M3:D43 What’s in a mindset?
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M3:D42 Lurkers
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 Lately I've been doing alot of thinking about the lurkers on my blog. I am using a paid blogging service that gives me extensive stats. From those stats I know there are many people who read this blog who have never commented–not even once. That brought me to a different thought. Responsibility. Because we have many lurkers reading our blogs, those of us in the Shreddersphere have a responsibility to present accurate and truthful information. We have to be very clear in the way we present our ideas. Failure to do so can cause problems for one of the lurkers who might take us at face value and make a mistake. If they were commenting the blog we could always correct misconceptions, but the lurkers do not comment, therefore we can't do anything but make sure our message is clear and concise the first time out. I honestly feel that we have to be careful with what we post. That's why I keep my nutritional plan under wraps. I am one who is willing to try some very extreme things to burn the fat. I have no idea if they work until I get the results. As a result, I don't want to share this information with the readers of the blog until I can give my feedback on what worked and what didn't work. I feel a responsibility towards the lurkers (and all readers actually) to do things this way. We have to realize that some people think like champions but have no idea how to act like champions. Alot of people try this and that, jumping from idea to idea. Many people fail to finish the things they've started. Sill more try to finish, but get sidetracked constantly. I don't want to be responsible for someone changing course because of something I am doing. I believe in lifting heavy and eating right. I believe in tracking all your progress and making adjustments where necessary. I believe in pushing ourselves to the brink every time we hit the gym. I believe in consistent workouts. I believe that we are conducting an experiment of one and that we can only really share the results of that experiment when the experiment has some progress to report. My beliefs have lead me to a feeling of responsibility. So, dear reader, if you are frustrated because I have not shared my eating plan, don't fret because I will eventually reveal all. I just like keeping things under wraps at the experimental stage. I am currently using some of the things I've learned from past experiments to do a bulk with maximum fat loss included. It is pretty much the typical thought that it is impossible to bulk and lose fat at the same time. I, for one, feel it is necessary to bulk in order to maximize the ability for your body to burn fat. This is a conclusion that I've come to through many different experiments. It works–for me. You need to conduct your own experiment of one. You need to see what works best for you. It is fine to read what everyone else is doing, but give your plan time to work. If you decide that a 30/50/20 (carb/protein/fat) ratio is right for you, give it a shot. If you get two weeks out and find that you're actually eating 50/30/20 and you're gaining fat, don't give up on the plan. Why? Because you aren't really working the plan, so how can you say it doesn't work? The plan was 30/50/20 not 50/30/20. Instead of changing your plan, change how you eat. Get back on the plan you set up for yourself. Give it some time to work. Most plans take at least 8 weeks to show real change. Give yourself enough time! I promise you that if you stick to a plan you will get results from that plan. It is then up to you to analyze those results and adjust as needed. Generally speaking, jumping from one plan to another is a horrible idea that I strongly discourage. |
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 Today was the first day of my workouts going to 4 sets of 10 reps. It took some adjusting. I actually sat down with a 1 rep max calculator that also then calculated the weight for various rep schemes and adjusted all my exercises accordingly. I found this calculator to be very accurate as my workout was definitely difficult. I also began videotaping my workouts today. I will see how that goes for this week and then put up a snippet of the results. It should be fun for some of you to see. For those with a weak heart I recommend not viewing as I am truly in Fat Burning Machine mode these days (emphasis on machine). |
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 When you know you haven't complied with your plan why do you insist that the plan is not working? |
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 Do you believe that results should be evident within 2 weeks? Comment this post to answer the question. |
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Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING! |
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M3:D41 Intensity defined
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Intensity is a word seen alot on the Fat Burning Machine blog, but I often wonder if you, the reader, really understands what I mean by intensity. I will start by giving you some couplets of what intensity is all about to me. Intensity does not mean going to failure on every set, it means that the accumulation of effort on your entire workout makes you feel like puking. Intensity is not one single event, it is a sustained effort over short bursts of time. Intensity is not working out as hard as you can, it is working out harder than you ever thought was possible. Intensity is not about giving up on the last set, it is about digging deep and pushing out a few more repetitions after you thought you couldn't do another one. Intensity is not about hitting just any goal, it is about hitting The Goal. Yesterday, in one of my Powerful Reasons Why, I put the following:
I sincerely hope you noted that the goal is to win the bodybuilding competition in my age division, not just to compete in a bodybuilding competition in my age division. This, to me, is an intense goal. If I were to just care about competing, I would enter a competition at any point and declare the goal finished. What I want is to win the competition in my age division. I've upped the intensity by making winning a focus. Sometimes intensity appears to be arrogant. I don't care. Intensity is the only thing I know. Intensity is my way of life ever since I got on this mission to get in better shape. I believe that intensity is saying what you know to be correct as opposed to what you think people want to hear. I feel that intensity is about putting your neck on the line even when you know others are going to want to cut it off. I've gone through alot of adversity on my way to where I am eventually going to end up and it has taught me that intensity is the driving force behind success. |
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| Today was a rest day. I did some stretching while watching re-runs of Gene Simmons Family Jewels. It felt good to stretch out my aching muscles. I also spent some time with The Stick massaging my quads and calves. This has become a regular routine for me on rest days. |
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| Take up the torch, turn the corner, you are on your way to success. |
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| How do you personally define intensity? Comment this blog to answer the question. |
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Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING! |
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Sunday tip: Can you gain muscle without getting fat?
Can You Gain Muscle Weight Without Getting Fat?
By Vince DelMonte
There are two common fitness goals – to gain muscle mass and to lose body fat. Unfortunately, for the most part, the two goals are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Building muscle mass is going to require you to take in a surplus of calories because, well, let's face it, you can't build muscle out of nothing (unless of course you have some chemical help going on).
Losing fat mass on the other hand is going to require you to be in a negative calorie balance because that is what will get your body burning off additional body fat as fuel for its tissues.
Striving to accomplish both goals at the same time is rarely a good approach because more than likely you will just end up spinning your wheels and getting nowhere.
Most weight lifters will have to accept some fat gain when they are looking to gain weight, however how much fat gain they need to add is question. It is this variable that we are hoping to influence.
Can you really gain weight without getting fat?
When adding muscle mass there are two approaches you can take.
Some take the approach of just eating as much food as they can possible cram into themselves. Their life suddenly becomes one long 24-hour buffet in their quest for muscle mass as they are under the thinking that the more food that goes in, the more muscle synthesis that will go on.
This thinking is heavily flawed. The body can only assimilate so much muscle tissue at once and after it has done so, any remaining calories are simply going to be stored as body fat. Plain and simple. You my friend, are no exception to the rule.
For those guys who are out there taking in five thousand or more calories per day, this is obviously going to be way more than they need and will result in a considerable amount of unwanted fat weight over a period of three to six months (how long most people will ‘bulk' for).
The second option is to adopt a more moderate approach and only eat so many additional calories to support this muscle growth and that's it. This will allow you to hopefully get as much lean tissue gained as possible without the accumulation of a monstrous rise in body fat.
So that leads us to the next question you're probably wondering. How much muscle can you build? How many calories over maintenance should you be eating?
You've probably already heard of the guy who claims he's added 20 pounds of muscle in the short timeframe of six weeks. While this may be a very rare occurrence among an individual who is brand new to weight lifting, has insanely good genetics and utilized an excellent training and nutritional program, the fact of the matter is that most guys are simply not going to be able to come even close to adding this much muscle tissue.
A natural trained individual can hope to achieve about half a pound to one pound of muscle per week – if he's doing everything correctly. If he doesn't have the greatest genetics or isn't feeding himself optimally, this will decrease even further. So as you can see, at a measly two to four pounds of muscle growth per month, you aren't going to be needed to eat insanely high calorie intakes.
The higher your intake is, the more you risk putting on additional body fat. As a general rule, keep it to about 250 to 500 calories above maintenance in hopes of putting on mostly muscle without too much body fat. Keep track of your current body fat levels and appearance and if you see that too much of your weight gain is coming on as fat mass, reduce your calorie intake slightly.
It is always best to go by REAL WORLD results since you are in the real world after all. You can read as much as you like as to how many calories you should be eating, but this does not mean that's going to be the exact number that will produce results. Different people have different metabolisms that will respond to an increase in calories in various ways. So as you go about your bulk, adjust according to the results you are getting.
Remember that the more patient you are with your muscle gains and the slower you go, the more time you can spend adding muscle mass and the less time you have to spend dieting off the additional fat you gained – which as I'm sure many of you already know, is not a pleasant experience.
So next time you decide you are going to do a ‘bulking' phase, take a slower approach. Not only are you much more likely to maintain a favourable appearance this way but your mind will thank you as well. Nothing kills confidence levels faster than seeing all muscle definition go out the window in a matter of weeks, so keep the weight gain under control so you don't have to deal with this.
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About the Author:
Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building : Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com/
He teaches skinny guys how to get big muscles, without supplements, drugs and training less than before.
© 2006-2008, Vince DelMonte Fitness. All rights in all media reserved. You may reprint this article so long as the article and author bio are reprinted intake and all links are made live. This article may never be sold individually or as part of a package.
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