Thursday, May 31, 2007

Why Your Muscle Pumps Have Nothing To Do With Your Muscle Gains


Your back is firmly planted on the bench as you wrap your chalked hands around the cold, steel bar. Your training partner helps you un-rack the weight as you power the bar up and down, squeezing your chest and triceps on each grueling rep. You complete your 6 repetitions, re-rack the bar and stand up.

Your chest feels tight and engorged with blood. You take a look in the mirror, thrilled with how full and vascular your pecs appear. You feel strong, powerful, healthy and motivated to blast through the rest of your workout with your newly achieved “pump”.

Let’s face it, a pump feels incredible. For those of you who aren’t quite sure what I’m talking about, a pump is the feeling that you get as blood becomes trapped inside your muscle tissue as a result of resistance training. The muscles will swell up and increase in size, vascularity and tightness.

There is certainly nothing wrong with achieving a pump in the gym, and it is simply a natural result of intense weight training. However, contrary to what the majority of weightlifters may think, a pump is in no way indicative of a successful workout. Anyone who uses the intensity of their pump as a gauge for the effectiveness of their workout is making a costly error.

On countless occasions I've heard lifters raving about the massive pumps they get in the gym as they share methods for achieving the best pump possible. "Dude, this will give you a crazy pump!" If you have already been working out for a decent amount of time then you know exactly what I'm talking about. While a pump does feel extremely satisfying, just remember that it means very little in terms of muscle stimulation and growth.

A pump is simply the result of extra blood within the muscle tissue. Think of it this way: if I took a pair of 10 pound dumbbells and performed 300 reps of a bench press movement, I would achieve an incredible pump. If muscle pumps meant muscle growth, then super light weight, ultra high rep programs would be the most effective way to grow. Any serious lifter with half a brain knows that this simply is not the case.


Do you want to know how to truly gauge the success of a workout? Here it is…

Take your workout records (in terms of weight and reps) from the previous week and compare it to the current week. Did you improve? Were you able to either increase the resistance slightly on each exercise, or perform an extra rep or two?

If so, you had a successful workout, regardless of how much blood you were able to pump into your muscle tissue.

Building muscle mass and strength is all about training with 100% intensity on every given set and then striving to improve from week to week. If you are able to consistently achieve this, your muscle size and strength will increase faster than you ever thought possible, with or without a pump.

MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Best look out for egos

Because our focus is health, and better yet, NATURAL HEALTH, that means we include environment in our definition.

Now environment to some may be a bad word, except when they think they can muscle in on on everyone and come out on top. SO that to me implies bullyism and ultimately greed. You know, that old saw about "he who has the most toys wins".

Well there seems to be a greedy son-of-a ...fertilizer sprayer guy out of Ohio that thinks he and his new mega corporation will take over the environment hands down.

That environment to him is your lawn and garden. And in his fervor he plans to squash all the recycled soda bottles and worm waste he can, just to keep them out of his way.

That way is not the yellow brick road but the plan to the takeover and control the more ecological product line of a great idea start-up company.

You may have guessed it by now, the guy who thinks he is such a big shot because he's logged over 500,000 miles in the corporate jet in a year is the Scotts/Miracle Gro CEO.

He's on a 'verre de terre' hunt, big time. No nets, just intimidating tactics to scare some the new guys on the block. Yes, it's that old corporate tactic of ego puffing and fear mongering. Really tells you a lot about Scotts corporate social responsibility doesn't it.

Did he forget that Santa, when working for Macy's, told people to shop at Gimbels.

Or, you might say, I bet the guy never read 'Small is Beautiful' or took a course in whole system design.

That's probably true.

So what can we learn from all this?

Well the point is that your garden, and the gardens that feed a lot of us from small family farms, can improve your environment if you improve on them. Simply improve the soil and what feeds what you grow. Yes, we are all a part of it and the circle does go round and round.

Tune in to TerraCycle and learn about the great idea that flourished from the "garbage, garbage, garbage" of some Princeton dining hall and the tons of empty milk jugs and soda bottles thrown away daily in this country.

Bless Thomas Edison and ingenuity!

If you know anything at all about worms you know that they can turn your household garbage into great fertilizer and use it to up the yield of that victory garden you've planted for this year's season.

But now comes the guy on the jet who says "Whoa, you can't do that". Just like his Monsanto buddies that urge you to use RoundUp. All that does is increase your risk of cancer and give you bigger weeds to kill with more and more RoundUp.

I'm packing some big guns here and you don't cross my corner.

Snidely WhipScott rears his ugly head and sends out the attorneys (those legal larcenists that go for the $$$ you know) to start that paper trail.

For the rest of the story its your turn to check it out because I've never seen a package of anything look like MiracleGro or Scotts, Even all that good stuff from my usual supplier Garden's Alive(purchase via our shpping village to help support our work). Now that I've seen TerraCycle, there sure is someone out of Ohio lacking in visual acuity.

Gee, Arlo where are you? We need a new song.

In the interim, return all your Scotts and go for the GLOW(worm, that is).

Monday, May 28, 2007

8 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#8 - Understand that application and consistency is EVERYTHING!

You can have the most effective workout schedule possible, the most intelligent diet approach available and the most intimate understanding of muscle growth from every possible angle, but without the inner drive and motivation to succeed you will get nowhere, and very fast.

Just as the famous saying goes…

“Knowing is NOT enough. You must APPLY!”

Those who make the greatest gains in muscular size and strength are the ones who are able to continually and systematically implement the proper techniques on a highly consistent basis.

The people who see serious results and end up with standout physiques are the ones who can consistently execute all of the little daily tasks that must be completed in order for success to be had.

Building muscle is a result of the cumulative effect of small steps.

Sure, performing 1 extra rep on your bench press will not make a huge difference to your overall results, and neither will consuming a single meal. However, over the long haul, all of those extra reps you perform and all of those small meals you consume will decide your overall success.

If you work hard and complete all of your muscle-building tasks in a consistent fashion, all of those individual steps will equate to massive gains in overall size and strength.

It is those who are willing to persevere that will succeed.

It is those who are willing to rise above laziness that will end up with impressive results.

I mean let's face it, everyone wants to be strong and muscular. If this is the case, why isn't everyone strong and muscular? It's because only certain people have the proper drive and motivation that it takes to get there.

Do you have what it takes?

How much does a powerful, defined, muscular physique really mean to you? Are you willing to put forth the required effort in order to reach your goals?

If you answered “YES”, then good for you! Digging down deep and finding the necessary motivation to take a stand and make a change is the most important step of all. I can’t force this upon you, it’s something that you’ll need to create on your own.

This report has armed you with 8 very powerful, effective muscle-building principles that you can start applying to your program right away.

Here’s a quick recap of the 8 points that we covered…

(1) Provide your body with a surplus of calories by ensuring that your caloric intake exceeds your caloric expenditure.

(2) Consume the right types of calories from the proper food sources every 2-3 hours throughout the day.

(3) Increase your water intake.

(4) Keep a detailed record of every workout that you perform.

(5) Be prepared to push your body to the limit.

(6) Avoid overtraining by limiting your overall workout volume and by providing your body with sufficient recovery time in between workouts.

(7) Stop placing so much of your emphasis on dietary supplements.

(8) Understand that consistency is EVERYTHING!

MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Friday, May 25, 2007

7 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#7 - Stop placing so much of your emphasis on dietary supplements.

If you really think that pills, powders and drink mixes are going to build your body for you, you’re in for a huge disappointment! It continues to amaze me how much value and emphasis the majority of trainees place on “the latest breakthrough pill”.

Everyone is always asking me…

“What’s the best creatine out there?”
“How much weight can I gain from this whey protein supplement?”
“I have $200 a month to spend on supplements… what should I buy?”

Stop the madness!

A supplement is just that… a supplement.

It is there to supplement your diet by filling in the missing gaps and by providing you with greater amounts of specific nutrients that will slightly speed up your progress. Supplements are NOT there to do the work for you and will only play a small role in your overall success in the gym.

Stop falling for the multi-million dollar ads that talk about the latest “revolutionary breakthrough” that will allow you to build 25 pounds of muscle while you lie on the couch.

As advanced as we’ve become as a society, the basic rules of hard work and dedication still apply. If you want to change your physique, then hard training in the gym and a consistent diet plan is the only true way to get there.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m AGAINST the use of supplements; I’m merely against the over-use and over-emphasis of supplements. There are a few good, solid, effective products out there that I do recommend, but only as a small part of your overall approach.

My 5 “recommended” supplements include…

1) Protein supplements (whey protein, meal replacements, weight gainers and the occasional protein bar)
2) Creatine
3) Glutamine
4) Multivitamins
5) Essential Fatty Acids

I’m not going to talk about all of the specific benefits of each product in this report, but if you’re looking to accelerate your progress in the gym and achieve the best results possible, then those are the only 5 products that I would truly recommend.

I’m a big believer in the basics, and the plain fact is that most trainees are way more concerned with their supplement programs than they really need to be. It’s only natural, I mean, who wouldn’t want to pound back a couple of “orange-flavoured creatine cocktails” and watch their biceps explode through their sleeves?

Unfortunately it just doesn’t work this way. If something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is.

Hard training and a consistent diet is your only ticket to long-term success!

MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

6 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#6 - Avoid overtraining by limiting your overall workout volume and by providing your body with sufficient recovery time in between workouts.

This is one of the most common and most deadly mistakes that almost all beginners run into. They naturally assume that the more overall work they perform in the gym, the greater their results will be.

Heck, when I was a beginner myself I thought the same thing.

Who can blame us for thinking that?

In almost all aspects of life this basic logic holds true. If you want to perform well on a school test, you need to maximize your studying time. If you want to improve your skills in a specific sport, you need to practice as much as possible.

When it comes to training for muscular size and strength, you can take this basic logic and toss it right out the window, down the street and around the corner!

The key thing to realize is that your muscles will NOT grow larger and stronger if they are stressed beyond the point of recovery. Remember, training with weights is merely an activity that sets the wheels in motion; it “sparks” the muscle growth process and “tells” your body to start building new muscle tissue. But the actual growth process takes place away from the gym while you’re eating and resting.

If you disturb the recovery process, muscle growth will not be carried out.

Overtraining is your number one enemy! Your goal in the gym is to perform the minimum amount of work necessary in order to yield an adaptive response from the body, and not a THING more.


You can avoid overtraining in the following ways…

1) Limiting the number of days you spend in the gym each week – I would recommend that you perform no more than 3 weight workouts in the same week.

2) Limiting the number of sets that you perform during each workout – You should perform a total of 5-7 sets for large muscle groups (chest, back and thighs) and 2-4 total sets for small muscle groups (shoulders, biceps, triceps, calves, abs). And remember, this is total sets per WORKOUT, not per exercise.

3) Limiting the amount of time spent in the gym – Each workout should not last for any more than 1 hour. This time frame comes into play beginning with your first muscle-building set and ends with your final muscle-building set.

4) Limiting your training frequency for each muscle group – Each specific muscle group should only be directly stimulated once per week in order to allow for full recovery time.

If you’ve been following the “more is better” mentality then you may find it hard to let go of, but believe me, as long as you train hard, you do NOT need to train often or with very many sets and exercises. In fact, performing too much work may actually cause your muscles to become smaller and weaker.

Perform only what is absolutely necessary and not a single exercise, set or rep more. Forget about all of the high volume routines that you see in the muscle magazines and posted all over the Internet.

Building muscle is about intelligently triggering your body’s growth mechanism and then getting the heck out of the gym and growing.

Nothing more, nothing less!

MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Monday, May 21, 2007

5 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#5 - Be prepared to push your body to the limit.

If you think that building muscle is going to be a walk in the park and that you can simply enter the gym, “go through the motions” and then go home, you are sadly mistaken.

The reality is that if you want to experience any appreciable gains in muscle size and strength, you’re going to have to be prepared to train hard. This is one of the key factors separating those who make modest gains from those who make outstanding gains.

Most people just plain don’t train hard enough!

As soon as the exercise starts to get difficult their spotter jumps in and starts helping or they put the weight down altogether.

BIG mistake!

The gym is a war zone, and if you want to be victorious, you must be willing to endure the battle.

Your muscles grow because of an evolutionary, adaptive response to the environment. Intense weightlifting is perceived as a threat to your survival, and the body responds to this by increasing the size and strength of the muscles to battle against the threat. Therefore, in order to see the most dramatic response in size and strength, you must push your body as hard as you safely can.

This can be achieved by performing all sets in the gym to the point of concentric muscular failure…

Concentric Muscular Failure: The point at which no further positive repetitions can be performed despite your greatest efforts.

There are 2 main phases to every exercise that you perform: the concentric and the eccentric. The concentric is the “positive” portion of the exercise (such as the “pushing” movement of a bench press) and the eccentric is the “negative” portion of the exercise (the “lowering” movement of a bench press).

Your goal in the gym is to perform each exercise to the point where no further concentric repetitions can be executed using proper form despite your greatest efforts to do so.

This is very challenging and will require a lot of mental toughness on your part. I’m not going to sit here and feed you a pack of lies by saying that training for muscle size is an easy task. It’s not!

Anyone who tries to tell you that training to failure is easy is flat-out lying. But if you’re serious about changing your physique and seeing serious results, this is simply what needs to be done.

Training to concentric failure will place the greatest amount of stress on the musculature and will produce the most dramatic “artificial threat” possible.

Some argue that training to failure is not necessary in order for muscle growth to occur, and the truth is that they are absolutely correct. You could never train to failure and over time you would still see gains in muscle mass and strength. The only true requirement for muscle growth to occur is progression.

However, (and that’s a big however) if you’re like 99% of the population, then you want to experience those gains as quickly and efficiently as you possibly can. While training to failure isn’t necessary for growth to occur, it IS necessary if you want maximum growth to occur in the shortest period of time possible.


MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Friday, May 18, 2007

4 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#4 - Keep a detailed record of every workout that you perform.

This muscle-building technique is absolutely critical to your success and forms the underlying basis for your entire workout plan. When it comes to structuring a proper approach in the gym, this is the most important overall factor, bar none.

Everyone is so obsessed with all of the specific principles in the gym (such as exercise selection, rep ranges, which days to spend in the gym, how many sets to perform etc.) that they fail to see the big picture.

Regardless of what type of approach you are taking in the gym, the underlying factor for success is progression.

You see, our bodies build muscle because of an adaptive response to the environment. When you go to the gym, you break down your muscle fibers by training with weights. Your body senses this as a potential threat to its survival and will react accordingly by rebuilding the damaged fibers larger and stronger in order to protect against any possible future threat.

Therefore, in order to make continual gains in muscle size and strength, you must focus on progressing in the gym from week to week.

Progression can take 2 main forms:

a) Increasing the amount of weight lifted on a specific exercise.
b) Increasing the number of reps performed with a given weight on a given exercise.

If you’re able to improve on at least one of the above factors each week in the gym, your body will be given continual incentive to grow larger and stronger.

If you neglect these factors and enter the gym without a concrete plan in mind, you’ll be ignoring the very foundation of the entire muscle growth process.

Your goal is to always be getting better from week to week!

Remove yourself from the typical crowd in the gym who aimlessly toss weights around and endlessly spin their wheels without any logic or rationale behind what they’re doing. If you’re continually using the same weights for the same number of reps, your physique will NOT improve.

I’d suggest using a workout log to track your progress in detail from week to week. You should write down the date, all of the exercises that you performed, the weight that you lifted and the number of reps you were able to execute. The next time you enter the gym, sit down for a minute before your workout and review those numbers. Your goal is to now improve upon all of those figures by either using slightly more weight or performing an additional rep or two.

Don't try to improve by leaps and bounds every single time you workout, but rather focus on making small, steady increases. Over the course of a few months, those small increases will add up a lot more than you think, and your body will continually adapt and grow to the ever-increasing stress.

When I first started training, I was able to squat 85 pounds for about 6 reps. A very small amount of weight, yes, but by simply focusing on adding slightly more weight and reps from week to week, my squat is now closer to 400 pounds for 6 reps.

Don’t worry about where you’re starting off, because as long as you place your entire focus in the gym on progression those numbers will shoot up faster than you could imagine.


MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

3 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#3 - Increase your water intake.

Water is an absolutely critical component to the muscle-building process and to overall body health in general. Failing to keep yourself properly hydrated throughout the day will have a negative impact on literally every single process within your entire body!

Most people know that they should be drinking "plenty" of water throughout the day, but how many actually do?

If you really paid close attention to your water intake you'd probably be surprised at how little you actually consume.

What makes proper water intake so amazingly important?

Well for starters, it’s the most abundant element in your body. It is ranked only 2nd to oxygen as being essential to life.

Your body can survive for weeks without food, but without water you'd be dead in about 3 days.

Roughly 80% of your body is made up of water; the brain is 85% water and lean muscle tissue is 70% water.

Research has shown that being even slightly dehydrated can decrease strength and physical performance significantly. In fact, merely a 3-4% drop in your body's water levels will lead to a 10-20% decrease in muscle contractions.

Not only will water increase your strength, but it also plays a large role in preventing injuries in the gym. Highly intensive training over a long period of time can put unwanted stress on your joints and connective tissue, and water helps to fight against this stress by lubricating the joints and forming a protective "cushion" around them.

Along with protecting your joints, water is vital in the process of digestion. Anytime you consume a macromolecule, such as protein, your body must break this large molecule down into smaller pieces for absorption.

In the case of protein, you will be breaking it down into amino acids. Your body can only break down the protein into amino acids if water is present. So, in order to ensure that your body is utilizing all of the nutrients you consume, you must make sure that your water intake is high.

So, just how much water is enough?

To find out how many ounces of water you should be consuming every day, multiply your bodyweight by 0.6. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be consuming around 90 ounces of water every day.

150 x 0.6 = 90

I know it sounds like a lot, but if you plan your day out properly it shouldn't be a problem. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and sip from it periodically. Keep water in the places where you spend most of your time: in your car, at work, on your nightstand.

Another good method to ensure that you drink enough water is to pre-fill a few 16 ounce bottles at the beginning of the day. This way you can have a visual representation of where your water consumption is at any point in the day.

For the first few days you'll probably find yourself running to the bathroom quite frequently, but your body will soon adapt to the increased water volume and this will no longer be a problem.

MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Monday, May 14, 2007

2 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#2 - Consume the right types of calories from the proper food sources every 2-3 hours throughout the day.

We just established that in order to build muscle, you’ll need to always ensure that your caloric intake exceeds your caloric expenditure. That’s all fine and dandy, but it really only tells us half of the story.

You see, you could easily exceed your caloric expenditure by feasting on big macs, ice cream cones and potato chips, but do you think this would be an intelligent approach to building muscle?

Of course not.

You need to realize this…

All calories are NOT created equally!

The raw number of calories determines whether you’ll lose weight, maintain your weight or gain weight, but it is the type of calories that will determine what kind of bodyweight is lost or gained (lean muscle mass, fat, water etc.)

Your goal is obviously to build lean muscle mass while keeping body fat gains at a minimum, and therefore you’ll need to focus on consuming the right types of calories from the proper food sources.

The 3 main food groups you should concerned with are…

1) High Quality Protein – Protein builds and repairs muscle tissue and is the most important nutrient for those trying to increase their lean mass. Stick to high quality, easily absorbed sources such as lean red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, skim milk, cottage cheese, peanuts/natural peanut butter and whey.

2) High Fiber, Low Glycemic Carbohydrates – Carbohydrates aid in the absorption of protein, provide your muscles and brain with energy throughout the day and also help to maintain an optimal hormonal environment within the body.

Stick to slow-release, low-glycemic sources that will provide you with a steady stream of sugars throughout the day such as oatmeal, yams, brown rice and whole wheat products.

3) Healthy, Unsaturated Fats – Not all fats will make you fat, and unsaturated essential fatty acids fit that profile. EFA’s are highly beneficial to the muscle growth process by increasing testosterone levels, improving the metabolism and volumizing the muscle cells. Some good sources of EFA’s include fatty fish, nuts, seeds, avocados and liquids like flaxseed and olive oil.

These 3 food groups should make up the bulk of your diet, and should be spread out over the course of 5-7 small meals daily. That may sound like a lot of meals, but the reasons behind it are quite simple…

It all boils down to your body’s natural, hard-wired mechanisms.

The body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and healthy, and whenever you go without food for 2-3 hours your body begins to enter into a “starvation mode” as a natural survival response. Your body has no idea that you’re sitting 10 feet away from a fridge full of food, and for all it knows you may have to endure a long period of time without any nutrients. It responds to this by slowing down the fat burning metabolism and entering into a “catabolic state”, where lean muscle tissue begins wasting away so that the protein can be used for other survival functions within the body.

This is NOT a good thing!

If your goal is to build and maintain as much lean muscle as possible, you must always keep your body in an anabolic, muscle-building state throughout the day. This can be accomplished by consuming a small meal containing high quality protein and carbohydrates every 2-3 hours.

It may seem like a lot of work at first, but over time you’ll get used to it.


MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Friday, May 11, 2007

1 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#1 - Provide your body with a surplus of calories by ensuring that your caloric intake exceeds your caloric expenditure.

This is first and foremost on the list.

Beyond planning a proper workout schedule with all of the right exercises, sets, reps and rest periods lies this one simple rule of muscle growth…

In order to build muscle, you must consume more calories than you burn!


This is a basic biological law of muscle growth, and if you fail to consume an adequate number of calories per day you will NOT build muscle, plain and simple.

The work that you perform in the gym is simply the “spark” that sets the muscle growth process into motion. The REAL magic takes place when you are out of the gym, resting and eating. This is when your body will use the nutrients that you consume to begin repairing your damaged muscles and increasing their size and strength in preparation for your next workout.

If you don’t provide your body with the raw materials needed to facilitate growth, this process simply cannot take place.

In order to provide your body with the calories necessary to fuel muscle growth and to keep your body in an anabolic, muscle-building state at all times, you should be consuming anywhere from 15-20x your bodyweight in calories every single day. So if you weigh 150 pounds…

150 x 15 = 2250
150 x 20 = 3000…

Then you should be consuming anywhere from 2250-3000 calories every single day in order to build muscle.

You should adjust this number based on…

a) Your Metabolic Rate – Are you naturally thin and have a hard time gaining weight? Or do you seem to put on body fat just by looking at food? Depending on your overall body type you can adjust the number higher or lower.

b) Your Activity Level – Do you play sports or work a physically strenuous job? If so, you’ll need to consume more calories in order to compensate. If you’re fairly sedentary and aren’t very physically active (besides your weight workouts of course), then you probably won’t need as many calories as someone who is more active.

c) Your Goals – Are you aiming to bulk up and build as much overall body mass as you possibly can? If so, you’ll obviously want to consume as many calories as you reasonably can. Are you simply trying to build a little of extra muscle and look better overall? If so, then a slight caloric increase is all you’ll need.

Based on these 3 factors above you can decide where to place yourself on the caloric range.

Do NOT overlook this aspect of the muscle growth process!

Most trainees are so concerned with their workouts that they highly underestimate the importance of proper nutrition. If anything, nutrition is even MORE important than what you accomplish in the gym.

If you fail to eat properly by not providing your body with an adequate number of calories each day, building muscle will be physically impossible.


MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


Introduction

There’s an age-old saying that’s been around for years and that can be applied to almost any area of life. The saying says…

“Those Who Fail To Prepare Are Preparing To FAIL!”

This wisdom-filled quote directly applies to the concepts of building muscle, burning fat and gaining strength.

You see, if you don’t have an intelligently structured plan and a blueprint for success, you’re most likely not going to get anywhere.

It continues to amaze me how many people I see entering the gym week in and week out, slaving away on the same old, ineffective techniques and never making any progress with their physiques. There’s just no logic or rationale behind what they’re doing, and it’s only a matter of time before they give up for good.

It’s no surprise that 95% of people in the gym end up failing and never reaching their goals.

It’s not due to a lack of willpower or motivation… it’s because they are simply uneducated. There’s just no method to their madness.

They come to the gym, toss weights around aimlessly, neglect their diets and then can’t figure out why they aren’t growing.

Luckily, you won’t be one of these people!

The fact that you are reading this report right now shows that you’re smart enough to realize the importance of proper planning, and this is a very important step for you to take on your journey to increased muscle mass and strength.

In this report I’m going to get right down to the basics by outlining 8 of the most crucial, powerful steps that should be applied to ANY muscle-building program.

These steps are not highly complex and are not rocket-science, but I’m continually amazed at the overwhelming percentage of aspiring trainees who fail to implement them.

So let’s get right down to business.

There are 8 points in total, and if you can implement all of them you’ll be well on your way to that muscular, defined body you’ve been dreaming of.

Let’s get started!


MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Visualization/Verbalization Process


Here is what I want you to do…

1) Clearly define exactly what you want to achieve.

What is it that you want to achieve? What are your ultimate goals? You're reading this email lesson for a reason. You opened your Internet browser, found my website, you signed up for this course and you felt that it was worth your time to read through it.

Okay, great, but why was it worth your time? What was your reason for signing up?

Don't say, "I want to build more muscle", or "I want to increase my bench press." If this is a goal of yours, fine, but what exactly do you want to achieve?

I may be asking a lot of questions here, but it's extremely important for you to find the answers. A vague image of your goals simply isn't enough; you must have a clear, well-defined image in mind if you truly want to be successful.

If you wanted to build a house, you wouldn't go about it by grabbing some wood and nails and trying to haphazardly piece them together.

Instead, you would make a blueprint and clearly define exactly what it was that you wanted to build. And so it must be the same for your muscle-building journey.

So…

Close your eyes. Eliminate any distractions around you. Relax, and breathe deeply.

I want you to visualize the body that you ultimately want to achieve. I'm not talking about a vague, fuzzy picture of a body that would "be nice to have." I'm talking about a well-defined, crystal clear depiction of the exact physique that you are going to build.

Look at your new body from the third person perspective, that is, from someone else's point of view. Imagine your new physique from the front, and then slowly rotate it in your mind so that you can see it from every angle.

You must focus on details here. You must see everything exactly how you want it to look from your chest to your shoulders to your back to your legs.

Lock that image in your brain and focus intensely on it.

Now in one quick, explosive movement, transport yourself into that body.

You are now experiencing your new physique from the first person, looking through its eyes. Look down at your muscles and see them as if they are yours.

Feel them. Flex them. Experience them.

Imagine that you're looking in the mirror and seeing a reflection of this new body. Try to make this visualization process feel as real as possible. Experience this reality in your mind as if it were actually happening. Imagine the sounds, the smells and the textures that are around you.

2) Clearly define the purpose as to why you are trying to achieve that body.

Okay, so you've now made a clear mental picture of the body that you want to achieve.

You see, an impressive physique is ultimately a material possession. As human beings, we strive to acquire material possessions because they make us feel a certain way.

Muscles are just muscles.

But why do you want muscles? What will they do for you? How will they make you feel?

Why do you buy a new car, take a trip to Hawaii or go to a restaurant and order a New York steak?

It's because it makes you feel good .

So what do muscles do you for you? Why do you want them?

Think deeply about this and examine your ultimate purpose. You want to develop an impressive physique for a reason . What is that reason? Analyze this reason and be honest with yourself.

Maybe you want more attention from the opposite sex. Maybe you enjoy the idea of being physically dominant among your peers. Maybe you want to feel healthier or become more skilled at a sport. Or maybe you just want to get noticed, period. Maybe it's a combination of a few, many, or all of these.

Whatever it is, define it.

We don't train merely to build muscles. We train to build feelings. Muscles evoke these feelings, and that's why we want them.

I now want you to focus not only on the physical aspects of your new body, but also, the emotional aspects of your new body. I want you to focus on the feelings that are associated with that body.

Find that feeling. Search it out, and pull it from your brain.

Now feel that feeling.

Focus intensely not only on your new body, but on how it feels to have that new body.

Soak it up. Magnify it. Let the feeling consume you.

Create scenarios in your mind of what life will be like once you achieve this new physique. If your goal is to gain more attention from the opposite sex, imagine it happening. For example, maybe you're at the beach and you notice that women are eyeing you out whenever you walk by. Or maybe a female friend compliments you on how huge your arms are. Transport yourself to these situations and experience them. Focus on the benefits of your new body. After all, the benefits are what you are out to capture, not merely the body itself.

Now, hold that thought!

3) Verbalize It.

Keep your eyes closed. Continue to visualize your new body and the feelings that are associated with it.

Focus very hard on it.

Now I want you to take all of those positive thoughts and feelings you are experiencing, and verbalize them. You may find this embarrassing to do, but this a very important part of the entire process.

I want you to say out loud everything that you are experiencing and make sure to say it as if it has already come true.

Don't just say it, believe it.

It might sound something like this…

"My body is thick, muscular, defined and strong. I have massive shoulders, a thick, chiseled chest, gigantic, vascular arms and a ripped, 6-pack stomach. My legs are like tree trunks; wide and powerful, and my calves protrude like footballs. I feel strong, powerful and confident. I'm going to walk up to every person who ever poked fun at me for my size and watch the disbelief on their faces. I'm enjoying comments from friends and family who have noticed the impressive results I've achieved. I can talk to women with full confidence because I know that they think I look good. My life has completely changed for the better."

By clearly visualizing your goals, experiencing the feelings of reaching them, and then verbalizing them with concrete words, you will literally create a surge of emotion-producing chemicals within your body. This surge will help to physically reaffirm your goals and will always remind you of why you are putting in the work that you'll be putting in.

You should repeat this process at least once a day (or as often as you'd like) so that you never lose sight of you what you are trying to accomplish, and so that you always keep your mind on the right track.


MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

"Learn How To Condition The Most Important 'Muscle' Of All... Your MIND!"


Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

"Whether or not you believe you can do a thing, you are right".

Those are the famous words of Henry Ford.

He was right.

If there's one thing I've learned through my own personal bodybuilding experience and in all of the years I've spent helping others reach their goals, that would be it.

I've learned that if you truly believe you can accomplish something... if you believe in yourself and in your ability to succeed... if you want it badly enough... then nothing and no one can stop you.

I've learned that if you fully believe that you can achieve a certain goal, and you truly want it, it's yours for the taking.

I've learned that building an impressive, muscular physique is ultimately an inner battle that is only won by those who possess a strong, positive mindset.

And the final thing that I've learned in my interactions with thousands of aspiring gym trainees from all over the world is that the majority of people do NOT possess the type of mindset that is necessary for muscle-building success to be had.

Most people have conditioned themselves to think negatively and have unintentionally "pre-programmed" themselves for failure. They've bombarded their subconscious mind with self-defeating statements and limitations, and this negative way of thinking dramatically decreases their chances of ever attaining the body they desire.

The world is full of people with unrealized potential.

It is filled with people who are stuck in the middle, living lives of mediocrity and never moving forward and turning their deep-down desires into reality. And the reason for this is that most people simply possess a weak mindset.

Here's the thing... If you don't believe you can achieve the body that you desire, then you WON'T achieve it. If you don't know how to get yourself motivated and stay motivated, you're virtually guaranteed to fail.

There are many powerful ways to condition your mind for success, and in this lesson I'm going to share one of my favourite ways.

We'll be taking a look at the process of Visualization and Verbalization, and how you can use these techniques to your advantage. This isn't science fiction fairytale fluff either... this is real-life stuff that has been proven to produce real, positive muscle-building results.

If you simply brush this procedure off and believe that it won't help you, you are sadly mistaken. Visualization and verbalization are two of the most widely used motivational techniques around and are utilized by virtually all of the top success coaches in the world.

You cannot embark on a journey that has no clear destination! So create that destination.

But more than simply creating that destination, you must truly believe that you will get there.

You must have faith in yourself, in your inner-strength and in your ability to succeed. If you do not truly believe with every fiber of your being that these goals you have envisioned can and will be attained, then you aren't ready to try and reach them.

Above and beyond simply believing is knowing.

You must let go of all doubts, inhibitions and fears and simply say to yourself, "I know I can do this."

And the truth is that you really, really can. The only thing that could possibly stop you is you yourself.

All of the tools that you need to achieve your goals are already present within you. All you need to do is to tap into those tools and put them to use.

Let go of your limits, and hold on to the belief that you can achieve anything you want.

And if you really, truly and fully believe this, anything is possible.

If you're ready to take a stand and finally achieve the powerful, muscular body that you deserve, then it's time to take action, right here, right now. It's time to put the excuses aside, get to work and start turning that ripped body you've been dreaming about into a reality.

This is it. The choice is yours.

You can grab your very own copy of my complete #1 best-selling muscle-building package, The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System, equip yourself with all of the most powerful strategies available for maximizing your muscle growth in the shortest period of time possible... And watch as your body, your mindset and your entire life dramatically changes for the better each passing week...

Or...

You can close this lesson, get up, walk away from your computer, and continue living your life unhappy with the way you look. You can continue to feel insecure and weak compared to everyone around you. You can ignore your deep-down desires and 20 years down the road wonder...

"What if?"

J.P Clifford (owner of one of the most popular program review sites online) recently had the chance to check out my product, and this is what he had to say...

"Follow Sean's Prescription and BIG Things Can Happen!"

"After reviewing dozens of online muscle building programs, most look to have been slapped together over a weekend.

Sean Nalewanyj's program is different. It is obvious that Sean has both the sincere desire and the ability to help others accomplish their bodybuilding goals.

From nutrition to training to supplements, Sean weeds out all the training B.S. that typically leads trainers astray. He leaves you with a highly effective muscle-building prescription that is on-target for quick and big muscle-building results. The program is thorough, well-organized and, most importantly, highly effective.

Follow Sean's prescription and big things can happen."
JP Clifford
Online Bodybuilding Program Reviewer

Not only will you receive a copy of this best-selling e-book, but you'll also have the chance to download a very special add-on, "Inner Game: Psychological Strategies For Bodybuilding Success".

This special 61-page report outlines a complete step-by-step process for getting yourself highly motivated and staying that way over the long run using strategies such as goal-setting, affirmations, subconscious conditioning, mental workout techniques and more.

Click Here for more details.

You've just been taught a very valuable process for conditioning your mindset using the incredible power of visualization and verbalization.


Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj