Posts written by Michael J. Mahony

Intensity is just one of the many variables involved in a lifting routine.  You would benefit from tracking all of these variables and what effect a tweak here or there has on your results.  By recording this information you can be assured of great results.

To me, working at the highest intensity is essential to fantastic growth.  You can always push yourself harder and harder.  That’s one way to increase intensity.  You can shorten your rest periods and intensity will rise.  You can increase the weight and intensity will increase.

Marc is not afraid to approach any topic on his site.  He has an area on the sidebar that lists recent articles.  In that list you will find an article about the supplements Marc takes, another article in which Marc is interviewed by Dave DePew (my nutritional consultant) and yet another where Marc discusses Monster Milk RTD.  I like the tone of Marc’s articles.  He isn’t afraid to tell you what works and what doesn’t work. 

Marc is extremely consistent despite people’s attempts to trip him up.  Witness a Q&A in his most recent article:

QUESTION:

You said you don’t need to take supplements to build muscle?  At least that is what your book claims along with everybody else in this industry.  Are you contradicting yourself?

ANSWER:

You do not. I was asked what I personally took, and I responded when most other professionals will not.  I’m not a supplement pusher but I’m not a supplement hater.   You only need handwork, consistency and adequate food intake coupled with recovery to build muscle and burn fat.  I said that, others say it and I stand by it.

Marc does not mince words.  He has alot of the same philosophies I do.  He is in the business to help people and not just to make money.  With Marc, what you see is what you get.  He is the guy he portrays in all of his articles.  He doesn’t lead a secret life.  You won’t find incriminating photos of him up on Facebook or Twitpic because Marc practices what he preaches.

I highly recommend adding Marc’s blog to your RSS reader so that you don’t miss a single article.  I have learned a tremendous amount from this man.  I am truly grateful to him for the information that he provides.

Some of my favorite Marc David articles from http://www.bodybuildingsecretslive.com are:

Dave DePew Interviews the NoBull Muscle Guy

What Supplements Do You Take-

Hugo Rivera Interview- Part 1

Hugo Rivera Interview- Part 2

Build Muscle Fast

You can follow Marc on Twitter — @marc_david

You can connect with Marc on Facebook – http://facebook.com/marcdavid

As I look at Matty I am in awe.  His body has been changing before my very eyes.  His lats are starting to pop out and he is thinning down quite a bit.  The baby fat that has plagued him is slowly leaving his body due to his extremely hard work. 

For those of you with a short memory or who haven’t been reading the blog long, let me update you on my son and why I am so proud of him.

The original idea for him to join me at the gym came from him.  He asked and I naturally agreed to have him join me.  At first it was a nightmare.  He would pretend to not be able to lift a weight even one time that he had lifted several times the workout before.  He would never really give it his all.  He wanted to take the easy way out rather than work hard.

At some point he and I started to have small conversations on the way to the gym and on the way home from the gym.  I planned these talks out in advance—just the topics—so that I could help guide him in the right direction.  Realizing that as a dad it was my job to mentor him (and mentoring involves creating independence), I set out to help him understand why we go to the gym daily.  We would have conversations about how silly it is to go to the gym at 4 a.m. but not give your whole effort to the workout.  We discussed results and he was surprised at my take on them (everything you do brings about results, but not always the kind you want).  He got to listen to my philosophy of lifting (you can never work hard enough because you can always go harder than you just did).  I helped him understand how that philosophy is linked to progression. 

Over time I noticed his attitude was changing.  He started to lift harder because it felt good.  He went heavy because it made him feel strong.  At one point, after a particularly grueling, mind blowing workout I saw him smiling, so I asked him an important question.  “Do you workout with me because I make you or because you love it?”  His answer was perfect.  “The answer is both.”  So I decided to clarify.  “Let me understand—you workout with me because you love lifting weights, you do it at 4 a.m. because I make you—is that correct?”  He confirmed that I had nailed it perfectly. 

That was a proud day for me for several reasons.  Here was my 14 year old son telling me that he shares my passion for weight training.  At the same time, he was telling me that he respects me enough to get up at 4 a.m. and not complain about it.  How many of you have 14 year old boys who will do this without a complaint?  Mine has never once complained about getting up in the morning to lift.

As I contemplated all of this, I started to think about shutting this blog down completely.  For selfish reasons, I was very close to just posting a “I’ve shut this blog down” message.  Then I started looking at my site traffic.  I realized that shutting the blog down would effect many people and I wasn’t really ready to do that to people.  I am all about helping others and if reading this blog has helped even one person then I must continue.

With that said, I apologize for not being more regular.  I have now launched the software for my company so the demand on my time is much less.  Starting today there will be a video and picture posted every single day.  If I don’t have time for an extended commentary I will say so.  However, the format of the blog is changing to save me time.  I will be posting my daily video, my daily commentary, my daily workouts and my daily pictures and that is it.  I am not going to post my accountability log daily because (a) it takes alot of time to produce for the web; and (b)  it doesn’t change much.  I will, however, post my accountability log weekly (on Sunday for the previous week) starting next Sunday.  I will also try to do a recap of the week’s events every single Sunday.  I am planning a special day each week to highlight another site (blogger or otherwise).  That’s the extent of my commitment at the current time.

I have been putting the finishing touches on my eBook and think I am finally close to publishing it.  That along with the new software for my company has consumed most of my time.  I have started a new site, https://fitnessexpose.com, and encourage you to go there and sign up for the eNewsletter.  I have a guest author who writes posts on fitness every Tuesday.  I, myself, write posts several times each week.  The information on that site is similar to my accountability blog, but it really has one purpose—educate people about the fitness industry and how to navigate it safely.

I hope that all of you will continue to read not only this blog, but the Fitness Expose materials as well.  Thank you for your continued loyalty.

During M8 I will be utilizing the Combat the Fat program from Jeff Anderson.  Matty and my friend, Don, will be joining me in this adventure.  We weighed in and took body fat measurements and circumference measurements today.

My M8 goals: