UPDATE 31 Aug 2010: Maximize Your Muscle is now open. Click here to check it out.

---

I am a firm believer that building muscle is the best and quickest path to an amazing body. Not only does muscle look amazing, but it also burns fat. That is why I love Vince DelMonte’s programs, he stays focused on building lean muscle mass.

If you’ve never heard of Vince DelMonte, he is the author of several programs like No-Nonsense 6 Pack and No-Nonsense Muscle Building. His story is pretty amazing, so you should definitely check him out.

Anyway, the reason I mention Vince is that he has another program that I want to tell you about. It’s called Maximize Your Muscle. This one is a little different than the others because it includes coaching calls with Vince and therefore has to be more exclusive. Vince can only help so many people at a time, so he only opens this program to new people every now and then.

The next opportunity to get into Vince’s exclusive program is coming up in the next couple of weeks. Right now it looks like it will be August 31st – September 2nd, but I’ll let you know for sure when Vince tells me the exact dates. Whatever the exact dates end up being, the program will only be open for three days. No exceptions, no bonus days. So be ready to pull the trigger when the time comes or you may miss your chance.

Vince has revamped his program for this latest release and I asked him to send me an advanced copy so I could review it for you. I’m still going through the material, but so far it is amazing. The program includes a monthly news letter and DVD, live coaching phone calls, and a few extra bonuses.

Each month, Vince will take you step-by-step through his program to help you “blow beyond your genetic potential.” His transformation story is one of overcoming his own genetic potential to finally get the body of his dreams. Now he wants to help you do the same with your body.

I think you will be impressed with what Vince has put together this time around. His program is truly unique and it is an amazing opportunity to take your body to a level that you only dreamed was possible. Make sure you keep checking back here over the next several days as I bring you more information about Vince’s program.

You’re going to want to be first in line when he opens the doors to this program. Vince has some special bonuses lined up just for those who sign up on the first day!

Filed under: Ab Product Reviews, Muscle Building | No Comments »

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the idea of purposefully being a diet cheat. There are several ways that I have seen this idea presented, but the basic concept is always the same. Sometimes it’s one or two meals, and sometimes it’s an entire day. Whatever the form, the point is that you stick to your diet all week and then you get to take a break.

Example 1: Overfeeding

I first heard the term overfeeding in The Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. This is the term that he uses to refer to taking one day a week to completely forget about your diet and basically eat whatever you want. Notice that I said basically. You still need to exercise some self control. This isn’t a free pass to go out and eat enough for three people.

Mike uses calories as a guideline. If you want to lose fat, you have to consume less calories than you expend. There is no way around it, that is just the basic science of it.

There is, however, more than one way to look at it. You can compare the calories that you eat to the calories you use on a daily basis, or you can look at your week as  a whole. For example, if you create a consistent caloric deficit six days a week and then splurge a little on the seventh day, you will still have a caloric deficit for the week as a whole. This is all assuming that you don’t go crazy on your overfeeding day.

For a more detailed explanation, check out Mike’s program. It’s got a lot of really great information in it.

Example 2: Treat Meals

I recently wrote a review of Jackie Warner’s book This Is Why You’re Fat. The full title of the book is This Is Why You’re Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever): Eat More, Cheat More, Lose More–and Keep the Weight Off. You can see just from the title that Jackie is a proponent of being a diet cheat.

Jackie’s approach is to allow yourself to have two “treat meals” on the weekend. That’s one treat meal on Saturday and one on Sunday. She gives a couple of guidelines that you should follow. The first one is that you only get to have your treat meals if you stick to your diet during the five preceding days. The second guideline is that you should keep each treat meal under 1,500 calories. Other than that, you can pretty much go nuts for those two meals.

Why You Should Be A Diet Cheat

There are two reasons why you should consider being a diet cheat. The first reason is psychological and the second reason is physiological.

The psychological reason is pretty simple. When you are on a diet (see note below), sometimes it can be difficult to stick with it, especially in the beginning. To make the adjustment easier, it is good to have a light at the end of the tunnel. If you know you have a cheat day coming, it is easier to stick with your diet. If you don’t have something like that built in, it becomes very tempting to just give up and go back to your old ways of eating.

The physiological reason has to do with the way your body reacts to a sustained caloric deficit. As you start consuming fewer calories than your body needs, your body will start drawing on your fat stores in order to sustain itself. Eventually, your body will think that you are starving and will respond by lowering your metabolism and increasing your appetite. This is the worst possible scenario for someone who wants to burn fat. Cheat days, with a higher caloric intake, can trick your body out of thinking that it is starving.

I think both of these points make sense. Physiologically, we are all pretty much made the same so the effects of going into starvation mode apply to us all. Psychologically, however, we are all a little different from each other. You have to evaluate yourself and decide if the psychological effects of having a cheat day will be positive or negative for you. If you are the type of person that will lose all self control if you allow yourself to cheat, then cheat days probably aren’t the way to go.

As always, give it a try and see how it works for you.

Note On Dieting: I do not believe in dieting. I do believe in having a good diet. Hopefully you see the difference. Eating well should be a way of life and not a temporary way to reach a fat loss goal. Eating healthily over time will result in sustained fat loss. That being said, I accept that eating in such a way as to create a daily caloric deficit (if done wisely) can speed up the fat loss process. However, this should only be done over the short term to bring your body into healthy body fat percentages.

Filed under: Diet, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »

	Product: Shake Weight Where To Buy: Official Men’s Website Official Women’s Website Rating: Price: $29.95 (Men) $19.95 (Women)
(Click Here To See The Shake Weight In Action)

I first heard of the Shake Weight a few months ago. I guess that made me a little late to the party, but that’s because I don’t watch much TV so I hadn’t seen the infomercials. I wrote about the Shake Weight when I first heard about it and I promised that I would try it out and write a review. I know it has taken me a while, but I’m finally delivering on my promise.

What Is The Shake Weight?

If you’ve never heard of the Shake Weight, the best way to explain it is to have you watch the videos available on the official website.  You almost have to see it to fully understand what it is. There are two versions, one for men and one for women. There is a different website for each one and you can see the videos at Shake Weight For Men and Shake Weight For Women.

If you don’t want to watch the videos, I’ll try to explain it to you. Basically, it’s a dumbbell. It is shaped and looks like a dumbbell, but you don’t use it like a dumbbell. Instead of doing things like curls and shoulder presses with it, you just hold it in a static position and then shake it back and forth really fast. The weights on either end of the dumbbell oscillate as you shake it.

What Do You Get With The Shake Weight?

When you order your own Shake Weight, there will only be two things in the package when it arrives. You will get the dumbbell of course, but you will also get a workout DVD. The dumbbell comes in one piece, so there is no assembly required. The DVD is only six minutes long and it will walk you through the three exercises that you will need to get a complete upper body workout.

<Click Here To Get Your Own Shake Weight>

Why I Like The Shake Weight

The Shake Weight is a very interesting piece of workout equipment. I’ve never seen or used anything else like it. That is one of the reasons that I like it so much. I know that working out can be monotonous and boring if you do the same things all the time. With this dumbbell, you get to shake things up a little (Yes, pun intended. I couldn’t help myself.) which can keep things interesting.

I also like the fact that you can get a really good workout in a very short amount of time. I know you’re busy, and finding time to workout can be difficult. Well, there’s no excuse not to use this thing. The exercise DVD that comes with it only takes 6 minutes to complete. You may think that 6 minutes isn’t enough time to get a decent workout. Believe me, you’re going to feel the burn long before the 6 minutes is up. Don’t worry about that.

Another great thing about this dumbbell is that a lot muscle is engaged while using it. With a traditional dumbbell, you usually do curls, presses, etc. With those exercises you are moving in a single direction and engaging limited muscle fibers. With the shaking moved used with the Shake Weight, you are engaging more muscle and exercising areas that don’t usually get engaged.

Why I Don’t Like The Shake Weight

As you know, there are negatives to everything and as expected there are a few things I should point out here. When I first picked up the dumbbell, I was immediately surprised by the construction. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but my first impression was that it was cheaply made. I think the reason I felt that way is because it is made up mostly of plastic and rubber. I am used to dumbbells that are made entirely of metal so I was surprised by the plastic. After thinking about it though, I realized that it had to be made of plastic in order for it to work correctly and to keep the weight down to five pounds. After further examination, it appears to be well constructed and durable. At the same time, I wouldn’t go throwing it around as plastics have a tendency to crack.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it will take a little getting used to. Since the exercises you will be doing will be new to you, it will take a couple times to get the movements down right. The first time I used it, I had a little trouble with the movements. They felt awkward at first, but I had it down by my second time through the exercise DVD.

Now, let’s get to the big concern that everyone has. If this isn’t the first time that you’ve heard of the Shake Weight then you have probably seen all the spoof videos of people making fun of it. Let’s face it, the thing is goofy. I admit it, but for me the only thing that really matters is whether or not it works. I think it works really well and that’s good enough for me. It’s a piece of home workout equipment anyway, so you will be using it in the privacy of your own home. If your pride is more important to you than getting a good workout, then the Shake Weight is not for you.

Why You Should Own A Shake Weight

There are several reasons why you should own a Shake Weight, but I’ll just mention a few. First of all, it’s really light so it’s easy to take with you when you travel or if you need to exercise away from your home. The one for men only weighs five pounds and the one for women only weighs two and a half pounds.

Another reason that you should own one of these dumbbells is that you can get a great workout in a really short period of time. You can’t beat a six minute workout and that is all it takes with this dumbbell. I was really surprised at how much of a burn I got from following the exercise DVD. It’s also easy to ramp up your exercises as you start to get stronger. Just do the exercise longer or shake the weight harder and faster.

To Sum It Up

The Shake Weight is a great piece of home-use exercise equipment. It’s small, light weight, quick, and effective. A lot of home exercise equipment will cost you an arm and a leg, but this one is rather inexpensive. It will give you a great upper body workout and will save you tons of time and money. It’s backed by a 100% money back guarantee, so it’s worth a try for anyone who wants an easy and inexpensive way to build there biceps, shoulders, and chest.

<Click Here To Get Your Own Shake Weight>

Filed under: Ab Product Reviews | No Comments »