want. At
lower doses, and lower side effect thresholds, the trend in female anabolic
I noticed another trend, in speaking with some of the top level female
competitors I interviewed. Unfortunately, I saw what would be technically
classified as compulsive behavior in some women, who either experience
anxiety when they come off the drugs, or feel a degree of anxiety when they
aren’t using the kind of doses they perceive their competition to be using. As
with any compulsive act, as anxiety levels rise, the desire to relieve that
anxiety (in this case by using steroids) also rises. As the compulsive
behaviors begins to manifest itself, and as more compulsive acts are
committed- i.e. drug intake is continued or increased- anxiety levels decline.
This creates a pattern of unnecessary psychological reliance on the drugs,
not necessarily to build a better physique, but rather to decrease anxiety.
This, obviously, is not something that’s going to help you transform your
body- and is out of control. Clearly, physical side effects are not the only
ones that women need to consider if they are thinking about using anabolics
to transform their physiques.
Strength and size are two different animals. It’s true they remain somewhat
intertwined, especially if one gained his muscle mass while training mostly
in the functional hypertrophy zone (80-85%/6-8RM) with some strength
work thrown in there. However it’s quite possible for an individual to have
large muscles and be somewhat weak. On the other hand there are also
individuals with less muscle mass but who have phenomenal strength. This
is mostly due to central nervous system efficiency, a lower muscle fiber
innervation threshold and lowered protective mechanisms. An example of
such an athlete is Canadian bobsledder Pascal Caron who bench pressed
425lbs and full squatted 500lbs at a bodyweight of 167lbs on 5’7”. There are
also the obvious examples of elite Olympic lifters. For example, 3-times
Olympic gold medalist Pyrros Dimas who snatched 396lbs, clean & jerked
469lbs and front squatted over 600lbs at a bodyweight of 185-187lbs! The
fact is that big muscles give you the potential to be strong. However it is the
nervous system that allows you to reach that potential. The following
graphic illustrates the relationship between muscle mass, CNS efficiency
and strength.
2. Nervous system efficiency: The more efficient the CNS is the more
of your muscle’s potential strength you can use. An effective CNS
leads to the recruitment of a larger number of motor units/muscle
fibers, to a faster activation of those fibers, to a better coordination
between the recruited fibers within a muscle, to a better coordination
between all the muscles involved in the movement, etc.
Limit
You will notice that three types of explosive training are included in the
table:
Power output during a bench press at various intensities. Analysis with the Tendo Sports
Unit (Thibaudeau 2004)
When prescribing an Olympic lift variation you thus use those three words
to describe exactly what movement you want. For example Power Clean
from the Hang; Muscle Snatch from Blocks; Power Jerk from the clavicle,
etc.
So if we use the three words system we can create the following variations
of the Olympic lifts. However, as we will see, not all of these lifts are
appropriate to non-olympic lifters. Athletes should stick to the easier
variations to be able to reap the maximum benefits without having to spend
years mastering perfect competitive lifting technique.
Type of exercise Variations
Muscle snatch from the floor
Muscle snatch from the hang
Muscle snatch from the blocks
Athletes should stay from Olympic lift variations starting from the floor and
caught in the full squat position. Why?
Lifts from the floor are more technical because of the transition
from the first pull (floor to knees) to the second pull (knees to
completion of the lift). In fact, that transition (which is also called
the double knee bend) is the most technical aspect of the Olympic
lifts. An athlete often doesn’t have much time to improve his
physical capacities; utilizing highly technical movements which
take a long time to master are thus not an efficient way of
training.
As you can see, unless you plan on being a competitive Olympic lifter there
is no need to perform the full Olympic lifts. In fact they are even less
effective than the truncated variations.
From the seminars I give I learned that answering questions from the crowd
is on of the best ways to teach. Oftentimes when someone asks a question he
is also speaking for others who don’t have the guts to ask. It can also address
some subjects that I might have not covered deep enough. I decided to apply
this concept to this book. Here are some questions regarding muscle building
that were sent to be by individuals all over the world. Later on the same will
be done for strength-building and GPP work.
Question 1. "I'm trying to gain mass and lose fat at the same time. Is it
possible and if so, what's the best way to accomplish this?"
Basically building muscle and loosing fat are somewhat opposite to each
other. So accomplishing both goals at the same time can be difficult. There
exceptions however.
1. A beginner: When some first starts training with weights the body will
be more responsive to the training stress and will thus add muscle mass more
easily and since it is perceived as an emergency state by the body, even if
you are not consuming a ton of calories you can still gain size. It is quite
common to see a beginner gain muscle and loose fat at the same time.
Unfortunately, after the first 2-3 months of training this pretty much cease to
happen.
3. Going from junk to clean: If someone goes from eating most of his
calories from junk food to eating it as good clean food he can loose fat while
building muscle without having to alter his caloric intake. For example, if
Maurice consumes 3500kcals per day, mostly in the form of white bread,
breakfast cereal, ice cream, pastries and fast food and suddenly decide to
clean up his diet and focus more on oatmeal, brown rice, yams, eggs, lean
meat, poultry, fish and green veggies he will loose fat even if he continues
to ingest 3500kcals per day. If that 3500kcals is sufficient for him to gain
muscle, then he will gain muscle and loose fat at the same time. Just like a
beginner, this wont last for ever though.
4. Using anabolic aids: Obviously those who choose to use steroids and
other compounds will be able to gain more muscle and loose fat at the same
time. These compounds were already discussed in Anthony’s chapters.
Question 2. “Is there a single method that would you say to be the most
effective in building muscle?”
Answer 2. Not really. Any method that respects the “winning conditions”
for hypertrophy will lead to good gains. Those conditions are:
If all of these conditions are present, you will improve the quality of your
physique. It doesn’t mean that it’s pointless to use various training methods;
just that it’s not the most important thing to look for when trying to gain size
or strength.
That having been said, the more tools you have available the more variety
you can have. More variety = more motivation = more gains in the long run.
Question 3. “When someone has a stressful job and stressful home life what
would you say to him if he wanted to build muscle?”
5g of creatine
5g of glutamine
10g of BCAAs
5g of taurine
This mix has helped many of my clients gain muscle mass despite some
pretty hectic schedules!
Pin pull
Chest supported DB
rowing
Close-grip barbell
concentration curl
Straight-arms pulldown
Gironda dumbbell
swing (alternate sides)
Haney shrugs
Goodmorning
Push press
Bulgarian squat