Is This Workout Mistake Ruining 67% Of Your Results?

We all know that getting plenty of exercise is a good thing... right? Every day, countless people put on their running shoes and jog, run or treadmill for hours on end.

The goal? Get rid of that excess flab and maybe build some nice lean, shpely muscle while they're at it. Nothing special, they just want to look a bit more 'toned' and feel fitter.

The problem is... after months of tedious workouts they're still not seeing any worthwhile results.

Motivation levels drop to zero and before they realize it they're skipping workouts or ... not working out at all anymore.

Here's the problem...

According to a research conducted in 2006 by Berkley and Stanford Universities, most people are wasting more than 67% of the fat 'burning potential' of their workouts. Pretty shocking,,, right? In our fast pace, results based society, nearly 70% of many people's workouts are a complete waste of time.

Take for instance the world’s most popular weight loss exercise... jogging as an example.

Every year, about 36 million people buy themselves a pair of running shoes and start jogging because they think it will help get them burn fat and get a lean physique.

However…

The results of the research from Berkley and Stanford Universities paint a slightly different picture. To the shock of pretty much the entire fitness industry, ALL these runners actually got fatter with each passing year! This includes those who ran as much as 8 miles every single day.

Those folks are'nt just wasting 100% of their exercise time... they're risking lasting joint problems caused by repetitive strain! And that’s obviously not the result you're looking for when you start working out.

So... what can you do to solve this?

According to fitness coach and bodyweight exercise expert Adam Steer ... for maximum effectiveness, your fat loss plan and workouts must include three key “blocks”.

You simply can't hit 100% of your fat burning potential without implementing all three.

The biggest problem with most conventional programs is that only hit one of these three essential methods, like jogging. This means you’re only working with 33% of your maximum fat burning potential—at best. And don't forget the risk of repetitive strain injuries.

So what exactly are these key workout ingredients you so desperately need for a successful fat loss plan?

1. Intense cardio interval training: High intensity interval training is all the rage, and there's a reason for this... it works!

2. Endurance cardio training: Yes, cardio is still a great way to burn calories and get rid of fat, that is if you combine it with the other two components.

3. Metabolic-Muscle training: This is something many people (especially women) overlook, yet it's probably the most important of all. Building muscle is one of the best things you can do to accelerate fat loss. Don't worry... we're not talking about big, bodybuilder type muscles here but shapely, lean and athletic muscle. According to Steve Holman (Old School New Body) building and maintaining muscle mass is one of the key factors in fighting the symptoms associated with aging.

Without all three of these components, it’s pretty much impossible to keep your metabolic machinery firing at 100% of its true potential.

To help you get the maximum out of your workouts, Adam has created the Bodyweight Burn System. This program show's you exactly how to start combining these three essential components into effective workouts using nothing but bodyweight exercises.

Adams program teaches you short 21 minute workouts that consist of some truly unique exercises which you probably won't find anywhere else. The short, equipment free workouts make this the perfect program for anyone who is pressed for time, on a budget or simply doesn't want to leave the house for their workout.

Metabolic Cooking Review – Eating For Fat Loss

This review has been moved. You'll find it here

Can Overtraining Help You Build Muscle?

If you've been working out for any length of time, you've probably been told that overtraining is bad. According to Nick Nilsson (from Mad Scientist Muscle) however, overtraining on purpose is actually the key to REAL results if you want to build muscle.

Nick Nilsson

In this article Nick explains his take on overtraining and why you should be doing it if you want to see results over the long-term. He gives some great insight into how the body works and how you can use overtraining to your advantage if you want to build muscle and strength fast!


First of all, what is overtraining? Simply put, overtraining is training to the extent that your body is unable to recover from the volume or frequency of this training. The result is that your body begins to break down and becomes more susceptible to injury and illness. You may even start to go backwards in your training, getting smaller and weaker and losing your motivation to train.

So... how can overtraining possibly be good for you?

This is how:

It all begins with your body's incredible adaptive power. If you've been training with weights for some time, you will probably have noticed that it is pretty much impossible to make consistent gains for a long period of time using just one training system. The reason for this is tha your body quickly adapts to whatever training system you're using and hits a plateau. In order to prevent this, it is generally recommended that you change your program every three to six weeks.

The question is: how can you use your body's adaptive ability to your advantage?

According to Nick, the answer is actually quite simple. The trick is to gradually build up to a state of temporary overtraining. Then, when you're overtrained and your body's adaptive processes are working to the max for recovery, you back off. This results in what is known as overcompensation.

How does overcompensation work?

Imagine you're driving a car and climbing a hill. The gas pedal is to the floor and you're giving it everything you've got. Still, the car is at its limit and you're just barely creeping up the hill. This is similar to overtraining. Once you reach the top, the going gets a lot easier. If you keep the gas pedal on the floor once you're over the top and start heading down, you're going to go gain speed very quickly. This is overcompensation and this is where the results are.

The way a normal program usually works is: you work one bodypart, making it temporarily weaker. Once it recovers, it then becomes stronger as it overcompensates, allowing you to lift more the next time you train it. What most normal programs do on a small, local basis, the Mad Scientist Muscle overtraining program does on a full body basis, using a very systematic approach.

Controlled overtraining

Now you know a about the us for overcomensation, it's time to harness the power of overtraining by using what Nick calls "Controlled Overtraining." This is what you are doing during the Accumulation and Intensification phases of the Mad Scientist Muscle program.

The overtraining or ramping phase lasts three weeks. This is about the time it takes your body to adapt to a training program. After these 3 weeks, it backs off to a relatively easy phase for three weeks.

Here's an example of how it works:

Let's say that, during the first week, you start out doing 3 sets for each bodypart. Then during the second week, you will do 4 sets and during the third week you will be doing 5 sets.

While you're increasing the volume (number of sets), you're also decreasing the rest period. For example, during week 1 you might use 90 seconds rest between sets. Week 2, you'll use 60 seconds and week 3 you'll use 45 seconds. This gradually builds you up to overtraining and THAT is where we back off.

During the next three weeks, you will be decreasing the sets and reps and increasing the rest periods. This allows your body to recover from the overtraining during the first 3 weeks. For example, you might reduce the number of sets back down to three per bodypart and increase rest periods between stes to two minutes. During this phase, you can also decrease your rep ranges using a heavier weight and focusing more on strength.

This takes advantage of the overcompensation that occurs when the body is still working at dealing with the hard work you put it through during the first stage and then suddenly cutting the hard work. During this phase it may feel like you're hardly doing anything at all, but you should see some great results.

Continue this lower-volume training for at least three weeks. If, after those three weeks, you are still making progress, just keep going! This phase can last for as long as 6 weeks or more, so don't cut yourself off from any potential results by reeturning to pahse one to quickly . When you start to slow down, however, it's time to ramp back up to overtraining. Keeping up this cycling of volume and intensity is a strategy that will help you break through plateaus and give consistent results over long periods of time.

For a sample program that puts these principles into action, try the day muscle and strength building program, which you will find here.

As you can see, when done properly and in a controlled way, overtraining is not always the bad thing it's made out to be. Training on the edge is where the real results are. Those who who embrace it will often progress much fasterthan those who shy away from it.

This type of "Controlled Overtraining" is an integral part of Nick Nilsson's Mad Scientist Muscle program. During each unique cycle of this program, he takes you through 3 weeks of ramping up, each time using a different volume-based training style.

After that, you'll go directly into a lower-volume, higher-intensity style of training that has been paired specifically with the training style you just finished. This delivers maximum gains and takes full advantage of the increased "revvs" your body is experiencing in metabolism.

Workout 3: Intensification Training

Welcome to phase 3 of the 3 Day Muscle and Strength training program. Where the previous workout focused on building muscle, this training session is all about increasing strength. You should do this training two days after the accumulation training.


You'll be doing low-rep sets with longer rest periods. This will enable you to maximize power and recovery. This workout uses a 5-3-1 rep scheme, where your first set will be done for 5 reps, your second set for 3 reps and your final set for 1 rep. You will be increasing the weight you use on each set. For the final set should you should aim for about...aim for around 95 to 98% of your 1 rep max (1RM).

In addition to pulling back on volume and allowing for recovery, this type of training teaches your nervous system how to handle near-limit weights while keeping good form. You should take 2 to 3 minutes rest in between sets.

Back - 3 sets (5-3-1-) - deadlifts, weighted-chin-ups or rows
Chest - 3 sets (5-3-1-) - barbell or dumbell bench press
Thighs - 3 sets (5-3-1) - barbell squats, front squats or leg press

The style of training program as descibed in this 3 day workout plan, is what is known as "microperiodization". Instead of going with longer cycles that last several weeks, you do very short cycles which are compressed into a much smaller timeframe (a single week).

It's a similar idea to training the body more frequently with fewer sets rather than beating your body down by doing single-bodypart training and then giving it a week to recover. This is also the reason why these workouts focus on large movements rather than isolating single muscles.

Because this program is a one-week cycle, you can easily test drive it by just committing to it for three or four weeks. If you like the results you are getting, I highly reccomend Nick Nilsson's Mad Scientist Muscle. It expands this one-week cycle into an 8 week cycle. It also includes 3 different versions of the program, which gives you a total of 6 months of muscle-building programming all laid out for you.

If you want to break through your current palteau and take your muscle mass and strength to a whole new level, it's an excellent program and definitely worth checking out.

Back to:

• The 3 Day Muscle and Strength Building Program
• Workout 1: Structural Training
• Workout 2: Accumulation

Workout 2: Accumulation Training

This is the second workout in the 3 Day Muscle and Strength Building Porgram. The accumulation phase is all about building mass. You will be using Time/Volume Training, which has been proven to be extremely effective for building muscle. It can be used with just about any type of exercise, including bodyweight exercises.


Do this workout two days after the structural training workout. For instance, if you did the structural training on monday, you should do the accumulation training on wednesday.

Time/Volume training is Nick Nilsson's version of density training. By using an increase of training volume and workload within a specific timeframe, it accomplishes an overload of the muscles. This training is designed to hit your power-oriented muscle fibers, which is essential for mass building.

Time/Volume training uses small 3 rep sets with short rest periods between sets. This allows for tremendous training volume. Combine this with very deliberate increases in density, and this type of training will lead to rapid increase in both muscle mass and strength.

How it works:

Choose a weight that allows you to get at least 10 to 12 reps. When doing bodyweight exercises, you should choose a version of that exercise which allows for a minimum of 10 reps.

The key to this training is that it allows you to manage fatigue while at the same time maximizing your training volume. It is designed to hit your body with massive workload without going near failure and taxing the nervous system.

You will be doing 15 minute training sessions per exercise.

Back - 15 minutes - chin-ups, pulldowns, rows, or deadlifts
Chest - 15 minutes – barbell, dumbell bench press or pushups
Thighs - 15 minutes - barbell squats, front squats, split squats or leg press

• Do one set of 3 reps, then rest for 10 seconds. Do another set of 3 reps and rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this process until you can't get 3 reps anymore.
• When the third rep becomes a struggle, increase your rest time between sets from 10 to 20 seconds. Keep doing 3 rep sets with 20 second rests between sets.
• As soon as you can't get 3 reps anymore, increase the rest between sets with 10 seconds (from 20 to 30 to 40 and so on).
• Keep doing these 3 rep sets until your 15 minutes are up.

When should you increase the weight?

Nick uses a very simple rule which tell's you exactly when it's time to increase the weight. If you can do the 3 rep sets with 10 second rest periods for 1/3 (5 minutes) of the time period, you should increase the weight for your next session. As long as you don't reach this 5 minute mark, keep using the same weight.

For more detailed information on Time-Volume Training, click here.

To learn more about Nick Nilsson and his Mad Scientist Muscle program click here.

This concludes the second workout in the 3 Day Muscle and Strength Training Program. The next workout is aimed at increasing your strength. You will be reducing the volume but increasint the intensity.

Back to Workout 1: Structural Training

Workout 1: Structural Training

This is the first workout of the 3 day muscle and strength building program. It is designed to alter your body's physiology and to prepare it for the muscle and strength development workouts which follow. The workout is divided into two groups of exercises:

• High-rep / light weight: These are meant to increase capillarization to the muscle tissue, which leads to increased blood flow and oxygenation.
• Partial range sets: These are designed to strengthen the connective tissue as well as the nervous system.

For the high-rep sets, you will be aiming for 100 reps. Use a very light weight which you can handle with ease, and get as many reps as you can. If you don't hit 100 reps, stop , take 10 seconds rest and continue for as many reps as you can. Repeat this procedure until you get to a total of 100 reps. Follow this same pattern on the second set as well. Take 2 minutes rest between sets.

Back - 2 sets of 100 reps - seated cable rows or pulldowns
Chest - 2 sets of 100 reps - barbell or dumbell bench press
Thighs - 2 sets of 100 reps - leg press, barbell squats or dumbell squats

For the partial-range sets, you should work only the top few inches of the range of motion and hold the lockout position for at least 5 seconds on each rep to load the connective tissue. In order to get the most from these exercises, you should be aiming for the most weight you can handle. You can use weights 20 to 50% higher than your 1 RM for these sets. Take 2 minutes rest between sets.

Back - 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps - rack pulls or top-range chin-ups or rows
Chest - 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps – top-range barbell bench press
Thighs - 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps – top-range squats or leg press

This concludes workout 1 of the 3 Day Muscle and Strength Building Program. Don't skip it, as it lays the foundation and prepares your body for the next workout, which is all about building mass.

Workout 2: Accumulation

This workout was brought to you by Nick Nilsson from Mad Scientist Muscle.

3 Day Muscle and Strength Building Program

Looking to build build some serious muscle but keep hitting a frustrating plateau? This 3 day total body workout program uses a systematic and scientific approach to smash through the plateau's that are holding you back. It takes advantage of how your body works and the way it responds to various forms of training. It does this by using 3 very specific phases (Structural, Accumulation and Intensification).

The program is based on Nick Nilsson's Mad Scientist Muscle training method. Basically it compresses the entire 8 week cycle of this program into ONE week. All you have to do is repeat these 3 workouts for up to 6 weeks (or until you stop seeing results) and observe an increase in your muscle mass and strength.

This training is all about pushing your body to its limits. It does this in a systemic, targeted and controlled fashion. In order to get the maximum results, each workout sets up the next and builds on the previous workout.

Like the original program, this three day per week (monday/wednesday/friday) workout is based on three phases....

Phase 1. Structural Training:

This phase is designed to alter the physiology of your body. It does this by using very high-reps (which increases the capillarization of the muscle tissue) and very heavy partial-range training (which strengthens the connective tissue and nervous system).

Phase 2. Accumulation:

The accumulation phase is all about building mass. This phase introduces a strategic increase in training volume using Time/Volume Training. It is designed to overload the body and force adaptation. This is where you will start to see an increase in muscle mass.

Phase 3. Intensification:

This final phase brings a pullback on training volume while at the same time increasing the intensity. This allows the body to rebound from the previous training. Where the previous phase was aimed at increasing mass, in this phase you'll see the increase in your strength.

The first day in this 3 day program is 'Structural Training'. The objective for this training is to improve your body's ability to build and support muscle tissue. This lay's the foundation for the two following workouts. The second workout is volume... This means lots of sets using moderate weight and very little rest. The third is intensity, where you will be using heavy weight and longer rest.

In order to produce maximum results, each workout will be a total-body session. You will be focusing only on the big muscles and will only be using big exercises. This helps to activate as many muscles as possible simultaniously, which will stimulate maximum gains. Don't worry about the smaller muscles. They will get ample stimulation and do not need to be worked directly.

To get the the best results, perform this program for 4 to 6 weeks, mixing up the exercises you're using regularly. You should also increase the weights you're using whenever you can do so, while always being careful to keep good form.

Workouts:

Workout 1: Structural Training

Workout 2: Accumulation

Workout 3: Intensification