Here is a quick video that shares some more info and answers many questions about our new Hybrid Muscle Publishing book 14-Day Hybrid Mass Building.

The picture below is taken directly from our 14-Day Hybrid Mass manual.  On this page Dennis Weis (the author) describes the methodology of Anabolic Burst Cycling used in the program.

In this image you’ll notice the type of training associated with the “over feeding” portion of the anabolic cycle.

Hey, if you have any further questions about gaining mass or The 14-Day Hybrid Mass system just post below!

Who loves ya?

While we’ve been on the topic of crazy mass building methods… one of my good buddies sent me this video of a Japanese bodybuilder by the name of Katsumi Kitamura a few years ago. (by the way, this dude is dead now… seems he died of heart failure due to severe dehydration and mineral imbalances, go figure.)

While you might think this video is crazy, I bet its only the tip of the iceberg for what some guys are willing to do to gain mass.  (and after reading some of YOUR stories… I know you’ve seen some weird stuff too!)

Today I just wanted to share an update on a project that Mike and I are working on.

In the spirit of the true Hybrid Muscle Building tradition we’re committed to ONLY bringing you information that “makes sense”.

Hard science backed by credible references.

When Lean Hybrid Reloaded (for getting leaner) launched in February 2011 we introduced you to the concept of “macro nutrient cycling” brought to our attention by Ori Hoffmeckler.  We also shared our experiences with Intermittent Fasting that we discovered by studying the work of Brad Pilon.

Next week we are going to introduce you to two very important, but “unsung” heroes in the world of MASS GAINING.  These guys have been working behind the scenes for decades and have brought insight and inspiration to some of the most world renowned fitness experts, like Bill Phillips, and bodybuilders.

The first gentleman is Dr. Torbjorn (pronounced Tor-b-yorn) Akerfeldt who was a scientist (in endocrinology, physiology, pharmacology and nutrition) and real-world bodybuilder, (6’ 1”, 225 lbs., with 8% body fat).  Dr. Torbjorn’s method for building EXTREME amounts of muscle mass in minimal time.

What we like most about Dr. Torbjorn’s mass building method is that it is perfectly aligned with several of our Hybrid Philosophies including “cyclical” nutrition / training, as well as in regards to the folly of  “bulking and cutting”

Next, you can look forward to learning EVERYTHING you need to know about this “Hybrid Mass Building” method from one our good friends and most trusted resources Dennis Weis.

Dennis was a  top level titled Power-Bodybuilding champion. He is also a hard-hitting, uncompromising freelance professional writer and investigative research consultant in the fields of bodybuilding, nutrition, physiology, and powerlifting.  You may be familiar with some of his work published in Bodybuilding Monthly (U.K. publication), Exercise For Men Only, Hardgainer (Nicosia, Cyprus, publication), Iron Man, Muscle & Fitness, MuscleMag Int’l, Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness and Reps!

If you are as sick of all of the Mass Building Mayhem as we are and would rather learn a HYBRID method for building mass than drinking the “muscle sludge shake” in that video above then I think you are really going to like what Mike and I are going to share with you next week.

Have an awesome weekend fellas

One of the most common quotes often recited by people who have used our Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded program is “your system just makes perfect sense!”

I gotta admit that we DID put a ton of time into creating the system as well as into testing it out at my gym for over a year.  So, if everything in the program seems well thought out and calculated, thats because it is!

Something else that I’ve got to admit to is devising and trying out some really weird and wacky means for gaining weight and building muscle mass.  Some of these goofy mass gaining tactics were shared with me by friends, and a few others I had just plain “pulled out of my ass”.

I began weight training using a power rack, barbell and about 300 pounds of Olympic plates in my parents basement when I was 14 years old.

At that time my uncle had just gotten his personal trainer’s license and committed to teaching me and my younger brothers how to train properly with the weights in our basement.

After a few months of learning the barbell basics my uncle decided that it was time to “step it up” and add some mass gaining nutrition strategies to our program since we needed to get bigger and heavier to play football.

As a great coach and trainer my uncle devised an incredible meal plan for me to follow that included three whole foods meals and three “weight gainer” shakes per day.

Now, if you are not familiar with what your typical weight gainer’s shake was like back in 1995… just imagine mixing 12 tablespoons of chocolate Quick, 10 tablespoons of sugar, maple syrup, flour and whole milk into one of those red and white Big Gulp cups you see fat kids walking out of 7 Eleven and sipping Slurpies from on hot summer evenings.

Well, as a high school kid eager to gain mass I decided that if I were to gain as much mass as possible in the minimum amount of time, that perhaps I should suck down one of these big, nasty insulin spikers WITH each one of my regular meals.

Imagine drinking a shake that had over 3,500 calories and 112 grams of sugar along with your meal of chicken wings and white rice!

Forget about gaining “puffy muscle”, I just got FAT!

In 9th grade I was 160 pounds with six pack abs, by the time I was graduating 10th grade I was 210 pounds with a double chin.

Did I gain mass?
Yes.

Was I stronger?
Yes.

Then was this really a “muscle building blunder”?
I don’t know… you tell me!

There are just some things that we do, to get what we want, that ends up costing us more than we get from it.

For instance, Mike told me yesterday that his college football coach had him eating raw potatoes, like they were apples, several times per day!

I don’t know about you, but I’d say that the indigestion and colon blowing that may be associated with eating raw tubers may not be worth gaining a few extra pounds.

And how about this GOMAD diet?

Before the age of pasteurization for so-called “public safety” (ie. shelf life), milk was actually an incredible super food loaded with live enzymes and beneficial bacteria.

But now, with all I know about the disgusting and dangerous side effects of drinking processed milk I might as well just invest in some injectable testosterone and deal with the shrinking testicles over chronic persistent farting… at least my tiny testes wouldn’t send my four young children running away from me like the Japanese from Godzilla.

Now, if you are desperate to gain mass I can totally see why you’d go about trying almost ANYTHING to watch the scale dial move forward an inch or two…. and if you’re anything like me you’re not scared to get a little wacky or weird about it.

I enjoyed a real hearty, tear jerking, belly laugh out loud when recounting some of the crazy things I have personally done and hearing stories from what others on the “path to mass” have experimented with.

So, I’d like to keep the smiles bright just a little bit longer and learn about some of the wackiest muscle building blunders YOU have made.

It can be anything from a psychotic diet to some magical workout or even a strange superstition about smearing bull’s semen on your forehead at night before sleep… whatever!

Just post your story below!

As you think about your story keep in mind that Mike and I are pulling the strings to license an amazing “anabolic cycling” mass building system devised by a doctor of physiology that Mike learned about while playing football in Sweden.

And just like Lean Hybrid Muscle, this guy’s mass building stuff “just makes perfect sense”!

Looking forward to your stories!

I often talk about building Relative Body Strength when answering questions related to increasing performance over on my Yo! Elliott Youtube Channel.

This idea of building superior strength in relation to your body weight will improve sprinting times, vertical jump height, chin up strength as well as giving you incredible “gymnastic strength” (like I was working on last week with my muscle up attempts)…

But keeping a low body weight WHILE increasing strength and power output is SUPER important for athletes who need to “make weight”… basically maintain their weight to meet the requirements for a weight class, like in boxing, MMA or wrestling.

This requires a system that build POWER but by passes the HYPERTROPHY response that is typical with most weight training programs.

Anyway, I thought that since we’re always talking about getting LEANER and STRONGER at the same time that the following Yo! Elliott Q and A would be interesting to you.
.

–> HERE IS THE LINK I MENTION IN THE VIDEO, CLICK HERE <—
-

I personally am very intrigued with these “little firecrackers” who are smaller (read: leaner) but are still as strong or stronger than some of their massive counterparts.  This is a goal that I am currently working on.

If I can be as strong as I was at 235 lbs at a weight of only 200 lbs, this would prove to be a worthy experiment.

What are you thoughts on being LIGHT but STRONG?

(also, we’ve got something cool coming for you “hard gainers” next week… so we haven’t left you out)

by Mike Westerdal

Competitive bodybuilder, fitness coach and nutritionist Dave Ruel—aka the ‘Muscle Cook’—says that he has three passions in life:

1) bodybuilding
2) nutrition
3) cooking

Dave’s particular passions for nutrition and cooking have led him to begin authoring strength training-focused cookbooks/guides. His latest work is entitled Metabolic Cooking. Countless different bodybuilding cookbooks are published each year, but what’s exciting and different about Dave is that unlike most others, his approach to bodybuilding and fitness nutrition isn’t boring.

In fact, Dave promises that not only are his recipes remarkably healthy, but they’re extremely tasty too. Now that sounds like something I can sink my teeth into, so let’s take a look.

Dave says that Metabolic Cooking is geared towards persons who are trying to shed excess body fat. The program is actually comprised of several volumes.

First, there is a 50-page Fat Loss Optimizer cooking and nutrition guide. Here, Dave lays out the foundation of his approach to cooking for fat loss. The Metabolic Profile is one of the key concepts that you need to understand before diving into the program. As you review the cookbooks, you’ll find the recipes based on the particular nutrients included, referred to as proteins (P), carbohydrates (C), fats (F), and vegetables (V).

Dave has created each of his recipes so that you eat various combinations of these with each recipe. This helps promote the overall metabolic boosting benefits of the program, helping you to shed unwanted body fat.

Each recipe in the book has its own metabolic profile. The guidelines for this metabolic profiling approach are not difficult to follow: the Ps contain 15 grams of protein per serving; the Cs contain 10 grams of carbs per serving; the Fs contain 5 grams of fat per serving; and the Vs contain enough vegetables to be equivalent to one serving size. He recommends that you eat four to six servings of vegetables each day and says that you can add veggies to as many meals as possible throughout the day.

The program is based on a six-meal-a-day strategy, with three main meals (break, lunch and dinner) and three snacks (mid-morning, mid-afternoon and before bedtime). Carbs are eaten early in the day at breakfast, with the mid-morning snack and at lunch time. Other than vegetables, carbs are not part of the three later meals or snacks. Proteins and fats are a part of all meals and snacks, however.

Mike Westerdal with Metabolic Cooks Karine Losier and Dave Ruel

Each cookbook comes with a nice assortment of anywhere from 14 to 30 recipes to choose from, with the majority of them being pretty simple to prepare. Like any sound fat-loss nutrition plan, Metabolic Cooking places a strong emphasis on breakfast. According to Dave, “Having a well balanced breakfast that includes all three nutrients including proteins (P), carbohydrates (C), and healthy fats (F) is the best way to get your metabolism jump-started for the day and ensure that you have energy to spare as you go about your morning.” A healthy well-balanced breakfast is essential to setting your body’s ‘metabolic pace’ in fat-burning mode throughout the day. Numerous studies have found that people who eat a healthy breakfast burn more calories and fat throughout the day than non-breakfast eaters.

Complex recipes with lots of uncommon ingredients and complicated preparation instructions are what turn me away from a lot of ‘healthy’ cookbooks I’ve seen over the years. It’s a shame but I’ve tossed plenty of otherwise great bodybuilding/fitness cookbooks into the recycling bin because the recipes were just so flipping complicated to prepare. I’m happy to report though, that Dave Ruel apparently feels the same way.

Going through the ingredient lists in the various cookbooks I hardly ran into anything at all that might be difficult to find and even nearly all of the recipes only involve 3 to 6 steps to prepare. Even for someone who is ‘challenged’ in terms of cooking skills, Dave’s Metabolic Cooking recipes are manageable.

But, I’ve saved the best part for last—not only are Dave’s recipes healthy and simple to prepare, but they’re downright tasty too! His dishes really run the gamut of cuisines, so whether you’ve got a taste for Mexican, Asian, Italian, vegetarian or down-home American fare, you’ll find something for you.

You also get a broad variety of choices in terms of poultry, pork, seafood, fish, red meats and vegetarian choices so you’ll be able to mix things up as much as you like. You also get a fantastic selection of snacks and smoothies too so you won’t have to deal with any of those nasty hunger pangs between meals.

Now let’s get to the bottom line—can following Dave’s Metabolic Cooking plan help you to shed unwanted body fat? The answer to that question is a resounding yes—with the caveat that nutrition isn’t the only component of a realistic fat-loss strategy. Other things such as regularly exercising, getting plenty of sleep, not smoking and not drinking excessively are important too. I’ve looked through the recipes and can say that Dave has indeed done his homework.

But in terms of establishing a sound nutritional foundation for fat loss, you can’t go wrong with Dave Ruel’s Metabolic Cooking plan.

http://leanhybridmuscle.com/goto/MetabolicCooking

Late last week I posted the following video over on my Facebook wall:

As you can imagine, the ideas presented by the woman in the video created quite a stir… especially since I sought out the opinions of my FB buddies, instead of just posting something and calling it “truth”.

Here are some of your responses:

This video and the subsequent response from my friends reminded me of a concept I once studied called “Biochemical Individuality”.

Biochemical Individuality basically points to the obvious fact that “we are all different”.  Not only do we look different, but our individual physiological responses to a myriad of stimuli, including food, can be as diverse as our fingerprints!

So, to say that EVERYONE must now begin to cut fruits out of their diet and include more animal fats is absurd.

Granted, there are many people who would be far better off if they were to avoid most plant based foods in exchange for a more fat and protein rich diet, but these people’s Biochemical Individuality, inherited from ancestors how thrived in cold climates that had no access to plant foods but abundant access to animal meat, fat and organs, would dictate this fact… not some “expert” selling her new book.

I’ve often made mention of the studies of Dr. Weston A Price, where he traveled the world in the early part of the 1900′s in order to discover “the healthiest people on Earth”.

Dr. Price, author of Nutrition & Physical Degeneration, was a dentist and nutritionist that began to notice a severe degeneration in the quality of health via genetic expression in his patients.

In particular the “crowding of the teeth and narrowing of the palate”, which we now simply chalk up as needing braces.  Prior to the inclusion of refined sugars and processed fats (about 70% of the Standard American Diet) there were very few children when visited his practice in need of braces to correct facial deformation.

Dr. Price set out across the world to see what healthy indigenous tribes and so-called “savages” ate in order to maintain the immaculate health and STRENGTH.

Amongst several auxiliary discoveries such as a lack of cancers, zero facial deformation, zero cavities, rugged resistance to disease and joyful exuberance for life… he noted that all of the strongest, healthiest and happiest tribes he studied ate a diet rich in saturated fats from animal meat and organs.  This was his objective finding… that diets of over 90% animal fats and protein created the strongest people.

In fact, Dr. Price became incredibly set on discovering ONE, single group of people who thrived well on a plant based diet… and he could NOT find one.  And the ones that he did find Dr. Price noted that they were far more aggressive, angry, willing to fight (ie “blood thirsty”) than the meat eating tribes.

The closest he found to healthy people who ate mainly plants, was a group of Indians in South America who ate mainly roots vegetables, but even these people highly prized the sea foods that expecting /  nursing mothers and small children were encouraged to eat.

When asked why they fed these fatty fish oils to women and children, the response was “It builds children with rounder heads, the round head children are far superior in strength and intelligence that the narrow headed ones.” — WOW!

Personally, I find that a diet based on fats and meat (like the “Girdona” days in Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded) create the greatest feeling of health and wellness within my being.  My strength, immunity, mental focus and concentration are far higher on a diet of meat than one based on veggies and grains. (to hell with fruit, to me it’s just sugar).

My experience is so strong in this department that I have my children supplement daily with Cod Liver Oil, High Vitamin Butter Oil along with their diet of egg yolks, raw milk and meat.

But like I say, this is MY experience… and I can tell you that my kids have some BIG round heads!

Like I asked my FB buddies, I would like to know what YOU think?

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Biochemical Individuality by Roger Williams

Nutrition & Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A Price

Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded by Mike & Me

Metabolic Cooking (not yet released) by Dave Ruel

Okay, it’s taken me some time to get this post up because, quite frankly, I’ve need some time to “digest” what the hell actually happened on that crazy day.

First… Big shout out to all of my training partners, tough mudder team mates and best friends from Strength Camp:

Roger Hendricks

Morgan Ellis

Greg Ratka

Leon Hynson

Tom McDermott

Neil Orkin

Mark Kron

Ryan Magin

Mike Westerdal

And honorary member Dave Zillig

Well, I’ve got to admit that completing the Tough Mudder Challenge was the single most challenging physical event that I have ever participated in.  Now don’t get me wrong… training to become a professional strongman was as hard as hell, but I am built for lifting heavy stuff, sprinting, jumping and throwing things…

So, 4 hours of jogging up hill, swimming in muddy waters, climbing over 12′ walls, bear crawling up slippery slopes, high stepping through 3 feet of mud, climbing through tunnels and dodging fire and electricity is WAAAAY out of my comfort zone and genetic predisposition.

If I had to wrap up my entire experience and what I learned from training and participating in this challenge it would be…

YIELD

Every sport that I have excelled in has required aggressive, forceful effort… FIRE AND EXPLOSION!  That’s just the way my body is built and it’s just the way I roll.  But this time… effort literally defeated itself.

Instead of giving more effort when competing in this endurance event, I fared best when I GAVE IN.  This is the type of strength that required I “step back” and YIELD to the challenge instead of attacking it.

Fire and Explosion had to be replaced with Water and Capitulation.

Interestingly this has been the theme of my life ever since “turning over a new leaf” upon tearing my biceps tendon almost one year ago.

There is an amazing power available when you embrace the Yin aspects of life, nature and achievement.

Although I am built for FIRE… in order to maximize my FULL potential in sports, fitness, family, business, success and life — I have learned, and am working on building my capacity for the expression of WATER.

My words may seem a bit poetic (and I am a poetic dude inside) but what I describe here is the TRUE philosophy behind all that is truly HYBRID.

My friends…. May you continue to grow in mind, spirit and body… all within the HYBRID Philosophy of Balanced Achievement.

I am blessed to be on this journey with you

PS – if you’re interested in joining team Strength Camp for the Tough Mudder in December 2011, in Tampa shoot me an e mail and I’ll get you the details… our team is growing fast and we’d love to have you.

Yo! Mike and I are freaking amazed at all of our newest Hybrid Muscle Tribesmen who have been cranking out bad-ass hybrid workouts, following the Hybrid Diet and are getting amazing fat loss and lean muscle building results.  Check out these two awesome videos from a couple of serious dudes making BIG things happen!

Funny thing also, both of these guys have also had some awesome things happen for the OUT SIDE OF THE GYM since training “hybrid style”.  It just goes to prove that if you have a healthy, strong body… you’ll have a healthy, abundant and amazing life to reflect it. Keep up the great work guys!

WIN A Lifetime Hybrid Tribe Membership!
(plus more…)

So, since we LOVE getting videos like this… we wanna give you a chance to win some awesome stuff for creating one too.

Here’s How It Works:

Step 1. In Celebration of the new addition to The Westerdal Family, we have decided to put LHM Reloaded on a 50% off sale for the next few days (until Monday 28th)… so, if you don’t already have a copy now it your chance to get it.  If you’re already a “Hybrid Muscle Militiaman” then you no doubt understand how powerful this program is already!

CLICK HERE for LHM Reloaded -- 50% off! <—--

Step 2. Tell us exactly how Lean Hybrid Muscle HAS or CAN change your life! Like you noticed from the videos of the guys above, Lean Hybrid Muscle Training is life changing.  It’s changed my life, their lives and it WILL change yours!

You’ll need to Record A Short Video telling us about your experience; then Upload The Video To Youtube; IMPORTANT: Make sure you title your video “Lean Hybrid Muscle Success” and also add the following link to the description area at the bottom of your video:  http://www.LeanHybridMuscle.com <-- just copy and paste this link — so it should look like this:

*** If you don’t have a YouTube account… then go to http://www.youtube.com/ and create one for free.

Step 3. Embed your YouTube Video In The Comment’s Area Below… Watch this short video that shows you how:

So, your youtube URL should look like this -->
httpv://www.youtube,com/watch?v=DTMYvkcjBhg (notice the V after the http, that’s all you gotta do)

If you are having problems getting your video to show, then just add your link to the comments area and I’ll fix it for you… cool?

The Deadline For Entries Is Monday March 28th at 9am SHARP! (I’ll be leaving town to go camping that day, so if your entry is late I won’t be able to use it!)

Here’s What You’ll Win:

#1. The Top 10 video entries will get one of my Strength Camp Tank Tops mailed directly to their home.  These black and white camo tank tops are seriously bad ass… they’re actually my favorite shirts to wear all summer long and I wear one almost everyday!  You’ll notice me wearing them is a ton of my YouTube videos when the weather is viciously hot here in Florida.

#2. (New) UPPING THE ANTE!! - Top 5 Video Entries will ALSO get a $100 gift certificate for some incredible fresh, organic grass fed beef from US Wellness Meats http://www.grasslandbeef.com/ -- I know John Wood, the farmer, personally and have been using their grass fed beef products for almost 10 years… you’re gonna love this wholesome goodness!!!

#3. The TOP 3 GRAND PRIZE Winners will get a Lifetime Access to our Hybrid Muscle Tribe. Now, what makes membership to our Hybrid Tribe so incredible is that first, you get access to our inner circle website where you get to join our Training Logs forum to interact with other members and actually see my daily training log.

Website access also lets you get a brand new, free piece of exclusive “hybrid muscle” content every week.  Some weeks it’s a new workout, other weeks a tutorial video or an interview… just tons of useful info that helps you get stronger and leaner, faster.

But, by far… THE COOLEST Part Of Hybrid Tribe Membership is that you’ll get every single Hybrid Muscle product that we come out with for FREE… FOREVER.

So, just in case you missed that… every single new Hybrid Muscle product that we make, you’ll get it before it hits the market for $19 -- $97 for FREE.  We e mail our Tribe Members a few days before we release something new and give them a download link where they can access it before anyone else… awesome huh?!

#4. GRAND PRIZE WINNER -- for the absolute BEST LHM Testimonial Video we are giving away an iPad 2 HELL YEA!

Need I say more?!  Get uncomfortable baby…. ONLY the #1, BEST video will earn you one of these bad boys!  So Let’s Do It!!

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s video!

Later,

Elliott & Mike

PS -- Were looking for the most INSPIRING stories and videos… so, dig deep here! And the more real and authentic you are the better, just be yourself and let us know how LHM training has changed your life!

PPS -- Remember that LIFETIME access to our Hybrid Muscle Tribe means that you get every product we ever create for free, forever.  AND the top 10 also get one of my Strength Camp T Shirt!!!

PPPS -- If you don’t already have a copy of LHM Reloaded… here is a special link to get it for 50% off until Monday March 28th CLICK HERE for LHM Reloaded -- 50% off! <—--

Good Luck!

*** POST YOUR ENTRIES BELOW ***

The past few weeks have been nuts over here in Lean Hybrid Land (ie St. Pete FL) with Mike and I, and neither of us have had a moment to stop, reflect and share some of the amazing things that has been happening with us.

So, today as I sit in a hotel room in Orange County California, (like a million miles away from my family) where I shared a presentation on my fitness business model here at Bedros Keuilian’s Fitness Business Summit… (it was actually my very first, real public speaking event!)

I thought that I’d bang out this quick post to let you know “what’s up!” before I hop back on the plane for a 5 hour flight back home.

#1. Big Mike is A Daddy!!

Her name is Karina, which is of Scandinavian origin meaning “Pure Girl”   Notice how wide awake she is in the picture… that’s a sure sign of a fast, powerful and healthy nervous system… she’s gonna be really smart!

Mike’s pretty busy right now, as you can imagine, so I just wanted to share this with you for him.

I also want him to know how proud I am of him and his wife Courtney.

Sure, lots of babies are born everyday… but it’s not everyday that you get to watch your best friend transform right before your eyes.  To go from being a guy with a pregnant wife, to becoming a father is a quantum leap in personal eveolution that can not be expalined, only experienced, and in the instant the shift begins it takes over your entire being… so Mike as we’ve know him no longer exists.  And I’m excited to see as the new him matures with his beautiful new daughter and family.

#2. Last weekend I busted my ass for 4 hours straight, sprinting up-hills; swimming though muddy water; climbing over walls; crawling though tunnels and a bunch of other TOUGH stuff in the “Tough Mudder Challenge” that I participated in with 5 of my Strength Camp training partners (and best friends) up in Georgia.  I’ve got some really embarrassing videos of myself practically drowning that I would share with you but my hard drive in back home in FL.

We’ve also signed up for another Tough Mudder in December, so we’ll be getting ready for that in the fall.  (BTW, If you decided that you’d like to give this a try and want to do the one in December down here in FL let me know and we’ll hook up, have a BBQ or something… cool?)

#3. Call me what you will, but I’m giving CrossFit a shot! Now, I have no intention of becoming a “certified” CF’er or anything like that… but I am intriqued with the leader Greg Glassman’s commitment to find the “Fittest Man Or Woman On Earth” with his CrossFit Games.

You can NOT argue that this is not a bad-add mission, and I think it’s worthy of taking the challenge.  So, I am!

But, I can tell you now that I already feel like I’m in waaaay over my head.  I’ve been training for Professional Strongman Shows for the past 3 years, so my functional strength and power is off the charts… but that’s not good enough to even qualify for the CF Games.

My conditioning is mediocre at best, and even though I completed the tough mudder and can bang out a 5 K in less than 25 mins, the metabolic demands that some of these workouts require have not been a part of my programing for a while.

For example, this week we had to perform 30 double-unders and 15 power snatches with #75, as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.  Yea, I laughed at the light ass weights too… until I actually did it and wanted to die after 3 rounds. If you think you’re a bad-ass give this workout a try and I promise that you’ll think a little different about some of those skinny CF punks.

Now, from what I’ve gathered… the best guys in this “sport of fitness” are also very strong, and since they have events such as max over head pressing and Olympic lifts I think I’ll stack up very well in those components and it may help round out my score for qualifying.

Anyway, I’ve already told you way more than I should have — Any big CF fans out there have some tips or ideas for me just post em below, I’ll take any support you’d offer.

I’ll keep you posted with random updates and let you know when I qualify…. cool?

You can also stay posted by reading updates on my personal facebook fan page.

By Mike Westerdal

Sometimes a guy wants to look as super-shredded and lean as possible. It might be for a competition, photo shoot or maybe just a hot date. Whatever the reason, besides muscle definition, there are two factors that impact just how lean and defined you look–body fat and water retention. Obviously, you can’t look shredded if you’ve got a layer of fat covering the muscles. But even if your body fat is in the single digits, excess water can make you look less defined and sometimes, even bloated. Minimizing excess water weight is what we’re going to explore here today.

Aldosterone is one of the hormones that manages the volume of fluids held in the body–water in particular. And while for most guys water retention isn’t going to be an everyday issue, if you are a competitive bodybuilder or you need to look extra-ripped for a photo shoot or special event, retaining even small amounts of excess water can make all the difference in the world.

First, a little background on Aldosterone, which is released by the adrenal glands. Aldosterone is one of the hormones that helps regulate the body’s sodium and potassium levels. This in turn helps control blood pressure and the balance of fluids and electrolytes in the bloodstream.

The adrenal glands produce more Aldosterone when the body is trying to conserve fluid and salts. This means that high levels of Aldosterone equate to more fluids being retained in the body. When Aldosterone levels are low, the body retains less water.

The entire process is actually managed by the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). If you’re looking to get super shredded and hard with that contest-ready, ‘paper-thin’ skin, then how to manipulate the RAAS is definitely something you want to understand. By learning to manipulate the RAAS you can influence Aldosterone levels and affect how much water your body retains.

A typical strategy that many guys use to reduce the amount of water they retain is to decrease their salt intake and cut back on the amount of water they drink. Decreasing salt intake is good, but it only helps so much. And unfortunately, because the body is always striving to maintain a state of homeostasis (aka the status quo), drinking less water causes the body’s metabolic systems to conserve water.

This actually causes Aldosterone levels to spike, so drinking less water doesn’t have the effect that you want and actually causes the body to retain more water.

So with this in mind, we know that we have to look at another strategy. Strangely enough, one of the ways you can manipulate the RAAS, lower Aldosterone levels and reduce the amount of water retained, is to actually drink more water, not less. This seems to contrary to what you want to achieve but it’s not the way the body works. But it’s a little more complicated than just drinking gallons of water before a competition or event.

Successful manipulation of the RAAS to reduce water retention requires timing and strategy. Finding the right ‘window of opportunity’ is essential to success. Before you start trying to reduce water retention, you’ll need to first make sure that you’ve already shed any unnecessary body fat.

There’s no point in going through the trouble of shedding water when there’s a layer of fat underneath. So step one is to get your body fat percentage into the low teens or even single digits. Once you get to that you point, you’ll be in a position to be able to get shredded by reducing how much water your body retains.

The next step is to follow a specific protocol that incorporates the manipulation of protein and carbohydrate ratios combined with a period of high water intake (hyper hydration) followed by a rapid, timed period of limited water intake (dehydration). You will begin the hyper hydration and dehydration phases several days before the competition or other event for which you want to appear super shredded.

This strategy works because the hyper hydration phase will cause Adosterone levels to drop, meaning that your kidneys are flushing out most of the water you’re drinking–also causing you to piss a lot.

The targeted period of dehydration will allow you to rapidly shed water weight, leaving you super shredded and ultra-lean. But because you’re doing it for such a short period of time, the inevitable spike in Aldosterone levels and the accompanying increase in water retention, won’t happen until after the competition or big event.

For those of you that have been asking for more information about cutting water weight we hope this sheds some light on the topic.

==End Of Article==

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If you’d like to get your hands on our Dry Report for FREE just pick up a copy of John Roman’s Final Phase Fat Loss or what we’ve termed Lean Hybrid Muscle Phase 3. This will be the third phase of your LHM Reloaded program when you want to get your body fat levels into the single digit range.

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Here’s what to do next. Pick up Final Phase aka LHM Phase 3 from this link: http://www.LHMphase3workouts.com and simply forward your receipt to leanhybridmuscle at gmail.com and we’ll hook you up with your FREE copy of the DRY REPORT.