Monday June 30, 2008

Is It Possible to Gain Muscle And Burn Fat At The Same Time?

I remember a friendly argument with my co-author of Fit Over 40 Tom Venuto. It all started when I told Tom how I was eating and training for my last peak. A peak is where you lower your bodyfat and try to maintain as much muscle mass as possible.

“There’s just no way I could ever get in shape eating and training like that,” says Tom. “Sure you could man…what are you, a mutant?” Tom fires back, then me, then Tom….and so it goes. (I really didn’t call Tom a mutant. That was creative liberty.)

So why are so many fitness pros like Tom freaked out about my training and nutrition plan? Simple: I claim it burns fat while building muscle at the same time. Every time I read an article by some doctor or expert claiming it’s “biologically impossible” to gain muscle on a hypocaloric diet (a diet low in calories) I just laugh.

I do more than make claims—I have proved this to be true many times. I’ve had my bodyfat hydrostatically measured during several peaks. In all but one I showed an increase of muscle mass and a decrease of bodyfat during a 12-16 week period. The one time I didn’t show an increase in muscle mass when was I was training the most in the gym. That may not make sense right now, but it will in a moment.

I share my 7-minute workout routine in my latest book. There’s a link to 7 Minute Muscle at the end of this article.

Okay, So How Well Does This Work?

The most I have ever gained was 14 pounds of muscle over a six month period of time while, at the same time, decreasing my bodyfat from 18% to 6.9%. The pictures in this article were taken about four-six weeks out from my last peak in November 2007 where I broke the 6% mark. And, at 44, I GAINED an additional four pounds of muscle during my peak that I held throughout the entire cycle. I wish I would have measured my bodyfat before I hit the 7% mark. I guarantee you I gained at least 7-8 pounds of muscle over the course of my peak.

Keep this in mind: I’m a 44-year-old former fat guy who does not take any fat-burning drugs or steroids for muscle mass. I was eating only 2-3 times per day. I was not doing hours of cardio. And…of all things…my best workouts were under 20 minutes. More like 15.

I look pretty good for a natural bodybuilder who used to be clinically obese. I won’t win the Mr. Olympia in my lifetime, but that’s okay. Most of you reading this article could care less about looking like a real mutant. That wasn’t creative liberty. I think drugged-up 300-pound guys, to quote Vince Gironda, look like “bloated sausages.”

Okay, I’ll come clean. I admire competitive bodybuilders for their drive and passion for excellence. But I do not admire their common sense. I should know—I tried it for a while. However, I never actually competed. Came close, but no cigar. While I have a good flow to my physique, I have a few genetic flaws that will never fly when standing next to a guy doing tons of drugs and whose never been fat a day in his life. Frankly, I really detest bodybuilding shows. A few years ago I wrote a pretty funny article about that whole gig. It’s an exercise in futility to me.

The funny thing is that most people assume I’m a competitive bodybuilder when I’m in top shape (which is most of the year.) I have 17-inch arms, a huge back, good natural leg development and pretty good shoulders.

This is not a fluff piece to tell you how great I am. I’m not. I have plenty of genetic weaknesses, trust me. I gain fat at the drop of a hat. I walk by a doughnut shop and gain a pound. But the fact remains that most people lose muscle on a diet. Those who don’t know how to diet lose far more muscle than fat! So when a guy in is 40s claims he can build muscle AND lose fat…well, eyebrows will raise.

Back to my friend Tom for a moment. Mr. Venuto’s system kicks ass. He’s a great bodybuilder. If I ever wanted to get down to 2.5% bodyfat I might have to actually do MORE work than I do now. Give me a freakin’ break. Like I really want to do that—get into an ultra-ripped condition that I can only hold, literally, for a matter of hours. No thanks.

But I love to look CLOSE to the condition of a competitive bodybuilder. For me, that’s about 7% bodyfat with ample muscle mass, but not enough to make folks toss their cookies. Yep, that’s me (left) in a hotel room. Fresh out of the shower. I’m such the professional, eh? This was about two weeks prior to the picture at the top. My muscle mass increased and my bodyfat decreased in a span of about 17 days.

So how does this work? Can anyone do it? Yes…but you have to have the right combination of factors.

Most fitness pros will tell you that you have to increase your calories in order to gain muscle. In order to gain weight, this statement is true. But most people do not want to merely gain weight—they want to gain lean muscle and burn bodyfat. My System will work great for gaining bulk if that’s what you want. Just eat. A lot. I wish I had that problem!

For the rest of us—men and women who want to lose fat and build shapely muscle at the same time—a bit of metabolic trickery is involved.

First, what is a calorie? A calorie is nothing more than a measurement of energy or heat. Your body requires energy and heat in order to survive. All food has a specific measurement of energy we call calories.

SImply stated, in order to lose stored energy, or bodyfat, we need to decrease the amount of ingested energy, or calories. A slight reduction in calories is essential to burn bodyfat—there’s no way around that. Now, if you want to gain muscle, doesn’t it make sense that you have to increase your calories in order to pull it off?

Yes, it makes perfect sense. But its wrong. Flat-out, absolutely dead freakin’ wrong.

Listen up: As long as you have fat to burn, all the energy you need for muscle can come from your body’s stored energy. What do you think all that fat is for? Energy! We just want to use that energy to repair the body after exercise and build lean tissue by tapping into that unwanted bodyfat.

There are three key steps in order to trick the body into doing two seemingly opposite things at the same time; burn fat and build muscle. First, you have to stimulate the body to increase its muscle mass. You do this through weight training. However, train TOO LONG and all that extra energy from your stored bodyfat will go to keeping your central nervous system from crashing. Your body will shift all of that energy and then some into the metabolic processes we call “survival mode” faster than you can snap your fingers. It will try and make sure your metabolism stays high enough to survive. That’s one reason diets fail—the metabolism crashes because calories are too low AND because you are exercising too much.

Brief but brutal training is the key. I cover the BEST way to do this in my new book. It’s killer…and it only takes 7 minutes to do. (Advanced trainees can use the 14-21 minute plans if they want.)

Step two is to lower your calories. How do you manage to do this without starving the muscle? Keep the protein and fats high. Healthy fats are best, although some saturated fat is okay unless your doc says no. (Most doctors know next to nothing about nutrition. Hopefully yours is smarter.)

Now, here’s a great trick: Overeat slightly cooked or raw vegetables. Try to eat as much as you can. Literally force-feed yourself, especially at night. This trick fools the mind into thinking it has more food than it actually does. The power of the mind over the body cannot be overemphasized. My new book has an entire chapter dedicated to this…and wait until you read it. I cite several studies on how top athletes are using their minds to change their body and their performance.

Step three: Walk. The more the better. You clear out the toxins, get the blood flowing, help rid lactic acid from the system, and burn fat all at the same time. I walk about 20 times longer than I train with weights because I love it so much. It’s my number one fat-burner.

So, let’s recap:

1. You can burn fat and build muscle. The energy required to build the muscle mass comes from stored bodyfat.

2. This only works if you keep your protein and fats sufficiently high AND if you do not overtrain in the gym. The shortest workout possible is the best. Stimulate the mind and body to “build muscle” and it will.

3. Walk as much as you can. Walking before eating in the morning helps you burn even more bodyfat.

Now, if you want to build more muscle in less time while you burn bodyfat, pick up 7 Minute Muscle today. It’s guaranteed to work for you. Try my System for 60 days and prove it to yourself. This is not just an “e-book.” My complete System comes with the digital PDF book for instant download plus SIX instructional videos (digital format; instant access). It shows you everything you need to know to build muscle in just 7 minutes a day.

Go here for more information:

7 Minute Muscle

[jB]

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