Chapter 1: Introduction

No hype. No nonsense.

Build rock-solid muscle mass, head-turning strength, and razor-sharp cuts... as quickly and

efficiently as physically possible.

Explosively and consistently... week after week... month after month... until you achieve your

ideal body.

Sound good?

Welcome to The No-Fail System.

The no B.S bodybuilding prescription that has transformed the lives of over 15,000 people in

60 different countries since 2005.

Since its release, this system has continually improved and evolved, and prides itself on

delivering a simple but powerful approach to packing on muscle size and getting ripped fast.

My name is Sean Nalewanyj – owner of MuscleGainTruth.com, CEO of EliteImpact Labs™

and creator of The No-Fail System.

I’m a lifetime natural bodybuilder, best-selling fitness author and success coach whose advice

is followed by thousands of bodybuilders worldwide - professionals and amateurs alike.

I’ve written articles for many of the top fitness sites on the web and have been a well-

respected name in the fitness industry for many years now. I was even featured in The New

York Times back in 2006.

But above and beyond my credentials - more than anything else - I have a strong passion for

helping guys like you transform their bodies and their lives.

I'm not going to try and dazzle you with fancy scientific terms or purposely overcomplicate

things...

I'm not going to deliver false hope or promises by telling you that you'll gain 50 pounds of

muscle in 2 months...

And I'm certainly not going to tell you that this can be achieved without effort or willpower

on your part...

Let's cut the crap.

You're sick of all the lies and contradictory information out there... and you're sick of not

getting the results you know you deserve.

The No-Fail System will reveal everything you need to know to achieve your dream body.

Everything you need, and nothing more. Plain and simple.

"Absorb what is useful; discard what is not."

Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, this does NOT need to be complicated.

I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but learning the proper methods and techniques to gaining

muscular size is actually fairly straightforward.

The problem is that because there is such an enormous, overbearing amount of muscle

building information out there, it is extremely difficult to know where to start or who to trust.

The seemingly endless heap of bodybuilding theory and science makes it nearly impossible to

differentiate between the good information and the bad information.

And believe me, there is a lot of bad information out there. Far more bad than good.

This causes the majority of people to start off on the wrong path and waste valuable time and

energy in the process.

So if you are one of those who has fallen victim to bogus muscle magazines... so-called

"miracle programs"... low quality discussion forums packed with clueless keyboard warriors...

and the ridiculous run-of-the-mill advice from the genetically gifted "buff guy" at your gym...

It all ends here.

... And it all starts here at the same time.

The start of a brand new body, and a brand new life.

The 3 Elements Of Success

The No-Fail System is capable of delivering muscle building results that will literally stagger

the imagination... but only if you implement it properly.

And the proper implementation of this system involves the alignment of 3 key factors that

work synergistically with eachother.

When all 3 factors are properly combined, you truly create a situation where 1 + 1 + 1 = 10.

Element #1: High Intensity Resistance Training

If you're planning to stroll into the gym and casually go through the motions while reading a

magazine, you can forget about this altogether.

The No-Fail System requires that you train at or near 100% of your possible effort every

single time you enter the gym. The workouts are brief and infrequent, but highly

uncomfortable to perform.

If you're unwilling to push yourself to your limits, your results will be severely compromised

or even non-existent.

Element #2: Intelligent Muscle Building Nutrition

Along with your high intensity workouts, you must also have the discipline to feed your body

with the proper muscle building foods each day.

Nutrition is the often overlooked but hugely important factor that can make or break your

mass gaining program.

Consume the correct foods, in the correct amounts and at the correct times and you will

experience rapid progress unlike anything you've ever seen before.

Element #3: The Elite Mass Protocol™

The Elite Mass Protocol™ is a precision-engineered, cutting-edge supplementation plan that

works in direct conjunction with The No-Fail System.

By maximizing all of your body's key muscle building pathways, The Elite Mass Protocol™

will accelerate your results to new levels and exponentially increase the effectiveness of your

training and nutrition program.

Take the No-Fail Workout Routine and Meal Plan, combine it with The Elite Mass

Protocol™, and you end up creating the optimum anabolic environment in your body for

maximum muscle growth to occur.

The Elite Mass Protocol™ will be covered in detail in the supplementation section of this

program, or you can Click Here to read more about it right now.

The bottom line?

If you want to achieve the rapid, ridiculously fast results that our thousands of other No-Fail

users have already experienced, all 3 of these elements must be properly put into action.

The good news is that everything is going to be laid out for you in exact, step-by-step detail.

Your workout routine... eating plan... supplementation schedule... everything.

There is absolutely no guesswork involved. All you have to do is follow the instructions and

then watch the results unfold.

The "Manual" section that you are reading right now covers what you might call the

“theoretical side” of building muscle. It explains the science and logic of muscle growth, and

shows you exactly how an optimum muscle building program should be structured, and why.

This is not just another random workout program.

It is a complete, holistic philosophy that will change the way you think about building muscle

forever.

It is not enough for me to merely say "do this exercise, for this many reps, for this long, for

this day, while eating this food, taking this supplement, blah blah blah, etcetera, etcetera."

Building muscle is not just about following set-in-stone numbers and procedures; it is about

understanding how to make your muscles grow and why certain approaches work better than

others.

The manual is broken down into 7 chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Structuring The Perfect Workout

Chapter 3: Optimum Muscle Building Nutrition

Chapter 4: Supplementing For Massive Gains

Chapter 5: Stimulating Maximum Fat Loss

Chapter 6: Proper Progress Tracking

Chapter 7: Conclusion

By the time you've finished reading through this manual, the process of gaining muscle size

and strength will be brought into crystal clarity.

In order to maximize your chances of success, it is strongly recommended that you read

through this manual from start to finish.

You can either read the entire thing prior to beginning the actual program, or you can start the

program right away and read this manual piece by piece over the next couple weeks.

The actual concrete program you’ll be following is accessed using the tabs at the top of the

page. This includes...

1) The Workout

You'll see exactly which muscle groups to train on which days, along with the precise

exercises, sets, reps and rest periods you need for maximum results. If necessary, a complete

cardio fat loss program will be included with your weight training routine.

2) The Meal Plan

A calorie-perfect eating schedule will be laid out for you that shows you which foods to eat,

when to eat them along with the exact quantities you need for optimal muscle gains.

3) Supplementation Plan

You'll be given exact instructions on how to properly integrate The Elite Mass Protocol™ into

your training and nutrition to skyrocket your body transformation results.

On top of all of this, you'll also have complete access to The Muscle Gain Truth Discussion

Forum where you can ask questions and share advice with thousands of other No-Fail System

users.

With this kind of community support backing you, you'll easily be able to stay on track and

motivated towards your ultimate muscle building goals.

At the end of the day though, your effort and willpower is what this all comes down to.

Talking and thinking and theorizing builds no muscle. It takes consistent, dedicated action on

your part.

Ultimately, The No-Fail System is simply a tool. An extremely powerful tool; but a tool

nonetheless.

It's YOU who must put it into action.

I can open doors for you, but I can't drag you through them.

So before you get started here, you must make yourself a promise.

Right now, as you read this, you must promise yourself that you will succeed at all costs.

You must promise yourself that no matter what difficulties you might face, or how tempted

you might be to give up, that you will dig down deep and press forward.

This is the only way that you will truly reach your goal of increased muscle mass and

strength.

There is absolutely no room for giving in and slacking here.

Take the leap of faith. Make a change.

Get that dream body that you deserve.

Let’s go…

Chapter 2 Intro: Structuring The Perfect Workout

Okay, it's time to begin.

Hopefully by now you're motivated, pumped and ready to build some serious muscle.

But before attempting that, you'll need to spend some time learning how to build serious

muscle first.

You would never build a house without blueprints, and this situation is no different.

We'll begin by covering the topic of proper weight training. Not because it is more important

than nutrition and supplementation, but because it is the ultimate first step of the muscle

growth process.

See, building muscle can ultimately be simplified into the following formula...

Stimulus -> Recovery -> Growth

Stimulus = The process of breaking down muscle tissue in the gym through weight training.

Recovery = The process of the body repairing the muscle back to its previous state.

Growth = The process of the body building the muscle up larger/stronger than it was before

as an adaptive response to the stress.

Intense weight training is the stimulus that sets the muscle growth process into motion.

Rest, nutrition and The Elite Mass Protocol™ are responsible for allowing you to recover

from that stimulus and achieve an increase in muscle growth from it.

Therefore, intense weight training is the fundamental base from which all muscle growth

originates.

When it comes to optimal weight training, there are 2 foundational concepts that The No-Fail

System stands behind...

1) The vast majority of individuals do not train with a high enough level of intensity.

It's not merely weight training that stimulates muscle growth. It is intense weight training that

stimulates muscle growth.

On each individual set you perform in the gym, the amount of effort you exert must cross a

certain threshold in order to trigger the body's muscle building response.

If your intensity level is not high enough, you are completely wasting your time.

2) The vast majority of individuals train excessively in terms of workout frequency,

duration and volume.

As long as you train HARD, you do NOT need to train often, with a high number of sets or

for an extended period of time.

It's not merely a waste of time and effort; it is directly counterproductive to your gains. In

many cases, overtraining can completely destroy your chances of achieving any measurable

progress.

The reality is that in most cases you will gain more by training less.

(These 2 key concepts will be explained in detail very soon.)

The ultimate key to a successful training program is in achieving the most intelligent balance

between training intensity and overall workload. Find that perfect balance and your progress

will skyrocket to levels you never thought possible.

This is what The No-Fail System is all about, and that is exactly what you'll learn to

accomplish in this section.

Here is how this section will be laid out...

We'll first begin by covering 3 critical concepts:

1) Why Muscles Grow

2) The Law Of Intensity & Progression

3) Why Less Is More

These 3 key principles will form the cornerstone of your muscle building workout approach.

We'll then dive in and explore the 9 individual concrete components of an optimal muscle

building workout, and how they should be structured...

1) Warming Up

2) Duration

3) Volume

4) Exercise Selection

5) Resting Between Sets

6) Rep Ranges

7) Rep Speed

8) Proper Breathing

9) Frequency

From there, I'll uncover some tips, tricks and strategies for maximizing your progress in each

individual muscle group, with a dedicated lesson for chest, back, shoulders, arms, abs and

legs.

I'll cap off the section by discussing a few more key issues, such as injury prevention, proper

sleep and strategic training layoffs.

After you've made your way through this section, you'll know absolutely everything needed to

structure a perfect muscle building workout... One that provides the most potent muscle

growth stimulus possible, in the most time efficient manner, and without causing overtraining

or injury.

Let's get started...

The very first thing I would like to do is talk about a very simple concept, and one that is

often overlooked.

It's the most basic question one can ask, and is incredibly important to understand during your

quest to increased muscle mass and strength…

Why Do Muscles Grow?

Did you ever really think about that?

How can one possibly put together a solid weight-training program if they do not know the

answer to this simple question?

Let's start by establishing one underlying truth...

Every single process that goes on within your body is centered around the ultimate goal of

survival and reproduction.

From a purely biological perspective, your body is really only concerned with one thing:

keeping you alive and healthy long enough for you to successfully pass on your genes to your

offspring.

Through millions of years of evolution via natural selection, the human body has evolved and

created complex natural alarm systems in response to stress in order to ensure our survival.

Think about it...

a) when you haven't eaten you feel hungry.

b) when you haven't drank you feel thirsty.

c) when something harms your body you feel pain.

d) when you're out in the sun you acquire a tan.

The action of muscle growth, scientifically known as "hypertrophy", can be viewed in exactly

the same way.

When you go to the gym, you place your muscles under stress by lifting weights. Each

repetition closer to muscular failure (the point at which your muscles “give out” and no

further work can be performed despite your best efforts) creates deeper inroads into the

muscle fiber and causes what are called "micro-tears".

In other words, you are voluntarily inflicting damage on your muscles by breaking down the

fibers.

Your body will perceive this as a potential threat to its survival and will react accordingly.

The moment you leave the gym your body will begin repairing these tears. Since the ultimate

goal is to keep you alive and healthy, the body will rebuild the muscles bigger and stronger in

order to protect itself against a possible future threat.

Micro-tears through resistance training -> Repairing of damaged muscle -> Increased

size and strength as a natural evolutionary response

It's a simple concept, but crucial to understand. It's very similar to the way that the body

builds calluses on the skin from overuse. Think of excess muscle tissue as one giant “body

callus”.

What conclusion can we draw from this?

In order for substantial muscle growth to occur, your body must perceive the work

performed in the gym as a threat to its survival.

Now pay very close attention...

Although you have just begun learning about the basics of proper weight training, it is already

time to share with you the absolute most important workout principle there is.

It's actually two separate ideas, but they both go hand in hand.

This principle is what muscle growth is ultimately based upon, and it must be understood and

implemented if you want to see serious results.

Gaining muscle is all about following this law, and you will only get the results you are

looking for if it is put into practice every single time you enter the gym...

The Law Of Intensity And Progression

You see those two words up above? Consider those your two new best friends.

Every single thing you do in the gym should be focused around the law of intensity and

progression.

Let me explain this all-too-important principle.

1) Intensity: The amount of effort exerted by the muscles on each given set of each given

exercise.

2) Progression: Consistently increasing the amount of weight lifted or the number of

repetitions performed on each exercise from week to week.

I cannot stress the importance of this principle enough.

It is one that is often overlooked and is the main reason why most people do not see the

results they are looking for.

Your muscle building success in the gym completely depends upon the law of intensity and

progression. This law is at the very root of the muscle growth process.

The Law of Intensity and Progression simply states that in order to build muscle, you must:

a) Train with a high enough level of intensity on each given set in the gym in order to trigger

an adaptive growth response from the muscles.

b) Progressively increase the workload each week by either increasing the weight lifted or the

number of repetitions performed for each exercise in order to produce continued gains over

time.

Let's break it down…

Intensity

As I stated before, in order for the muscles to grow they must perceive the stress placed upon

them in the gym as a threat to their survival.

When you enter the gym, it should be as if you are going to war.

There is no room for slacking or laziness here. If you truly want to add a considerable amount

of muscle mass to your frame, you must be prepared for the inevitable discomfort that is

associated with high intensity resistance training.

The plain reality is that you will not make significant increases in muscle mass and strength

unless you train at a level that is at (or very close to) your maximum potential effort.

The idea of training at your maximum potential effort is simply this...

Every set that you perform in the gym should be continued to the point of concentric

muscular failure.

Concentric Muscular Failure: The point at which you are unable to complete an additional

positive repetition of a given exercise despite your greatest efforts.

Side note: there are two basic phases to every exercise that you perform in the gym: the

“positive” (concentric) and the “negative” (eccentric).

The concentric portion is the “lifting” phase, such as the pressing motion of a pushup or the

pulling motion of a chin-up. The eccentric portion is the “lowering” phase, such as the

lowering motion of a pushup or the lowering motion of a chin-up.

When we refer to “concentric muscular failure”, we are talking about being unable to

perform an additional positive repetition.

For example, let's say you're performing a set of bench presses…

Your spotter helps you un-rack the weight and you begin your set. The first rep is easy to

perform, the second is a bit tougher and as you continue the set each repetition becomes

increasingly harder.

By the time the 6th rep comes you're pushing with all of your strength in order to make the

bar move. After a hard struggle you finally crank out that 6th rep, and now you attempt a 7th

rep...

You lower the bar back down to your chest and begin pushing. Even though you are pushing

as hard as you possibly can with 100% of your effort, the bar will not budge and another

repetition cannot possibly be performed despite your greatest efforts to continue the exercise.

Your spotter helps you re-rack the weight.

You've just successfully trained to concentric muscular failure.

Remember, your body does not want excess muscle. This is an unnatural state, as we were

meant to be lean and smaller framed. Muscle is a metabolically expensive inconvenience for

the body to deal with.

Why do you think it is that when a person stops training, their excess muscle tissue is broken

down for use as energy?

It's because your body wants to get rid of it.

Muscle growth is all about adaptation to the environment.

You must put your muscles in a downright uncomfortable, stressful environment so that they

have no choice but to adapt and grow.

Here's another way to look at this issue…

Right now as you sit there reading this, your muscles have stored in them a certain amount of

“reserve resources” in order to carry out tasks in nature.

Most of the tasks you perform on a day-to-day basis are well within the current ability of your

muscles… Things like walking to and from your car, carrying a bag of groceries or climbing a

flight of stairs.

As long as your muscles have adequate reserve resources in order to carry out these tasks,

there is no incentive for any change to occur.

But what happens when you present your muscles with a task that they cannot complete

without extreme difficulty… or that they cannot complete at all? For example, performing an

overhead press with as much weight as you could possibly handle for 6 reps…

All of a sudden a giant red light begins flashing and the body's adaptive mechanisms kick into

gear. The body was presented with a task that it could not complete without severely using up

its resources… Or worse, it was presented with a task that it physically could NOT complete,

period.

Since the body is always working to protect itself against potentially dangerous situations in

nature, it will have no choice but to respond to this threat. The body must make adjustments

so that if this situation were to arise again in the future it would be properly equipped to deal

with it.

Are you starting to see the big picture?

If you constantly present your muscles with tasks in the gym that do not threaten their current

reserve resources, no new muscle will be built and no new strength will be gained.

If you want to see a positive change in your body, the sets that you perform in the gym MUST

be intense enough that they threaten the body's current resources. They must place the body

under enough stress that it is forced to build upon its existing resources as an adaptive

response.

If you are completely new to weight training then it will definitely be a good idea to ease

yourself into the gym and gradually build up your training intensity.

The goal here is to safely push your body to its limits. It is very important that you always

utilize proper form and make sure that your joints and connective tissue are not being stressed

too heavily.

Once you have learned the proper form for each exercise and have given your body a chance

to adjust, you can then begin to stretch your limits a bit. With added experience and assistance

from The Elite Mass Protocol™, you'll be training with full intensity before you know it.

I'd now like to explain the second part of the law of intensity and progression…

Progression

Intensity and progression go hand in hand, and are equally important in achieving consistent

muscle gains from week to week.

Let's see if you can figure out why progression is so important by presenting a basic

analogy…

Envision a building. A 7.0 earthquake hits and the building is severely damaged. Workers

rush to the scene to repair the damage that has been done and to protect the building against

a possible future earthquake. Sure enough, a 7.5 earthquake hits and the building is once

again broken down. The workers return and repair the building once more. Only this time

they rebuild it even larger and stronger to protect against any possible future earthquakes.

Now an 8.0 earthquake hits…

Do you see where I'm going with this?

In order for the muscles to continually increase in size and strength, they must be presented

with greater and greater amounts of stress each workout.

As I said before, muscular hypertrophy (hypertrophy is the scientific term for an increase in

tissue size) is centered around the body's natural reaction of adapting to the environment.

Therefore, in order for the body to become larger and stronger over time you must continually

and systematically increase the amount of weight you lift or the number of repetitions you

perform each week.

In doing this the body will continue to adapt and grow to the ever increasing stress.

Think about it; if you were able to squat 200 pounds today, and were still using the same

weight 3 months from now, do you think you would have experienced any considerable gains

in muscle size during that time?

Of course not.

Your body would have adapted itself to squatting 200 pounds and will only become larger and

stronger when it is presented with a workload beyond that capacity.

This is why it is so incredibly important that every single time you set foot in the gym you

have your plan of attack in mind.

You should know exactly what you accomplished in the previous week and what you are

striving to achieve this week.

Since the ultimate goal of everything you accomplish in the gym is consistent

progression,then quite clearly the entire basis for building muscle is to build strength.

The plain fact is that you will not experience any appreciable gains in muscular size unless

you focus on increasing your strength on each and every exercise you perform. This is a

universal law of muscle growth and applies no matter what type of approach you choose to

implement in the gym.

The farther you progress, the larger your muscles will become.

It's all about getting better each week.

If you were trying to become a skilled guitarist, would you stick to playing one single song

for months on end?

No.

You'd learn how to play one song, and as you got better and better your mind and fingers

would adapt to harder and harder songs. As you continually adapted to songs with higher and

higher degrees of difficulty, your overall skill as a guitarist would increase.

Here's what usually ends up happening: the average lifter goes to the gym on chest day and

aimlessly performs his various presses and flyes without taking note of how much weight he

lifted or how many repetitions he performed.

A month later he is completely oblivious to the fact that he is still bench pressing the same

weight for the same reps and yet he still can't figure out why his chest isn't responding.

Achieving continual progression should be your entire focus in the gym.

You should be paying attention to the weight you use and reps you are performing with laser-

like accuracy. Every time you enter the gym the first thing you should be thinking of is:

What did I do last week?

What must I do this week in order to improve upon last week?

This is the ultimate bottom line.

No progression = no growth.

Write It Down!

I don't care how incredible your memory is or how much you insist that you "keep everything

in your head", you must keep a written record of every workout you perform.

By doing this you will have a visual representation of the exact weight you used and reps you

performed in the previous workout.

This is an extremely powerful tool and will enable you to progress as fast as you possibly can.

By keeping a written record versus just remembering, you will be much more motivated to

increase your weight and reps since you'll have to hold yourself accountable if you fail to do

so.

It is also very motivating to be able to look back at previous weeks of training and have a

concrete visual of the increasing weight and repetitions.

I've made this whole process easier on you by providing all of the workout sheets you'll need.

You'll find them in The No-Fail Workout section. Everything is laid out in an easy-to-follow

manner and will allow you to very easily track your weight and reps on every exercise you

perform.

Bodybuilding Training: Why Less Is More

With all of this talk of maximum intensity and training to muscular failure, you must have

come to the conclusion that you’ll need to spend countless hours in the gym, week in and

week out in order to achieve your goals.

You've probably painted a mental picture of yourself endlessly slaving away against the

weights twice a day, six days a week.

I mean after all, the more time and effort you put into something the more you will get out of

it. Building muscle must be no different, right?

The answer to that question is a gigantic, definite, absolute NO! In fact, in order to achieve

optimal muscle gain results you will only need to spend roughly 1% of your total available

time in the gym.

I know what you're thinking…

"But Sean, you said that in order to achieve 100% of my potential growth, I need to put forth

100% intensity!"

That is absolutely correct. However, when I said "100% intensity" I was in no way referring

to the actual volume or duration of work you would be performing.

Instead, I was talking specifically about the amount of total effort you would exert for the

limited amount of work that you'll actually have to perform.

How limited?

Roughly 2 ½ - 3 hours per week.

You see, when it comes to weight training for size, more is certainly not better.

You are not going to the gym with the intent of completely annihilating your muscles, set

after set, until they fall off. The idea is simply to yield an adaptive response from the body

and not a thing more.

When you train with weights you are simply "sparking" the muscle growth process.

Once your body has been put into an adaptive position where it will be forced to respond to

the stress placed upon it by rebuilding the muscles larger and stronger, you have done your

job and any further stimulation will be counterproductive and a waste of time and effort.

From there on it is a simple matter of providing your body with the raw materials needed to

facilitate growth (proper nutrition combined with The Elite Mass Protocol™) - a topic which

will be covered later on.

In order to build muscle you must provide your body with sufficient recovery time in

between workouts.

When trying to add muscular weight, recovery is everything.

Every single time you perform an intense set in the gym, you are digging a “hole” into your

body's recovery ability. Your body only has a limited amount of resources and energy that it

can divert to repairing and rebuilding your damaged muscles.

After a muscle is stimulated from your workout, the body will first begin by repairing and

remodeling it back to the state it was in prior to the workout.

Then, assuming the intensity level was sufficient and proper nutrition is in place, the body

will overcompensate by increasing the size and strength of the muscle to an even greater

level.

However, this process can only be completed given sufficient resting time and adequate

recovery resources. If you continue stressing the muscle while it is trying to recover, or if you

dig too deep of a hole in the first place, this compensatory build up of new muscle mass

simply cannot occur.

You must forget the traditional thinking of "more is better." It's sometimes difficult to let go

of, but this notion simply does not apply to bodybuilding. This is one of the biggest traps that

almost all beginning lifters fall victim to.

They assume that the more time they spend in the gym, the better their results will be.

And who could blame them? In almost every other aspect of life this holds true.

Do not become a victim of overtraining.

When training at a high level of intensity, this becomes increasingly important to pay

attention to. If you are taking your sets to concentric muscular failure or very close to it, it's

very easy to go overboard on training volume if you aren't careful.

It only takes a few sets of a few basic, proven exercises in order to see the best results you

possibly can.

It’s not about training harder – it’s about training smarter.

You can improve your body's recovery ability to greater than normal levels through intelligent

nutrition and consistent use of The Elite Mass Protocol™, but training volume and frequency

should always be cautiously regulated nonetheless.

Introduction Recap

You now know that muscle growth is a product of the body's natural reaction of adapting to a

stressful environment.

In response to muscular tears brought on by intense resistance training, the body will repair

the muscles larger and stronger in order to protect itself against any possible future threat.

Although you must train as hard as your body will allow by taking every set to the point of

concentric muscular failure, you must also understand that training intensity and volume are

directly related.

As one goes up, the other must go down.

This means that since you are training with 100% effort on every set, you must limit the

amount of time you spend in the gym and only perform as many sets as is absolutely

necessary. In doing this you will prevent the chance of overtraining and allow your body to

make steady, consistent progress.

This is extremely important, because progress is the ultimate deciding factor between those

who make significant gains and those who make modest gains.

In order to consistently achieve greater and greater size and strength gains you must focus on

lifting slightly more weight or performing slightly more repetitions on each exercise from

week to week.

Keeping a detailed written record of every workout is the best way of efficiently

accomplishing this.

You've now learned the basic principles and ideas behind achieving fast and consistent

muscle growth and have formed an overall framework for your bodybuilding training

approach.

By simply understanding the principles and ideas in the previous section you are already

light-years ahead of the average muscle building hopeful who is oblivious to these basic ideas.

It's now time to get specific and talk more in detail about how your workouts should be

concretely structured. This is quite simply the most powerful muscle building training

approach available, so pay close attention...

Warming Up

A brief warm-up is the first component to any successful workout. Before you move into your

actual muscle building sets, it's important that you prepare your mind and body for the work

to come.

By executing a proper warm-up you will decrease your chance of injury (an injury is the

absolute last thing you want) and will ensure that your muscles are ready to deal with the

heavy weights and hard work you will be inflicting on them.

The honest truth is that 95% of lifters in the gym are dead wrong in the way they warm-up.

Some people avoid a warm-up altogether, while others simply have no clue what they're

doing.

In fact, the majority of people warm up in such a fashion that they actually decrease the

quality of their workouts and prevent themselves from pushing the maximum amount of

weight they are capable of.

A solid warm-up is very easy to execute and shouldn't take any more than about 10-15

minutes to complete. I know it isn't the most enjoyable thing in the world, but trust me, when

an injury takes you out of the gym for 3 months you'll wish you had taken those few extra

minutes to warm up.

Now remember, a warm-up is just that, a warm-up.

If you feel that you are getting even slightly tired or that you are draining strength from your

body, you need to ease up and take things a bit slower.

The first component of a proper warm-up is to perform 5 minutes of light cardiovascular

activity. I personally choose the stationary bike, but any basic piece of cardio equipment will

do.

This will gradually raise your body's core temperature and will increase blood flow to your

muscles. It will also stimulate your heart and lungs and increase your body's secretion of

"synovial fluid" which will lubricate your joints and assist in injury prevention.

As you are performing this simple cardio warm-up, envision the workout that lies ahead of

you. Think about the muscle groups you'll be training and the intensity you'll need to put forth

in order to achieve a successful workout.

Since you already know the amount of weight you'll need to use for every exercise, it will be

easy for you to visualize the entire workout taking place and to create a clear mental picture of

yourself successfully performing each lift.

It's very important that you prepare your mind and body, since your mental attitude plays such

a vital role in the success of your workouts. If you are not mentally prepared to workout, your

performance will surely suffer.

After your 5 minutes of cardio you will move on to the second part of the warm-up process:

weight acclimation.

This is where you will take the first major compound exercise of your workout (we'll discuss

exactly what a “compound” exercise is later on) and perform 3 low intensity sets, gradually

building up to your maximal working weight.

For example, if you were training legs then you would use squats as your warm-up exercise.

(The No-Fail Workout section outlines all of the workouts and warm-up exercises)

Here is a basic chart you can use to calculate your warm-up weights, given as a percentage of

the weight you will use for your first muscle building set...

50% x 10 reps

75% x 3 reps

100% x 1 rep

So if you were going to be bench pressing 150 pounds for your first muscle building set, your

warm-up would consist of 75 pounds for 10 reps, 115 pounds for 3 reps, and 150 pounds for 1

rep.

Should stretching be included in your warm-up?

For years we've been told about the importance of thoroughly stretching our muscles before

we exercise.

Conventional wisdom isn't always correct, and studies are now showing that stretching

provides absolutely no benefit as a pre-workout warm-up.

In fact, some studies have actually shown that stretching your muscles before you workout

can actually increase your chance of injury as well as decrease your strength.

The goal of building muscle is to lift as much weight as you possibly can in a given rep range,

so you can see why you'd want to have your strength peaked before you pick up the bar.

A proper warm-up should consist of light cardiovascular activity followed by progressive

resistance training just like the method described above. This is the most efficient and

effective way to prepare your body for the work to come and will do the best job at keeping

you injury-free.

Workout Duration

Aim to complete your workout within 60-75 minutes.

This 60-75 minute period does not include warm-up sets, but comes into play beginning with

your first muscle building set and ends with the completion of your final muscle building set.

As I said before, the ultimate goal is to simply "spark" the muscle growth process using the

least amount of volume necessary and in the shortest amount of time.

Highly intensive training is extremely taxing on the body and it is simply unnecessary and

downright counterproductive to spend extended periods of time in the gym.

After about 45 minutes of strenuous exercise, the body releases a catabolic hormone called

"cortisol" which begins to stimulate the conversion of protein in muscles to glucose and

glycogen.

If you are aiming to gain and preserve as much muscle as possible then this is obviously

something you should aim to avoid.

In fact, after just 30 minutes of intense training your mental focus and intensity will begin a

downhill slide.

This is why 60-75 minutes is the optimal time frame to complete your workout in. It is long

enough to complete all of the assigned exercises and sets but not so long that the negative

effects of cortisol and other catabolic hormones will have any significant negative impact on

your muscle gains.

Not only is it physically beneficial to complete your workout within 60-75 minutes, but it also

serves mental benefits as well.

It is much easier to mentally deal with a short, explosive workout rather than one that drags

on endlessly.

You will be able to enter the gym, know the mission at hand, blast out the required sets and go

home. You will not have to prepare yourself for a marathon workout lasting hours on end.

Since you know there is a set timeframe to complete this phase, it will force you to take full

advantage of each and every set you perform.

Workout Volume

For maximal muscle gains, perform 5-7 total sets per workout for large muscle groups

and 2-4 sets for small muscle groups.

Large muscle groups are the chest, back and thighs (Although thighs consist of both the

quadriceps and the hamstrings, they are always trained together and we'll be considering them

as one major muscle group.)

Small muscle groups are the shoulders, biceps, triceps, abs, calves and forearms.

When I talk about "workout volume" I am simply referring to the total number of muscle

building sets that you will perform for each specific muscle group for each workout.

Using The No-Fail System, you will be performing anywhere from 5-7 sets for large muscle

groups and 2-4 sets for smaller ones. Remember, this is total sets per workout, not total sets

per exercise.

For example, if you were training chest, you might perform 2 sets of bench presses, 2 sets of

dumbbell presses and 2 sets of dips, for a total of 6 sets.

You would NOT be performing 5-7 sets of bench presses, 5-7 sets of dumbbell presses and 5-

7 sets of dips. This is total sets for the entire workout with all exercises combined. (This

excludes warm-ups)

As stated many times before, The No-Fail System is based upon efficiency.

The truth of the matter is that as long as your workout is performed with 100% intensity and

all sets are taken to concentric failure, the muscles simply do not require very many sets in

order for maximum growth to be stimulated.

Excessive workout volume is extremely common among lifters and is one of the major

mistakes that beginners make.

Remember, the goal is simply to yield an adaptive response from the muscles by presenting

them with a workload they have never experienced before. Once this has been done, any

further stimulation will be counterproductive.

Forget about all those 25 set workouts you did in the past, where you performed 5 sets of 5

different exercises. You are not at the gym to run a muscle building marathon. You are there

to stimulate your muscles to grow by training with a high level of intensity on a few basic,

controlled sets.

Your workouts are about quality, NOT quantity.

How much will each specific muscle group require?

Well, there isn't one absolute number that is set in stone. It may vary slightly depending on

certain workouts, but since all of the training routines will already be laid out for you, you

won't have to worry about this.

It may not sound like a lot now, but once you're in the gym training as hard as you possibly

can, you will be physically unable to complete any additional work.

Because you'll be integrating the The Elite Mass Protocol™ into your training program, you

can probably get away with training at the higher end of the volume scale. The Elite Mass

Protocol will noticeably improve your body's recovery ability which enables you to train with

more sets and still fully recuperate in between workout sessions.

Exercise Selection

To stimulate as much muscle growth as you possibly can, focus on basic, compound

exercises.

There are 2 main types of exercises that you can perform in the gym:

Compound Exercises: Multi-joint movements which require the use of more than one major

muscle group at a time. (i.e. squats, deadlifts, bench presses)

Isolation Exercises: Single-joint movements which only require the use of one major muscle

group at a time. (i.e. tricep pushdowns, lateral raises, bicep curls)

Choosing the correct exercises is one of the most important decisions you will make in the

gym, and again, another huge mistake most lifters make.

Remember, the ultimate goal of lifting weights is to essentially convince your body that it is

in life-threatening danger.

If you want real gains, get serious. And getting serious means choosing the proven meat and

potatoes exercises that build muscle at the fastest possible rate.

I'm talking about the most basic compound movements…

- Squats

- Deadlifts

- Barbell/Dumbbell Presses

- Barbell/Dumbbell Rows

- Chin-ups

- Overhead presses

- Dips

- Lunges

- Leg Presses

- Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

Don't worry if you aren't familiar with some of these lifts, as they are all clearly laid out for

you with detailed descriptions and full motion video in The No-Fail Workout section.

Isolation lifts certainly have their place in a solid lifting routine, but not in place of the basic

compound exercises.

Why?

The basic compound movements place your body under the greatest amount of total stress and

yield the strongest anabolic response from your workouts possible.

Muscle growth is not merely a localized event that takes place at the level of the specific

muscle being trained. Muscle growth is largely a product of the total systemic stress that the

body is placed under, which forces it to adapt on a holistic level.

Consistently adding poundage to these compound lifts should be the basis of your entire

routine.

Treat these lifts with respect and they will allow you to reach your goals faster than you ever

thought possible.

Once again, since all the workouts are already laid out for you, you won't have to worry about

picking and choosing all the right exercises.

If you're new to weightlifting, don't be intimidated by the amount of lifts you'll need to learn.

For the most part they are fairly straightforward and after a few workouts you should have

them down pat.

Resting Between Sets

Only perform your next muscle building set when you feel that you are 100% recovered

from the previous one.

Some programs advocate the use of a 2-3 minute resting period between sets, some use 4-5

minutes, while others say that 1 minute is the optimal time frame.

Do you want to know the real answer?

The real answer is that there is no answer.

You are in the gym with the goal of moving the greatest amount of weight you possibly can

for as many reps as you possibly can. There is no way to assign one absolute period of time to

rest between sets.

Sure, having a set time period between sets gives more organization to the workout and

ensures that you can complete all of your exercises in the targeted time frame, but this is not

the best way to make sure that you give 100% effort on each and every set.

How can you know for sure that you'll be fully recovered and ready for another set in exactly

2-3 minutes? You can't.

The reality is that some sets will tax you very heavily and force you to rest longer, while

others will not have as great of an effect. It all depends on which exercise you are performing,

how much weight you are moving and how you are feeling on any particular day.

The key is to listen to your body and perform your next set only when you feel that you have

fully recovered from the previous one and can execute the set with 100% intensity and

strength.

Some sets may require that you rest for 3 minutes, while others may leave you resting 6-7

minutes or more. Small isolation lifts will typically require a shorter resting period, while

compound freeweight exercises will require a longer resting period.

Since your workout should last no longer than 60-75 minutes it is vital that you always watch

the clock to ensure that you are not resting any longer than you need. You must move around

the gym efficiently enough to allow for maximal rest between sets while still completing the

assigned sets in less than 60-75 minutes.

If you are making use of The Elite Mass Protocol™, then you should notice that you will not

require as much resting time in between sets. This is because The Elite Mass Protocol

includes a combination of important compounds that work to re-generate your muscles’

energy stores after a period of intense work.

Ideal Rep Range

To achieve the greatest gains in muscle mass and strength, the majority of your muscle

building sets should consist of low to moderate repetitions.

Although you will be using a different rep range depending on what muscle group you are

training, low to moderate rep sets will be used the majority of the time.

Sets that utilize heavy weight and low to moderate reps are the most effective means of

stimulating maximum muscle growth and strength gains.

With The No-Fail System, the majority of your sets will consist of 5 to 7 reps. This means

that for every set you perform, the weight should be light enough that you can complete at

least 5 reps using proper form, but heavy enough that you cannot complete more than 7.

If you can only perform 4 reps then the weight is too heavy. If you can perform 8 reps or more

then the weight is too light.

Why 5-7?

It is because 5-7 reps per set taken to muscular failure will allow you to train with roughly 80-

85% of your all-out one rep maximum.

At 80-85% of your 1RM, you will generate maximum recruitment and tension on those

muscle fibers that are most susceptible to hypertrophy.

Rep ranges of around 1-3 will primarily result in neural adaptations (you'll get stronger but

not necessarily bigger) while rep ranges that drift beyond the 9 or 10 mark will cause

excessive lactic acid buildup and fatigue, which are not conducive to maximizing muscle

stimulation.

Shorter sets of 5-7 reps also have psychological benefits as well. You will not have to psyche

yourself up for a marathon set lasting minutes on end, but rather for a short burst of all out

effort lasting only several seconds.

Is there anything “magical” about this 5 to 7 rep range? No.

Will it kill you if you only get 4 reps on a set, or if you get 8? No. However, you should aim

to stay within the 5-7 range as often as you can as this is simply the “sweet spot” where

overall tension and overload are maximized.

Okay, so we've established that most of the time, on most exercises, you will be performing 5-

7 reps. However, this does not apply all the time or on every single lift.

Here are a couple of exceptions where differing rep ranges will be used...

- Abs, calves, forearms and upper traps tend to respond better to higher rep ranges anywhere

from 8-12.

- Legs respond well to virtually any rep range and will be trained using a mixture of low and

high rep sets.

Don't worry about trying to figure out the rep ranges for all of your exercises, as these are all

laid out for you in The No-Fail Workout section.

Rep Speed

The concentric portion of the rep should be performed as fast as possible while still

maintaining complete control of the weight. The eccentric portion should be performed

in 3-4 seconds.

To understand the speed at which you should perform your repetitions, you must first

understand the 2 basic phases of lifting a weight:

Concentric (also referred to as the "positive"): When the muscle contracts by shortening.

For example, the pushing phase of a bench press or the pulling phase of a chin-up.

Eccentric (also referred to as the "negative"): When the muscle is put under tension as it

lengthens. For example, the lowering phase of a bench press or the lowering phase of a chin-

up.

So, how fast should you perform your reps?

One big error a lot of lifters make is assigning a set speed to the concentric portion of the rep.

Since you'll be training with as much resistance as you can safely handle, the weight should

be heavy enough that you must exert maximum force at all times on the positive motion.

It is extremely important that you are always in complete control of the weight, but it makes

no sense to say, for example, that each concentric phase should be performed in 4 seconds.

Obviously reps 1-3 will be performed much faster than reps 4-7.

As you get closer to reaching muscular failure the reps will naturally slow down as you push

with all of your strength and your body's energy stores gradually run out. The rep immediately

before muscular failure may take as long as 6 or 7 seconds to perform.

Don't worry about how long the concentric phase takes to perform, just focus on moving the

weight as fast and hard as you possibly can while still maintaining proper form.

The eccentric phase is different and can be assigned a basic time frame to be completed in.

Do not underestimate the importance of the lowering phase. In fact, some studies show that

more muscle breakdown actually occurs on the eccentric phase rather than the concentric

phase.

The most important factor when it comes to this part of the rep is that you are in complete

control of the weight at all times. Since your muscles are about 2 ½ times stronger on the

eccentric phase, you will never reach muscular failure on this portion of the lift.

That being said, you should aim to lower the weight in 3-4 seconds. You don't have to go with

the super-slow mentality, just make sure that you lower the weight in good form and in a

controlled manner.

Proper Breathing

On the eccentric portion of the rep, inhale. On the concentric portion of the rep, exhale.

Breathing properly when you exercise will actually allow you to lift more weight and will

decrease your chance of injury. It is very important that you do not hold your breath when you

lift.

The only thing you really need to know when it comes to this subject is this:

On the negative/eccentric portion of the rep, INHALE.

On the positive/concentric portion of the rep, EXHALE.

For example, if you were performing a bench press, you would breathe in as you lowered the

weight, and breathe out as you pushed the weight up.

Workout Frequency

Each muscle group should only be directly trained once per week.

When it comes to training each individual muscle, one week is a highly reliable time frame to

allow for sufficient recovery and maximum growth.

You already know how crucial recovery is to your success, and you must put this into practice

by ensuring that your muscles have fully recovered before you train them again.

Remember, muscle growth does not occur in the gym; muscle breakdown occurs in the gym.

When you train intensely with weights, you are damaging your muscles. It is while you are

out of the gym, resting and eating that the muscle growth process is actually taking place.

This is the time when your body will be rebuilding the muscles larger and stronger in

preparation for the next workout. It is extremely important that you do not interfere with this

process and allow your body sufficient time to repair and heal itself before you break them

down again.

If you train the same muscle group again before it has had a chance to fully recover and grow,

you literally short circuit and destroy the entire muscle building process.

Is it possible that a particular muscle may be ready for another workout after 6, 5 or even 4

days of rest, rather than 7?

Sure, it's possible. Obviously there is no way to say that one week will be the perfect time

frame for every person, every muscle group and every individual situation.

That said, the logical course of action is to always err on the side of caution to ensure that, if

anything, you give your muscle a bit too much rest rather than too little.

Think of it this way...

If you give a particular muscle group a day or two of extra rest after it has already fully

recovered and grown, there is no threat of a loss. Muscle loss won't occur until a particular

muscle has gone untrained for about 2-3 weeks.

However, if you make the mistake of training a particular muscle group again a day or two (or

more) too early, there is the direct and immediate threat of interfering with the recovery and

growth process that was stimulated from the prior workout.

As I already mentioned, recovery IS growth. If you continually train your muscles again

before they have fully recovered from the previous workout, you will either gain muscle mass

at a rate that is below your maximum potential, or even worse, you won't grow at all.

Taking this all into consideration, directly training each muscle group once per week is the

best way to ensure that all of your muscles have fully recovered and grown before their next

workout.

In addition, training each muscle once per week makes it very easy to devise an organized and

consistent weekly workout schedule.

Does once per week not sound like enough?

Believe me, as long as you train as hard as you possibly can and take all sets to muscular

failure, hitting each muscle group once per week is easily enough.

You must simply go to the gym, "spark" the muscle growth process into motion and then get

out of the gym to rest.

From there it is simply a matter of implementing a careful system of proper nutrition

combined with The Elite Mass Protocol™ in order to allow for full recovery and growth.

This is also another reason why training with 100% intensity is so important. When you go to

the gym on chest day, just remember that it is the only opportunity you have to stimulate your

chest for that entire week. If you fail to execute a solid workout you'll have to wait another

seven days before you can make up for it.

As long as you train hard you do not need to train often.

Okay, we’ve now covered each individual component of an optimal muscle building workout

program in detail: warming up, duration, volume, exercise selection, resting between sets, rep

ranges, rep speed, proper breathing, advanced techniques and frequency.

I’m now going to go a little deeper and give you some additional tips for training each

individual muscle group: your chest, back, shoulders, arms, abs and legs.

How To Train Chest

It's no secret that virtually every lifter out there places their chest

development at the top of their list of priorities at the gym.

The chest is a very "showy" muscle and a set of thick, muscular pecs

is a must if you really want to build a physique that draws attention.

The reality is that an optimal chest training routine is fundamentally

very simple to execute and does not require the use of any

complicated techniques or methods.

A few hard, heavy sets of some basic movements is all that is needed

for complete chest development.

To stimulate the chest you will be using one of two motions: a press

or a flye.

Presses are exercises where the arms are extended away from the

upper body in a pushing motion. Examples include the barbell bench

press, dumbbell press or wide-grip dip.

Flyes are exercises where the arms are bent and are drawn across the front of the upper body

in a hugging motion. Examples include the dumbbell flye, pec-deck or cable crossover.

If you want the greatest bang for your buck from your chest workouts, the true gains lie in

your pressing movements. Flyes can have their place in your overall routine, but nothing can

compare to the overall anabolic effect of high intensity pressing movements.

Pressing movements place the highest level of overload on the chest, are the most challenging

to perform and exert the greatest overall anabolic effect on the body.

In fact, basic pressing movements should be given virtually 100% of the focus in your chest

workout.

People tend to gravitate towards flye movements because these types of exercises allow them

to “feel it more in the muscle”. Flyes are an isolation exercise and when performed intensely

they seem to produce a more focused effect on the chest muscles because of their isolated

nature.

But what you have to realize is that muscle growth is much more than a simple localized

event that happens at the level of the muscle tissue itself.

Muscle growth also results as your entire body adapts as a whole to an overall level of stress.

Anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone increase, and this results in a

total-body muscle growth response.

Even though flyes may feel like they're hitting your chest really hard, the isolated,

unchallenging nature of these movements produce only a fraction of the overall anabolic

effect that heavy pressing movements will produce.

The simple key to developing a thick, round chest is by consistently progressing on your basic

pressing exercises from week to week. That's really all there is to it.

Here is a list of the best chest exercises:

- Flat barbell bench press

- Incline barbell bench press

- Decline barbell bench press

- Flat dumbbell bench press

- Incline dumbbell bench press

- Decline dumbbell bench press

- Wide-grip dips

A set or 2 of flat dumbbell flyes works well as the finishing touch on your chest workout, but

they should never be performed in place of these basic pressing movements.

(You can find full motion video and written descriptions for all of these chest movements in

the Video Tutorial area of The No-Fail Workout section.)

An effective chest workout will be performed once per week and will ideally consist of 3-4

different chest exercises per workout and 1-2 sets per exercise. (5-7 sets total per workout)

Keep your sets within the 5-7 rep range, and as always, perform all sets to the point of

concentric muscular failure.

You'll find your fully structured chest workout already included in The No-Fail Workout

section.

How To Train Back

Next we'll focus on a very large and very important muscle group,

and one that most trainees tend to neglect.

Everyone is so focused on building their chest and arms that they

tend to forget about those muscles on the other side of their upper

body.

I'm talking about the muscles of the back.

There are many individual muscles that make up the back, but in

terms of bodybuilding we usually talk about the back as including

the lats, the trapezius, the spinal erectors and the mid-back.

Most trainees don't know this, but around 70% of your total upper

body muscle mass resides in your back.

If you're one of those people who hasn't been placing equal focus

and emphasis on their back muscles, you are missing out on some

huge muscle gains and are severely limiting the amount of upper

body size and thickness that you can achieve.

In order to develop a winning physique, a thick, muscular back is a must have.

There's an endless list of different exercises that you can perform to stimulate the various

muscles of the back, but when training for maximum muscle size and strength there are 4

main movements that you should be focusing on.

1) Deadlifting Movements – These exercises target the entire back complex and are

performed when a loaded bar or pair of dumbbells is lifted off of the ground in a squatting

motion.

Examples of deadlifts include: Barbell Deadlifts, Dumbbell Deadlifts, Trap-bar Deadlifts.

2) Vertical Pulling Movements – These exercises mainly target the lats and are performed as

the arms are extended above the head and then resistance is pulled downwards toward the

body.

Examples include Chin-Ups, Lat Pulldowns and V-Bar Pulldowns.

3) Horizontal Pulling Movements – These exercises target both the lats and the muscles of

the mid-back. They are performed as the arms are extended in front of the upper body and

resistance is pulled toward the upper body.

Examples include Bent Over Barbell Rows, One-Arm Dumbbell Rows and Seated Rows.

4) Shrugging Movements – These exercises target the upper traps, and are performed as

resistance is moved up and down in a shrugging motion of the shoulders.

Examples include Barbell Shrugs and Dumbbell Shrugs.

Here is the list of approved No-Fail back exercises organized into the various categories that I

just mentioned. If you don't see an exercise listed here, then you don't need to include it in

your routine…

Deadlifts

- Barbell Deadlifts (top recommendation)

- Dumbbell Deadlifts

- Trap-Bar Deadlifts

Vertical Pulling Movements

- Wide-Grip Overhand Chin-Ups (top recommendation)

- Close-Grip Underhand Chin-Ups

- Wide-Grip Overhand Lat Pulldowns

- Close-Grip Underhand Lat Pulldowns

- V-Bar Pulldowns

Horizontal Pulling Movements

- Bent Over Barbell Rows (top recommendation)

- Bent Over Dumbbell Rows (top recommendation)

- One-Arm Dumbbell Rows

- Seated Cable Rows

- T-Bar Rows

Shrugging Movements

- Barbell Shrug

- Dumbbell Shrug

- Smith Machine Shrug

(You'll find the proper form and technique for all of these lifts in the Video Tutorial area of

The No-Fail Workout section.)

An effective back workout will be performed once per week and will ideally consist of 1-2

sets of a basic barbell deadlift, 1-2 sets of a vertical pulling movement (overhand chin-ups

recommended), 1-2 sets of a horizontal pulling movement (barbell or dumbbell rows

recommended) and will finish with 1-2 sets of a shrugging movement. (5-7 sets total per

workout)

Keep the reps between 5-7 and perform all sets to the point of concentric muscular failure.

You'll find an optimally structured back routine included as part of The No-Fail Workout

section.

Side Note

I would strongly recommend making use of a good high quality set of lifting straps as part of

your back workout. These are basically a thick set of straps that are wrapped around your

wrists and then wrapped around the barbell/dumbbell.

Lifting straps help to eliminate your grip from the equation and ensure that you always reach

muscular failure in your target muscles, rather than being forced to drop the weights because

your grip gave out. These are especially useful on exercises such as deadlifts and shrugs

where you'll be handling heavier poundages.

If you don't use lifting straps and find that your grip is reaching muscular failure before your

back muscles, then a set of lifting straps is mandatory.

How To Train Shoulders

Many bodybuilders agree that underneath clothes, a set of wide,

muscular shoulders will make the greatest contribution to the overall

appearance of the upper body.

Round, powerful delts play a key role in creating the v-tapered look

that all bodybuilders strive for by widening the shoulder region and

also contributing to the illusion of a smaller waistline.

Everybody wants a powerful set of shoulders yet so few implement

an intelligent and well-structured plan when approaching their

shoulder training.

Proper shoulder training is actually very straightforward and only

requires a small number of sets using a couple of very basic

movements.

The shoulder consists of 3 main heads: the anterior head (the front of

the shoulder), the medial head (the middle of the shoulder), and the

posterior head (the back of the shoulder).

The shoulder is the most complex joint in the entire body and performs the function of lifting

and rotating the arm.

The first key concept that you need to understand is this…

Virtually every single upper body exercise that you perform will stress the shoulders in some

fashion.

All pressing movements for the chest involve the use of the anterior head and all pulling

exercises for the back involve the use of the posterior head. In virtually every workout that

you perform, the shoulders will always be stimulated in some fashion.

Because the shoulder muscles are involved in virtually every single exercise that you perform

for your upper body, they only need to be directly stimulated using a very small number of

sets in order to make sure that you don't overtrain them.

Direct stimulation of the shoulders involves 2 types of movement.

1) Overhead Pressing

This is the backbone of shoulder development and should form the cornerstone of your

shoulder routine. Overhead pressing stimulates the entire shoulder complex and allows you to

place the maximum amount of overload on this area possible.

If you're shooting for as much shoulder mass as you can possibly build, basic overhead

presses are the key.

2) Lateral Raises

These can be performed in a variety of ways and are used to isolate each individual head of

the shoulder region.

Front Raises are used to isolate the anterior head of the shoulder. This is where a barbell or

pair of dumbbells is raised out in front of the body with the arms extended.

Rear Lateral Raises are used to isolate the posterior head of the shoulder. This is where the

body is placed in a bent over position and a pair of dumbbells or a cable is raised out to the

sides.

Side Lateral Raises are used to isolate the medial head of the shoulder. These can be

performed using dumbbells or cables and are executed when the arms are bent and raised out

diagonally in front of the body.

When it comes to directly training your shoulders, a basic overhead press and a side lateral

raise is all you really need in order to see the best growth possible.

The overhead presses will stimulate the entire shoulder complex for overall mass, while the

side laterals will directly isolate the medial head of the deltoid in order to give the upper body

more overall width and thickness.

The anterior and posterior heads of the shoulder receive more than enough stimulation during

all of your heavy chest and back training, and therefore they really don't need to be directly

isolated.

Here is the list of approved No-Fail overhead pressing movements…

- Standing Military Press

- Seated Military Press

- Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press

- Standing Overhead Dumbbell Press

As for side lateral movements…

- Standing Dumbbell Side Laterals

- Seated Dumbbell Side Laterals

- Cable Side Laterals

(Consult the Video Tutorial area of The No-Fail Workout section to learn the proper form for

all of these lifts)

An effective shoulder routine is performed once per week and consists of 1-2 sets of an

overhead pressing movement followed by 1-2 sets of a side lateral movement. (2-4 sets total

per workout)

Keep your overhead pressing movements in the 5-7 rep range, and keep your side lateral

movements in the 10-12 rep range. All sets should be performed to the point of concentric

muscular failure.

The No-Fail Workout section lays out an optimal shoulder routine that is already pre-

structured for you.

How To Train Arms

We'll now be covering 2 muscle groups that most trainees place a huge amount of value on,

but also severely misunderstand at the same time.

Almost everyone wants to develop these muscles to their utmost potential but instead they end

up limiting the amount of growth they can achieve by not training them in the proper fashion.

I'm talking about the arms - the biceps and the triceps - 2 relatively small yet highly valued

muscle groups that we all love to train and watch grow.

The big problem is that in search of a pair of thick, solid arms, almost all lifters end up

overtraining them. They fail to realize that these small muscles only require a very limited

amount of direct stimulation in order for maximum growth to be achieved.

They perform too many exercises, too many sets and as a result they cross the point of arm

recovery and limit the amount of arm development they can achieve.

In order to gain the proper insight into effectively stimulating arm growth, we must first

recognize three basic truths:

1) Relatively speaking, the biceps and triceps are small muscle groups.

2) The biceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pulling movements for the back.

3) The triceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pressing movements for the chest

and shoulders.

The most important concept that you need to grasp when it comes to bicep and tricep training

is this…

The majority of your arm growth will actually be produced as a result of your direct

chest and back training.

Remember, compound exercises stimulate multiple muscle groups at a time and the basic

compound exercises for the chest and back place a high level of stress on the triceps and

biceps respectively.

Basic pressing exercises for your chest and shoulders (such as bench presses or overhead

presses) heavily stimulate the triceps, while basic pulling exercises for the back (such as chin-

ups and rows) heavily stress the biceps.

Even if you never performed any direct isolation exercises for your arms, such as bicep curls

or tricep presses, your arms would still increase in size as you continued to pack size and

strength onto your chest and back.

For these reasons, you should only perform a very limited amount of direct arm exercises in

order to make sure that you don't overtrain them.

The biceps are directly stimulated through flexion of the elbow joint , in other words,

through curling movements. Examples include barbell curls, dumbbell curls and cable curls.

Direct bicep training is extremely simple and only requires the use of the various types of

curls.

The triceps are directly stimulated through extension of the elbow joint such as tricep

pressdowns, skull crushers, and overhead extensions, and through narrow-grip pressing

movements such as narrow-grip dips and close-grip bench presses.

There's no need to get fancy with your arm training, and sticking to the basics is by far the

most effective and efficient route. These are the absolute most effective arm exercises out

there...

Biceps

- Barbell Curls (this is the most basic bicep exercise possible, and if your goal is to build

overall size then I would suggest using barbell curls as your staple bicep exercise)

- Standing Alternating Dumbbell Curls

- Seated Alternating Dumbbell Curls

- Cable Curls

Triceps

- Cable Pushdowns

- Skull Crushers (these can be performed with an ez-curl bar or with dumbbells)

- Overhead Extensions (again, using either an ez-curl bar or a single dumbbell)

- Close-Grip Bench Presses

- Narrow-Grip Dips

Side Note: I would also recommend including 1 set after your bicep training in order to

stimulate the brachialis. This is a small muscle on the side of the arm between the bicep and

the tricep. The top brachialis exercises are the EZ-Bar Curl, Hammer Curl and Reverse Cable

Curl.

Those are the most basic, straightforward exercises for producing maximum arm overload.

You'll find the proper form for all of these lifts in the Video Exercise Database.

The biceps and triceps only need to be directly stimulated once per week. Choose 1-2

exercises for each, consisting of 1-2 sets of each exercise. This means 2-4 sets total for biceps

(followed by 1 set for the brachialis) and 2-4 sets total for triceps.

Keep the reps between 5 and 7 for all bicep and tricep exercises, and utilize a range of 8 to 10

for the brachialis.

Remember, successful weight training is about quality and not quantity.

As long as you take your sets to true concentric muscular failure, then 2-4 total sets per week

is ideal to stimulate your arms to grow without overtraining them.

Just keep in mind that most of your arm gains will be produced as a result of your chest and

back training. If you go overboard on arm training like 95% of lifters out there, you'll actually

be doing yourself more harm than good.

The No-Fail Workout section outlines the exact bicep and tricep exercises, sets and reps you'll

need to perform.

How To Train Abs

207 Million Dollars.

This is the amount of money that is spent each year on abdominal

exercise equipment sold through infomercials.

Let's face it, everyone wants that flat, well-defined midsection like

the guys on the cover of the Men's Health Magazines.

How do most people go about this?

They perform endless sets of situps and crunches, train their abs

every single day, crank out sets of 50-100 reps or more and then they

wait for the results to come.

Unfortunately for the vast majority of trainees, those results never

show up in any significant form.

And the reason for this is that almost everyone in the gym does not

understand the real truth behind developing six pack abs.

They fail to realize that a tight, flat midsection has very little if anything to do with the

specific ab exercises that they perform in the gym.

This is known as the myth of "spot reduction".

The spot reduction myth is one of the most common misconceptions in the bodybuilding and

fitness world.

Spot reduction implies that one can target fat loss from specific areas of the body by training

those specific areas using resistance training.

For example, spot reduction implies that training your triceps with weights will burn fat off of

your triceps, or that training your chest with weights will burn fat off of your chest.

Let me clear this up once and for all…

You CANNOT target fat loss from a specific area of your body!

When you train with weights, you stimulate your muscles to grow, but this stimulation has no

effect on the fat loss that you achieve in those specific areas that you train.

Yes, training with weights does have a positive effect on burning body fat, but it has a

positive effect on burning body fat as a whole; not from the specific areas that are being

worked.

When you stimulate your body to burn fat, it will burn fat from wherever it sees fit. You have

no control over this.

What does this have to do with ab training?

Well, everything.

You see, everyone already has a six pack. The problem is that for most people it's simply

hidden under a layer of fat. Anyone with low enough body fat levels will still have a visible

six pack whether they train with weights or not.

Therefore, developing a tight, well-defined midsection is simply a matter of removing that

small (or large) layer of fat in order to make the abdominal muscles underneath more visible.

Because spot reduction is impossible and since you cannot target fat loss from a specific area

on the body, this means that six pack abs have almost nothing to do with the specific ab

exercises that you perform.

All of those people in the gym performing endless sets of crunches, situps and leg raises in

search of six pack abs are ultimately spinning their wheels and wasting their time doing the

wrong thing.

While all of those ab exercises will train and develop the muscles underneath, they will not

have any effect on that layer of fat that must be removed in order for the abs to be visible.

In order for your abs to be clearly visible, your body fat percentage will need to be at least

10% or lower. If it isn't 10% or lower, you will not be able to achieve a six pack, plain and

simple.

Achieving lower body fat levels basically comes down to your diet and to a properly

structured cardio program, which is a topic we'll be covering later on.

Of course, some ab training is still necessary. The abs are a muscle just like any other and

assuming your body fat is low enough, developing your abs will help to create a more visible,

separated six pack.

In addition, strong abdominal muscles will help to support your lower back. This will increase

your strength on big power movements like squats and deadlifts and will also help to prevent

injuries.

The truth is that there are literally thousands of different ab exercises that you could perform.

With all of the endless variations and pieces of exercise equipment out there, the abdominals

contain the longest list of possible exercises than any other muscle group.

As a person who is looking to develop a lean and muscular physique and not as an athlete or

person with specific functional strength needs, you'll only need to perform a few sets of a few

very basic, straightforward ab exercises to meet your needs.

The No-Fail System makes use of 4 main types of ab exercises:

1) Trunk flexion exercises - Targets middle/upper abs.

2) Hip flexion exercises - Targets lower abs.

3) Trunk rotations - Targets obliques.

4) Isometric exercises - Targets entire abdominal wall.

These are the exercises The No-Fail Workout uses for each category:

Trunk Flexion: Kneeling Rope Crunch, Swiss Ball Crunch

Hip Flexion: Lying or Hanging Leg Raise, Reverse Crunch

Trunk Rotation: Decline Russian Twist, Cable Wood Chopper

Isometric: Swiss Ball Plank, Side Plank

As always, you'll find the proper form for these exercises in the Video Exercise Database.

Rather than following the “train to failure once per week” protocol that all other muscles

adhere to, the abdominals will be trained a bit differently. There are 2 main differences…

First, the abs will not be trained all the way to concentric muscular failure. They must still be

trained intensely, but you should stop your sets about 2-3 reps short of hitting failure. Training

the abs to failure can put excessive stress on the lower back and therefore you should scale

back slightly.

Secondly, the volume and frequency should be increased. This is due to both the decrease in

intensity, and because the abs tend to be able to tolerate a higher overall workload and still

sufficiently recover from it.

Instead of hitting the abs once per week, you’ll train them 3 times per week at the end of each

training session.

You’ll perform 2 sets of trunk flexion, 2 sets of hip flexion, 2 sets of trunk rotation and 2

isometric sets.

Abs also tend to respond better to higher rep ranges and should be stimulated using 10-12

reps. Isometric sets are performed by holding the same position for a set period of time – this

can be as short as 20 seconds all the way up to 3 minutes. This will be explained in The No-

Fail Workout section.

How To Train Legs

Finally, we'll be talking about a group of muscles that tend to be ignored in the gym.

Most trainees are so preoccupied with building a big upper body that they either treat this

group of muscles as an afterthought or skip them altogether.

I am of course talking about the legs.

There are many small, individual muscles that make up the lower body, but in terms of

bodybuilding we categorize them into 4 main muscle groups:

Quadriceps (front of the thigh)

Hamstrings (back of the thigh)

Glutes

Calves

The plain fact is that the majority of lifters out there just aren't concerned with the size of their

legs.

Some lifters train their legs in a passive, nonchalant fashion and others neglect them

altogether. It seems that people will come up with just about any excuse they can to avoid the

squat rack.

Even if you really don't care about the size of your legs, what if I told you that by neglecting

to train your legs, you were actually limiting the amount of upper body growth you could

achieve?

You might think it was just a cheap tactic to get you into the squat rack, but it's true, and let

me explain why. Just like I mentioned in the chest training lesson…

Muscle growth is more than simply a localized event that happens at the level of the muscle

tissue.

Yes, when you train with weights you break down the muscle tissue and force it to rebuild

itself, but this really doesn't tell us the whole story. There is much more going on behind the

scenes than you think.

Your body builds muscle as it adapts to stress, but not only does it adapt to stress at the level

of the muscle tissue itself, it also adapts to stress as a whole.

One of the main ways that the body adapts as a whole is by increasing the secretion of

powerful anabolic hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone and insulin-like growth

factor.

This increased secretion of hormones forces your body to not only build and repair the muscle

tissue that was directly stimulated and broken down, but it also builds muscle in other areas of

the body that weren't even directly trained.

Leg training just happens to be the most demanding and intense type of workout that you

could possibly perform in the gym, and as a result it forces your entire body to adapt as a

whole. This will cause your upper body to grow as well.

It may seem like a strange concept that squats could cause your arm size to increase, but it's

true.

If you haven't been training your legs intensely up to this point, I guarantee that when you do,

you'll notice an entire body “spillover effect” in both muscle size and strength.

Heavy squats, leg presses, lunges and stiff-legged deadlifts are all very demanding exercises,

and if you want to get the most out of both your leg growth and your upper body growth, you

must include them in your program.

So, even if you really don't care about the size of your legs, just keep in mind that by

neglecting to train them with equal focus you'll actually be limiting the amount of muscle size

that you achieve throughout your entire body.

Let's take a look at the most effective leg exercises out there...

Quads

- Barbell Squats (These are the granddaddy of all lower body movements and must be

included in your routine both for their effects on leg growth and total body growth. A basic

barbell squat is arguably the most effective exercise that you could possibly perform in the

gym, and should be included in every single leg workout that you execute.)

- Leg Presses

- Dumbbell Lunges

- Barbell Lunges

- Hack Squats

Hamstrings

- Stiff Legged Deadlifts (These are by far the most effective hamstring exercise and can be

performed using a barbell or dumbbells. I prefer the dumbbell variation as it places less stress

on the lower back)

- Lying Leg Curls

- Seated Leg Curls

- Good Mornings

- Glute-Ham Raises

Calves

The calves are broken down into 2 groups: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The

gastrocnemius makes up the vast majority of the calf muscle, while the soleus consists of a

very small portion that runs down the side of the leg.

I would recommend giving the gastrocnemius 100% of the focus in your calf workouts, as

direct soleus training is simply unnecessary.

The best exercises for the gastrocnemius include...

- Standing Machine Calf Raises

- Leg Press Calf Raises

- Standing One-Legged Dumbbell Calf Raises

The proper form for all of these lifts is clearly outlined in the Video Exercise Database.

All of the muscles in the lower body should follow the same protocol of being directly

stimulated only once per week. Leg training is more demanding than any other type of

training out there, and you must give your body a full rest in between workouts in order to

allow for optimal growth.

Perform 2-4 sets total for quads (2-3 exercises), 2-4 sets total for hamstrings (2-3 exercises)

and 2-4 sets total for calves (2-3 exercises).

As for rep ranges, the muscles of the leg will respond well to virtually any rep protocol you

use. Reps can range from as low as 5 all the way up to 20. The No-Fail Workout section lays

out all of the exercises, sets and reps you'll need for maximum results.

Hopefully by now you understand just how important leg training really is to your bottom-line

gains. Leg training will keep your body balanced and symmetrical and will also greatly

enhance your upper body growth.

Leg training can be very tough and brutal when performed to muscular failure, but if you want

to maximize your total body growth you'll have to suck it up and battle through.

The Importance Of Total-Body Training

You've now been given some valuable insight into the best training strategies for each

individual muscle group.

There's one more crucial point I'd like to hammer home before moving on...

It's simple: If you want to experience the most dramatic overall gains in muscle size, you need

to focus on training your entire body equally.

A huge tendency of people who are just beginning a weight lifting program is to neglect

certain body parts and only train their "showy" muscles. They'll put all of their effort into

select muscle groups that people tend to notice the most such as chest, biceps and abs.

Even if they don't completely neglect other muscle groups, they'll still treat them as an

afterthought instead of training them with equal focus and intensity.

It is very important that you don't allow yourself to fall victim to this way of thinking and

instead focus on building every muscle in your body to the same degree. The goal is to gain as

much muscle size and strength as possible and that means training all of your major muscle

groups.

There are several reasons why this is important...

1) Every muscle has its own unique role in making your entire physique come together.

For example, although you may be more interested in developing a big chest as opposed to a

big back, your back houses 70% of your upper body muscle. A well developed back will

actually make you appear thicker and more muscular then a well developed chest will.

Another example would be focusing on bicep training more heavily than tricep training. In

fact, the triceps contain roughly twice as much muscle mass as your biceps do.

2) Muscle growth is not just a localized event that happens at the level of the specific

muscles being trained.

Once again, muscle growth also results as your entire body is put under stress and is forced to

adapt on a holistic level. Training your entire body ensures that you produce the most

dramatic overall muscle growth response.

For example, many people neglect leg training without realizing that it is responsible for

producing increases in testosterone and growth hormone. This hormonal surge helps you pack

muscle onto your entire body.

3) Training one set of muscles over another can create strength imbalances which

eventually lead to injuries.

Injury prevention should always be a primary concern. If you fail to train your entire body

equally, you'll eventually push your joints out of alignment.

For example, placing more focus on chest presses as opposed to rowing movements will

eventually move your shoulder joint out of place and set you up for rotator cuff problems.

The bottom line is simple: focus on developing every muscle equally in order to end up with a

complete, symmetrical, injury-free physique.

Following The No-Fail Workout to a T ensures that you accomplish this.

The Pump/Burn/Soreness Myths

Every single time you enter the gym, you should have a clear purpose and concrete idea of

what you need to accomplish.

If you've been paying attention up until now, then you understand that your 2 primary goals

are as follows:

1) Train with maximal intensity on every single set in order to trigger a muscle growth

response from the body.

2) Improve upon your previous week's performance by either increasing the amount of weight

lifted or the number of repetitions performed for each exercise.

It's very important that you keep these fundamental goals in mind and do not get swayed from

your true purpose during the workout.

The majority of lifters focus on the wrong factors when it comes to gauging the success of

their training sessions.

The 3 most common factors that lifters wrongly focus on are achieving a "muscle pump",

"feeling the burn", and focusing too much on post workout muscle soreness.

I'm going to cover each of these factors individually and explain why they are ultimately

unimportant and are NOT indicative of a successful workout...

1) Muscle Pump

Yes, 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. It's the ultimate

boost for the bodybuilding ego.

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.

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

you took a pair of 10 pound dumbbells and performed 300 reps of a bench press movement,

you 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

is simply not the case.

Achieving a strong muscle pump does not mean that you've successfully stimulated muscle

growth. Conversely, the lack of a significant muscle pump does not mean you've failed to

stimulate muscle growth.

2) Muscle Burn

Another huge misconception in the gym is the belief that in order to grow, you must "feel the

burn."

Well, to understand why "the burn" has nothing to do with completing a successful workout,

you first need to understand what this feeling is actually caused by.

When we exercise, our bodies produce natural waste products as a result of reactions going in

within the muscles. One of these products, lactic acid, is produced within the muscle tissue as

your body burns carbohydrates for use as fuel.

The accumulation of lactic acid within the muscle tissue results in that burning sensation you

feel as your sets progress towards muscular failure.

So, what does this have to do with muscle growth?

Well, nothing.

You will almost always experience some degree of muscle burn during your sets, but this is in

no way an indication that you are successfully stimulating muscle growth.

Again, if you were to pick up a pair of 5-pound dumbbells and curl them 500 times, the

resulting muscle burn would be virtually unbearable… But obviously this would be far from

ideal in terms of building muscle size and strength.

As with the pump, an intense muscle burn does not mean that muscle growth was successfully

stimulated, and a lack of muscle burn does not mean that muscle growth was not stimulated.

3) Muscle Soreness

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS for short) usually sets in about 24 hours after your

training session.

Although muscle soreness does produce a certain psychological satisfaction of a workout well

executed, it is absolutely not an indicator that you successfully stimulated muscle growth.

Sometimes you’ll be very sore, and other times you won’t be sore at all. Beginners tend to get

very sore after their workouts, while advanced trainees may never get sore after training.

In addition, you’ll find that certain muscle groups become sore quite easily, while other

muscle groups are almost never sore.

Any sort of repetitive strain that you place on your muscles is going to make them sore. Jump

out of your seat right now and perform 1000 jumping jacks... I guarantee that tomorrow your

legs will be very sore.

Building muscle is NOT about repetitive stress; it's about placing your muscle under

conditions that are beyond their current capacity. It's about attempting tasks that your muscles

currently cannot perform.

We call this "overload", and it is overload that is responsible for stimulating growth.

You can perform bodyweight squats until you're blue in the face and be sorer than you've ever

been in your life, but the resulting muscle gain will still not even compare to a single heavy

set taken to failure, whether that set makes you sore or not.

There are a multitude of factors that will affect whether or not you become sore, and you

should never, ever use this as a gauge for a successful workout.

(Side note: Recent evidence seems to indicate that it is actually the connective tissue within

the muscle that becomes sore rather than the actual muscle fibers themselves, although I can't

confirm this for sure.)

So, if muscle pump, muscle burn and muscle soreness are not indicators of a successful

workout, what is?

Intensity and progression. Plain and simple.

Did you continue each set to the point of concentric muscular failure, where you were unable

to complete an additional positive rep in proper form despite your best efforts?

Did you use slightly more weight or perform slightly more reps on each exercise as compared

to the previous week?

If so, you did your job. You pushed your muscles to a new level of stress, and therefore they

will come back larger and stronger than they were before given proper nutrition, rest and

implementation of The Elite Mass Protocol™.

Intensity and progression are your ultimate bottom line. Your training logbook is the final

verdict.

Pump, burn and soreness are inevitable byproducts of this process, but should never be used

as a gauge for success.

How To Prevent Injuries

Training with maximal weight and 100% intensity is without a doubt the most effective

means of stimulating muscle growth. Doing this will place your muscles under the highest

amount of stress possible and will yield the greatest adaptive response in size and strength.

For guys looking to pack on the greatest amount of muscle in the shortest period of time, this

style of training cannot be matched.

The only downside is that although your muscles are being heavily stressed, so are your joints

and connective tissues.

This is simply the reality of training with heavy weights, and if you don't follow the proper

precautions you could end up with a nagging injury that will stop you dead in your muscle

building tracks.

Believe me, when you're training hard and making consistent gains, an injury is the absolute

last thing you could ever hope for.

The fact of the matter is that most people who lift weights on a consistent basis will

experience some form of training-induced injury at one time or another. Being able to train for

years on end without suffering at least a minor injury is extremely rare.

Here are some guidelines you can apply both in and out of the gym to keep your joints and

connectives tissues strong and healthy and to ensure that your training stays as consistent as

possible.

1) Warm Up.

I already went into detail regarding the benefits of a proper warm-up so you should be pretty

familiar with the importance of this component of the workout.

A proper warm-up will help to lubricate and cushion your joints, move blood into the

surrounding connective tissue, increase your muscle-nerve contractions and fully prepare your

body and mind for the heavy weights to come.

2) Always Use Proper Form.

This should go without saying. Every single set you perform in the gym should be done using

proper form and technique, and before you perform any exercise you should have a good

understanding of how it is properly executed.

This rule is especially important for the big lifts, such as squats and deadlifts, since you'll be

moving the greatest amount of weight and because these exercises are more complicated to

execute properly.

Consistently lifting heavy weights with incorrect technique will surely catch up to you in the

long run and leave you on the couch rather than in the gym.

Please make sure to view the video tutorial area in The No-Fail Workout section before

attempting any of the assigned lifts. If you have never trained with weights before this is

especially important so that you don't develop any bad habits right from the start.

3) Train Within Your Own Personal Limits.

When I talk about training heavy, I'm talking about training with weights that are heavy for

you .

Going to the gym is not a contest to see who can lift the most weight. You shouldn't be

concerning yourself with how much the guy next to you is lifting.

Building muscle and gaining strength should be a personal battle and if you begin concerning

yourself too much with everyone around you your mental focus will surely get off track. Who

cares if your training partner can bench press more than you?

You have to start somewhere.

As long as you focus on the laws of intensity and progression your weights will climb up

faster than you could imagine.

Don't worry about the opinions of the other lifters around you either. As long as they see you

training hard and giving it your all then that's all that matters.

4) Know When to Quit.

As you are already fully aware, every single set you perform in the gym should be taken to the

point of concentric muscular failure. This is the best way to ensure that your muscles are fully

overloaded and will adapt to the stress placed upon them.

However, it is extremely important that you pay close attention to the definition of muscular

failure...

Concentric Muscular Failure: When no further positive repetitions can be completed using

proper form.

As soon as the bar won't move or your form starts to slip it's time to put the weight down.

You don't need to start performing slow negatives or forced reps, as these methods are just

begging to get you hurt.

Simply take the set to concentric failure or to the point where you can no longer perform the

exercise with proper form and then stop.

5) Only Perform the Assigned Sets.

As long as you train as hard as you possibly can and are able to consistently progress each

week in weight or reps, the amount of sets required to stimulate growth is much lower than

most people think.

Contrary to popular belief, a few sets of a few basic exercises is all that is needed to produce

the best gains possible. Anymore than this will simply eat into your recovery time and

increase your chances of getting hurt.

Trust me, the workout programs I've assigned you easily contain enough sets to fully

stimulate your muscles to grow. If you start adding more sets or, even worse, more training

days, your chances of being injured will greatly increase.

Too much volume over the long run will not only place undue stress on your joints but it will

negatively affect your immune and central nervous system as well.

6) Supplement with EasyFlex™.

EasyFlex™ is a maximum strength formula that protects your joints and connective tissues

from the wear and tear brought on by intense workouts.

The ingredients in EasyFlex™ (glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate and MSM) provide

the basic building blocks that are required to maintain healthy joint function, joint lubrication,

elasticity and flexibility.

You consume protein in order to build and maintain muscle, and I strongly believe that every

hard-training bodybuilder should consume EasyFlex™ in order to build and maintain healthy

joints and connective tissue.

The simple fact is that anyone who trains with heavy weights and maximal effort will always

have the potential to sustain some form of injury. I've already gone into detail about some

great methods to highly decrease your chances of getting injured, but this does not guarantee

anything.

If you follow all of the guidelines laid out you will have a much smaller chance, but the

chance will still exist.

So what should you do if you're in the gym performing a heavy set of bench presses and you

begin experiencing sharp pain in your left shoulder?

A lot of serious lifters, especially those who are extremely driven to build muscle at all costs,

would continue their workout.

This is one of the most unwise and counterproductive choices you could possibly make.

Continuing to train hard and heavy when something is clearly not right could potentially set

you up for months or even years of problems.

If you continue to place stress on an already injured area, the problem will only worsen. As

extremely difficult as it may seem at the time, you must put the weights down and end your

workout.

Here is what you should do if you can feel the negative effects of an injury setting in...

A) Get out of the gym.

As hard as it may be to go through with, you need to end your workout and minimize the

injury's negative effects. Trust me, it will serve you much better in the long run.

B) Seek professional advice.

This should be done as soon as possible.

Don't just sit around and hope that the pain will magically disappear. In some cases it will,

since rest is usually the best medicine. However, getting a proper diagnosis will help you to

understand the seriousness of the problem and will also enable you to perform certain

stretches and exercises to speed up the recovery process.

C) Keep your diet and supplementation on track.

If you aren't going to be in the gym, then keeping your nutritional intake on track is critical.

Remember, if your body is presented with an opportunity to get rid of excess muscle tissue, it

will.

Muscle disuse coupled with insufficient nutrient consumption is a recipe for disaster.

Research has shown that as long as your diet stays on track, your body will preserve its lean

mass for up to 3 weeks.

Closely following The Elite Mass Protocol™ to a T is a highly effective way to ward off these

muscle wasting effects during a training layoff. The combination of pure whey protein isolate,

branched-chain amino acids, vitamins and minerals will go a long way in keeping your hard-

earned muscle tissue intact.

D) Ease yourself back into the gym.

Once the injury has subsided and it's time to head back to the gym, do so with caution. It

would probably be a bad idea to instantly begin training at your maximum weight and

intensity right from the get-go.

Go the cautious route and perform 1 or 2 weeks of "test workouts" where you'll train with

much less weight and intensity just to see where you're at and to ensure that the injury has

fully subsided.

You just finished taking time off and it would be a nightmare to have to go through that entire

process again.

Use common sense.

The Mandatory 1 Week Rest Period

After 6-8 continuous weeks of training, take 1 full week off from the gym.

For those of you who fall in love with your training and can't stand a day away from the gym,

this principle won't make you very happy.

Time off from the gym? Why would you want to do that?

Well, it's fairly simple, and very important to follow...

Taking a week off after training for 6-8 straight weeks is an important part of the recovery

process and will prevent you from hitting sticking points or getting injured.

If you were paying attention in the "why less is more" section earlier on, then you already

know the important role that proper recovery plays when it comes to building muscle.

Highly intensive training places very large amounts of stress on your body. If you fail to give

the muscles adequate time to recover in between workouts, you will end up doing yourself

more harm than good.

The one-week training layoff will serve you well in a few different ways...

First of all, it will give your joints and connective tissues a much-needed break.

All of those sets taken to muscular failure will have a negative, cumulative effect on those

delicate joints, and if you aren't careful you may end up with an injury. There are many ways

to prevent yourself from getting injured, and taking time off is definitely one of them.

Secondly, your immune system and CNS needs a break.

Training to failure does not just stress your muscles, joints and connective tissues; it stresses

your entire body. After all of those intense workouts for 8 straight weeks your body will be

due for a small rest.

The one-week training layoff also serves mental benefits as well.

Some of you will enjoy training more than others, and for those of you who aren't crazy about

it a one-week break will help to keep your focus in the right place.

You will be able to take a week off, relax and evaluate your progress in the gym. You can

have a full week of lounging and eating instead of worrying about that leg workout a few

hours away.

Taking a week off will help to keep you highly motivated because by the time that week is

over you'll be psyched and ready to head back to the gym.

Don't worry; while taking time off from the gym may not seem like a good idea, you will

definitely benefit from it. In fact, you'll probably notice that the one-week break will leave

you feeling more energized, stronger and more muscular than you were before.

Simply listen to your body: If you feel that a break is in order after 6 straight weeks of

training, go ahead. Or, if you feel like you can go the full 8 weeks before resting then that's

fine too.

The Benefits Of A Proper Sleep

Getting a sufficient amount of sleep is an important part of the muscle building equation that

most people don't pay enough attention to.

If you want to maximize your muscle gains, improve your performance in the gym and

increase your mental focus, you need to make sure that you're getting adequate rest every

night.

How much sleep do you need?

Conventional wisdom has always told us that we need to get "8 hours per night", but I

wouldn't be so quick to automatically accept this as the absolute truth. Most likely it depends

on the individual.

Some people sleep 4-5 hours each night and never encounter any problems with fatigue or

mental focus, while others (like myself) typically need around 9 in order to feel fully rested.

The bottom line is simple: make sure you're getting enough sleep each night so that you feel

fully mentally alert and physically energized throughout the day.

If you find yourself feeling consistently fatigued, then sleep more.

Some of us lead very busy lives with activities such as going to school, working and making

time for friends and loved ones. This can sometimes make getting a full night's rest difficult,

but you need to do your best to fit it into your schedule.

One of the biggest problems with sleep deprivation is the effect it will have on your mental

state. Studies have shown that just a single night with insufficient rest will have a significant

negative impact on your mental focus and willingness to perform difficult tasks.

Last time I checked, an all-out set of deadlifts to failure was more than just a difficult task, so

you can see where sleep would be important in this situation.

It is crucial that your mental focus and intensity are peaked at all times in the gym, and getting

adequate sleep every night is a good way to make sure of this.

Not only will sleep deprivation have a negative impact on your mental state of mind, but it

will also have physical consequences as well. If you don't get enough sleep, your strength

levels will decrease. This means you'll end up using less weight and/or performing fewer reps

than you would normally be capable of.

As you already know, strength is everything. In fact, the entire basis for building muscle relies

on the small increases in strength you are able to make from week to week.

Every time you set foot in the gym your goal is to move more weight or to perform additional

reps on each exercise. This is why keeping your strength levels peaked is so valuable, and this

is where sufficient sleep will benefit you.

Sleep also has important effects on some of the most powerful hormones involved in building

muscle and burning fat. This includes cortisol, testosterone, growth hormone and insulin...

1) Cortisol

A catabolic stress hormone that increases abdominal fat storage and stimulates the

breakdown of muscle tissue.

Studies have shown that insufficient sleep will cause the body to release higher amounts of

this hormone.

2) Testosterone

The most important hormone when it comes to building muscle.

The higher your levels of testosterone, the more muscle you can build. When people take

anabolic steroids to increase their muscle mass, they are simply taking synthetic variants of

this hormone. Sleep deprivation lowers testosterone levels.

3) Insulin

Responsible for the uptake of important nutrients into your body cells.

Sleep deprivation can result in an increase in your body's insulin resistance levels, and this

means that your body will have to release higher-than-normal amounts of this hormone to

compensate. This can lead to excess fat storage, diabetes or heart disease.

Sleep is also a very important time for your body to recover and rebuild damaged muscle

tissue. You already know about the high importance recovery plays in gaining muscle, and

sleep is one of the most important times for this recovery to take place.

High intensity workouts give your muscles and central nervous system a big hit, and it is vital

that you are fully recovered in between workouts. This is yet another reason to ensure that you

receive an adequate amount of sleep every single night.

Chapter 2 Review

That brings us to the end of the training portion of the course.

You're now fully equipped with the absolute most effective training techniques for packing on

muscle size and strength at the fastest rate possible.

Let's do a review of each individual component so that you don't forget anything...

1) Every set that you perform should be taken to the point of concentric muscular failure.

Concentric muscular failure is the point in the set where you cannot complete an additional

repetition using proper form despite your best efforts.

2) Always write down your workouts in detail by recording the weight lifted and reps

executed for every exercise throughout the session. The next time you enter the gym to

perform that same workout, you should be placing 100% of your focus on improving upon

your previous performance by adding more weight, performing more reps, or both.

3) Always perform a proper warm-up consisting of 5 minutes of light cardio followed by 3

weight acclimation sets for your first major compound exercise of the workout.

4) Do not allow your workout to last longer than 60-75 minutes. This phase begins with the

completion of your first muscle building set and ends with the completion of your final

muscle building set.

5) Perform 5-7 sets for large muscle groups and 2-4 sets for small muscle groups. As long as

you train with 100% intensity and effort you will not require any more than this.

6) Your workouts should be based around multi-joint, compound exercises. These movements

will have the greatest overall anabolic effect on your body.

7) After you have completed a muscle building set, you should only perform your next set

when you feel that you are 100% recovered and can perform that set with maximum strength.

8) With the exception of certain exercises, every muscle building set should consist of 5 to 7

repetitions. This means that the weight should be light enough that you can perform at least 5

repetitions, but heavy enough that you cannot complete more than 7.

9) On the positive portion of the repetition, move the weight as fast as you can while still

maintaining complete control. On the negative portion of the repetition, lower the weight in 3-

4 seconds.

10) Breathe in as you lower the weight and breathe out as you lift it.

11) Each specific muscle group should only be directly trained once per week. This is a highly

reliable time frame to allow for sufficient recovery and maximum growth without the threat of

overtraining. (The only exception are the abdominals, which will be trained 3 times per

week.)

12) Chest Training: Place the majority of your focus on basic pressing exercises such as

barbell presses, dumbbell presses and wide grip dips.

13) Back Training: Stimulating the entire back complex requires the use of a basic deadlift,

vertical pulling movement, horizontal pulling movement and shrug.

14) Shoulder Training: Perform a basic overhead pressing movement to stimulate the entire

shoulder complex, followed by a side lateral raise for the medial head.

15) Arm Training: The majority of your arm growth is a result of your chest and back

training. A basic curl for the biceps and a basic extension/narrow grip press for the triceps is

all that is needed to achieve maximum arm gains.

16) Ab Training: Optimal ab development can be achieved through the use of trunk flexion,

hip flexion, trunk rotation and isometric exercises. That said, achieving a visible six pack is

mainly a product of your bottom line body fat percentage.

17) Leg Training: Increases your body's production of anabolic hormones and should never be

neglected.

18) Purchase a pair of lifting straps and use them for all back exercises or any lift where the

grip is of concern.

19) Make sure to place equal focus and intensity on all muscle groups. You should not be

favoring certain muscles over others, but instead should focus on developing your physique as

equally as possible.

20) Muscle pump, muscle burn and muscle soreness are not indicators of a successful

workout. The success of your workout should only be gauged by how well you execute the

principle of intensity and progression.

21) Injury prevention should always be treated as a primary concern. Keep your joints and

connective tissues healthy by properly warming up, lifting within your own

limits, monitoring your intensity levels, using proper form, avoiding overtraining and

supplementing with

EasyFlex™.

22) After 6-8 continuous weeks of training, take 1 full week off from the gym. This will allow

your body to fully recuperate and will prevent overtraining.

23) Make sure you are getting enough sleep each night so that you feel fully rested and

mentally alert throughout the day. The specific amount of sleep needed will vary between

individuals.

There you have it. As far as training structure is concerned, you've learned everything you

need to know to perform an optimal muscle building workout.

All you need to do is consistently follow the guidelines set forth in the previous section and

you literally cannot fail. If you follow these methods to a T you will be implementing the

most effective and scientifically sound workout procedures available.

The reason is because they use science and logic; not random guessing. Behind every

principle lies sound evidence and reason as to why it is so effective.

To find the actual concrete training program that you’ll be following in the gym, simply visit

The No-Fail Workout section.

Chapter 3 Intro: Optimum Muscle Building Nutrition

So there you have it. You've learned all about intensity and progression, workout duration,

volume, frequency, rep ranges, rep speed, exercise selection, advanced techniques and

everything in between.

You have some easy-to-follow workout guidelines and the proper knowledge to execute the

best workouts of your life.

Now all you have to do is consistently apply these principles in the gym, sit back, and wait for

gigantic gains in muscle size and strength, right?

Not so fast.

The reality is that everything you've learned up until now is only the first piece of the

complete muscle building puzzle.

Remember, when you are in the gym you are simply "sparking" the muscle growth process

into motion.

After an intense workout, your body has been put into a position where it must adapt to the

stress placed upon it by increasing the size and strength of the muscles.

However, there is one critical fact you must understand...

Increases in muscle size and strength will only take place if the body is provided with

sufficient materials to carry out this process.

If you go to the gym and break down your muscle tissue, but then fail to provide the proper

materials for repair/growth to take place, your results will be completely non-existent.

There are 2 "materials" you will need to provide your body with in order to achieve maximum

increases in muscle size:

Nutrition: The foods that you consume each day.

Supplementation: Proper usage of The Elite Mass Protocol™.

Combine the No-Fail Workout Plan with these 2 powerful factors and you will achieve rapid

muscle gains like you've never seen before.

This is because all 3 factors (training, nutrition and supplementation) feed off of eachother to

create a synergistic muscle building environment within your body.

Execute all 3 as they are outlined in this program and you will create a situation where

1 + 1 + 1 = 10.

This means you'll be producing muscle gains in a fraction of the time that it takes most

people.

That powerful, muscular body you're after can become a reality in as little as 12, whereas

most people will struggle for years on end and never achieve anything even close.

The truth is that nutrition and supplementation are easily the most overlooked aspect of the

muscle building process.

This may come as a shock, but the simple reality is this...

Proper nutrition and supplementation will be responsible for 70-80% of your bottom

line muscle gains.

Yes, they are that powerful, and that important.

Remember, your body already has nutritional requirements in place simply to sustain life.

When you begin training intensely with weights, your body will have to use a large amount of

those nutrients to deal with your damaged muscles on top of its natural everyday

requirements.

Studies have shown that as long as you provide your body with the correct nutrition and

supplementation each day, you can preserve your lean muscle mass for up to 3 weeks without

any weight training at all.

However, if you fail to meet your nutrition and supplementation requirements, muscle mass

begins to decrease almost immediately.

Let's dive in now and discuss how to properly combine these 2 factors with your training to

optimize your muscle gains...

To keep things as easy to understand as possible, we'll be separating nutrition and

supplementation into 2 different sections.

The current section will focus on nutrition, and the following section will cover

supplementation.

That said, nutrition and supplementation essentially go hand in hand. If you want to achieve

the most dramatic results possible, you can't have one without the other.

Therefore, some aspects of The Elite Mass Protocol™ will be referenced throughout the

nutrition section. For that reason, I'm going to give you a very brief overview of each

component of The Elite Mass Protocol right now. I will then cover it in detail in the

supplementation section.

The Elite Mass Protocol™ is an advanced supplementation combo that works in direct

conjunction with your training and nutrition plan. It provides your body with a concentrated

dose of the most effective natural muscle building ingredients available in order to maximize

your progress.

There are 4 items (and an optional 5th item) included in this supplementation plan...

1) MuscleAmp - A careful blend of key amino acids, vitamins and minerals designed to

volumize your muscle cells, increase your strength, accelerate recovery in between workouts

and prevent muscle breakdown. MuscleAmp is a fruit punch flavored powder that is mixed in

water twice daily.

2) IsoM3 - The highest quality source of muscle building protein available, period. IsoM3 is

derived exclusively from 100% microfiltered/ultrafiltered whey protein isolate. It contains 26

grams of protein per 30 gram scoop, only 1 gram of carbohydrates, zero fat, no lactose, no

cholesterol, is naturally sweetened with stevia and is loaded with branched-chain amino acids

and glutamine.

3) Vita-Sci Pro - A high potency multivitamin/multimineral tablet specifically engineered for

hard training bodybuilders. Vita-Sci Pro contains over 75 different ingredients including

powerful antioxidants, a fruit/vegetable complex, herbs and digestive enzymes.

4) EFA UltraPure - This extra strength omega-3 complex is derived from the highest quality

fish oil available and is nearly twice as potent as most fish oil products on the market. Along

with an almost endless list of health benefits, these softgels assist your bodybuilding program

by reducing inflammation (which improves recovery and joint health), controlling blood

glucose levels (prevents accumulation of excess body fat) and strengthening your immune

system.

5) Lean Elite (Optional) - This advanced fat loss catalyst contains a combination of

important compounds that increase your fat burning metabolism, raise energy levels and

workout focus, eliminate excess water retention and regulate appetite. LeanElite is delivered

in capsule form and can be optionally included depending on your body type (whether or not

you gain body fat easily) and your goals (whether you are focused on muscle building or fat

loss).

If you want top level results, the entire Elite Mass Protocol™ (LeanElite optional) should be

integrated into your program. There's simply no faster and easier way to instantly accelerate

your results.

All of these products can be purchased separately through the EliteImpact Labs™ Store, but

are heavily discounted when purchased as a combo pack.

Okay, now that you understand the basics of The Elite Mass Protocol™, let's begin covering

proper muscle building nutrition.

By the end of this section you will be equipped with all of the necessary knowledge needed to

execute an incredibly effective eating plan and make the best gains you possibly can.

You'll learn about the importance of calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats and water, as well as

how to combine them all into proper muscle building meals.

I'll also discuss specific nutitional strategies you can employ to take advantage of your body's

state at different times during the day. This includes first thing in the morning, 1-2 hours

before your workout, the post workout period and prior to bedtime.

Keep in mind that you will NOT need to structure your own meal plan from scratch.

You'll find fully customized meal plans in The No-Fail Meal Plan section.

You'll simply enter your individual stats (age, height, weight, sex, activity level, goals etc.)

and a step-by-step meal plan will be instantly created for you based on your unique

physiology.

The meal plan will show you exactly what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat for

optimal results. You'll also be given various options for each meal throughout the day to keep

the plan as flexible as possible.

This section is to be used as an educational resource to give you proper insight into the

principles behind effective muscle building nutrition.

Let's begin...

Calorie Intake

When it all comes down to it, your overall daily calorie intake is the most important

underlying factor of your entire muscle building nutrition plan.

What exactly are calories?

Simply put, calories are fuel.

Everyday your body expends a certain amount of energy, and this energy is derived from the

calories that you consume through your diet. Factors affecting the rate of calories burned

include activity level, body temperature, body type and the amount of lean muscle mass you

possess.

Your body receives calories by consuming the 3 major macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates

and fats.

1 gram of Protein = 4 calories

1 gram of Carbs = 4 calories

1 gram of Fat = 9 calories

The bottom line when it comes to calories and muscle growth is this:

In order to gain muscle, you must create a "calorie surplus" by consuming more

calories than you burn.

This is known as "The Law Of Energy Balance" and is an issue of simple mathematics.

If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose body weight.

If you consume the same amount of calories that you burn, your body weight will stay the

same.

Therefore, In order to gain muscular body weight your caloric intake must exceed your caloric

expenditure.

If you fail to consume more calories than you burn, you will NOT gain muscular weight, plain

and simple.

This principle is at the very top of the muscle building nutrition hierarchy, and everything else

follows beneath it.

How many calories should you consume each day?

(Before moving forward, please keep in mind that The No-Fail Meal Plan section includes a

full meal plan generator that doesn't require you to calculate anything on your own. You'll

simply enter your personal stats such as age, height, weight, sex, activity level etc. and a

complete, step-by-step meal plan will be created for you based on those stats.)

The basic idea when trying to figure out your daily caloric intake is this…

1) Determine your caloric maintenance level, that is, how many calories you require daily in

order to simply maintain your weight.

2) Increase your caloric maintenance level by 15-20%. This will create the necessary

caloric surplus within your body to facilitate muscle growth.

It's important that you strive to keep your caloric surplus within certain limits. Your body can

only build a limited amount of muscle at any given time, and going overboard on calories will

simply result in excess body fat storage.

Here are the 3 main methods you can use to calculate this...

1) The Basic Multiplier (least accurate)

2) The Harris-Benedict Formula (more accurate)

3) The Katch-McArdle Formula (most accurate)

Any of these 3 methods is acceptable in the majority of situations, but for the most accurate

reading, methods #2 and #3 are probably best.

1) The Basic Multiplier

Although this is a very straightforward and basic method, in the majority of situations it will

work just fine for average trainees with average body types.

The Basic Multiplier is simply a matter of multiplying your current bodyweight in pounds by

a set number. In order to create a caloric surplus that supports muscle growth, this usually

means around 17-20.

Your Bodyweight In Pounds x 17-20

So if you weigh 150 pounds, it would look like this...

150 x 17 = 2550

150 x 20 = 3000

Daily caloric intake should be 2550-3000 calories.

(If you measure in KG, remember that 2.2 pounds is equal to 1 KG.)

It's really that simple. The drawback to this method is that it doesn't take into account

individual factors such as lean body mass, height, sex or activity level.

For those who do not have an "average" build (starting more on the overweight side or more

muscular side) and who do not have "average" activity levels, methods #2 and #3 will be

more accurate.

For average trainees with average body weight and activity levels, this method will usually

work fine.

2) The Harris-Benedict Formula

This is the second most accurate method and is superior to the Basic Multiplier because it

takes height, sex, age and activity level into account on top of your basic bodyweight.

The first goal with this method is to determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

Your basal metabolic rate is the total number of calories that your body requires to perform all

of its natural daily functions. This does not include extra activities such as weight training or

playing sports; the BMR is for natural processes such as breathing, digesting food, regulating

body temperature etc.

Once you have figured out your BMR, you can then plug it into the Activity Multiplier (how

active you are on a daily basis) in order to determine your Caloric Maintenance Level .

You should then take your caloric maintenance level and increase it by 15-20% in order to

create a caloric surplus that supports muscle growth. So, once again...

1) Determine your basal metabolic rate.

2) Find your caloric maintenance level by multiplying basal metabolic rate by the activity

multiplier.

3) Increase your caloric maintenance level by 15-20% to determine your daily caloric intake.

Calculating Basal Metabolic Rate

Men: 66 + (13.7 X bodyweight in kg) + (5 X height in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

Women: 655 + (9.6 X bodyweight in kg) + (1.8 X height in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

Take that number and multiply it by...

Activity Multiplier

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little to no exercise)

Lightly Active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise: 1-3 days a week)

Moderately Active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise: 3-5 days a week)

Very active = BMR X 1.725 (intense exercise: 6-7 days a week)

Extremely Active = BMR X 1.9 (intense daily exercise and strenuous physical job)

Take that number and multiply it by 1.15 and 1.2 to it in order to determine daily caloric

intake.

3) The Katch-McArdle Formula

This is the most accurate formula of all because it takes into account the specific individual

factor of lean body mass, and this will result in a more accurate Basal Metabolic Rate reading.

The Harris-Benedict formula is a great method and will be accurate in almost all situations,

but still has one drawback in that it doesn't take lean body mass into account.

This is fine for most people, but for those who have a high amount of body fat or a high

amount of muscle it will not be as accurate.

If you've had your lean body mass tested (testing lean body mass is beyond the scope of this

course, and there are a ton of different methods used for this) then you can use the following

formula to get the most accurate reading of all.

BMR = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

You can then multiply your BMR by the Activity Multiplier in order to figure out your caloric

maintenance level. (Refer back to the Harris-Benedict formula for the activity multiplier)

You should then increase that figure by 15-20% in order to figure out your daily caloric intake

for muscle growth.

Dietary Structure

Calculating your daily caloric intake is the first and most fundamental step toward structuring

an optimal muscle building nutritional approach, but it is far from being the final word.

Achieving consistent gains in muscle size and strength is more than a simple issue of "calories

in versus calories out".

The reason is simple: not all calories have the same effect on body composition. Your body

composition refers to the various types of weight that your body is made up of, such as

muscle, fat, bone, water etc.

Consuming 3000 calories derived from potato chips and ice cream will not produce the same

physiological effect as 3000 calories consumed from IsoM3 Whey Protein and oatmeal.

Calories derived from different sources have different effects on the body. A calorie is not

merely a calorie.

If we want to sum this up into one all-encompassing statement, we'll simply say this...

The raw number of calories that you consume daily will determine whether you gain

weight, maintain your weight or lose weight.

The structure of your caloric intake will determine what type of body weight you gain,

maintain or lose.

When we talk about “structure”, we're addressing 5 issues…

1) Macronutrient Intake: Your consumption of protein, carbohydrates, fats and supplements

including specific food sources and daily amounts/ratios.

2) Liquid Intake: The consumption of water and other beverages.

3) Meal Frequency: The overall number of meals that you consume daily and the length of

the intervals they are consumed in.

4) Meal Combinations: The specific combination of food sources and supplements at each

meal.

5) Meal Timing: The specific times of the day when you should consume certain

combinations/amounts of food and supplements in order to meet specific needs.

These 5 factors all interact with each other to affect your bottom line results.

So remember: your caloric intake will determine your changes in body weight, and your

caloric structure will determine your changes in body composition.

What is the effect on body composition that we're striving for?

Maximum muscle gain and minimal fat gain.

All of the 5 nutritional factors we'll be covering are specifically designed with that goal in

mind: to create the most powerful muscle building effect possible while keeping body fat

gains at an absolute minimum. For those with superior genetics, you may even experience a

loss in body fat as you gain muscle, although this is rare.

I will first begin by covering the three major macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates and fats.

I'll describe the functions of each within the body and I'll provide a list of acceptable and

unacceptable food sources.

Let's get started by talking about protein…

Protein

Protein is without a doubt the most vital nutrient for those trying to increase their muscle size

and strength.

Protein is a macronutrient that is made up of a chain of smaller building blocks called amino

acids. After you consume and digest protein it will eventually be broken down into individual

amino acids to be used for literally thousands of functions throughout your body.

Almost every single process within your body that is geared towards building muscle mass

relies heavily on this all-too important nutrient.

Next to water it is the most abundant bodily substance and can be found in every single one of

the trillions of cells you are made up of.

It is also important in the production of enzymes, blood health maintenance and proper

immune system function.

Above all, it is responsible for the growth and repair of damaged muscle tissue. If you do not

provide your body with a sufficient amount of high quality protein each day, building muscle

will be next to impossible.

If your body were a house, consider protein to be the bricks. Your body already needs protein

for natural everyday processes, so your consumption of protein must increase as you train

intensely with weights.

How much protein should you be consuming everyday?

For optimal gains in muscle size and strength, protein should make up about 30%-40%

of your total caloric intake.

How do we calculate this?

First off, keep in mind that by using the meal plan generator in The No-Fail Meal Plan

section, you'll already be given a customized eating schedule that includes roughly 30-40%

protein. For that reason, calculating this on your own won't be necessary.

However, if you'd like to learn how to figure this out manually for future reference, this is

how you'd do it...

First you multiply your daily caloric intake by the specific macronutrient percentage (in this

case, either 0.3 or 0.4).

You then take that number and divide it by 4, since protein yields 4 calories per gram. This

will tell you how many grams of protein you need to consume each day.

(Daily Calories) x (Macronutrient Percentage) = X

(X) ÷ (Number Of Calories Per Gram) = Daily Gram Amount

Here's an example using a daily protein intake of 40% at 3000 calories…

3000 x 0.4 = 1200 (The number of daily calories that should come from protein)

1200 ÷ 4 = 300 (The number of grams of protein that should be consumed daily)

An individual consuming 3000 calories daily at 40% protein would need to consume 300

grams of protein each day.

What are the best sources of protein to include in your diet?

There are 2 main factors to take into account when selecting protein sources for your

bodybuilding diet..

The first is the amino acid profile. Certain protein sources are superior to others in that they

contain an amino acid breakdown that is more conducive to supporting muscle growth. For

example, whey protein isolate contains the strongest possible amino acid profile largely due to

its high concentrations of l-leucine, l-valine, l-isoleucine and l-glutamine.

The second is the bio-availability. This refers to the percentage of the total protein content

that will actually be absorbed and utilized by the body. For example, only about 76% of the

protein in rice is utilized by the body compared to the 97% absorption rate of egg protein.

Here is a list of the best muscle building protein sources available due to their strong amino

acid profiles and bio-availability...

Eggs

Eggs are extremely versatile and can be scrambled, hardboiled or fried making for a great

breakfast food. Not only does one whole egg contains about 6 grams of high quality protein,

but it is also rich in a variety vitamins and minerals.

A lot of people shy away from eggs because of their "high fat" content, but if you really look

into it this claim is somewhat misleading. The white part of the egg contains absolutely no fat

at all, and although the yolk does contain 5 grams of fat, only 1.6 grams is actually saturated

fat.

Lean Red Meat

This is an excellent protein choice and should ideally be consumed on a regular basis. Red

meat contains the highest concentration of growth-supporting micronutrients of any protein

source out there. It's loaded with high amounts of natural creatine, b-vitamins, iron and zinc

and should make up a good portion of your total protein consumption.

Stick to leaner sources such as sirloin cuts or extra lean ground beef in order to keep your fat

intake under control.

Lean Poultry

Chicken and turkey are another bodybuilding staple. The white portion of the meat is very

low in fat and extremely high in protein. Poultry is an excellent muscle building choice and

also tastes great when prepared properly.

Lean Pork

Although not typically mentioned in bodybuilding discussions, lean pork is actually a very

high quality protein source with an extremely high bio-availability. Pork tenderloin contains

just 1 gram of fat per ounce, which is about the same amount as a skinless chicken breast.

Skim Milk

This is another great protein source and offers a variety of muscle building benefits. It

contains about 8 grams of protein for one cup and can easily be added to meals to ensure that

your total daily protein requirements are met. .

Milk also provides a great spectrum of amino acids and contains short-chain fatty acids which

help to support muscle growth. In addition to all of this, milk is a great source of calcium as

well as other valuable vitamins and minerals.

Fish/Seafood

A can of tuna is extremely cheap and will provide your body with a solid 30 grams of protein,

zero carbs and zero fat. Tuna has been a bodybuilding staple for decades and can be prepared

in many ways.

Salmon, cod, halibut and talapia are also great choices. Not only is fish high in protein but it

also provides the body with a high amount of omega 3 fatty acids which are important for

building muscle and for overall health.

Nuts/Natural Nut Butters

A lot of people avoid nuts because they are high in fat. Yes, nuts are high in fat, but the

majority of this fat is unsaturated and is actually beneficial to your health. Nuts are very

calorie-dense and are an easy way to boost up your daily calorie totals.

Almonds, macadamias, walnuts, pecans and peanuts are all great sources of protein and

healthy fats. Nut butters such as natural peanut butter and almond butter are also smart

choices.

Cottage Cheese

Cottage cheese contains mostly casein protein and is also rich in l-glutamine. You can add

flavor to your cottage cheese by mixing it with fresh fruit such as mandarin oranges or

pineapple slices.

IsoM3 Whey Protein

To put it simply, this is the highest quality source of protein you could possibly put into your

body. IsoM3 is derived exclusively from 100% microfiltered/ultrafiltered whey protein isolate

and has the highest bio-availability of any protein source out there.

IsoM3 yields 26 grams of protein per 30 gram scoop with only 1 gram of carbohydrates, zero

fat, zero lactose and zero cholesterol. It contains the perfect overall amino acid profile and

concentration for optimal performance in the body.

IsoM3 is also loaded with both branched-chain amino acids and glutamine which play a key

role in stimulating protein synthesis and preventing muscle breakdown. In addition, its liquid

form makes it the most convenient source of protein by far.

IsoM3 is one component of the complete Elite Mass Protocol™ and will be covered in further

detail in the supplementation section of this course.

Here are some protein sources that you should avoid ingesting high amounts of due to their

excessive fat content...

- Bacon

- Ham

- Sausage

- Whole Milk

- Luncheon Meats

- High fat ground beef

- Cheese

Carbohydrates

When it all comes down to it, carbohydrates are sugar.

If you were to swallow a spoon full of table sugar or eat a plate of spaghetti noodles, the end

result would be the same. No matter what type of carbohydrate you eat, it will always be

broken down into its simplest form: glucose.

If the glucose is not needed in the bloodstream to be used for energy, it is converted to

"glycogen" which is stored in the liver and muscle tissue for later use. The liver and muscle

tissue basically act as a "bank" and keep the glycogen stored until the body needs it.

Depending on the circumstances, some of the glucose may also be converted into body fat.

The main function of carbohydrates is to provide fuel for your muscles and brain.

Dietary carbohydrates are broken down into 3 major categories...

The first are the "monosaccharides": carbohydrate sources that contain just a single sugar

molecule. Examples are glucose, fructose and galactose.

The second are the "oligosaccharides": carbohydrate sources that contain a chain of 2-10

sugar molecules. Examples are sucrose (glucose + fructose), lactose (glucose + galactose) and

maltose (glucose + glucose).

The third are the "polysaccharides": carbohydrate sources that contain a chain of several

hundred to many thousand sugar molecules. These are typically referred to as starches.

So, which carbohydrate sources should you include in your muscle building diet?

This is an issue surrounded by a ton of confusion and controversy, with "expert opinions"

ranging all over the map.

The most common recommendation you'll hear is that you should stick to "low glycemic

carbohydrates" while avoiding "high glycemic carbohydrates". (Another way this is stated is

that you should eat "complex carbohydrates" and avoid "simple carbohydrates".)

The glycemic index (GI) is a chart that ranks carbohydrates from 0 to 100 based on how

quickly or slowly they raise blood sugar levels in a 2-hour period after they are consumed.

The logic behind this recommendation is that consuming low glycemic carbohydrates (those

that raise blood sugar slowly) will result in a smaller insulin response from the body.

Insulin is a storage hormone that is released any time you consume carbohydrates, and its

primary job is to drive nutrients into your body tissues. So in theory, by keeping your insulin

levels stable throughout the day, you'll end up gaining less body fat.

There are 3 major flaws with this outlook...

First of all, the GI rankings are based on the glycemic effects of those specific foods if you

consumed them alone in a fasted state.

In practice, you always eat your carbohydrates as part of a complete meal. When you eat

carbohydrates along with proteins and fats, the resulting glycemic response can change

dramatically.

Mix pure table sugar with flaxseed oil (this is just a theoretical example) and the glycemic

response could be comparable to that of a low glycemic carb such as oat bran.

Secondly, the GI ranking of a particular carbohydrate is not necessarily indicative of the

actual insulin response it will induce. Certain "high glycemic carbohydrates" may produce a

smaller insulin release, while certain "low glycemic carbohydrates" may produce a larger

insulin release.

Thirdly, carbohydrates are not the only nutrient that stimulates insulin release. Proteins cause

a significant release of insulin as well. For example, beef has been shown to produce a larger

insulin release than oatmeal.

Given these 3 factors, assuming you are eating regular balanced meals throughout the day,

there is really no accurate way for you to track the specific glycemic response or insulin-

releasing effect of any given meal.

The solution?

Forget about the glycemic index, and stop worrying about insulin.

Does this mean you can obtain your entire carbohydrate intake from Pop Tarts and Fruit

Loops?

Obviously that's not what I'm recommending, and the majority of people probably wouldn't

want to go that route even if they could.

For most people, chicken will naturally be paired up with a carb source such as rice, steak will

be eaten alongside something like potatoes, eggs will be eaten with toast etc.

In addition, many of those sweet, refined carbohydrate sources such as dougnnuts and cake

are extremely calorie dense and high in fat, so you wouldn't be able to eat a high amount of

them without exceeding your calorie/fat intake for the day anyway.

My overall carb recommendation is simply this...

Aim to get the bulk of your carbohydrate intake from starchy, minimally refined sources

(those that have not undergone a significant modification process from their natural source).

Then, if you wish to include some sweet/refined sources in your diet, that's fine as long as

they only represent the minority of your carb intake. You should always think about the big

picture when it comes to nutrition, and moderate intake of what are typically considered "junk

foods" will have virtually no negative impact on your bottom line results. (This issue will be

covered in detail in the "Flexible Dieting" section later on)

Here is a basic list of carbohydrate food items you can use to structure the bulk of your

daily diet with...

Oatmeal

Rice (brown or white)

Quinoa

Potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Yam

Pasta (whole wheat or white)

Pita (whole wheat or white)

Ezekial Bread

Barley

Lentils

Grits

Fresh fruits

Low-fat/Non-fat yogurt

Skim milk

Vegetables are fine to include, but keep in mind that they are very low in calories. For this

reason, vegetables are not ideal for individuals trying to maximize their caloric intake without

consuming massive quantities of food.

How much is enough?

Carbohydrates should make up 40-50% of your total caloric intake.

Again, this will all be automatically calculated using the meal plan generator in The No-Fail

Meal Plan section, but if you want to learn how to manually calculate it, this is the formula

you'd use...

Take your daily caloric intake, multiply it by 0.40 or 0.50 (this will tell you what 40/50% of

your caloric intake represents), and then divide that number by 4 (since carbohydrates contain

4 calories per gram).

So, if your daily caloric intake is 3000 calories and you're consuming 45% carbohydrates

daily:

3000 x 0.45 = 1350 (The number of daily calories that should come from carbohydrates)

1350 ÷ 4 = 338 (The number of grams of carbohydrates that should be consumed daily)

An individual with a daily caloric intake of 3000 at 45% carbohydrates would need to

consume 338 grams of carbohydrates daily.

Fats

For those trying to add as much muscular weight as possible while limiting their body fat

gains, this nutrient may come as a bit of a scare.

For decades we've been told to follow a low-fat diet for fear of high cholesterol levels and

obesity. Everywhere you go you'll see ads for "low-fat" foods as we have been taught to avoid

this nutrient at all costs.

Well, you can stop being afraid of fats because the reality is that they play a very important

role in the muscle building process and overall health in general.

Fats are the most dense energy source available and provide your body with 9 calories for

every gram. That's more than twice the amount of calories of protein or carbohydrates.

Because fats yield such a high number of calories you can only consume smaller amounts

before your caloric intake shoots too high.

Fats are typically found in animal and vegetable tissue and come in two basic forms: saturated

and unsaturated. The saturated fats (which generally come from animal meats) are solid at

room temperature while the oils (derived from plants) are liquid.

Don't get caught up in the false idea that saturated fats are "unhealthy". Like virtually

anything, they are only unhealthy if consumed in an excessive amount.

Saturated fats actually offer many benefits, such as their role in the production of testosterone.

They also improve brain and nervous system function, enhance the immune system and

support healthy bones.

Unsaturated fats are derived from sources such as fatty fish, nuts, avocados, seeds and liquids

such as fish oil, flaxseed oil and olive oil.

They are a great source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which play many important roles

in muscle building and in overall health.

The reason they are referred to as being "essential" is because your body cannot produce them

on its own and therefore they must be consumed through your diet.

How is the proper consumption of essential fatty acids ("EFA's" for short) beneficial to the

muscle building process?

1) Increases testosterone production: testosterone is the most important muscle building

hormone in your body.

2) Increases growth hormone secretion: another very important anabolic hormone.

3) Stabilizes blood sugar levels: this prevents excess body fat storage.

4) Fights inflammation: improves recovery in between workouts.

5) Improves metabolism: this will result in lower gains in body fat.

A great way of keeping your EFA intake high is to consume nuts and natural nut butters as a

part of your diet as well as healthy oils such as flaxseed oil and extra virgin olive oil.

Avocado, seeds and leafy vegetables are also great sources of EFA's.

The most potent and effective EFA source by far, however, is fish oil.

Fish oil contains the key omega-3 fatty acids EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA

(docosahexaenoic acid) which produce a nearly endless array of muscle building, fat burning

and overall health benefits that other EFA sources don't provide.

EFA UltraPure (one component of the Elite Mass Protocol™) contains the highest quality fish

oil available, derived from coldwater Nordic Sea fish. It contains roughly double the potency

of most standard fish oil products, and is processed using molecular distillation, the best

purification method there is.

To truly experience all of the incredible muscle building and fat burning effects that EFA's

have to offer, fish oil is one source you simply can't go without. (EFA UltraPure will be

covered in more detail in the next chapter)

How much fat should you be consuming everyday?

You should aim to have 20%-30% of your daily calorie consumption come from fats.

If you wish to calculate this manually, you'd use the same method as outlined in the protein

and carbohydrate section. Just keep in mind this time that fats yield 9 calories per gram as

opposed to 4.

So, if your daily caloric intake is 3000 calories at 25% fat:

3000 x 0.25 = 1200 (The number of daily calories that should come from fat)

1200 ÷ 9 = 133 (The number of grams of fat that should be consumed daily)

Water

Water is an often overlooked yet integral component of the muscle building process.

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 incredibly important?

For starters, it is the most abundant element in your body. It is ranked only 2nd to oxygen as

being essential to life. Quite simply, water is 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.

Not only will fully hydrating your muscles cause them to appear larger and fuller, but it will

also keep your strength and power output at its maximum potential.

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.

As you already know, building muscle is all about moving maximum amounts of weight for

maximum repetitions, and therefore it is critical that your strength levels are naturally peaked

every time you enter the gym.

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. Water helps to fight against this stress by lubricating the

joints and forming a protective "cushion" around them.

It doesn't end there.

Water also plays an important role as a temperature regulator by keeping the skin moist

through perspiration. It also helps the body to remove unwanted waste products from the body

cells through expired air, sweat, feces, urine, blood and the lymphatic system.

In addition to all of this, water helps to carry nutrients around the body so that they can be

used where they are needed.

On top of its many positive effects on performance in the gym, injury prevention and

digestion, water also has a direct effect on your body's ability to burn fat. Here's why…

One of the primary jobs of the liver is to metabolize fat. However, another one of the liver's

duties is to help perform the work of the kidneys when they aren't functioning at full capacity.

The main function of the kidneys is to flush out waste products from the body through the

urine.

When your water intake is less than optimal, the waste products will accumulate in the body

and will force both the kidneys and the liver to work extra hard to clear out the waste.

When you deprive your body of water, you actually force your liver to divert its “focus” from

doing its regular jobs to performing the work that the kidneys were supposed to do. This

means that the liver will not be able to metabolize fat as efficiently as it would if the kidneys

had been originally provided with all of the water they needed in the first place.

So in reality, water intake has a direct positive effect on your body's ability to metabolize fat

efficiently.

Consuming adequate amounts of water also causes your body to retain less water underneath

your skin. Less subcutaneous water will increase your muscle definition and cause you to

appear harder and more vascular.

I think everything you've read so far should be reason enough to pay very close attention to

your water intake.

How much water is enough?

To find out how many ounces of water you should be consuming every day, multiply

your overall bodyweight in pounds 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

It may sound 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.

This is simply a result of your body flushing out excess water retention that it was previously

holding on to. Don't worry, you will soon adapt to the increased water volume and this will no

longer be a problem.

Although there are many deciding factors, a good general way to gauge your body's level of

hydration is by the color and smell of your urine. Your urine should always be on the clearer

side and should be fairly odorless if your body is receiving all of the water it needs.

What about other sources of liquid, such as coffee, tea, diet drinks and juices?

Although plain water should probably make up the majority of your liquid intake, here are a

few other options...

Coffee & Tea

These are fine to consume in moderation. I enjoy a nice cup of coffee as much as the next guy

and I find that it helps give me a nice boost of energy through the day. Drinking 1-2 cups of

coffee a day is fine as long as you pay attention to what is going into your cup.

Adding high amounts of table sugar or any fancy creams to your tea or coffee is not a wise

decision unless you are specifically tracking those calories as part of your overall diet.

You also need to keep in mind that since coffee/teas contain caffeine, these drinks act as

diuretics that shut off a hormone that regulates water content in the body.

In general, you should only add half of the liquid content of these drinks to your daily water

intake numbers. For example, if you consume an 8oz cup of coffee, you should only count 4

ounces of that coffee as part of your daily water intake.

Note: If you are including LeanElite in your supplementation plan to control body fat levels

and increase your energy, coffee, tea and any other beverage containing caffeine should be

avoided.

Diet Drinks

Zero calorie (or extremely low calorie) diet drinks such as diet sodas, Fresca, Crystal Lite or

other such items are also fine to consume in moderation.

Don't go overboard, but one or two of these drinks a day is fine. You can count the liquid in

these drinks as part of your daily allotment of water.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the consumption of artificially sweetened drinks in

regards to overall health and effects on fat storage. I have not yet found any conclusive

evidence that clearly demonstrates these drinks to be harmful to your health or muscle

building efforts.

However, you are free to conduct your own research and make up your own mind on this

issue if you wish.

Juices

Unsweetened fruit juices can be included in your diet in moderation as long as their caloric

content is taken into account. Fruit juices are very calorie dense, and if you go overboard

you'll be adding an excessive amount of calories to your daily totals.

Skim Milk

Skim milk is fine to include as part of your liquid intake. Skim milk is a high quality source of

protein and can be used to mix up your IsoM3 whey protein shakes.

Meal Frequency

You've now learned about all of the individual components of an effective muscle building

diet: calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats and water.

Great, but how do we lay all of this out into a properly structured daily approach?

3 big meals a day? 4 medium sized meals? 8 small meals?

The short answer is that it's a matter of personal preference.

Yes, this goes against the standard advice that 19 out of 20 "experts" would give you...

For years the conventional bodybuilding wisdom has stated that in order to maximize muscle

growth, fat loss and digestion, you must eat frequently (usually 5-8 meals a day) spaced out

every 2-3 hours.

It has been said that this method of "grazing" will keep your body in an anabolic state at all

times, prevent muscle catabolism and increase your fat burning metabolism.

While this idea seems to make sense in theory (heck, 5 years ago I would have recommended

this exact approach) the latest research into the matter has essentially confirmed that meal

frequency is largely a non-issue.

Eating every 2-3 hours does not appear to enhance protein synthesis, prevent muscle

breakdown, increase resting metabolic rate or improve digestion/absorption.

It's as simple as that.

The underlying key to a successful muscle building diet is a positive 24 hour energy balance

(making sure you are in a proper caloric surplus) and correct overall macronutrient intake

(total grams of protein/carbs/fats from high quality sources).

As long as you're able to accomplish that each day, it's up to you how many individual meals

you consume.

I don't recommend taking this to extremes by consuming only 1 or 2 meals per day. An

average sized meal will maintain a net anabolic state within the body for about 5-6 hours, so

my simple recommendation is to aim for a minimum of 3 meals per day.

If you'd prefer to eat 4, 6, 8 or more meals per day, that's fine too. It's really up to you.

The No-Fail Meal Plan includes eating schedules that utilize 6 meals per day. This makes the

plans as flexible as possible, because if you'd prefer to eat fewer meals you can simply

combine them accordingly.

For example, if meal #1 consisted of chicken and rice, and meal #2 consisted of an IsoM3

shake blended with fruit and oatmeal, you could simply combine this into a single sitting to

reduce the total number of daily meals.

Side Note: One of the arguments that is raised against the approach of eating large volumes of

food in a single sitting is that the body will not be able to effectively digest all of the nutrients.

This is simply false and there is no real evidence to support this.

Throughout our evolutionary history our bodies had to become incredibly efficient at

digesting and absorbing nutrients, otherwise there is no way we would have survived as a

species.

A larger meal will simply take the body a longer period of time to digest and absorb, but no

nutrients are "wasted" in the process.

Meal Combinations

When we talk about “meal combinations” we're simply referring to the specific combination

of food sources and supplements that you'll include in each meal.

The number one rule for the proper structuring of your daily meals is this: every meal must

contain a source of high quality protein.

The body can't “store up” amino acids for later use, and therefore a continual external source

of amino acids must be provided to fuel muscle growth.

The second component that you must include in each of your meals is a high fiber, minimally

refined carbohydrate source. This will provide energy to your muscles and brain throughout

the day.

The third component of a top-notch muscle building meal are the various items included with

The Elite Mass Protocol™.

This will include servings of:

- IsoM3 (pure whey protein isolate)

- MuscleAmp (muscle builder and strength enhancer)

- Vita-Sci Pro (multivitamin-multimineral complex)

- EFA UltraPure (purified krill oil)

- LeanElite (optional fat loss catalyst)

The step-by-step meal plans in The No-Fail Meal Plan section will show you exactly which

supplements to include with each specific meal throughout the day.

So, here is the base structure that every single meal must follow:

1) High quality protein source

2) Minimally refined carbohydrate source

3) Elite Mass Protocol™ Supplements

Once you have this basic meal structure in place, there are 2 other optional additions you can

include...

The first is a source of healthy, unsaturated fat.

Essential fatty acids help to stabilize your blood sugar levels while boosting testosterone/IGF-

1, fighting inflammation and raising your metabolism.

Vegetables are high in fiber and are very nutrient dense, so they do present obvious health

benefits. If your appetite permits, you are free to include as many vegetables as you'd like

throughout the day.

However, if you do not have a large appetite and find it a challenge to meet your daily calorie

requirements, vegetables should be consumed rarely if at all. This is because vegetables are

extremely low in calories but are high in "bulk".

In other words, vegetables will fill you up without adding any extra calories to your diet.

Now let's put all of this information together. Here's a summary of what an ideal muscle

building meal combination looks like:

1) High quality protein (mandatory)

2) Minimally refined carbohydrate (mandatory)

3) Elite Mass Protocol™ Supplements (mandatory)

4) Healthy/unsaturated fat (optional)

5) Vegetables (optional)

(The exception to this meal structure is if you are consuming "cheat foods" as part of that

particular meal. This will be covered at the end of the chapter.)

Now that you have a solid overall understanding of proper muscle gain nutrition, I'd like to

detail 4 specific times of the day when the foods and Elite Mass Protocol™ supplements you

put into your body are of particular importance.

Morning Nutrition

While breakfast may not be a "do or die" situation like many would have you believe, I do

consider this an important time to get in a well balanced muscle building meal.

Let's take a look at the state of your body upon awakening from a full night of rest...

1) Protein levels are depleted and the body is in a net catabolic state.

2) Blood sugar is low.

3) The body is dehydrated.

Your goal upon waking up is to correct this “nutritional deficit” by providing your body with

the proper substances needed to reverse muscle catabolism, restore blood sugar levels and

rehydrate your entire body.

Because of the net catabolic state your body is in during this time, I'd recommend aiming to

get your breakfast meal in within about an hour of waking up.

Will it kill you if you wait longer than this?

The effects may not be dramatic, but to stay on the side I'd simply say that sooner is better.

The first main component of this meal is, you guessed it, protein.

Any complete, high quality protein source here will do. An IsoM3 whey protein shake,

eggs/egg whites or even some lean red meat are all fine choices.

This protein will provide your body with the raw materials needed to stop breaking down

muscle tissue and to switch the body back into an anabolic state.

The second component is a good dose of carbohydrates. These carbs will replenish your blood

sugar levels and give you a boost of much-needed energy for the day ahead.

Along with your protein source and carbohydrates you should also consume 8-16 ounces of

water in order to begin rehydrating your body.

Along with your breakfast foods, there are 2 Elite Mass Protocol™ items (and 1 optional

item) you will need to consume as well...

1) 1 serving of MuscleAmp (Non-workout days only)

MuscleAmp should always be consumed twice daily. On workout days, you will consume

your MuscleAmp drink before and after your workout. On non-workout days, your first

serving of MuscleAmp should be consumed at breakfast time. (The second drink will be

consumed with an evening meal)

This is the time of a non-workout day where the absorption of MuscleAmp's muscle

volumizing, strength enhancing and hormone optimizing ingredients will be at its highest.

MuscleAmp comes in a fruit punch flavor and tastes great alongside any solid food breakfast

meal.

2) 1 tablet of Vita-Sci Pro.

Since your body is starved and depleted when you first wake up in the morning, this is an

ideal time to put Vita-Sci's high potency blend of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and herbs

straight to work. 1 tablet taken with your breakfast meal will help to immediately kick-start

your body's muscle building and fat burning mechanisms.

3) 1 serving of LeanElite. (Optional)

If you are supplementing with LeanElite as a means of decreasing body fat, your initial

serving should be taken first thing in the morning prior to your breakfast meal. LeanElite will

set your fat burning metabolism straight into motion while raising your energy levels and

sharpening your mental focus for the day ahead.

To recap:

- Consume a breakfast meal consisting of high quality protein and carbohydrates within an

hour of waking up. Going longer than this will not kill you, but the sooner the better.

- Consume 8-16 ounces of water along with your meal to rehydrate your body.

- Consume 1 serving of MuscleAmp, 1 tablet of Vita-Sci Pro and an optional serving of

LeanElite alongside your breakfast meal.

Pre-Workout Nutrition

It is very important that every time you set foot in the gym you are fully prepared to do battle

with the weights.

The first step in this preparation begins with a high qualilty pre-workout meal consumed

about 1.5-2 hours before your workout.

Most bodybuilders consider the post workout period as the most valuable time frame for

proper muscle building nutrition. While the post workout period should certainly be given

special consideration (this will be covered shortly), pre-workout nutrition is arguably even

more important.

This is due to the very gradual nature of nutrient digestion/absorption. Whenever you

consume a meal, the nutrients it contains are not immediately available to the body. That food

must first undergo various steps of digestion/absorption that can take several hours to

complete. Even the fastest digesting protein source available (whey) is only absorbed at a rate

of about 10 grams per hour.

What this means is that it is actually the nutrients from your pre-workout meal that are being

released into the bloodstream during the post workout period.

The post workout period is an important time to ensure that the body is kept in a net anabolic

state and that it is receiving the proper nutrients needed for recovery and growth.

As I already mentioned, this meal should be consumed about 1.5-2 hours prior to your

workout. It's important that you don't enter your workout with a full stomach, as this can lead

to bloating and nausea. Intense training causes the body to divert blood away from the

stomach and to the working muscles. As a result, any food in the stomach will simply sit there

undigested.

The first component of this meal is a high quality source of protein. The protein consumed at

this meal should not be just any protein, but should come from IsoM3 whey protein.

IsoM3 delivers the strongest possible amino acid profile and has the highest absorption rate of

any protein source available. After an intense workout, this is exactly what your body needs in

order to optimize the muscle building process.

In addition, IsoM3 is very rich in the branched-chain amino acids: leucine, valine and iso-

leucine. BCAA's are highly effective anti-catabolic compounds that will prevent muscle

breakdown during your workout.

Along with your pre-workout IsoM3 shake, you should also include a source of carbohydrates

to fuel your muscles and brain for the hard training ahead.

Any basic pre-workout carbohydrate choice such as oatmeal, fruit or rice is fine in order to

provide your body with a steady stream of sugars throughout the workout and to keep your

energy levels peaked.

Once you have your IsoM3 whey protein shake and carbohydrate source in place, there are 2

other Elite Mass Protocol™ supplements (and 1 optional supplement) you'll need to include...

1) 1 serving of MuscleAmp

On workout days, you'll consume your first serving of MuscleAmp 30-60 minutes prior to

your training session. MuscleAmp contains a unique micronized creatine/beta-alanine/l-

taurine combo that will increase your strength and power, along with BCAA's to prevent

muscle wasting.

2) 1 tablet of Vita-Sci Pro

With over 75+ performance boosting ingredients, Vita-Sci is ideal to consume alongside your

MuscleAmp mixture. Vita-Sci keeps all of the individual processes in your body running

efficiently to ensure that every workout is executed to your maximum potential.

3) 1 serving of LeanElite (optional)

If you are supplementing with LeanElite, you will consume your second serving of the day

30-60 minutes prior to your workout. This will raise your strength and energy levels, sharpen

your focus, increase fat loss during your workout and reduce lactic acid buildup while you

train.

Important Note: LeanElite should never be consumed within 8 hours of going to sleep. If you

are performing your workout later in the evening, your second serving of LeanElite should be

taken earlier in the day.

Here is your pre-workout meal recap...

1.5-2 hours before your workout:

1) 1-2 scoops of IsoM3. (Specific amount will be listed in your meal plan)

2) A serving of carbohydrates.

30-60 minutes before your workout:

1) 1 serving of MuscleAmp

2) 1 tablet of Vita-Sci Pro.

3) 1 serving of LeanElite. (optional)

Post-Workout Nutrition

By consuming a proper pre-workout meal 1-2 hours before entering the gym, you've taken a

very important step towards promoting effective muscle recovery and growth.

The next time frame to pay special attention to is the 1-2 hour period immediately following

your workout, where your body will be in a high state of stress and primed for maximum

nutrient absorption.

In order to continue supporting the recovery and growth processes, it's important that you feed

your body with the correct foods and supplements during this time period.

The first and main component of an effective post-workout plan is 1-2.5 scoops of IsoM3

whey protein. (The specific amount depends on your overall calorie intake and is outlined in

each individual No-Fail Meal Plan)

The pure whey protein isolate found in IsoM3 has the highest bio-availability, strongest

amino acid profile and greatest absorption rate of any protein source available. This makes it

ideal for the post workout period, as it will provide your body with the highest quality protein

possible at a time when they need it most.

Along with your IsoM3 shake you'll consume a serving of carbohydrates.

A common misconception is the idea that you must consume a large serving of rapidly

absorbing simple carbohydrates immediately following your workout. (Usually dextrose or

some type of fruit juice)

The logic behind this is that the simple sugars will quickly restore blood sugar/glycogen

levels and will also produce an insulin spike which will increase the absorption of your

protein.

First of all, unless you are training with excessively high volume or are performing exhaustive

endurance work, weight training does not have any significant impact on muscle glycogen

levels.

Secondly, any standard protein source paired with any standard carbohydrate source will

produce enough of an insulin response for the body to maximally absorb all of the nutrients.

For these reasons, consuming a high quantity of liquid carbohydrates is not a necessity.

That said, it won't hurt you either. I personally do consume liquid carbohydrates post workout

because it's very convenient, is a source of easy calories, and because I don't have a large

appetite immediately following my workouts.

All I'm saying is that it's not the only option. If you want to consume solid carbohydrates like

fruit or oatmeal, that's perfectly acceptabe too. The No-Fail Meal Plan gives you the option to

choose between unsweetened fruit juice or solid carbohydrates as your post workout choices.

Along with your IsoM3 whey protein shake and carbohydrate source, there are 3 Elite Mass

Protocol™ supplements you'll need to consume...

1) 1 serving of MuscleAmp.

There is no better time to drive all of the powerful ingredients found in MuscleAmp straight

into your muscle cells than during the post workout period.

MuscleAmp will saturate your muscle tissue with valuable micronized creatine monohydrate,

beta-alanine and l-taurine to volumize your cells and increase your strength/power. It will also

provide a quick shot of branched-chain amino acids to prevent muscle breakdown.

2) 1 tablet of Vita-Sci Pro.

Vita-Sci Pro contains high levels of antioxidants such as vitamin C and E, which will help to

neutralize free radical levels. Free radicals are metabolic waste products that are produced

during intense workouts. It will also help to restore some of the depleted mineral levels in

your body, aid in the digestion of your post workout protein, and will help to reduce lactic

acid concentrations in your muscle tissue.

3) 2 EFA UltraPure softgels.

Containing the highest quality fish oil available, EFA UltraPure is the most powerful way to

combat free radical damage during the post workout period. It is also a highly effective

natural anti-inflammatory which will help to reduce muscle and joint inflammation following

your workout.

This post workout mixture is the most powerful combination you could possibly put into your

body to facilitate muscle recovery and growth. Make sure to follow this prescription closely if

you really want to get the most out of your diet plan.

When should you consume this post workout nutrition combo?

Ultimately, any time within 1-2 hours of completing your workout is fine.

Another common misconception is that you need to consume your post workout meal

immediately following your workout, or you'll miss out on the benefits.

Remember, digestion/absorption is a very gradual process. Assuming you ate a proper pre-

workout meal 1-2 hours before you trained, the nutrients from that meal are still being

released into the body even after your workout is complete.

For that reason, there is no dire need for immediate post workout nutrition. Any time within

1-2 hours following the workout is perfectly acceptable.

Here is a quick recap:

Within 1-2 hours of completing your workout:

1) 1-2.5 scoops of IsoM3 (Specific amount will be listed in your meal plan)

2) 1 serving of carbohydrates (liquid or solid)

3) 1 serving of MuscleAmp

4) 1 tablet of Vita-Sci Pro

5) 2 EFA UltraPure softgels

Pre-Bedtime Nutrition

The only real recommendation I'd give here is that you aim to consume a balanced muscle

building meal within 1-2 hours of going to sleep.

Since you'll be going for around 8 hours or more without any nutrition at all, consuming a

meal close to bed time will help to ward off some of the potential muscle wasting effects.

An average meal will maintain a net anabolic statein the body for around 5-6 hours, so this

method will keep you in a muscle building state for at least half of the time you're asleep.

You can potentially extend this even longer by consuming slower absorbing food sources

such as casein protein (found in milk and cottage cheese) and healthy fats, though the overall

difference will probably be negligible.

Contrary to what you might have heard, there is no evidence to suggest that eating before bed

is somehow "unhealthy" or that it leads to excess fat storage. And yes, that includes

carbohydrate consumption as well.

The only potential side effect of eating too close to bed time is that it may interfere with your

sleep.

Experiment and see how it affects you individually, but a good guidline is to have this meal 1-

2 hours before nodding off.

The complete Elite Mass Protocol™ can be purchased online through the secure

EliteImpact Labs™ Store.

Simply scroll to the bottom of the page and select the combination pack that best suits your

needs.

Each pack is heavily discounted when compared to purchasing each item individually

and provides roughly a 1 month supply when the dosing schedules are properly followed.

You do have the option to purchase specific supplements individually if you wish, but it is

strongly recommended that you follow the complete Elite Mass Protocol™ in order to

experience the best results.

Click Here To Visit The EliteImpact Labs™ Store

Chapter 4 Review

1) The vast majority of so-called "muscle building" and "fat burning" supplements are useless,

overhyped junk designed to steal your hard-earned money without delivering any real

benefits.

2) Muscle magazines are owned by supplement companies. They are not designed to provide

useful information, but are instead created for the sole purpose of advertising supplements.

3) Most supplements contain at least 1 of the following crucial flaws: they use ineffective

ingredients not backed by science, they provide weak potencies that don't produce measurable

benefits, they blatantly lie about the true ingredient amounts, they are produced using low

quality manufacturing methods and/or their effects are grossly exaggarated.

4) Poor research and greedy marketing have pumped a ton of useless products onto the

supplement store shelves, including weight gain powders, protein bars, N02, glutamine,

methoxy, ecydsterone, amino acids and mysotatin blockers, just to name a few.

5) EliteImpact Labs™ was created to combat this growing supplement epidemic by producing

top-of-the-line formulas that overcome all of these flaws. Every EliteImpact supplement is

research proven, high potency, cGMP manufactured, 3rd party tested and designed with your

results as the number 1 priority.

6) Supplements are not mandatory if your goal is to gain muscle and build a better body. That

said, supplements absolutely are mandatory if your goal is to achieve the most dramatic

muscle size and strength gains possible in the shortest period of time and with the greatest

ease and convenience.

7) The Elite Mass Protocol™ is the third "Element Of Bodybuilding Success". It is a step-by-

step supplementation plan that is directly integrated into your training and nutrition program

and is specifically designed to stimulate all of your body's key internal muscle building

pathways. Take a properly structured weight training and nutrition plan, add The Elite Mass

Protocol™, and you end up creating the perfect anabolic environment for maximum muscle

growth to occur.

8) The Elite Mass Protocol consists of:

IsoM3 - 100% microfiltered/ultrafiltered whey protein isolate.

MuscleAmp - Pharmaceutical grade muscle building formula.

Vita-Sci Pro - High potency athlete's multivitamin/multimineral.

EFA UltraPure - Extra strength fish oil complex.

Lean Elite (Optional) - Advanced fat burning catalyst.

9) MuscleAmp is a precision blend of micronized creatine, beta-alanine, l-taurine, ZMA and

branched-chain amino acids. It is designed to volumize your muscle cells, increase your

strength, accelerate recovery in between workouts and prevent muscle breakdown.

MuscleAmp is a delicious fruit punch flavored powder that is mixed in water twice daily.

10) IsoM3 is the highest quality source of muscle building protein available, period. IsoM3

comes in both vanilla and chocolate flavoring and is derived exclusively from 100%

microfiltered/ultrafiltered whey protein isolate. It contains 26 grams of protein per 30 gram

scoop, only 1 gram of carbohydrates, zero fat, no lactose, no cholesterol, is naturally

sweetened with stevia and is loaded with branched-chain amino acids and glutamine.

11) Vita-Sci Pro is a high potency multivitamin/multimineral tablet specifically engineered

for hard training bodybuilders. Vita-Sci Pro contains over 75 different ingredients including

powerful antioxidants, a fruit/vegetable complex, herbs and digestive enzymes.

12) EFA UltraPure is an essential fatty acid supplement derived from the highest quality fish

oil available and is nearly twice as potent as most fish oil products on the market. Along with

an almost endless list of health benefits, these softgels assist your bodybuilding program by

reducing inflammation (which improves recovery), increasing thermogenesis (calories burned

as heat) and improving glucose metabolism.

13) LeanElite is an advanced fat loss catalyst containing a synergistic blend that increases

your fat burning metabolism, raises energy levels and workout focus, eliminates excess water

retention and regulates appetite. LeanElite is delivered in capsule form and can be optionally

included depending on your body type (whether or not you gain body fat easily) and your

goals (whether you are focused on muscle building or fat loss).

14) The complete Elite Mass Protocol™ can be purchased online through the secure

EliteImpact Labs™ Store. Each pack is heavily discounted when compared to purchasing

each item individually and provides roughly a 1 month supply when the dosing schedules are

properly followed.

Chapter 5 Intro: Stimulating Maximum Fat Loss

We've now covered all of the most effective principles behind structuring an optimal muscle

building program.

You've learned about the 3 Elements Of Success in detail:

1) High Intensity Resistance Training

2) Intelligent Muscle Building Nutrition

3) The Elite Mass Protocol™

Combine this information with the concrete No-Fail System training, nutrition and

supplementation plans and you'll be all set to experience the most dramatic muscle gains of

your life.

Great, but what happens if your primary goal is to burn fat rather than build muscle size?

There are 2 main situations where this will be the case...

1) You've finished a mass gaining phase and would like to shift into "cutting mode" to really

bring out the shape, definition and hardness in your physique.

2) You're starting off on the chubby/overweight side to begin with and would like to slim

down and achieve a more cut/defined body.

Side Note: Although some programs may claim that it is possible, it is highly unlikely that you

will be able to build a significant amount of muscle and lose a significant amount of fat at the

same time. These 2 goals have opposing caloric requirements, and it is far more efficient to

train in "cycles" by focusing on gaining mass for a period of time, followed by focusing on fat

loss for a period of time.

Although The No-Fail System is a muscle building program at heart, a few easy tweaks can

instantly transform it into an extremely effective fat loss program.

In fact, the modifications you'll need to make are probably far simpler than you think.

In this section I'll show you exactly what you need to know to rapidly melt off excess body fat

while keeping your hard-earned muscle intact.

I'll start with a brief introduction, and then discuss the modifications you'll need to make to

your weight training routine, nutrition plan and supplementation program to maximize your

fat loss.

After that, I'll teach you how to perform the most explosive fat loss cardio possible that sends

your metabolism into overdrive and forces your body to expend calories all around the clock.

You'll learn about...

1) High Intensity vs. Low Intensity Cardio

2) Frequency

3) Timing

4) Duration

5) Intervals

6) Warming Up/Cooling Down

7) Heart Rate

8) Calorie Readings

9) The Best Cardio Exercises

By the end of this section you'll have the complete body transformation puzzle down to a

science, as you'll know exactly how to implement both a proper mass gaining phase and fat

burning phase.

Let's begin...

The Correct Fat Loss Approach

Before we dive into the specific strategies for achieving maximum fat loss, I'd first like to lay

the groundwork for your overall fat burning approach.

The key point I want to hammer home is this:

Maintaining lean muscle must always remain as a primary concern throughout your fat

loss program.

Why is this so important?

There are 2 major reasons...

The first is perfectly obvious. If you've just come out of a muscle building phase, you'll want

to do everything you can to protect your hard-earned gains.

Building muscle happens gradually and requires a lot of hard effort and patience. The last

thing you'd want to do is work your ass off for weeks on end packing on the size, only to

waste away a good portion of it by using an incorrect fat loss approach.

The second reason is that muscle is metabolically active tissue that burns calories all on its

own. The more muscle you have on your body, the faster and more efficiently you will lose

fat.

For these two reasons, the underlying goal of your fat loss program is this...

Lose maximum body fat while maintaining as much lean muscle as possible.

Regardless of how you structure your approach, you'll always lose some muscle as a result of

your fat burning efforts. This is perfectly normal and is to be expected.

Therefore, your goal is to simply maintain as much muscle as you can. All of the strategies

outlined in this section are designed with that exact goal in mind.

Using this approach, you can expect to burn off between 1-2.5 pounds of pure body fat every

single week. If you aim to lose any more than this, you'll be putting yourself at risk for losing

an excessive amount of muscle. (The exception to this rule is for those who are significantly

overweight. Fat loss occurs at a faster rate in those individuals, and losing 3-5 pounds per

week will not be a cause for concern.)

It may not sound like a lot, but it adds up very quickly. In just 8-12 weeks you could

potentially burn off between 20-30 pounds of pure fat. For many of you, losing this much

won't even be necessary in order to achieve the appearance you're after.

Now that you understand the primary goal of your fat burning program, let's discuss how you

can achieve that as efficiently as possible.

Weight Training For Fat Loss

The first thing we'll discuss is how you should modify your weight training program in order

to shift the focus from building muscle onto burning fat.

Some common modifications you might typically come across are things such as:

- Using lighter weights and higher rep ranges.

- Performing more isolation exercises to shape/define the muscles.

- Decreasing the rest periods in between sets.

Do you want to know the simple truth about how your weight training program should be

altered in order to achieve maximum fat loss?

You don't need to change a single thing.

That's correct. Even though your goal is now to burn off body fat rather than gain muscle,

your weight training routine should remain exactly the same.

Every single principle that was outlined in "Chapter 2: Structuring The Perfect Workout" still

holds true, and your workout plan should still be followed in exactly the same manner.

How can that be?

Simple: you cannot target fat loss from specific areas of your body.

This is known as the fallacy of "spot reduction".

Fat and muscle are two completely different kinds of tissue. When you train with weights, it is

your muscles that are performing the work. The fat stores in and around that specific area of

your body play no role in moving the weights.

Performing a tricep extension does not magically burn fat from your tricep area.

Performing leg curls will not “tighten up” your hamstrings.

Performing crunches or situps of any kind will not have any positive effect on removing

stomach fat.

Fat is simply a stored form of energy. When stimulated to release fat for use as fuel, the body

will pull it from wherever it sees fit. Over time you will lose fat from your entire body, but

you have no control over the specific areas where fat is burned.

This idea of “toning” or “sculpting” certain areas of the body is completely false and has no

real basis behind it.

There are really only 3 things you can do with your muscles:

1) You can make them bigger.

2) You can keep them the same size.

3) You can make them smaller.

But you most definitely cannot switch up your rep schemes, exercises or any other variable of

your weight training program to somehow alter the shape or definition of those muscles.

How exactly, then, do you “define” a muscle?

Well, flex your bicep and look down at it.

What you're seeing is 2 main kinds of body tissue: muscle and fat .

The bicep muscle is underneath, and laying on top of that muscle is a thin (or thick) layer of

body fat.

“Defining” your bicep is nothing more than a simple matter of reducing that layer of body fat

lying on top in order to make the bicep muscle underneath appear more visible. That's really

all there is to it.

Since spot reduction is impossible and since you cannot physically target fat loss from the

bicep area by training with weights, we can conclude that achieving a more “shaped” and

“defined” bicep (and entire physique for that matter) is simply a matter of lowering your

overall body fat levels.

This is achieved through:

1) Modifying your nutrition and supplementation plan.

2) Integrating a proper cardio routine into your program.

These two steps will create a "calorie deficit" which will force your body to break down its fat

stores in order to obtain a source of energy.

So the bottom line when it comes to weight training is this:

Every single time you enter the weight room, you should have only one goal in mind: to

provide the most powerful stimulus possible to your muscles.

Remember, whenever you implement a fat loss phase into your program, you're always going

to lose some of your lean muscle tissue.

This is why it's so critical that you continue executing the No-Fail workout principles as they

are outlined. You need to give your body a very strong incentive to hold onto its excess

muscle gains despite being in a calorie deficit.

If you decrease the stimulus with silly, baseless techniques such as light weights, high reps,

isolation lifts, shorter rest periods etc., you'll end up losing muscle at a rapid rate.

So, to synopsize this section:

1) Continue following your No-Fail Workout Plan exactly as it is outlined. This will allow

you to maintain a high portion of your lean muscle gains.

2) Let your nutrition/supplemention/cardio plan take care of the fat burning process.

Let's move on to the good stuff now and discuss how the other aspects of your program will

be modified to stimulate maximum fat loss.

Fat Burning Nutrition

Remember in the muscle building section, where I said that proper nutrition and

supplementation would be responsible for 70-80% of your bottom line results?

The same principle holds true for fat loss. As the saying goes, "abs are made in the kitchen".

Although your nutrition plan will require some modifications in order to produce fat loss

rather than muscle gains, the changes are few, and very simple.

Keep in mind that all of the meal plans will already be laid out for you in The No-Fail

Workout section. You won't have to make any of these modifications for yourself as they'll

already be laid out for you in step-by-step detail. This section is simply meant to be used as a

reference.

Let's first list off the nutritional principles that will remain exactly the same whether your goal

is to build muscle or burn fat:

1) Food Sources

Your diet should still be based around the same sources of high quality protein, minimally

refined carbohydrates and healthy fats.

These foods provide the raw materials needed for muscle recovery/maintenance and deliver

the valuable nutrients needed to keep your fat burning metabolism functioning optimally.

2) Meal Frequency

As is the case when trying to build muscle, meal frequency is largely a matter of personal

preference when it comes to fat loss as well. The most important factor by far is 24 hour

energy balance (maintaining a proper calorie deficit) and total macronutrient intake (grams of

protein, carbs and fat consumed each day).

Simply aim to consume a minimum of 3 meals per day spaced no more than 5-6 hours apart.

If you want to consume 4, 5, 6, 7 or more meals, that's fine too.

3) Meal Combinations

Every meal should still be based on a high quality protein source, minimally refined

carbohydrate source and the necessary Elite Mass Protocol™ supplements. Healthy fats and

vegetables will also be included with various meals throughout the day.

4) Macronutrient Ratios

Your diet will continue to utilize a macronutrient ratio of roughly 30-40% protein, 40-50%

carbohydrates and 20-30% fat. This ratio provides the perfect balance to allow for maximum

fat loss and muscle preservation.

5) Water Intake

0.6 ounces of water per pound of body weight each day is still a must. Along with all of its

valuable muscle building and overall health benefits, water also helps you directly burn body

fat by allowing the liver (a powerful fat burning organ) to function at full capacity.

In addition, a high water intake actually causes your body to retain less water underneath your

skin. As a result, you'll appear harder, more vascular and more defined.

6) Meal Timing

The same strategies still apply for morning nutrition, pre-workout nutrition, post-workout

nutrition and pre-bedtime nutrition.

You'll find all of the specific information for these meal plan strategies in the Chapter 3.

Now that we've covered which nutritional elements will remain the same, let's go over the 2

key fat burning modifications you'll need to make. These simple but powerful changes will

instantly shift your body from a muscle building state into a fat burning state.

Modification #1: Calorie Deficit

When your goal was to build muscle, you needed to consume more calories than you burned.

This created a "calorie surplus" that your body could use to facilitate muscle growth.

Now that you're aiming to lose body fat, you need to do the opposite.

Instead, you must now burn more calories than you consume. This will create a "calorie

deficit" within your body.

Remember, body fat is simply a stored form of energy. When you create a calorie deficit, the

foods that you consume each day are no longer providing your body with the energy it needs

to fuel all of its daily tasks. As a result, it will begin breaking down your body fat stores in

order to obtain a source of energy.

How do you go about creating a proper calorie deficit through your diet?

First of all, you need to be cautious. This is because a calorie deficit that is too large will

actually end up working against you rather than for you.

When you make large drops in your overall calorie intake, two adjustments are made within

your body, and they are directly counterproductive to your goals...

1) Your fat burning metabolism comes to a screeching halt.

Your body's primary goal is to keep you alive and healthy at all costs. When you drastically

reduce your food intake, your body perceives this as a threat to its survival.

As a result, it will dramatically slow down the metabolism in an effort to conserve energy.

During periods of severe calorie restriction, the metabolic rate can slow down by up to 40%.

2) Your levels of lean muscle tissue will rapidly diminish.

Muscle is metabolically “expensive” tissue and requires a lot of resources to build and

maintain. In an effort to further conserve energy and to obtain a source of much-needed

protein, the body will begin breaking down and wasting away your muscle mass.

In fact, around half of the weight that you lose during a "crash diet" is muscle tissue.

To sum these 2 points up…

When you deprive your body of the calories and nutrients it requires for proper

functioning, you begin storing more body fat while simultaneously losing muscle mass.

It’s the ultimate double-whammy, and is the virtual opposite of what you should be trying to

achieve.

Things get even uglier when we take a closer look…

It’s not just that this type of dieting approach prevents you from losing fat, but it actually

takes you in the opposite direction.

When your body is placed into periods of severe calorie restriction, it naturally increases the

production of a powerful fat-storing hormone called "lipoprotein lipase". LPL programs you

to store higher-than-normal amounts of calories as fat.

In addition, it reduces the output of leptin, which is one of the most powerful fat burning

substances in your entire body.

Couple this with the large decrease in lean muscle tissue (and thus a further slow-down in the

metabolic rate), and you’re now left with a body that is setup to begin gaining even more

body fat than you started with.

Once you return to eating normally again, the same number of calories that you used to eat to

maintain your weight now causes you to gain fat due to the metabolic changes that have taken

place in your body.

I’m sure you can see just how harmful this really is.

So, the key to creating a proper calorie deficit is that it must be large enough to produce

significant fat loss, but small enough that you preserve the majority of your lean muscle and

keep your body out of "starvation mode".

This translates to a deficit of about 15-20% below your calorie maintenance level.

As you already know, your calorie maintenance level is the number of calories you need to

consume each day in order to maintain your current weight. This is calculated by figuring out

your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and combining it with the Activity Multiplier.

You can then simply take your calorie maintenance level and reduce it by 15-20% (multiply it

by 0.8 and 0.85). This will show you how many calories you should consume each day in

order to effectively stimulate fat loss while maintaining muscle.

All of these calculations can be found in Chapter 3.

However, since all of the meal plans will already be laid out for you in step-by-step detail in

The No-Fail Meal Plan section, you won't need to calculate anything on your own. You'll

simply plug in your goals/stats and will instantly be provided with a detailed fat burning meal

plan that has already been pre-structured for you.

Modification #2: Increase Your Vegetable Intake

The second fat burning modification is very simple, and that is to increase the amount of

vegetables you consume each day.

Why is this so important for fat loss? Here are a few key reasons...

1) Vegetables are high in bulk, but very low in calories. Since you'll now be on a lower

calorie diet, this is a great way to keep you full and satisfied from your meals without going

overboard on calories.

2) Vegetables are loaded with valuable vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. This

provides your body with all of the nutrients it needs so that you remain out of starvation mode

and continue burning fat efficiently.

3) Vegetables reduce excess water retention. Subcuteanous water retention causes your

physique to appear soft and smooth. Consuming a high amount of vegetables helps to flush

out this excess fluid, giving you a harder and more defined appearance.

For maximum fat burning and physique defining results, try to include vegetables with as

many meals as you can throughout the day. Green vegetables such as asparagus, lettuce,

broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery and zucchini are all great choices.

That said, virtually any type of vegetable will be fine.

We've now covered everything you need to know to effectively modify your eating plan for

optimal fat loss. Simply reduce your calorie intake, increase your vegetable intake, and

continue following all of the other No-Fail nutrition principles to a T.

Let's now talk about proper fat loss supplementation...

Fat Burning Supplements

At this point you've learned a ton of valuable information about proper supplementation when

it comes to maximizing your muscle size and strength gains.

You've discovered key insider information about the inner workings of the supplement

industry, and you've learned all of the details behind utilizing The Elite Mass Protocol™ for

the best results.

The question is, how should you alter this supplementation plan when your goal is to burn off

body fat?

Although it's called The Elite "Mass" Protocol, the truth is that it is still a critical component

of an effective fat loss program and should be implemented in almost exactly the same way.

Let me go over each individual component of The Elite Mass Protocol™ and explain the

important role it will play in helping you burn off excess fat while maintaining lean muscle...

1) IsoM3

One of the primary goals of your fat burning program is to maintain as much lean muscle

mass as possible. Maintaining a high protein intake is critical to achieve this, and IsoM3 is

quite simply the highest quality protein you could possibly put into your body.

IsoM3 has the highest absorption rate of any protein source available, and is also loaded with

branched chain amino acids, a highly anti-catabolic substance.

Not only does IsoM3 help you maintain a high percentage of muscle throughout your cutting

phase, but it also has direct fat burning effects as well...

- It increases the secretion of CCK (cholecystokinin). CCK is a small peptide that produces

feelings of fullness after a meal; perfect for those on a reduced calorie diet.

- It is the most effective form of pre-workout protein for maintaining lean body mass and

increasing beta-oxidation (fat burning) during intense training sessions.

- It has the highest thermic effect of any other nutrient. Your body actually burns additional

calories just as a result of digesting the protein content.

- It increases serotonin levels which regulates your mood, anxiety and appetite.

2) MuscleAmp

MuscleAmp delivers 2 key benefits to your fat cutting program...

First, it plays an important role in helping you maintain a high amount of lean muscle while in

a calorie deficit. MuscleAmp is rich in critical muscle building compounds, branched-chain

amino acids and specific vitamins/minerals to prevent your body from entering into "muscle

wasting mode".

Secondly, it helps you maintain your strength. The precise combination of micronized

creatine, beta-alanine and l-taurine will keep your strength and power levels as high as

possible throughout your fat loss phase.

3) Vita-Sci Pro

A high potency athlete's multivitamin/multimineral is an absolute must for any intense fitness

program no matter what the goal is.

Intense training drains the body of valuable vitamins/minerals that are needed to maximize

your performance and keep your fat burning metabolism operating at full capacity.

In fact, being deficient in even a single vitamin or mineral can negatively affect virtually

thousands of individual processes going on in your body.

As a person focused on keeping your metabolic rate at peak levels and who is training

intensely in the gym with weight training and cardio sessions, it's imperative that you keep the

“engine running smoothly” and ensure that all of the little holes in your diet are filled.

4) EFA UltraPure

Along with being a powerful antioxidant and natural anti-inflammatory, EFA's also improve

glucose metabolism, allowing your body to oxidize a higher percentage of the carbohydrates

you consume for fuel rather than storing them as body fat.

As you already know, EFA UltraPure is derived from molecular distilled Nordic Sea fish oill,

which is the highest quality essential fatty acid you can possibly consume.

5) LeanElite

During your muscle building phase, LeanElite was considered an "optional" addition to The

Elite Mass Protocol™. When you shift into fat loss mode, LeanElite should become a regular

part of your supplementation plan.

You've already learned in detail about the potent fat burning effects of LeanElite, and it

should be obvious by now why you need to include it in your cutting program.

LeanElite is an advanced fat loss combination that optimizes your fat burning metabolism,

maximizes your energy and workout focus, flushes out excess water retention, improves

thyroid hormone activity and regulates your appetite.

To achieve maximum fat loss in minimum time, LeanElite is a no-brainer.

As you can see, The Elite Mass Protocol™ is equally as important for burning fat as it is for

building muscle.

I cannot over state this: 70-80% of your fat burning results will come as a result of proper

nutrition and supplementation. The Elite Mass Protocol™ is irreplaceable for its ability to

accelerate your fat loss while helping you maintain the majority of your hard-earned muscle

gains.

When you shift into fat loss mode, the only difference in its implementation is that LeanElite

is now considered mandatory rather than optional. Everything else will remain exactly the

same.

That covers the topic of fat burning supplementation. Let's now move on and talk about the

final component of your fat loss routine: high intensity cardio.

Cardio Introduction

The subject of proper fat loss cardio stirs up huge debate and controversy, with recommended

techniques and “expert” opinions ranging all over the map.

From the best cardio exercises to intensity levels to frequency to duration, everybody has their

own opinion on what constitutes the “ideal” cardio protocol.

Unfortunately, the majority of these opinions come from so-called “experts” who lack

credibility and experience and are only motivated by creating new fads that will dump money

into their pockets.

In this section I'm going to clear up the confusion once and for all and teach you exactly how

to implement the most killer brand of cardio available. I don't know of any faster way to

stimulate the greatest fat burning response from your body possible than the methods I'm

about to outline.

So let's get started…

I'm going to start right at the ground level of this topic by stating the following:

If you want to maximize your body's fat burning capabilities, you need to include some

cardio in your program.

Sounds like a pretty obvious statement, doesn't it?

Well, it isn't obvious to everyone.

There are a lot of people out there who don't include any cardio at all in their program. While

it is certainly possible to lose fat through dieting alone, a proper cardio program is highly

recommended in order to maximize your results.

First, I'm going to briefly outline exactly why cardio should be included in your program if

you want to see the best possible results.

You already know that in order to burn fat, you need to create a deficit of calories within your

body. This deficit can be achieved by consuming fewer calories through your diet and/or by

burning more calories through exercise.

In a black and white sense it might seem that performing cardio would not be necessary in

order to achieve this. After all, if the goal is to simply consume fewer calories than you burn,

why not just shave those extra calories from your diet and skip cardio completely?

The reason why this doesn't work all has to do with what we discussed at the beginning of this

fat burning section.

When you restrict calories (even if it's not to a significant degree), your fat burning

metabolism naturally slows down in order to conserve energy. The slower your metabolism

becomes, the slower the rate of fat burning becomes.

Implementing proper cardio enables you to actively burn more calories while still being able

to provide your body with all of the nutrients it needs to maintain lean muscle mass and

function optimally. In other words, you'll prevent your body from ever entering into a

starvation state, your hard-earned muscle gains will stay intact, and your metabolism will

continually remain elevated.

The synergistic effect of a well-structured nutrition and supplementation plan coupled with

weight training and cardio will actually force your body's fat burning metabolism into

overdrive while still allowing you to keep your body in a well fed state.

To sum up:

Nutrition/Supplementation without cardio = fat burning with a loss in lean muscle mass

and a slowing down of the metabolism.

Nutrition/Supplementation WITH cardio = maximum fat burning while maintaining lean

muscle mass and increasing the metabolism.

Which one do you think would produce greater results? Take your pick.

Now, while I've just stated the importance of cardio as part of your overall program, I will say

this…

As a whole, cardiovascular exercise on its own is probably overrated as a fat burning

catalyst.

Keep in mind that there is a big difference between “ineffective” and “overrated”.

Cardio is certainly highly effective when implemented properly, but it is also not the holy

grail of fat loss as some individuals treat it.

Cardio on its own will do little to nothing for fat loss if your nutrition and supplementation

plan is not intelligently structured and carried out.

Your fat burning program will only be as effective as its weakest link. Without proper

nutrition and supplementation, you can run on that treadmill until you're blue in the face and

still not lose an ounce of fat.

Always make sure your fat burning nutrition plan is properly in place and that you're

following the complete Elite Mass Protocol™ to a T before even thinking about performing a

single session of cardio.

In addition, cardio will only produce a measurable effect on fat loss if it is implemented in the

most effective way. And the “most effective way” is far different than what you'll see the

majority of individuals doing in the gym.

That is the topic of our next discussion…

Low Intensity Cardio VS. High Intensity Cardio

When I talk about “long duration” I'm referring to cardio sessions lasting around 45-60

minutes or more, performed at a slow to moderate pace. This is the way that most people

perform their cardio, and this is exactly why most people don't get maximal results from their

workouts.

We're often told that we should be exercising in a “steady state” or that we should be able to

“comfortably hold a conversation” while performing our cardio. We're told that if we perform

our cardio at a greater level of intensity, then we're working too hard.

The reason why this method is often recommended is because of the way that the body's

energy systems work.

When the body is in a “steady state” where oxygen supply meets oxygen demand, fat will be

primarily oxidized for use as energy. When the body is in an anaerobic state (higher intensity

states where activities are performed intermittently), carbohydrates will be primarily used for

fuel.

It would seem logical that since your goal is to burn body fat, the former method would be far

more effective. It seems to make sense on the surface. But, if we look at the big picture we

quickly discover that this is not the case.

The reason is simple: while low intensity/long duration sessions will burn a greater

percentage of body fat during the actual exercise, high intensity/low duration sessions will

burn a greater NET amount of body fat over a period of time lasting well beyond the initial

exercise.

When you perform an intense cardio session (or even an intense weight training session for

that matter), you actually end up “spiking” your metabolism and cause it to work extra hard

even while you aren't training. That's correct: higher intensity cardio actually causes your

body to burn fat for hours following the session.

The initial cardio session “lights the fire”, and that fire continues to burn even while you're at

rest. The result is a turbo-charged fat burning metabolism that literally forces your body to

expend more calories all around the clock.

Even though high intensity bouts of cardio use carbohydrates as their primary fuel, a greater

net amount of fat will be burned as compared to a low intensity session.

Slow-paced, low intensity sessions do not cause any serious spike in metabolism and for this

reason they are less effective.

High intensity/short duration cardio also causes your body to retain a greater amount of lean

muscle mass, prevents the chances of over-use injuries and is a far more time efficient way to

train.

On top of this, long duration/low intensity cardio sessions have a much stronger appetite-

stimulating effect. You might burn 300 calories running on the treadmill for an hour, but if

you're constantly hungry there's a very good chance that you'll simply replace those calories

(and more) by over eating.

I'm not saying that lower intensity cardio doesn't work. After all, there are plenty of

individuals who use this method and have impressive physiques. All I'm saying is that for the

majority of the population, it's not optimal.

Any kind of cardio at all is better than none, and all forms of cardio will have some fat loss

benefits as long as your nutrition, supplementation and weight training are properly in place.

If you've done lower intensity cardio in the past and have found it beneficial, or for some

reason are unable to stick to the higher intensity methods I'm about to outline, then it's your

choice.

Lower intensity cardio will still produce results; they just won't be the maximum, explosive

results you'll see with the higher intensity variety.

Let's now get started by breaking down the cardio issue into individual step-by-step

principles. We'll be talking about the topics of frequency, timing, duration, use of intervals,

warming up, cooling down, heart rate, calorie readings and the best cardio exercises.

Let's begin…

Cardio Frequency

How many cardio sessions should you perform weekly?

First of all, this depends largely on the individual. We have to take into account each

individual's personal goals as well as their recovery ability.

Individuals who have very large amounts of fat to lose would probably benefit from

performing more cardio, while for others excessive cardio may be unnecessary.

In addition, those who can recover easily from intense training will be able to get away with

doing cardio more frequently. Those without great recovery ability might be at risk for

overtraining and muscle loss if they perform the same amount.

As a general guideline, if your primary goal is to lose body fat, you should perform 3-4

high intensity cardio sessions per week.

Remember, the goal here is to only perform as much cardio as is necessary to stimulate

maximum fat loss without going overboard. Too much cardio will result in excess muscle

loss, and will also increase your chances of injury.

For the majority of people in the majority of situations, 3-4 weekly high intensity sessions is

all you'll need. (Some low intensity cardio may be mixed in depending on your goals, and this

will be discussed shortly).

Don't worry about figuring this all out on your own, as your exact cardio schedule will be laid

out for you in The No-Fail Workout section and will be customized for you depending on

your goals.

Cardio Timing

When is the best time to perform your fat loss cardio?

There is no one absolute "best" time when cardio should be performed. The only guideline

you should try to stick to is this:

Ideally, try to space your cardio sessions at least 8 hours away from your weight training

workouts.

You should never perform cardio immediately prior to a weight training workout because of

the energy draining effect that session will have. Optimum weight training is all about moving

maximum weight for maximum reps, and you should always enter the weight room with peak

strength, energy and focus.

In addition, performing cardio immediately following a weight training session may

negatively impact the process of muscle recovery and growth. It may not be to any significant

degree, but to stay on the safe side I'd recommend one of the following options:

1) Perform your cardio in the morning and weight training in the evening.

2) Perform your weight training in the morning and cardio in the evening.

3) Perform your cardio on your off days from the gym.

If you are strapped for time and combining weight training/cardio works better for your

personal schedule, the best option will be to perform your cardio immediately after weight

training. Just make sure that you get the entire workout (both weight training and cardio)

completed in as close to 60-75 minutes as possible.

Cardio Duration

I've talked so far about the benefits of performing high intensity/short duration cardio. But

just how short of a session am I referring to?

Given the intensity level that I recommend you train with, your cardio sessions will probably

land somewhere in the range of 10-20 minutes.

If you're able to easily exceed 20 minutes then you simply aren't pushing yourself hard

enough.

Those trainees who make use of high intensity sprint intervals (which we'll talk about shortly)

will be able to finish their cardio in the shortest periods of time.

This recommended workout duration is simply a function of the intensity level. We don't look

at the duration first and then assign an intensity level to it; it works the other way around. We

simply determine the intensity level that will produce the most dramatic fat burning effect,

and then we assign the duration as a function of that intensity.

As I mentioned in the weight training section, intensity and volume are inversely proportional.

As intensity goes up, the workload must inevitably come down. You could maintain a

walking pace for hours on end, you might be able to jog for an hour or so, but you can only

sprint for several seconds.

Given the intensity level that you should strive for during your cardio sessions, 10-20 minutes

is the rough amount of time you will be able to effectively sustain it for.

Cardio Intervals

We've now established that your cardio sessions should be performed at a high intensity level

(“high intensity” is obviously a relative term and depends on the individual), implemented 3-4

times weekly, spaced 8 hours away from your weight training workouts and lasting anywhere

from 10-20 minutes in total duration.

Let's now take a look at the actual structure of the cardio session itself.

These cardio sessions I'm recommending are most likely going to be different than the regular

structure that you're used to. Rather than simply jumping onto a machine and peddling or

running at a set resistance level for a set period of time, these cardio sessions will be

structured using intervals.

The idea behind intervals is simple: you exercise at a hard pace for a set period of time

followed by a slower pace for a set period of time, and then repeat. For example, you might

train at a high intensity for 1 minute followed by a low intensity for 1 minute.

Intervals are much more effective than traditional steady-pace cardio because they increase

the overall intensity output of the workout. Intervals allow you to achieve a greater total

energy expenditure and burn more total calories both during and after the session.

We talked about the importance of “spiking” your metabolism during your training sessions in

order to keep it elevated for hours afterwards, and intervals are the most efficient way to

accomplish this.

Intervals also seem to serve mental benefits as well. By having frequent rest periods inserted

in between the high intensity bouts it will be easier to generate a total net level of energy

output.

There are literally an endless number of different interval structures that can be used. What

works best for you will depend on your current fitness level and experience. Obviously a

complete beginner would not start out by performing all-out sprints and would instead start

off on a lower intensity plan. More advanced trainees could safely push themselves to a much

higher level.

There are many different work/rest period combinations you can use, so don't get too hung up

on specific numbers. There is no one absolute best interval structure that will yield

significantly greater results than other similar structures.

The best thing you can do is to switch up your intervals periodically to keep things fresh and

continually test yourself against new boundaries. Just focus on training yourself hard and

consistently progressing.

Here are the rough interval periods and intensities that you can implement depending on your

fitness level…

Lower Intensity Intervals

2–3 minutes ON / 90 seconds - 2 minutes OFF

Those who are just getting started and who have no real experience with higher intensity

cardio methods should begin with these intervals.

Exercise at a harder pace for anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes, and follow this with a rest period

of 90 seconds to 2 minutes. There's no way to assign one absolute structure to everyone, so

you'll have to experiment and see what you're able to handle.

As you get used to performing this style of cardio and as your fitness level inevitably

increases, you can continually raise the demands on your body.

For example, you might start off by performing 3 minutes on and 2 minutes off. After a few

sessions you could try decreasing the rest period in order to make the session harder; say, 3

minutes on and 1.5 minutes off. After that you could try lowering the first period down to 2

minutes and raise the intensity further.

During the “on” period your goal is simply to train at an intensity level greater than what

you're regularly used to. For example, if you normally ride a recumbent bike at a resistance

level of “4”, then during the “on” period you might aim to increase that to around 6 or 7.

And remember, the “off” period is not literally a time to stop working altogether. It simply

means that you scale back on the intensity compared to what you do during the “on” period.

You'll still be peddling, stepping, or running, depending on which form of cardio you choose,

but you'll be doing it at a more gradual pace.

Using the beginner structure you can complete a total of about 6 intervals.

Medium Intensity Intervals

30-90 seconds ON / 30-90 seconds OFF

These intervals will be harder than the lower intensity structure as you'll have to push yourself

closer to your maximum capacity during the "on" periods. The "on" period should not be an

all out sprint as you cannot maintain a full effort for that long, but you should be pushing

yourself as intensely as you reasonably can.

Since the "on" period will now be performed at a higher intensity level, you'll also have to

compensate by lowering the intensity of the "off" period. Again, this doesn't mean that you

stop working altogether, but in order to properly recover for the next "on" period, you can

decrease the intensity of the "off" period to a further degree than you would on the low

intensity interval plan.

Again, the time periods you choose will depend on your fitness level and experience. The

shorter the on and off periods are, the harder the workout will be. You'll be forced to train at a

greater percentage of your all-out effort and you will be resting for shorter periods of time in

between.

You can perform about 6-8 of these intermediate intervals to constitute a full session.

High Intensity Intervals (Most Effective)

10-25 seconds ON / 15 seconds-60 seconds OFF

These types of intervals should only be used by individuals who are comfortable training at an

all-out pace. As long as you provide yourself with enough rest in between intervals you

should be able to perform the “on” period with 100% effort.

For the "off" period you should crank the intensity way down to the point where you are still

staying in motion but are barely exerting any effort.

The benefit of using this advanced structure is that your workout time will be greatly reduced.

In addition, you'll get the most dramatic effect on your overall caloric expenditure and boost

to your metabolism.

These types of intense intervals will also dramatically increase the body's secretion of growth

hormone, which is one of the primary fat burning substances in your body.

Beware though; when performed properly, these high intensity intervals are absolutely brutal

and will require a ton of focus, discipline and pain tolerance.

If you choose intervals on the lower end of the scale (say, 15 seconds on and 30 seconds off),

I would recommend using either a stationary bike, recumbent bike or doing outdoor sprinting.

Do not use a treadmill as this will be too dangerous. In addition, the speed of the treadmill

won't be able to adjust up and down quick enough to keep up with the pace of your session.

You can complete 4-8 of these high intensity intervals to constitute a complete cardio session.

Start out with an interval structure and intensity level that you're comfortable with, and focus

on progressing from there. If in doubt, always err on the side of caution and start with a lower

intensity level. Then gradually build up from there.

This is a very important point: you should always be striving for progression. Just as you keep

a weight training log to track your workouts each week, you should be tracking the progress

of your cardio sessions as well.

Each time you perform a session you should aim to improve slightly upon the previous

session in some fashion. In order to continually improve, you can manipulate the following

factors:

- Increase the resistance on the machine.

- Increase the distance that you travel at a given resistance.

- Decrease the resting time in between intervals.

- Decrease the work period of an interval and raise the intensity as a result.

- Increase the work period of an interval at the same intensity.

- Perform a greater number of total intervals.

By continually striving to push the envelope further and further, your body will continue to

adapt and adjust. This will boost your fat burning metabolism to greater and greater heights.

If you think of your fat burning metabolism as a fire, then manipulating the above factors is

like throwing on more wood. As the total workload becomes more and more intense, the fire

will continue to burn stronger and stronger.

Warming Up & Cooling Down

I don't advise that you simply jump onto the machine and start exercising at full intensity right

off the bat.

You should prepare your mind and body first with a light 5-minute warm up using whichever

exercise you'll be using for your intervals. If you'll be running on the treadmill for your

intervals, then warm up on the treadmill. If you'll be using a stationary bike, then warm up on

the stationary bike. You get the picture.

The 5 minute warm up should not fatigue you in any way, but should simply be used to drive

blood into the surrounding connective tissues, stimulate your heart and lungs and prepare you

for the work that lies ahead. Once the 5 minutes is up you can go ahead and start.

After you have finished your interval training, you should follow it up with a 5-minute cool

down. Again, this should simply be a very low intensity pace using the same exercise that you

used for the intervals. The cool down will help to relax your muscles and clear out waste

products that were produced during the high intensity bout.

Heart Rate & Calorie Readings

Calorie Readings

For those of you who have included cardiovascular exercise in your program in the past, you

may have been using the “calories burned” tool on the machine as a gauge for the success of

your session.

From here on out, ignore it completely.

Remember, the main benefit that you achieve from your cardio session is not the raw number

of calories burned during the actual exercise but rather the overall net effect it will have on

your resting metabolism.

For this reason, the “calories burned” that shows up on the machine doesn't really tell you

much in terms of the overall fat burning effect that that session will have.

In addition to this, the readings are often inaccurate and can sometimes be off by up to 100

calories or more.

Don't worry about what the machine tells you in terms of calories burnt. Simply focus on

pushing yourself to a high level of intensity and you'll be burning calories for many hours

following the session.

Heart Rate Readings

The same goes for these so-called “target heart rates” that many fat loss gurus recommend

you try to reach during your session.

The same logic applies here: your goal is not to burn a high amount of fat during the actual

session but instead to increase your overall resting fat burning metabolism.

For this reason it's not important that you try to get yourself into a “fat burning zone” based

on your heart rate during the workout. Again, the goal is simply to push yourself hard in order

to spike your overall metabolism into action.

Acceptable Cardio Exercises

We've now established the frequency, timing, duration, interval structure, warmup and

cooldown of the cardio sessions, but which actual machines or methods should you use to

perform your cardio?

Just as there is no “best” interval setting for cardio, there is also no “best” machine. However,

there are some machines that will be more effective than others.

The main goal to keep in mind when choosing a piece of cardio equipment is to find a

machine that:

Does not require very much skill to perform – You don't want to have to divert very much

of your focus onto balancing yourself on the machine and maintaining a specific form.

Instead, you should pick a cardio exercise that is simple and mechanical to execute so that the

majority of your focus can be placed on generating a high level of intensity.

Minimizes the risk of injury – One of your primary goals when it comes to both weight

training and cardiovascular exercise is to keep your joints and connective tissues strong and

healthy at all times. It doesn't matter how effective and well structured your training routine

is, if you end up with an injury the entire thing will come to a grinding halt.

For this reason you should try to stick to machines that produce low impact on your joints and

that also don't aggravate any existing injuries you may have.

In my opinion, the following machines are ideal for performing maximum fat loss cardio…

Upright Stationary Bike

This machine is extremely straightforward to use and will allow you to place all of your focus

on generating a high level of intensity without having to worry about your form.

It is also a very low impact exercise and will keep the stress off your joints. Stationary bikes

are easily programmable and are ideal when performing interval-style training.

Recumbent Bike

This is the same as a stationary bike except that your body is in a seated position. The seated

position will take some of the stress off your lower back, which is a nice advantage for those

who have previous lower back problems.

Treadmill

Treadmills offer an excellent alternative to running outdoors. The treadmill platforms are

designed to produce less impact on the joints than you would get if you ran outside on

concrete.

If you want to increase the difficulty you can also raise the platform up on an incline.

Treadmills are a great choice when implementing a beginner or intermediate style of interval

training.

Stairclimber

A stairclimber can be used by anyone, whether beginner or advanced. This offers another low

impact movement that allows you to focus on putting forth a hard effort. Be sure to avoid

leaning on the handle bars as this will reduce the intensity of the workout.

Outdoor Sprinting

I've included this option as well for those who will be utilizing the high intensity interval

structure.

Outdoor sprinting is probably the most effective way to spike your fat burning metabolism

into overdrive, and can also be completed in a very short amount of time. The only downside

is that sprinting is a very high impact exercise and can quickly cause stress to the joints, so

use it cautiously.

You may consider alternating sprinting with other cardio methods. For example, you could

include 2 sprint workouts per week and 2 stationary bike workouts per week. You can sprint

uphill as well in order to increase the difficulty even further.

If for some reason using the above-mentioned methods is not possible, then you can also use

the following…

Rowing Machine

The reason this machine is less than ideal is because it requires a more complicated motion

and thus will divert some of your focus away from generating full intensity during your

session.

The rowing machine can also be stressful to the lower back and should be avoided by those

who have pre-existing lower back issues.

Elliptical

The only time when I would really recommend using the elliptical is if you are suffering from

knee problems. The elliptical is a great alternative in that situation.

However, if your knees are otherwise healthy I don't think an elliptical is the best choice for a

cardio workout.

Swimming

Swimming can be a reasonable alternative to the traditional cardio methods, especially if you

have pre-existing joint problems. Swimming uses a very wide range of muscles from head to

toe and thus is a great way to expend a large number of total calories. The use of swimming as

a cardio option should only be used by advanced swimmers.

Experiment with different cardio exercises and see what you feel works best.

I would recommend that you stick with the first list of suggestions such as the stationary bike,

recumbent bike, treadmill, stairclimber and sprinting wherever possible. The other alternatives

should be used mainly by those who have a specific reason to do so, such as a pre-existing

injury.

You can also combine different methods into the same week. For example, you could perform

1 session on a stationary bike, 1 session on the treadmill and 1 session on the stairclimber.

Low Intensity Cardio

Although high intensity interval cardio is the fastest and most efficient way to strip off body

fat, that doesn't mean that it has to be the only form of cardio you include in your program. If

you'd like to mix in some low intensity aerobic cardio or other activities you enjoy, that's fine

too.

In fact, depending on your specific goals, The No-Fail Workout does include low intensity

cardio sessions as part of your weekly workout schedule.

Aerobic cardio sessions typically last between 40-60 minutes and are performed at a steady

pace (no intervals) all the way through.

Although the intensity level of this type of session will be lower than its high intensity

counterpart, it should by no means be “easy” and should still be challenging to perform. If

you ranked your intensity level from 0 (no work at all) to 10 (100% effort), these types of

sessions should fall into a difficulty level of about 5-6.

Aerobic sessions are particularly useful if you find the high intensity style too draining, or if

you would like to include additional cardio sessions during the week without overtraining

yourself.

For example, you could perform 3 high intensity cardio sessions per week along with 1-2

aerobic sessions. Or you could do 2 high intensity sessions and 2 aerobic sessions.

The cardio that you perform doesn't always have to fall into a "traditional" gym setting either.

Many of you have other activites you enjoy outside of the gym that are still intense and

challenging to perform. This might include things like sports, cycling, hiking or martial arts.

Feel free to include these activities as well, but just make sure you take them into account as

part of your overall workout program.

And as always, do your best to space all of these sessions (whether it be aerobic cardio or

other activities) as far away from your weight training workouts as is reasonably possible.

Chapter 5 Review

1) The underlying goal of your cutting phase is to lose maximum body fat while maintaining

as much lean muscle as possible. Muscle is difficult to build and should be protected at all

times. Muscle is also metabolically active and burns calories all on its own.

2) Using the approach outlined in this program you can expect to lose between 1-2.5 pounds

of pure body fat every single week. Trying to lose fat any faster than this may slow down your

metabolism by forcing your body into "starvation mode", and will also cause excessive

muscle loss. (Significantly overweight individuals can get away with safely losing 3-5 pounds

per week.)

3) Spot reduction is impossible, and therefore your weight training program should be

executed in exactly the same manner whether your goal is to build muscle or to burn fat.

Every time you enter the gym, your only goal is to provide your muscles with the greatest

possible growth stimulus.

4) In order to burn fat you must burn more calories than you consume. A calorie reduction of

15-20% below your maintenance level is ideal to stimulate fat loss while protecting your

hard-earned muscle gains.

5) Try to consume as many vegetables as you reasonably can throughout the day. Vegetables

are ultra low in calories, loaded with vitamins/minerals/antioxidants/fiber, and reduce excess

water retention.

6) The Elite Mass Protocol™ is just as important for fat loss as it is for building muscle. The

only difference when aiming to lose fat is that LeanElite should now be considered a "must

have" supplement rather than being optional.

7) While most people typically stick to long duration/low intensity forms of cardio, this

approach is not optimal in terms of stimulating fat loss. Although steady-pace cardio burns a

greater percentage of fat during the session, high intensity/low duration cardio burns a greater

net amount of fat.

8) Shorter cardio sessions in the range of 10-20 minutes produce a large “spike” in the fat

burning metabolism that forces the body to expend calories for many hours following the

session. Shorter sessions also preserve more muscle, reduce the chances of injury and are

more time efficient.

9) In order to gain the positive benefits of cardiovascular exercise without overtraining

yourself, stick to performing 3-4 high intensity cardio sessions per week.

10) Cardio sessions should ideally be spaced at least 8 hours away from your weight training

workouts. If you are performing weight training and cardio together, always perform your

cardio after your weight training.

11)The most effective way to structure your individual sessions is through the use of high

intensity intervals. Interval-based cardio allows you to put forth the greatest amount of total

intensity and energy expenditure, and also serves mental benefits as well. Use the guidelines

laid out in the interval section to determine what types of intervals you will use based on your

experience level.

12) Always perform a very light, moderately paced warmup for 5 minutes prior to your cardio

session followed by a 5 minute cooldown at the end.

13) Do not worry about the calorie readings on the machine or about reaching a specified

“target heart rate”. Both of these factors are largely irrelevant. Simply focus on putting forth a

hard, focused effort during each session and strive for improvement reach time.

14) Stick to cardio exercises that minimize the risk of injury and that do not require very

much skill to perform. The most highly recommend machines include the upright stationary

bike, recumbent bike, treadmill and stairclimber. Outdoor sprinting is also highly effective.

15) Always focus on making steady progression by increasing the workload for every

successive cardio session that you perform.

16) Low intensity aerobic sessions or other challenging activities can also be included as a

supplemental part of your cardio plan as long as they are taken into account as part of your

overall workout program.

Chapter 6 Intro: Proper Progress Tracking

Your muscle building and fat burning "education" is now complete.

You now understand exactly how to structure the most effective program possible whether

your goal is to gain muscle or lose fat.

Before you get started though, we still need to cover one final topic: proper progress tracking.

In this section I'll be showing you all of the different factors you need to be paying attention

to in order to ensure that your results are progressing at a steady pace.

It's not enough to blindly follow your program and merely hope for the best. You need to

examine your progress from week to week to make sure your results are being maximized and

to find areas of possible improvement.

This section will include progress tracking strategies for both muscle building and fat loss

programs. It will include "primary factors" (most important), "secondary factors" (of medium

importance) and "advanced factors" (for the most serious of trainees).

On top of this, I'll also outline a list of potential program modifications you can implement in

the event that you are not achieving the results you want.

A different set of program modifications will be included for 4 potential scenarios...

1) Your goal is to build muscle, but you aren't gaining mass at a significant rate.

2) Your goal is to build muscle, and although you are gaining mass at a significant rate, you're

also gaining an excessive amount of body fat.

3) Your goal is to burn fat, but you aren't losing body fat at a significant rate.

4) Your goal is to burn fat, and although you are burning fat at a significant rate, you're also

losing an excessive amount of lean muscle.

The progress tracking methods and program modifications in this section will be kept as

simple and practical as possible. We don't want to obsess over unnecessary details here.

The goal is to simply hand you the most direct and usable methods available without making

things unnecessarily complicated.

Let's get started...

How To Track Your Muscle Building Progress

We'll first discuss how to properly track your progress if your goal is to gain overall muscle

size and strength while limiting your body fat gains.

Again, this will be separated into 3 groups...

Primary Factors - These are the fundamental, baseline factors you should look at first. If you

are not experiencing continual progress with these elements, then you will most definitely not

achieve any significant gains in muscle size.

Secondary Factors - Assuming that your primary factors are continually progressing, these

are the next set of elements you can examine to fine-tune your progress further.

Advanced Factors - If all of your primary and secondary factors are advancing at a steady

pace and you really want to track your progress in close detail, this is the final set you can

look at.

Let's take a look at each set of progress tracking factors...

Primary Factors

There are 2 primary factors that every muscle building program is based on...

A) Strength Gains

If your muscle building progam is being implemented properly, then you should be coming

back to the gym stronger every single workout. If you are not increasing the weight and/or

reps on every exercise from week to week, you quite simply will NOT be gaining any real

muscle.

Make sure to log every workout in detail and then aim to improve on it slightly each week.

Even a single workout where your strength gains stagnate should be a cause for concern.

B) Body Weight Gains

It should seem obvious, but if your goal is to increase your overall muscle size then the

number on the scale should be consistently going up from week to week. If your raw body

weight is not budging, you can be certain that you aren't gaining any additional muscle mass.

The numbers can vary greatly from person to person depending on a whole host of factors, but

as a very rough guideline you should be expecting to gain somewhere between 0.5 to 2

pounds a week.

It's hard to assign a set number to this because it depends so much on your experience level

and genetic capacity for gaining muscle.

The less experienced you are, the faster you'll gain muscle because the training stimulus is

still new to your body. In addition, those with certain body types will gain muscle faster due

to genetic reasons beyond your control.

In any case, the number on the scale should be noticeably and consistently going up every

single week, period.

These 2 primary factors (strength gains and bodyweight gains) go hand in hand. If you're

gaining muscle at an appreciable rate, your strength and body weight should both be

consistently increasing.

A gain in body weight without any gains in strength indicates that you are simply increasing

your body fat levels. A gain in strength without any gains in body weight indicates that you

are simply building strength through alternate pathways (neurological strength, tendon

strength etc.) and are not gaining quality muscle tissue.

Secondary Factors

If you are consistently adding weight to the bar and pounds to the scale each week, you can be

almost certain that you're on the right track. You can then fine tune things further with the

following factors...

A) Appearance In The Mirror

Although this is a subjective measurement, checking your progress in the mirror is still a great

way to observe how things are progressing.

If your strength and bodyweight are increasing, you can use the mirror in the following

ways...

- To ensure that all of your muscle groups are progressing as equally as possible.

- To ensure that you are not gaining an excessive amount of body fat.

However, you do need to be cautious with this method for the simple reason that your own

perception of your body will often be distorted from the way it really is.

For this reason, the mirror should be used in addition to the following…

B) Before/After Pictures

This is a great way to get a more objective look at how your body is changing over a set

period of time.

Since you'll be seeing yourself in the mirror every day, it may be hard to notice the subtle

changes that are taking place. With before/after pictures, you can objectively compare your

appearance over longer periods of time.

I would recommend taking a picture of yourself once a week in order to track your

appearance. Make sure to take your photos first thing in the morning and to keep all other

conditions (such as lighting/distance) the same.

It will also be a good idea to include a variety of poses (front, side and back) as well as

pictures of yourself flexed and unflexed.

C) Body Measurements

In order to determine the progression for each individual muscle group, you can use a basic

measuring tape once per week to check on all of your major body parts.

These are the body parts I would recommend measuring:

- Chest

- Abdomen

- Upper arm

- Forearm

- Thigh

- Calf

- Neck

Don't obsess about your measurements, but you can still include them as part of your overall

progress tracking plan.

To get the most accurate reading, always take your measurements first thing in the morning,

with your muscles cold (“cold” meaning that they are not pumped up from a workout) and

unflexed.

In addition, make sure that you measure around the same area of each body part every time, as

the readings can change significantly depending on how high or low you measure.

Advanced Factors

If you are keeping track of all of your primary and secondary factors and would like to get

really detailed, this is the final element you can monitor.

A) Body Fat Percentage

By measuring your body fat percentage you'll be able to see exactly how much of your weight

gain is coming from lean body mass and how much is coming from fat.

In the case of a muscle building program, I typically only recommend this method if:

- Minimizing body fat gains is a primary concern.

- Strong attention to detail is important to you.

- You have an accurate way of obtaining a precise body fat reading.

There are a ton of different body fat testing methods available, and the specifics of how to

measure your body fat percentage is beyond the scope of this course.

For the majority of people though, taking skin-fold measurements is usually the best route.

Most of the body fat that you'll be concerned with is located directly underneath your skin. By

pinching and measuring the thickness on different sites of your body with a caliper you can

get a pretty reliable reading as to your overall body fat levels.

Once you have obtained a body fat percentage reading, you'll simply combine this percentage

with your overall body weight in order to determine your lean body mass and your body fat

mass. Lean body mass simply refers to any form of body weight that is not fat. This includes

muscle tissue, glycogen, bone, water, etc.

The formula to determine lean body mass is simple:

1) Multiply your body weight in pounds by your body fat percentage. This will give you your

fat mass in pounds.

2) Subtract your fat mass from your body weight. This will give you your lean body mass in

pounds.

Here's an example…

We'll use an individual who weighs 200 pounds at 16% body fat.

200 X 0.16 = 32

200 – 32 = 168

This individual has 168 pounds of lean body mass and 32 pounds of fat mass.

By tracking your gains in lean body mass/fat mass from week to week you'll be able to

accurately tweak your program to maximize your muscle gains while minimizing body fat

gains. (That said, this method will probably not be necessary for the majority of you.)

You've now been given 6 individual factors that you can analyze to see how well your muscle

building program is progressing.

Remember to treat them as a hierarchy...

The primary, baseline factors are to ensure that your strength is increasing from workout to

workout and that your body weight is increasing from week to week.

Assuming that these 2 elements are in place, you can further assess your progress by

analyzing your appearance in the mirror, taking before/after pictures and measuring all of

your major muscle groups each week.

Finally, if you want to get really detailed, you can measure your body fat percentage each

week to determine how much of your gains are coming from lean body mass and how much

are coming from body fat.

How To Track Your Fat Loss Progress

Let's now discuss how to track your progress if your primary goal is lose body fat while

maintaining muscle mass.

I won't go into as much detail in this section, since most of these factors are the same as those

in the muscle building section. For that reason, they won't require very much explanation.

Primary Factors

When it comes to fat loss, there is really only a single baseline factor to take into account...

A) Body Weight Losses

If you're dropping fat at a reasonable rate, you should expect to be losing around 1-2.5 pounds

of body weight per week. If the number on the scale isn't decreasing each week, then you

most likely are not losing body fat.

The only situation where you could be losing body fat but still maintaining your weight is if

you were to experience a simultaneous increase in muscle mass. However, this is extremely

rare and will only occur in those with "elite" genetics or who have some "chemical assistance"

on their side.

If your fat loss program is on the right track then you should expect to lose no less than 1

pound per week and no more than a maximum of 2.5 pounds. If you are losing less than 1

pound, you simply do not have a sufficient calorie deficit in place for maximum fat loss to

occur. If you are losing more than 2.5 pounds, you are most likely experiencing an excessive

loss of lean muscle.

Note: For the first 1-2 weeks of your program you may experience a larger drop of around 4-5

pounds per week. This is due to a decrease in water retention and a decrease in overall food

consumption. Also, those who are significantly overweight can expect to lose fat at a faster

rate, and losses of 3-5 pounds per week on a consistent basis are no cause for concern.

Secondary Factors

If you're consistently losing 1-2.5 pounds of body weight each week, look to these secondary

factors to further assess your progress...

A) Strength Maintainence

If your body is placed into a calorie deficit over any extended period of time, you'll often

notice that your strength gains slow down considerably, stagnate, or even decrease slightly.

This is perfectly normal, however, if your strength is decreasing at too quick of a rate then

you are most likely in too large of a calorie deficit and are in danger of losing an excessive

amount of lean muscle.

Make sure to monitor your changes in strength closely. If you're losing strength rapidly or

find yourself feeling overly fatigued/sluggish in the gym, then your program will need some

modifications.

B) Appearance In The Mirror

If your program is on the right track then you should be noticing a consistent improvement in

muscle definition, shape and hardness. Even though your body weight and body size will be

decreasing, you should actually appear larger and more muscular as a result of the increase in

definition.

C) Before/After Pictures

Make sure to combine your "mirror analysis" by taking objective before and after pictures

once per week. Again, always take them first thing in the morning prior to exercise and ensure

that all conditions are kept the same each time (lighting/distance).

D) Measurements

Once a week, measure your chest, abdomen, upper arm, forearm, thigh, calf and neck.

Remember to take all measurements first thing in the morning, unflexed, prior to exercise and

to measure each body part in the same way each time.

Advanced Factors

A) Body Fat Percentage

Once all of your primary and secondary factors are properly in place, you can use body fat

readings as a way to fully fine tune your results. This will allow you to see how much of your

weight loss is coming from body fat and how much is coming from lean body mass.

You can refer back to the muscle building section for information on how to calculate your

lean body mass and fat mass.

As a rough general guideline, in order to have a reasonably cut and defined body with visible

six pack abs, men will need to achieve a body fat percentage of around 11% and lower, while

women should strive for 17% and lower.

The "healthy" range is considered to be around 8-14% for men and 13-20% for women.

You now understand what to look for in order to ensure that your muscle building/fat burning

program is properly progressing.

This is simple enough if everything is moving forward smoothly, but what happens if the

results are NOT coming at a sufficient pace?

I'll now be outlining a set of program modifications you can make based on the following 4

scenarios:

1) Your goal is to build muscle, but you aren't gaining mass at a significant rate.

2) Your goal is to build muscle, and although you are gaining mass at a significant rate, you're

also gaining an excessive amount of body fat.

3) Your goal is to burn fat, but you aren't losing body fat at a significant rate.

4) Your goal is to burn fat, and although you are burning fat at a significant rate, you're also

losing an excessive amount of lean muscle.

Of course, there are a number of reasons why any one of these particular scenarios may arise,

and there's no way for me to know for sure. That's why I'll be providing a variety of potential

solutions for each one.

It will be your job to read through each modification and try to apply those that seem to fit

best with your particular situation.

Program Modifications

What to do if your goal is to build muscle, but you aren't gaining mass at a significant

rate.

1) Increase your training intensity.

Are you truly pushing yourself to your limits every time you train?

Muscle growth is an adaptive response to stress, and without sufficient training intensity you

aren't going to gain an ounce of muscle. Are you taking every set you perform to the point of

concentric muscular failure where you cannot complete an additional rep in proper form

despite your best efforts?

Examine this and be honest with yourself. If you aren't training to true concentric failure on

every set, you're severely short-circuiting or even eliminating your gains altogether.

2) Increase your calorie intake.

In order to build muscle, you must consume more calories than you burn. If you aren't

creating a sufficient calorie surplus each day, your body will simply not have the necessary

materials needed to carry out the muscle growth process.

If you aren't gaining overall body weight, you are not eating enough, period. Try increasing

your daily intake by around 200-300 calories. Sometimes a small increase like this can make

the difference between maintaining your weight and gaining weight.

3) Implement the complete Elite Mass Protocol™ exactly as outlined.

Proper nutrition and supplementation will be responsible for up to 80% of your bottom line

muscle gains, and this is what makes the Elite Mass Protocol™ so important to include in

your program. The complete formula consists of:

IsoM3 (pure whey protein isolate)

MuscleAmp (ultra-concentrated muscle building formula)

Vita-Sci Pro (high performance multivitamin/multimineral)

EFA UltraPure (purified fish oil)

Are you following the complete Elite Mass Protocol™ exactly as it is outlined in your

supplementation plan? If not, do it.

4) Get more sleep each night.

Insufficient sleep each night can impair muscle recovery, decrease strength and energy,

increase cortisol levels, reduce testosterone and growth hormone output and increase insulin

resistance.

Failing to get a quality sleep every night can definitely make the difference in your program,

so if you aren't getting the results you're after this is certainly an area of your routine to

examine.

5) Reduce your cardio frequency.

Too much additional cardio on top of your weight training sessions can interfere with muscle

recovery and burn through an excessive number of calories needed for growth and repair.

Take a close look at any strenuous activities you're performing outside the gym, such as

sports, martial arts, a stressful job or regular cardio. If you aren't gaining muscle at a

noticeable rate, begin gradually reducing these activities until you notice an improvement in

your results.

6) Reduce your training volume/frequency.

If you're training with full blown intensity, consuming adequate calories, implementing the

complete Elite Mass Protocol™, sleeping adequately each night, regulating your cardio

sessions and are still not achieving reasonable gains, there is a chance that you may actually

be overtraining.

If you are pushing your body beyond its ability to properly recover, building muscle will be

next to impossible. For this reason, a drop in overall training volume/frequency will be

necessary.

Start by shaving off a few sets from each of your individual workouts and see if that makes a

difference. For example, instead of performing 6 sets for chest, reduce that to 4. Instead of

performing 3 sets for biceps, reduce that to 1 or 2.

If your progress continues to stall, try reducing your training frequency as well. Instead of

training 3 days per week (for example, Monday/Wednesday/Friday), try training using an

interval system where you simply train once every 3 days.

If you're following The No-Fail System exactly as it is outlined and have exhausted all of the

above options, there is virtually zero chance that you will not achieve significant muscle

gains.

If you do require some more advice on this, make sure to visit the forums and I'll be glad to

help you out.

Program Modifications

What to do if your goal is to build muscle, you're gaining mass at a significant rate, but

you're also gaining an excessive amount of body fat.

1) Decrease your calorie intake.

While building muscle requires a surplus of calories, the body is only capable of synthesizing

a limited amount of muscle tissue over a given period of time. Consuming mass numbers of

calories is not going to give you any “super” benefits.

The body cannot simply “flush out” excess calories that aren’t needed; additional calories

above and beyond what your body needs to optimally function will simply be stored in the

“body fat bank” for later use.

The individual who is haphazardly eating mass quantities of food may be taking in several

hundred or more unneeded calories. As a result, he'll end up packing on much more fat than

the individual who stays within the recommended guideline and only eats what is absolutely

necessary to build new muscle.

2) Increase your cardio frequency.

In addition to paying close attention to your overall calorie intake, you can also implement

additional cardiovascular exercise into your routine as well.

Start by including 2-3 cardio sessions weekly into your workout plan and increase it even

higher if necessary. Stick to higher intensity forms of cardio in the range of 15-20 minutes,

just like those outlined in the fat loss section of the course.

3) Include LeanElite in your supplementation plan.

LeanElite is a carefully formulated fat burning catalyst that increases thermogenesis (calories

that are burned as heat), optimizes thryoid hormone activity, accelerates workout intensity,

regulates hunger and reduces excess water retention.

Each serving provides over 3 grams of potent fat burning compounds ingredients, including

CLA, caffeine anhydrous, synephrine HCL, green tea extract, synthetic guggulsterones, l-

tyrosine and cinnamon.

When combined with a proper nutrition and cardio plan, LeanElite is the easiest and most

direct way to reduce your body fat levels.

Program Modifications

What to do if your goal is to burn fat, but you aren't losing body fat at a significant rate.

1) Increase your training intensity.

How much effort are you really putting into each of your weight training and cardio

workouts?

Simply "going through the motions" is not going to get the job done. If you want your body to

expend the necessary calories needed to stimulate fat loss, your workouts need to be hard and

intense.

Weight training and cardio "spike" your fat burning metabolism and cause you to burn

calories for many hours following the session, but only if the intensity level is high enough.

If you want real results, buckle down and get serious.

2) Increase your cardio frequency.

Without a sufficient calorie deficit, fat loss will simply not occur.

Are you performing 3 cardio sessions weekly right now? Try increasing it to 5 and see what

happens. Are you performing 5 already? Then start doing cardio every day.

You might have a fat burning metabolism that needs a bigger “kick” in order to really get

going and burn the amount of fat you desire.

3) Decrease your calorie intake.

If increasing your activity level and intensity doesn't do the trick, try creating a bigger calorie

deficit through your diet. Be cautious with this method, however. Large, sudden decreases in

your calorie intake can cause muscle loss and can actually trigger your body's starvation

mechanism, which in turn slows down your fat burning metabolism.

Begin by reducing your daily intake by around 100-200 calories and then measure the

changes in your body. Sometimes this small amount can make all the difference between

maintaining your body fat and losing it.

4) Include LeanElite in your supplementation program.

As was covered in the previous section, LeanElite increases thermogenesis, optimizes thyroid

hormone activity, improves training intensity, reduces hunger and flushes out excess water

retention.

If your goal is to maximize your rate of fat loss, LeanElite should definitely be included in

your program. Most so-called "fat burners" get a bad wrap because they provide incredibly

weak dosages and are just downright ineffective.

LeanElite is different, and you'll notice it within the first week, guaranteed. Combine this fat

loss combination with your training and diet and you'll experience an almost immediate

improvement in your fat burning results.

5) Get more sleep each night.

When it comes specifically to fat loss, sleep deprivation will affect you negatively in many

ways.

Failing to get an adequate sleep each night reduces performance in the gym, increases an

appetite stimulating hormone called "grehlin", reduces a powerful fat burning hormone called

"leptin", increases cortisol secretion, reduces testosterone and growth hormone, impairs

muscle recovery and increases insulin resistance.

6) Increase your water intake.

While a low water intake on its own probably isn’t the reason you’re failing to lose fat, it

could be one part of the overall combination that is holding you back. Jack up your water

intake; it’s not going to hurt you.

Program Modifications

What to do if your goal is to burn fat, you're burning fat at a significant rate, but you're

also losing an excessive amount of lean muscle.

1) Increase your calorie intake.

If you're losing lean muscle at too quick of a rate, then you are almost certainly creating too

severe of a calorie deficit within your body. While a large calorie deficit can help you lose

body fat faster over the short term, it will also wreak havoc on your lean muscle tissue.

An effective calorie deficit is in the range of 15-20% below your caloric maintenance level.

Any lower than this and you'll be putting yourself at risk of losing an excessive amount of

muscle.

2) Decrease your cardio frequency.

Calorie deficits are created both through your diet and through your training program. Cardio

is an important part of a complete fat burning plan, but going too far overboard can have

devastating muscle wasting effects.

As long as your diet is properly structured and your weight training program is properly in

place, you shouldn't require any more than 3-4 high intensity cardio sessions each week. Try

gradually reducing your cardio frequency until the proper balance is reached.

3) Supplement with MuscleAmp.

2 daily servings of MuscleAmp is a highly effective way to ward off the muscle wasting

effects of a reduced calorie diet.

This key muscle gain supplement has powerful anti-catabolic effects that keep your hard-

earned muscle tissue intact as you burn off excess body fat.

On workout days, consume 1 serving of MuscleAmp before your workout, followed by

another serving post workout.

On non-workout days, consume 1 serving first thing in the morning, followed by 1 serving in

the evening.

Chapter 6 Review

1) Examining your progress from week to week is an important way to make sure your results

are being maximized and to find areas of possible improvement in your muscle building/fat

loss program.

2) The primary progress tracking factors of a muscle building program are strength gains and

body weight gains. Secondary factors are your appearance in the mirror, before/after pictures

and body measurements. Measuring your body fat percentage is an advanced factor.

3) The primary progress tracking factor of a fat loss program is body weight losses.

Secondary factors are your changes in strength, appearance in the mirror, before/after pictures

and body measurements. Measuring your body fat percentage is an advanced factor.

4) If your goal is to build muscle, but you aren't gaining mass at a significant rate, one or

more of the following program modifications may be necessary: increase your training

intensity, increase your calorie intake, carefully implement the complete Elite Mass

Protocol™, get more sleep each night, reduce your training volume and/or reduce your cardio

frequency.

5) If your goal is to build muscle, you're gaining mass at a significant rate, but you're also

gaining an excessive amount of body fat, one or more of the following program modifications

may be necessary: decrease your calorie intake, increase your cardio frequency and/or include

LeanElite in your supplementation plan.

6) If your goal is to burn fat, but you aren't losing body fat at a significant rate, one or more of

the following program modifications may be necessary: increase your training intensity,

increase your cardio frequency, decrease your calorie intake, include LeanElite in your

supplementation plan, increase your water intake and/or get more sleep each night.

7) If your goal is to burn fat, you're burning fat at a significant rate, but you're also losing an

excessive amount of lean muscle, one or more of the following program modifications may be

necessary: increase your calorie intake, decrease your cardio frequency and/or supplement

with MuscleAmp.

Chapter 7: Conclusion

Congratulations on making your way through the complete No-Fail System Manual.

By reading through this entire e-course, you've shown your seriousness and dedication to

achieving the muscular body you're after.

You’re now fully equipped with every single strategy you need to take your body from where

it is now, to where you want it to be.

You've discovered all of the key principles behind training, nutrition, supplementation, fat

loss and progress tracking that deliver the most impressive results possible.

But, as Bruce Lee said:

“Knowing is not enough; we must APPLY.

Willing is not enough; we must DO.”

It’s time to take all of this information and translate it into real-life action.

Talking, thinking and theorizing does not build muscle. It takes focused action on your part.

Turning that muscular body of your dreams into a reality is a simple matter of implementing

the "3 Elements Of Bodybuilding Success" on a consistent basis...

1) High Intensity Weight Training

2) Intelligent Muscle Building Nutrition

3) The Elite Mass Protocol™

There is nothing more to it than that.

You now have all of the knowledge you need to go ahead and begin following The No-Fail

Program in the most effective way possible and to execute these 3 elements of success to their

fullest potential.

Right now, I want you to go ahead and envision the body that you’d ultimately like to

achieve.

Take a look at yourself; ripped, muscular, powerful and strong.

Imagine the looks on your friends' faces as they stare with envy at the amazing new body

you've built...

Imagine going to the beach, taking your shirt off and feeling completely confident with the

way you look...

Imagine stepping on the scale and being thrilled with the number starting back at you...

Imagine the attention you'll get from all those women who can't help but watch as you walk

by...

Looks like a pretty good picture, doesn’t it?

You now have all of the tools at your disposal to turn that picture into a reality.

Is it going to be easy?

Of course not.

Nothing that is actually worth having is going to come easily. If you’re really serious about

achieving that ultimate physique, it’s going to take some hard work and patience.

But believe me, the satisfaction of being in great shape is worth the price many times over.

It’s all within your control. You are the creator of your own reality, you are the center of your

universe, and you have all the power in the world to change it.

So what are you waiting for?

This is it.

The place is here and the time is now.

It’s time to take all of that knowledge you’ve absorbed and put it into action.

It’s time to light the fire, kickstart the engine and get the snowball rolling…

Congratulations on your decision to make this change.

Let's do this...

Click Here To Access The No-Fail Workout Routine

Click Here To Access The No-Fail Meal Plan

Click Here To Access The No-Fail Supplement Protocol

I look forward to hearing from you.