If you’ve been following my blog or have “liked” the LoseWeightBuildMuscles.com Facebook page , then you’ll know I’ve documented both a muscle building transformation and a fat loss transformation. In this post, I’m gonna make sure that you never become a New Years gym casualty again! Not on my watch..

Here are 10 simple steps that show you how to transform your body, no matter what your goal is!

 STEP 1 to Transform Your Body – Get The Motivation!

 You have to figure out what has motivated you in the first place to want to transform your physique. Get real deep and honest with yourself. The reason won’t be as simple as “Oh, I just want to look better” – That’s the reason on the surface but you need to get your diving gear on and go looking for the real reason.

 A quick exercise to help you do this is to keep asking yourself “Why?” after every question – You know you’ve gone deep enough when you’ve disturbed yourself emotionally. Here’s an example :

Do you see how the reason changed when we went a bit deeper? It’s usually not the nicest thing in the world to get to the real reason but it will give you that super crazy motivation to attack your transformation like you never have before instead of quitting two weeks into January. Try it!

STEP 2 to Tranform Your Body – Take Measurements

Take initial measurements of your bodyparts. I normally measure the following parts with a measuring tape – Biceps, Chest, Waist, Upper Thighs and Calves. Take measurements at the biggest points, then note them down somewhere. You will be doing this also on a weekly basis without fail. I also weigh myself once a week but be wary of the scales – They won’t always tell the truth. You could have lost/gained water, muscle or fat. (That’s where Step 3 comes in!)

 STEP 3 to Transform Your Body – Take a Before Picture of Yourself

Take a before picture of yourself and make sure the picture is in good lighting and that each picture you take uses a fairly consistent pose. You will be doing this on a weekly basis without fail. Why? Scales won’t always tell you the full story..heck, sometimes even measurements don’t. However, pictures don’t lie. We’re using this as a motivation tool but wouldn’t it also be a fantastic diary of your achievements? Get snappin’!

STEP 4 to Transform Your Body – Look at Your Diet!

The fun begins! Time to take a look at your diet – Let’s not sugar coat it (excuse the pun!), your diet is probably one of the key reasons that you’re not in the shape you want to be in and have decided to transform your body.

Nutrition is a topic that requires an entire book to cover and in my attempt to keep this short and sweet I will simply suggest for you to take a look at a healthy diet that you can maintain for the rest of your life. You’re not going to “go on a diet”. No, this will be your diet full stop!

Be sensible and make sure the diet suits your lifestyle. For example, don’t pick a diet where you need to eat 5-7 small meals a day if your job requires you to be on your feet all day and it isn’t feasible for you to take lots of little breaks.

My top tip is to keep your diet as natural and as “caveman” as possible – Whatever was available for cavemen to eat at the time is a good base for your diet too! Ok, so you’ve decided on a healthy diet..

STEP 5 – Go Shopping!

Time to pilot your trolley and start shopping for your food! Before hand, decide on which kind of foods you want to include in your diet based on your diet guidelines and create a shopping list! This is important as it will keep you focused on what you are there to buy. No straying to special offers or treats!

Another tip is to NEVER shop while you are hungry. Your cravings will kick in and you’ll be sure to make some bad food choices.

STEP 6 – Supplement For Some Extra Help

Not a necessity, but they can help you towards your goals – If you’re just a beginner or new to supplements, don’t go crazy. Just the proven basics will suffice. This is another topic that you could write a novel about but in the interest of keeping things short..

For Fat Loss :- Green Tea and L-Carnitine are cheap, effective places to start. There are literally thousands of supplements that claim fat loss. Some more dangerous, expensive, more effective than others. Understand that no pill or potion will ever replace your diet and hard work. There’s no secret! If you are going for any fat loss supplements, use common sense and research thoroughly what their effects are, good and bad.

For Muscle Building :- A basic Whey Protein Isolate, Creatine Monohydrate and Multivitamin will be adequate to help you pack on some muscle if the rest of your diet and training is on point.

Remember the word “Supplement” means “in addition to”, not “instead of” so don’t think you can replace hard work with these things to transform your body. You’ll be bitterly dissapointed..

STEP 7 – Get An Effective Exercise Plan

Yup, it’s unavoidable. If your goal is fat loss, you can certainly lose weight without exercising but guess what? It won’t be the kind of weight you want to lose. You’ll lose some fat but a lot of muscle too. This will just create a smaller version of the current you with a S-L-O-W metabolism!

I truly believe that every person on this earth should be doing some sort of resistance/weight training at the very least 2-3 times a week. It’s a fantastic exercise for burning fat, building muscle (women you will NEVER look like Arnold Schwarzenegger I can assure you..Try J-Lo) and revving up your metabolism. I could list the benefits of weight training for men and women for days. Seriously..Just do it.

You could also include a cardio routine as well to help shift the fat and benefit your health – I’d go for a HIIT style training program (with which you can use almost any exercise you want) at least every other day for fat loss results. You can even use weight training for cardio if you’re inventive enough!

Whatever program you decide on, start slow and progress from there. So you’ve got your program, great! Now just..

STEP 8 – Print and Take Your Program to the Gym

95% of people I see at the gym don’t do this. Be the 5% of people that are always logging their workouts and progressing from week to week.

Recording your workouts will give you feedback and allow you to make tweaks to ensure that you progress the next time! If you’re not progressing, you’ve hit a plateau. You may need to tweak your diet, your training program or just be more consistent! Either way, you’ll never know if you don’t record this information. After all, what’s the point of training if you’re not seeing results, right? What a motivation killer…!

STEP 9 to Transform Your Body – Re-take Measurements, Pictures and Assess!

At the end of the first week, take another picture and take your measurements again. Your measurements should show movement in the direction that you want (but this will depend on a number of factors. How new you are to exercise, how much bodyfat you started with etc) – If I’m burning fat I normally look for decreases in my stubborn fatty area’s which for me is my waist and for muscle building, I look for every other body part of mine to gain in size.

Decide whether you are progressing (be honest with yourself!) – If your measurements or picture aren’t showing any improvements then you will need to change something in your routine the following week. Either tweaking your diet or your training. (Or you might just need to be more compliant to what you’re doing – Only you can honestly answer that!)

Remember : “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results”

Step 10 to Transform Your Body – Rinse and Repeat!

Simply rinse and repeat this simple cycle until your body is where you want it to be – Transformation Done! Just remember that from here you can choose to progress your transformation and set new goals or you can maintain your new found healthy body and lifestyle.

I hope this blog post has been helpful. My transformations were truly done in these 8 simple steps and these are the foolproof steps I’m using to compete in my first fitness modelling show! So now you know my not-so-secret formula – Go out there and transform your body.

The squat builds lean muscle on your upper and lower body, burns fat and cranks your metabolism up to that which resembles a champion race horse!

But how to do squats correctly? With all of the benefits squats bring, it’s still interesting to see the massive variety of techniques people use when performing squats. Most of them invalid and/or potentially dangerous! (If squats are even included at all! Don’t get me started..Just do yourself a favour, get serious and include squats into your routine!)

It’s not just limited to trainee’s in the gym – Most qualified trainers are also providing gym users with incorrect and outdated information when it comes teaching their clients how to squat correctly!

Today I want to look at 3 myths which surround squat technique and correct them for you so that you are not only squatting correctly, but effectively for maximum results!

How to Do Squats Myth Number 1 – “Your Knee’s Are Not Allowed to Travel Past Your Toes”

I want you to look at your knee’s the next time you’re walking up a flight of stairs..Take a look at your knee when you step up on a kerb..Maybe take a look down when you next get up off of your chair.

You’ll very likely see that your knee’s travel slightly past your toes – This happens naturally and is FUNCTIONAL!

But what’s the first thing most trainers tell you when squatting?

“Don’t let your knee’s go past your toes!”

Although their safety is your priority, they are potentially making the exercise far more dangerous for you – How?

Well if your knee’s aren’t travelling slightly past your toes, you’ll need to lean forwards at the hips. This increases the pressure on your lower back by up to 300%!! Now imagine this with a 100kg barbell on your back..What about 140kg? 180kg (400lbs)? You’re asking for trouble – Once your lower back goes, you’re out of the gym. There are no work-arounds. The bottom line – Protect your lower back at all costs!

You’re also using your glutes for the movement predominantly when you don’t allow your knee’s to travel past your toes. Allowing your knee’s to travel slightly forwards will allow your quads to fire into the movement too.

“Won’t this hurt my knee’s?” – Ok, you are adding around 60% more pressure on your knee’s when using this technique – However, 60% more pressure on the knee’s VS 300% on the back is a much better compromise, trust me. Your knee’s will be able to handle the weight but everybody’s threshold will be different. I started using knee-wraps when I started squatting above 140kg (315lbs), Just as a preventative measure. My knees feel absolutely fine! If you’re worried about your knee’s, then wrap them up from the very start and don’t squat too deep.

So what should the squat look like? Very simply, at the bottom of the movement your shins and upper body should be parallel with each other (like in the picture to the right – By the way, I’m wearing totally the wrong footwear here as I just decided to film impromptu that day – Your footwear should be flat i.e. converse or even bare feet).

Remember, we are only talking about your knees travelling VERY SLIGHTLY past your toes to make the movement more natural! DON’T make the movement dangerous by taking your knee’s or your back too far forward!

Do this and you’ll find your strength will SHOOT through the roof, you’ll see changes in your body and alleviate any lower back pain associated with squats! This is the number 1 tip you can take home if you want to know how to do squats correctly

MYTH NUMBER 2 – “Put All of Your Weight into Your Heels”

This one might surprise many of you but don’t misunderstand me – I’m not telling you to come up on your toes either, that’s asking for trouble and will likely be a result of your knee’s travelling too far forward or tight calf muscles.

What I am saying though is to push your weight evenly through the heel and the balls of your feet to ensure all of your muscles are firing properly and to maintain the technique I just recommended in Myth Number 1.

If you put all of your weight into your heels, your technique will most likely be back to where your knee’s don’t move past your toes and your back leans too far forward. This is another mistake nearly all personal trainers use to teach their clients how to do squats. The next time you squat, get a feel for how the pressure is distributed in your feet and keep it even.

MYTH NUMBER 3 – “Don’t Squat Deeper Than 90 Degree’s”

Another thing trainers teach incorrectly in my opinion is the depth of a squat – This advice goes hand-in-hand with MYTH NUMBER 1 – If your knee’s don’t travel slightly past your toes it becomes very hard to squat deeper than 90 degree’s..and if you can get deeper than 90 using that incorrect technique, I don’t even want to imagine what your lumbar spine is going through!

I don’t have a particular angle that you should aim for – It is all relative to your experience, flexibility, strength, current condition etc etc. There are too many variables for a one size fits all recommendation in this area.

I’ve seen people do squats “Ass-to-Grass” without a problem and I’ve seen some people who have unrelated knee injuries and are worried who stick to 90 degrees. I’ve also seen people “Squatting” (I put it in quotes because I don’t consider these fairy movements as “Squats”!) at about 45 degree’s. These people usually have an ego problem and stick lots of weight on to sacrifice the effectiveness of the movement and their form. You should be squatting deeper – end of! (unless you’re training for speed but that’s a different subject altogether)

I go slightly below a 90 degree angle but with increased flexibility in my calf’s I could squat deeper. Everybody will have their reasons as to why they squat the depth that they do but you should be squatting until you have at least a 90 degree angle in your knee’s or yo hamstrings are parallel to the floor if your goal is to build muscle or burn fat.

If you can’t achieve this with the technique I’ve explained then you may have tight or weak muscles in certain area’s. A common reason people can’t squat too deep is having tight calf’s. If you have tight calfs you’ll find that your heels come off of the ground as you go deeper into your squat. Be sure to stretch them out as often and for as long as you can. (this is a big problem in females who wear heels a lot as their calf’s are consistently in a contracted and shortened state – Be sure to have a nice, long calf stretch after a period of wearing heels)

There you have it – With these 3 myths busted, you should find your squat becoming stronger, safer and far more effective! Perform them incorrectly and squats can become your enemy – Perform the squat with correct technique and squats are the bestest friend you’ll ever have when you look at your new body staring back at you in the mirror!

A great program that utilises big movements like squats, deadlifts etc to build insane amounts of muscle is Jason Ferrugia’s Muscle Building Secrets below :

Be sure to leave your comments below! and don’t forget to check out my FREE Transformation Workout Program HERE if you haven’t downloaded it already.

I just had somebody tell me this again a couple of weeks ago which reminded me again of some issues I have with a statement like that!

Issue Number 1 – “He Blew Up!”

Sure, I bet your friend blew up after taking a big brand-name weight gainer 3 times a day! Have you seen the amount of calories in those things??

Most weight gainers commonly contain 500 – 1500 poor quality calories per serving…now multiply that amount by 3 and you have anywhere from 1500 – 4500 extra calories a day! Not including your food.

I don’t care who you are, having that many extra calories per day you’ll certainly blow up – but if you think it’s all going to be quality weight you’re gonna be disappointed! You’re almost sure to put on a lot of unnecessary fat mass along with your muscle gains which you’ll have to spend extra time cutting off of your physique at a later date! Not fun.

Issue Number 2 – There is no such Weight Gainer that is Suitable For Different Times of the Day.

Another reason you’ll probably gain a lot of unnecessary fat from the weight gainers at the supplement store is that there is no such weight gainer out that is suitable for your nutritional requirements at different times of the day. So taking them 3 times a day is a terrible idea!

You’ll probably know that for breakfast it’s good practice to get a shake that contains whey protein and slow-release carbs (such as porridge oats) to start your day off with some steady energy.

After a workout, you’ll need a shake with fast-release carbs and fast acting whey protein to spike your insulin levels to quickly shuttle those nutrients to your damaged muscles and have them recovering pronto!

Just before hitting the sack, you’ll want a nice slow-releasing protein such as Casein to nourish your muscles with protein as you sleep for 7-8 hours (hopefully!) – To delay the protein further I even add a few essential fatty acids such as omega seeds (hemp, linseeds, pumpkin seeds etc) or even olive oil. (Yeah, I’m hardcore like that!)

As you can see, the ingredients needed for your shakes at different times of the day are TOTALLY different. It’s not a simple case of “taking a weight gainer 3 times a day”

Most weight gainers are only suitable for 1 time of the day – it’s impossible for them to be suitable for all times of the day.

Issue Number 3 – Quality of Ingredients in Weight Gainers

Most weight gainers are full to the brim with cheap sugars which aren’t necessarily a bad thing to consume post-workout, but taking these sugars in at different times of the day is asking for trouble if you want to stay fairly lean. Don’t be fooled by any weird trademarked names in the ingredients either like “Super Multivariable Nutriplexocollosus complex” which are sometimes used to mask a group of crappy ingredients..or make a bunch of standard ingredients seem better than they are.

Issue Number 4 – Cost of Weight Gainers

Weight Gainers are probably the lowest value for money supplements you can get and this ties in directly to what we mentioned above – The cheap ingredients. Not to mention, can you imagine how many tubs you would go through if you used the “3 times a day” protocol?? Those tubs commonly have a miniscule 10 servings or so because of the amount of calories per serving! That’ll get expensive reaaal fast..

If you bought these ingredients on their own the benefits would be two-fold – Firstly, you get to use the optimal ingredients for the time of day. Secondly, you get to save a ton of your hard-earned money! Building muscle is a pretty expensive game in the first place..don’t make it more so by wasting money on useless supplements!

The Solution – Homemade Weight Gainer

Obviously, your boy Altug is here with the hook-up to make sure you get the right ingredients down you at the right time…and save you some serious dough!

The ingredients you need to buy are :-

• A sack or tub of Maltodextrin or Dextrose (fast-release carbs)

• A sack of Instant Porridge Oats (Oats ground down to a fine powder – Perfect for shakes!)

• A sack of Whey Protein (isolate or concentrate is fine)

• A tub or sack of Casein

• A few packets of Omega Seeds or oils (Mix of Linseeds, Hemp seeds, Pumpkin etc)

If you buy these ingredients in bulk, they’re extremely cheap! Especially if you stay away from the big brands who have a big marketing budget to sucker you in..without necessarily having better ingredients! I personally buy my stuff from MyProtein.co.uk but I’m from the U.K so for my U.S. readers I’d recommend checking out Bodybuilding.com or N101.com for this stuff – These ingredients will last you for a very long time!

Different Homemade Weight Gainer for Different Times of the Day

You can play with some of the measurements of the ingredients depending on your lean weight :

Homemade Weight Gainer for Breakfast

Homemade Weight Gainer for Post-Workout

Before-Bed HomeMade Weight Gainer

So there you have it. Stop wasting your money on poor quality branded weight gainers and make them yourself at home. Your wallet and your physique will benefit for it!

Leave your comments below – What are your favourite ingredients to stick in a shake?

Altug

Although I’ve modified the program to suit my needs it was still his original theory that got my wheels turning about this method of training so I want to give credit where credit is due.

Ok, now on to the method with perhaps the most outlandish name .

What Have I Personally Achieved With the Doggcrapp Method?

If you’ve seen my 11 week transformation, I used the doggcrapp training method in the last 5-6 weeks of my training. The first week, against my better judgement I experimented with an extreme 6 day volume training method which was very similar to Arnold Schwarzeneggers workout. I would NOT recommend a beginner to do that..Only go for it if you’re advanced in your weight lifting career but even then I feel that you may be being inefficient with your time.

I had the time on my hands being in Cyprus with nothing to do but see family, train and keep up with my online endeavours so that is why I gave the 6 day volume protocol a shot.

I quickly plateau’d and realised real fast that I was overtraining when I went to stay with my cousins in their village with no gym for the weekend – Over this weekend I started growing and looking fuller. So after week 5-6, after seeing some results with the volume training I went back to what has worked well for me in the past (and still what I personally believe to be one of the best ways to train for people who aren’t genetically gifted and don’t have the time to be in the gym 6 days a week for 2 hours at a time) and that is a form of H.I.T training. (High Intensity Training) called the Doggcrapp method.

IMPORTANT : Something I always see most people failing to do is change their training protocol as often as every 4-6 weeks as the body adapts to training stimulus REAL fast. Do you ever notice people doing the same thing for months and even years? Do they look much different? Nah!

What is The Theory Behind the Doggcrapp Training Method?

Ultimately, if I had to explain the doggcrapp method to you in one line it would be this – To achieve as many growth periods as possible for your muscles.

This method achieves this by splitting your training into two days :-

DAY 1 : for chest, shoulders, triceps, back width and back thickness. Then a 2nd day for Quads, hamstrings, calves, biceps, forearms and abs.

DAY 2 : for Quads, hamstrings, calves, biceps, forearms and abs.

You will be doing only ONE all-out working set for each bodypart with a “rest-pause” at the end of the set for the majority of exercises.

REST-PAUSE : After your working set is over (10-15 reps) you will put the weight back, take 15 deep breaths and then attempt a further 2-4 reps of the exercise. This is your first “rest pause” set.

When you’ve done this, repeat the 15 deep breaths and attempt another 1 or 2 reps of the exercise. This is your 2^nd “rest-pause” set. Your working set is complete!

You then perform an extreme stretch on the muscle worked to stretch the fascia surrounding the muscle to allow for more muscle growth. (I talk about this kind of stretching in my post about Extreme Fascia Stretching)

The theory is that every week you will keep getting stronger either by adding an extra rep or adding some extra weight and hitting the same number of reps for each exercise

You will have 3 different versions of each of the 2 workout days – (6 workouts in total). While the bodyparts you train will remain the same, the exercises will change.

For example : On Day 1, your chest exercise will be Bench Press. When you do the Day 1 workout next time round, the chest exercise will be Incline Dumbell Press. Same for every bodypart. Create yourself 3 different versions of both days.

You rotate the two workout days 3 to 5x a week. For example here’s a 10-day schedule that might make more sense :-

Monday – Workout Day 1a

Tuesday – Workout Day 2a

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – Workout Day 1b

Friday – Workout Day 2b

Saturday – Rest

Sunday – Workout Day 1c

Monday – Workout Day 2c

Tuesday – Rest

Wednesday – Back to workout Day 1a (where you should be stronger on each exercise)

Which means you train each bodypart twice in 4-5 days..This also means 2 growth periods for your muscles in 4-5 days. You’ll see the advantage of this when I explain volume training below.

It’s pretty damn intense when you get back round to the same workout you did the week before because with Doggcrapp training, if you performed the same weight and the same amount of reps or less than the last time you did this exercise, you MUST change the exercise for next time! It’s very do or die, which I love..YOU MUST PROGRESS!

Doggcrapp Training vs Volume Training – The Advantage

Most people who use the traditional volume training method usually split their bodyparts up into one or two parts at a time. Then they absolutely flatten their muscles with as many sets and exercises as possible for that one bodypart.

This has never sat well with me ever since I picked up my first set of weights. I could never achieve the same intensity set after set after set..I had one, maybe two intense sets in me at best! Then I’d get considerably weaker on that bodypart.

It takes about 7 days normally for volume training advocates to get back to the same bodypart again. Even if their muscle has recovered sooner than the 7th day, it usually doesn’t matter because volume trainee’s usually have a 4 or 5 day bodypart split! So just as an example of what a typical volume trainers week might look like if they trained Legs on Monday :

Monday : Legs

Tuesday : Chest

Wednesday : Off

Thursday : Back

Friday : Shoulders

Saturday Off

Sunday : Bi’s and Tri’s

By the time they get back to training any bodypart, a week has gone by…Meaning only ONE growth period a week

Now, what Doggcrapp training advocates is that you want AS MANY GROWTH PERIODS AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE to grow muscle at the fastest rate possible.

Shouldn’t this be any muscle builders mission?

But Haven’t Bodybuilders Been Using Volume Training For Generations?

Maybe but you need to ask yourself a few questions.

Do professional bodybuilders take steroids which greatly enhances their recovery ability? Yes

Do professional bodybuilders all have insane genetics whereby WHATEVER program they’re likely to do they’ll see results? Yes

Do the magazines where you see these insane volume training programs have a million pages of supplement adverts? Yes

Have all the great bodybuilders that ever lived trained with volume? NO!

Mike Mentzer used HIT training and he was huge..also one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, Dorian Yates was a strong H.I.T training advocate.

Recently, number one fitness and muscle model Rob Riches has also mentioned how he uses Rest-Pause training with great results.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, although trained with volume, was actually on the right track. He trained with maximum growth periods in mind. He trained each bodypart 3 times a week but with the most insane of volume. His sessions had to have lasted at least 2 hours which is what we don’t want. Bare in mind again that professional bodybuilders are all on steroids which means their recovery ability is FAR greater than yours.

Another great bodybuilder to look at also is recent 8 time Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman. Watch his training DVD’s and you’ll see that although his training method appears to be volume training, he only actually does ONE WORKING SET at his heaviest weight. (Pyramid Training)

I brought up bodybuilding magazines because they sometimes make out that the bodybuilders routines in there are far more volumous than they actually are. This is for 2 reasons.

1) To make the bodybuilder larger than life and have that “superhuman” like status

2) So that YOU copy that same workout and when it doesn’t work they just sell you the supplements they advertise as a fix! When really it’s their insane routine that is to blame. Criminal but true!

Bottom line – Do not copy bodybuilders magazine workouts. You are NOT a bodybuilder so you shouldn’t train like them. (and most do not even train like that anyway).

Well, I took the DC method and tweaked it very slightly to my needs. Here is my doggcrapp workout for the last 5 weeks that I was in Cyprus! Enjoy.

Before you start, you should ALWAYS have a spotter around if you’re utilising the DC method. During your 2nd and 3rd rest pause you’ll be very fatigued and it wouldn’t be completely safe for you to bench press, for example, on your own at this point.

If you’re new to muscle building DO NOT TRY THIS WORKOUT YET. You don’t fully understand what the correct intensity feels like yet and you’ll likely injure yourself following this method.

• Always use 2-4 Warm-up sets before your 1 working set to avoid injury

• For your working set, use a weight that is around 80% of your 1 rep max. Or in simple terms, choose a weight that you can perform 10-12 reps with before your muscles fail to lift the weight for another rep.

• The Aim : To progress every single week on every exercise. Example – If you did the bench press at 100lbs for 10 reps on Week 1, on Week 2 you must get at least 11 reps on the same weight. When you can get over 12 reps on an exercise, you can add a small amount of weight the next week. (Those little 2.5lbs doughnuts are your friends!)

Here’s a 10 day example schedule which might illustrate my point better :

Monday – Workout Day 1a

Tuesday – Workout Day 2a

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – Workout Day 1b

Friday – Workout Day 2b

Saturday – Rest

Sunday – Workout Day 1c

Monday – Workout Day 2c

Tuesday – Rest

You can download my FULL Transformation Workout including diet and theory by popping your email in the box below this post and I’ll send you the 39 page report for FREE! I hope you enjoyed this post and my report get’s you closer to your goal!

Altug

I don’t intend to do many more of these transformations as from now onwards I fully intend to stay in shape all year round and I recommend that you do the same once you have transformed your body!

Now this road could potentially be a long and frustrating one if you don’t know what you’re doing – Trust me, I’ve been there. I wasted around 2 years just messing around in the gym with no clear plan or any idea of what I was doing before I finally “got it”!

In this post I’m going to share with you how I (Altug Kop <– Click here to find out more about me if you’re new to my blog!) got started on my journey from 135lbs soaking wet, with bricks in my pockets..to adding 65lbs of muscle to my frame!

Luckily, I’ve made the mistakes for you and this has given me the oppurtunity to cut through all of the crap information you might come accross and help you to start achieving your muscle building goals like I have! Ok let’s do this!

STEP 1 : Be Ready to Build Muscle

You’re probably thinking to yourself : “I am ready to build muscle otherwise I wouldn’t be looking for information, duh!”

But the truth is most people don’t realise that to build muscle fast, you need unwavering discipline – You can’t build muscle as a hobby I’m afraid..You need to commit to a LIFESTYLE otherwise you won’t see optimal results, if at all!

Ask yourself :

• Am I willing to change my eating habits to build muscle?
• Am I willing to say “No” to things that might take me away from my goals to build muscle? (Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, bad foods)
• Am I willing to follow my plan to the letter, even if I’m having a “bad” day or don’t feel like going to the gym?

These are just a few things you’ll have to be ready to do in order to build muscle consistently! Remember this :- Muscles aren’t build inside the gym, they are built outside of it. Hence why building muscle is a lifestyle

STEP 2 :- Set Yourself Some Smart Goals!

Again, not the sexiest of subjects when it comes to building muscle but one of the most important! Almost every program worth a damn will tell you the same thing..When you set smart goals, you set yourself up to win.

I’ve seen this in my day to day life too – When I set myself small, actionable goals…I achieve them.

Just a quick outline for you on what a smart goal is :

S -pecific. Make sure your goal is narrowed down.

M – easurable. You should be able to measure your goal!

A -chievable. Don’t set yourself something that you’re not sure you can achieve.

R – ealistic. Ties in with the above. Make sure your goal is actually feasible. (No you can’t become Arnold in a month!)

T – ime Framed. Your goal must have a deadline!

Ok, now it’s your turn..set yourself a smart goal following this formula before you start.

STEP 3 : MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN EFFECTIVE PROGRAM

Yeah, I wrote this all in upper-case for a reason – Because I’m shouting this at you to make sure it sinks in!

I wasted around 2 years in the gym just flapping around aimlessly – I thought that all I needed to do was show up at the gym and do random exercises with no set routine. Well, needless to say I didn’t see anything in those first 2 years but the same skinny Altug looking back at me in the mirror..

I didn’t know how to eat, train or look after myself to build muscle..BIG MISTAKE.

I then came accross a really helpful coach when I was 17 who answered all of my questions via email. Thinking about it now, he was amazingly patient with me and I appreciate him getting me started. I created myself a program with the new knowledge I gained and started to finally build some muscle..

Not much mind you…Progress was slow but steady.

If you’re starting out today, you’re either extremely lucky or…extremely UNLUCKY. Yeah, I know that doesn’t really make sense but hear me out.

You are lucky because you have so much more information out there compared to back when I started…BUT this wealth of information is also the problem – Because there is a whole heap of BAD information out there on building muscle. If you fall into one of these sources of bad information, then you become UNLUCKY.

A good way to avoid this situation is to grab a full program from a reputable source..and out of all of the muscle building programs I’ve reviewed, my favourite is Vince Delmonte’s No Nonsense Muscle Building Program.

Whatever route you decide to take, a complete program should contain the following things :

• A theory section so that you understand WHY you are doing what you’re doing
• A Nutrition section (preferably with meal plans) to help you understand the importance of nutrition for muscle building
• Effective Workout Plans to build musle fast.
• Exercises and video’s to show you practically and safely how to train.

No Nonsense Muscle Building contains all of the above things and Vince lives the muscle building lifestyle so he’s a great person to learn from. You can see me tear his program apart in my honest review –> CLICK HERE.

Whatever program you use, make sure you stick to it and that you get your information from reputable sources. Not “faceless” people who can’t back up anything they teach!

• This aspect is the most important part of the equation if you want to build muscle fast so choose wisely!

STEP 4 – TAKE ACTION!

Nothing happens if you just sit and think about it – You’ve decided that you’re ready to build muscle, you’ve set yourself some goals and you’ve picked a decent muscle building program..All of that counts for nothing if you don’t TAKE ACTION!

You learn by doing so get out there and start shortening your learning curve. Once you understand your body, what works and what doesn’t – You’ll see results a lot faster and nobody will be able to stop your momentum even if they tried!

Just remember to be patient…Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take baby steps first of all and those baby steps will turn into leaps and bounds.

Building muscle is all about taking consistent steps towards your goal and living the lifestyle for at least 85-90% of your daily life – If you can do that, you’ll see the rewards inside and outside of your body.

Take the bull by the horns and start to build muscle fast!

Altug

If you’re anything like me and into muscle building, you tend to develop an obsession with finding any little things that could potentially help you to build that bit of extra muscle. Usually when trainee’s tend to look for extra ways to build muscle, they tend to go for the common stuff – The latest, expensive scam supplement or the newest, craziest workout they can find in Flex magazine.

But today I’m going to explain to you the concept behind fascia stretching of all of your muscle groups – Now if you’re anything like most of the people I talk to about “stretching”, you may roll your eyes and not be very interested. After all you don’t see any immediate, visual benefit from stretching and you just seem to experience discomfort (Fascia stretching can get REAL uncomfortable and being the good samaritan, I’m gonna show you exactly how!).

Well, what if I told you that stretching could actually put some quality,lean mass on your frame. Would you be interested then? What if I told you that studies had been done that found stretching to cause hyperplasia – Cell division of your muscles – Yeah, that’s right your stretches just gave birth to a whole bunch more baby muscles for you to grow and nurture. Convinced about the power of stretching yet?

Now if you bear with me, I’ll teach you something that I feel played a major part in putting on a ton of muscle on to my frame in 11 weeks..And that is extreme muscle fascia stretching.

I first heard the concept of muscle fascia stretching from Dante (I implemented a lot from that guy) and Jason Ferrugia also explains this concept really well in his Muscle Gaining Secrets Program (<– Which I highly recommend for fast muscle building!) – To explain it to you simply, you have muscle fascia that sits as connective tissue surrounding your muscles keeping everything bundled together. Kind of like a sheet of thick armour covering them.

Amongst other things, the muscle fascia is what is thought to be one of the limiting factors of muscle growth. This makes sense. I mean think about it..if there is nowhere else for the muscle to go, where can it go? It would just bump up against the muscle fascia and have no room for growth.

So what can we do to counteract that? Yeah, you guessed it – We can STRETCH the living daylights out of our muscle fascia until they let us have some more muscle growth!
(When I say “living daylights”, it’s a figure of speech! I don’t want any injuries so be careful!)

Over time I’ve noticed tremendous results with this kind of stretching – Within 6 weeks you’ll notice a huge difference in your physique, especially if you’re an intermediate trainee who may just be coming up to that point where your fascia has started being difficult!

But How Can We Stretch Our Muscle Fascia Effectively?

Unfortunately, your static 15 second maintenance stretches aren’t going to get the job done. You are not only trying to maintain your muscle fascia’s flexibility but you’re also trying to push it past it’s previous point to allow more muscle to grow in the space it leaves.

Now rule number 1 is to MAKE SURE YOUR BODYPART IS PUMPED straight before you go into your extreme fascia stretch for muscle building. We want that tight, pumped up feeling of our muscles pushing up against the fascia because this way we’re already

In all honesty, this isn’t going to be pretty and is quite uncomfortable..BUT HEY you’re into muscle building, not twiddly winks! This is what you signed up for upon entry!

Most of the stretches here need to be held for at least a minute to be effective (or as long as possible – I personally take 20 deep breaths and each deep breath is at least 4-5 seconds) depending on the stretch. You need to be really honest with yourself during these stretches..if you can sink deeper, then you MUST do it as excruciating as it can become. Of course, you should know the difference between injury and an intense stretch. A good rule of thumb is that your joints shouldn’t hurt in a stretch.

So without further a do, you wanna know some stretches to show your fascia a good time? I’m your man..

Extreme Chest Fascia Stretch – Dante recommends holding two dumbells at the bottom of the dumbell flye position. Trust me you’ll feel this..unfortunately I felt it on my shoulder joints too (mine aren’t great anyway) so I now modify this to use a seated or laying chest press machine. What I do is adjust the handles so that they are as far back as they can go – Then I slot myself in and get my hands behind the handles (This is a squeeze, you might need somebody to help with the initial push) and then I just let the handlebars push against me while holding the stretch in the bottom position. Use about 1/2 the weight you would normally press. If it’s too easy and the stretch is too light, move up in weight.

Shoulders – I never stretch my shoulders using the extreme method as the stretch recommended always hurt my shoulders but for some of you it may be ok. You basically turn your back on a bar and then reach back to grab it with your palms face down on top of it. Then slightly walk out and bend your knee’s until you feel a stretch in your shoulders.

Biceps – I like just sitting down against an inclined bench letting two dumbells hang by my side. Your biceps will feel like they’re about rip open! This was a nice stretch I discovered whilst reviewing Jason Ferrugia’s Muscle Gaining Secrets program.

Triceps – You can do this in two ways. The first is with a towel – Grab one end of a towel and let it hang over your shoulder and behind your back. Now reach behind you with your other hand and grab the bottom of the towel. Start pulling it downwards as hard as you can. You’ll feel your tricep starting to burn. 60 seconds and then you swap arms.

The 2nd method is to use a single dumbell. You can either do one tricep at a time or both. Let me explain it if you were doing both arms at the same time. First grab one end of the dumbell by making a diamond grip with both of your hands. Now lift the dumbell above your head lower it as far down your back as you can. To intensify the stretch you MUST sit up as tall as possible and also try to push your neck back to add an even greater stretch to your triceps.

Either one of these methods for tricep fascia stretching is fine.

Quads – I made this one up and it’s a killer if I may say so myself. Now normally we’d grab behind one leg and stretch it as you balance with the other leg. Well we don’t want to worry about balancing. So I want you to find something that can replace your hand. I normally use the rollers on a hyperextention machine to put my laces on. Now I want you to simply use your oppositte standing leg and lunge down by bending your knee. You’ll feel an intense stretch in the leg that is being propped up on the rollers.

Lats – I have a pretty funky one here that I learned from some Poliquin students – It works a charm though. I want you to sit back into your heels and reach as far forward as you can. This puts you in a standard lower back and lat stretch but here’s the twist. I want you to gently creep over towards one side with your fingers..Try to still keep your arms outstretched. You’ll feel an intense stretch in the oppositte from where you’ve just crawled to. We’re not finished. Now I want you to take your oppositte hand (if you crawled over to the right, use your left hand for this) and I want you to try and creep a little further forward with the fingers of that oppositte hand. Ever felt a lat stretch like that before?? Now do the same on the other side.

Hamstrings - I can do the simplest stretch for my hammy’s and it would still be classed as the super-duper-painful-death-torture-extreeeeeme stretch. Literally my least favourite stretch. A standard hamstring stretch works for me but if you want something extra, prop your heel up onto a bar or a high step. Now your foot that’s on the floor inwards (This makes a hell of a difference) and try to keep your back straight while using your hips as a hinge as you lean over. This should make you cry..

Calves – These are supposed to get a good stretch when we do calf raises at the bottom portion of the movement but it isn’t enough for me. If I don’t stretch my calves, my squats are effected quite badly. I just simply find a ledge and let my heels hang off of it for as long as I can whilst holding on to something and leaning forwards. This is excruciating enough for me. Try a mixture of foot positions to hit your gastronemius and the soleus (turn your foot inwards as you stretch to hit the soleus portion of your calf)

Traps – Another tight part of mine. For this one I like to stand up and open up my whole body. Stand up tall and pull your shoulder blades back and down (retract them) and also have your palms facing forwards at all times. Keep them held in this position as you drop your neck slowly down to the side. To intensify the stretch you can use your oppositte arms to push your neck gently down a little further. These trap stretches will help to stop your head from jutting forward and keep you standing nice and tall.

There you have it – Your extreme muscle fascia stretches that should have you crying for mommy….but looking like Arnie!

Try these stretches out after you’ve completed your last exercise for each bodypart and let me know how it goes.

As always comment below and let’s talk about it!

But the great “Ahnullld” MIGHT have been wrong with that statement (blasphemy I know!) – Because he clearly overlooked post workout nutrition!

Don’t get me wrong breakfast is an extremely important meal to get your metabolism kickstarted for the day and switch yourself from a catabolic (muscle breakdown) state into an anabolic state. You should never skimp on breakfast (a common mistake) but for any kind of athlete, fitness enthusiast, muscle builder or even the casual gym user, post workout nutrition IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY! (You can tell Arnold I said that too!).

Then why do so many people still neglect this most important meal?

Why is Post Workout Nutrition the Most Important Meal of the Day?

Picture this – You’ve just hit the gym pretty hard and had a tough session. You’re exhausted! What have you done? Well without getting to scientific, you’ve just depleted all of your glycogen (energy) stores. Now at this point your body is literally screaming at you for nutrition so that it can refuel your muscles with energy and start the recovery process.

If you’re using weights in your workouts, and everybody should be, you’ve also caused micro-tears and damage to your muscles. They will be begging you for a hit of fast protein to save them from utilizing their own protein stores (Your muscles feasting on themselves? Not a cool scenario if you’re hoping to build muscle)

What do most people do? Go and get changed, have a shower, chat to the cute chick on reception or the personal trainer for half hour, wait until they get home..put their feet up a bit..you get the picture. By the time they’ve eaten and refueled it’s too late. They’ve lost that important window of oppurtunity!

What SHOULD Everyone do for Post Workout Nutrition?

For post workout nutrition everybody should come prepared and carry a shaker bottle around with 25-30 grams of whey protein and around 50-75 grams of fast release, high GI carbs (these doses are approximate and should be dependant on lean weight)  Ready to drink the INSTANT you finish your workout. <– IMPORTANT!

Some trainee’s will even also sip a protein/carb shake during their workout to ensure their glycogen and protein stores are always topped up – I personally also do this but reduce the protein and carbs for this shake.

Make sure you do not include any fats in your shake at this time. Fat will reduce the effectiveness of the shake by reducing the speed at which the protein and carbs are absorbed – Something that is counter-productive to what we want at this time!

When you get home you must then also eat a balanced meal as normal (All 3 macronutrients can now feature in this meal – Protein, carbs and fats)

Yes, these rules apply to you whether you’re a male or female, young or old, muscle building or burning fat (post workout carbs can and probably should be lowered for most people if this is your goal, especially in the last few weeks – experiment to see how you get on). The doses may also change depending on your weight and your body type but you can find out what works for you and make adjustments.

Important Note : I’ve heard so much nonsense recently from gym members and friends about “Oh I want to stay natural, these powders are cheating” – Really?? Do you drink milk? Whoops, looks like you’re a cheater then because milk contains whey..Do you eat packaged foods on the odd occasion? Eat cereals? There you go cheating again because you’ll find maltodextrin, dextrose and other forms of high GI carbs and sugars in those foods.

Get that “all powders are unnatural and bad” way of thinking out of your head because it’s an ignorant way of thinking – Most supplements suck, yes..but the ones you need for post workout nutrition are ESSENTIAL for your progress. Forego them at your own peril. I will however, look to find a vegan alternative to your protein shake if that is your preference – Watch this space..

Why Whey Protein?

Whey protein is one of the most bioavailable proteins out there which means that your body can use it’s broad spectrum of amino acids for muscle repair..and quickly! Remember, you don’t want to waste time eating solid food, waiting for it to digest before supplying the muscles and most of us don’t have that appetite immediately after a workout.

Whey protein is the smart choice for your post workout protein because it’s the fastest acting. Pick yourself up a decent whey protein supplement without breaking the bank on expensive brands who make fancy claims about how much better their protein is. Whey is whey for the most part. My recommendation is below. You can’t go wrong with Optimum Nutrition. Click on a product for different flavours and sizes if you want something different from what’s below.

Mix your whey protein and your fast acting carbs with water and simply neck the mixture! Done! (There is a school of thought that taking the carbs and protein seperately is better. If you subscribe to that then you’ll have to bring 2 shaker bottles – I personally am not convinced of the negligible difference seperating them would make post-workout.)

Why Fast Acting Carbs and Which One is the Best?

Carbs are an important and often overlooked aspect of post workout nutrition. If people do use post workout nutrition then it’s usually just a protein shake. This is also a big mistake because you’re not replenishing your muscles energy stores and this will impede your recovery and progression in future workouts! “Won’t fast acting carbs make me fat in those amounts?” Maybe during the day when you’re inactive, yes – But not after a workout when your insulin will shuttle them straight into the place that your body needs them the most – Your glycogen stores. You can play with the dose of your carbs but the ratio will usually be around 1:2 with protein to carbs. See how your body responds..if you start getting overspill due to the high dosage and you gain body fat, try reducing the dose of your post workout carbs. Although I took my post workout carbs even when I was cutting down and still got pretty ripped. It’s hard to store fat immediately after an intense training session.

So Which Carbs?

I will dedicate an entire post to this debate but, again it’s a minor detail in my opinion. Just get one of these 4 forms of carbohydrates down your neck and you will be fine.

• Dextrose
• Maltodextrin
• Waxy Maize Starch
• Vitargo (barley)

The further down the list you go, the more expensive and apprently more effective the carbs are for post workout. The latest two releases are waxy maize and Vitargo (which is patented by one company making the price extortionate for a carb). These are based on having a molecular weight that allows them to pass through the stomach easier and apparently into the muscles much faster than ever before. Real world results? I haven’t seen any studies but I’m certain they are negligible when comparing the four. They all get the job done so just pick the cheapest or most available one – I never recommend wasting too much time or money on supplements. Your efforts are better utilised elsewhere!

So there it is – The simplest of meals but one that is ironically your most important of the day. Don’t forget to eat a solid, balanced meal within 1-2 hours after finishing your workout as well to make further use of this window of oppurtunity.

A recap on your post workout nutrition -

Shaker Bottle with/

• 25-40 grams of Whey protein
• 50-75 grams of fast acting carbs
• Mix w/ Water

Done! Enjoy and please leave your comments or questions below. Let’s get talkin!

Altug

This means that you’ll go back into your pocket and fork over some more cash for the next big fitness product..it’s a neverending cycle. Luckily there are some good guys in this industry who ARE more interested in seeing you succeed and ARE more interested in helping you achieve your goals.

As a personal trainer myself, I get sick to death of misinformation and misleading products that give consumers false hope of a quick fix, which is why on my blog site you’ll never see me endorsing these embaressing products like most people online.

Out of interest, I’ve created a list of online fitness books and programs that I’ve personally reviewed and found to be the best. Hopefully this list helps you to see what fitness books are the hidden gems!

Before we start I’ve ranked these in order of the best FITNESS books. “Fitness” to me embodies every aspect of health. Such as cardiovascular health, muscular health, nutrition, exercise, stretching…everything. The whole package. Therefore, these rankings are based on the programs that encompass all of these aspects!

1) Mike Geary – The Truth About Abs

The king of online fitness programs! Although the title of this fitness book may lead you to believe that it focuses on only one aspect of fitness – abs – This could be nothing further than the truth..and the truth is that this is probably the most complete and far-reaching fitness book online that I’ve read. By far-reaching, I mean that the information is useful to almost every member of the public who wants to get fit and healthy.

Contained within the program is theory, nutrition, diet plans, effective exercises that can be done in a gym as well as at home, exercise pictures etc. It is a complete lifestyle guide and I would recommend this to males or females, young or old who want to get fit permanently. The most important thing in this book is that the information is all true and proven to give results. I use these methods myself and on clients with GREAT results.

You can check out the Truth About Abs Book <– Here

or

You can find my detailed and honest Truth About Abs Review <– here

2) Vince Delmontes – My Six Pack Quest

What is it with the authors and their obsessions with abs and six packs eh? Well, normally it’s because a great set of washboard abs go hand in hand with overall fitness. (not always mind you..some people have genetically great abs but are unhealthy on the inside).

Vince Delmonte, famous author of the best selling muscle building program No Nonsense Muscle Building , really hits the ball way out of the park with this fitness program. This book takes care of every aspect of fitness including fat loss, workouts, theory and nutrition. Not to mention you have an exercise database which is real handy.

But again, if the information wasn’t correct information then what would be the point? After a thorough reading of My Six Pack Quest, I can assure you that there is no need to worry. The info contained in this online fitness book is both effective and priceless.

Check out My Six Pack Quest Now <– Click Here

3) Vince Delmontes – No Nonsense Muscle Building and Fat Loss Upgrade Package

Looks like Vince Delmonte gets a double listing in my top 5 list and for good reason. His No Nonsense Muscle Building e-book may not appeal to everybody but take the upgrade package and you now have one of the most complete fitness programs online!

Females shouldn’t be put off either. EVERYBODY should be using weights in their workouts whether it is to burn fat or build muscle. This is another dirty secret that the fitness industry has – Putting females off of weight training because they fear getting bigger. Trust me, you will NOT get bigger..only curvier and sexier because it is muscles that give you that toned look that everybody is after..

This program includes everything from workouts, theory, stretches, diet plans, nutritional information, exercise databases and a whole heap more. This program has it all but it also comes in a bit pricier than the other fitness books. However it is still the price of a months membership at most gyms and you get a more than one fitness ebook with this program so the value here is incredible.

Check out the No Nonsense Muscle Building and Fat Cutting Program <– Click Here

or

Read my honest and thorough Vince Delmonte Review of the No Nonsense Muscle Building and Fat Loss Package

4) The Diet Solution Program by Isobel De La Rios

A fantastic lifestyle program by Isobel who you’ll see is clearly passionate about her role as a nutritionist after reading her amazingly detailed program.

She goes into lots of detail about body types and figuring out your metabolism – It almost feels like a personalised program by the author herself! Great value because she provides you with over 6 fitness books online as part of her program! There is no way you would get this much value in a book store.

The only thing that let’s this program down is the lack of exercise advice when compared to the other programs.

If You Want to Check out The Diet Solution Program Now Click Here

or

Check out My Thorough The Diet Solution Program Review <– Here

So those are my top 4 fitness books but what do YOU think? Do you agree? Disagree? Why? Write your comments below – Let’s talk!

Until next time, stay safe and train hard!

Altug

Taking a look around at all of the other reviews of products online and it seems apparent to me that most websites just want to make commisions out of you without ever having read the product in the first place. It’s a joke – I’m probably one of the only honest reviewers left out there as my reputation to my visitors means a lot to me – So you should know that I am simply going to lay it out on the table for you and tell it how it is.

Click Here if You Want to Skip This Review and Check Out Muscle Building Secrets Now

I will NEVER review a program unless I’ve read and looked at it – It’s just common sense. If I can analyze a product, then I can give you most honest review I can. So I contacted Jason Ferrugia as I always contact authors to ask if I could write a Muscle Gaining Secrets review for the readers on my authority fitness website. After I proved to him that I was the owner of the site, he gladly sent me a review copy of his program. His communication was FAST and I’m always impressed when somebody is willing to let me review a product. It shows CONFIDENCE in that persons product.

You’ll be amazed at how many times authors don’t bother to reply to me..and some programs don’t even have any contact information! Well that tells me that their programs are not worth it as who wouldn’t want free exposure on an authority fitness website that can get up to 1000 visitors a day??

Ok so with all of that out of the way, here is my no B.S, detailed review of Jason Ferrugia’s Muscle Gaining Secrets program – I disect the program chapter by chapter so let’s see if this muscle building program passes my strict test..

The Muscle Gaining Secrets Review

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Jason introduces himself and the reasons he got started with training. He then goes on to tell you what you can expect from his guide and what it will do for you. He seems to have a no B.S approach which I like. Let’s see if the rest of the book is good for muscle building..

Chapter 2 – The Everlasting Bond

Jason continues with his no B.S attitude which is quite refreshing – He is definitely a bit more hardcore in his teaching style than the other muscle building programs out there. However, I thought this chapter didn’t really need to be given a dedicated section. It’s more motivation based and him telling you his attitude towards training and how yours should be. Didn’t need an entire chapter in my opinion.

Chapter 3 – The Importance of Physical Strength

Another chapter where Jason gets straight to the point and tells you his opinion on why strength is so important for being a man and building muscle. Although again, I thought he didn’t need to give it an entire section. He could easily have merged chapters 2 and 3 together. Hoping there’s more meat to come further in the book.

Chapter 4 - Jason essentially discusses the meaning for progressive overload in this chapter which is an important factor for building muscle!

Chapter 5 – The 7 Critical Factors

Now we’re talking! This chapter contains a lot of meat and Jason takes you through the crucial principles you’ll be using to build slabs of muscle. The theory is solid here and can tell you that it all works and may even surprise many of you if you’ve been reading your typical bodybuilding magazines (that are designed to keep you small by the way!). This is a long chapter but a worthwhile one!

Chapters 6 through to 10 – Bodypart Training

Jason dedicates a chapter to each bodypart here and explains what exercises to do for maximum benefit. He also goes into detail about technique and what you should be feeling for each exercise.

Very useful and detailed chapters to get your knowledge up – Make sure you check out the exercise database included with your order before attempting these exercises though for pictures on how the exercises should look like!

Chapter 11 – Fascial Stretching

I’m glad Jason included this as a chapter because I haven’t seen it in anybody elses muscle building programs. Jay explains how to stretch out the fascia of the muscle to explode your muscle growth. You don’t want to miss this chapter.

Chapter 12 – Putting it all Together

Jason provides his muscle building workouts in this chapter..this is the section where your training starts! He also answers commonly asked questions in this chapter. You will also get a seperate book dedicated to progressive workouts so that your results never stop. This is a nice addition and Jason continues to explain things in his no B.S manner which is a rarity online!

Chapter 13 – Intensity

Training to failure is mostly the topic in this chapter. A good one but again one that I feel could have been incorporated into another chapter. I guess more chapters look better to readers. Still good information though.

Chapter 14 – Recover Methods

Well Jason certainly makes up for the last chapter with an outstandin chapter here where he points out LOADS of recovery methods and explains them at length. This is an extremely important aspect of muscle building so don’t skip this chapter!

Chapter 15 – Mass Building Nutrition

I like Jason’s approach to mass building, especially if you’re a skinny guy. Too many times I see guys trying to hit just the right amount of calories but not gaining any muscle. Jay’s approach is like mine – Eat like a horse. Then experiment for optimal results..If you start building muscle, carry on doing what you’re doing. If you start gaining a bit of fat, cut down on the calories or change the ratio of proteins/carbs/fats. Another chapter where his no B.S attitude shines through.

Jason actually knocks this chapter way out of the park – The information he provides is above and beyond what many muscle building programs offer. He gives sample diets (although you get bonus meal plans with the package from 2000 calories all the way up to 6000 calories!), talks about types of foods, their benefits and/or disadvantages and then talks about other special diet methods that allow people to stay extremely lean whilst building slabs of mass. Another unmissable chapter.

Chapter 16 – 19 Training Partners, Music, Q + A and Conclusion

I’ve grouped these chapters together because again they’re not the most valuable chapters. Training partners basically covers the importance of a highly motivated and intense training partner. Jason talks about an amusing story with him and his brother (also training partner). Music again isn’t the most valuable chapter as most people have different taste in music and won’t care about Jason’s music list. Q + A is a solid chapter where he answers tons of questions he’s been asked over the years about training and his program.

The conclusion basically ends where the book starts – A story about his strongman uncle and how he managed to make him proud. It’s a pretty feel good ending but again something that won’t provide that much value to readers who just want information. Although, it should leave you motivated at the end of reading a pretty solid program.

Heard Enough and Want to Start Building Muscle Now? Click Here to Check Out Muscle Gaining Secrets Now

So What’s the Final Verdict on the Muscle Gaining Secrets Review?

Well it started off with a bit of fluff in the first couple of chapters and I thought “here we go again”..but the further you go on the more you realise Jason knows his stuff. His passion shines through in his no B.S attitude which almost makes him come accross as an A-Hole at times but you’ll understand that this attitude is developed due to frustration of trainee’s being mislead by magazines and the desire to help people. I should know..I have a similar attitude when it comes to training. “Go hard or go home”.

The program is packed to the rafters with cutting edge information that you won’t find in magazines…simply because Jason isn’t selling you anything else like the magazines are. You’ve bought his program and I got the sense from reading it that he feels a duty to deliver and help you reach your goals. Not promote supplements. In fact he barely covers the topic!

Overall, you can’t go wrong with the muscle gaining secrets program if your goal is to pack on as much muscle as humanely possible. It’s a toss up between this program and the No Nonsense Muscle Building program..but if you want a no B.S, easy to follow and implement guide to building muscle fast then Jason’s is the program to go for! (that’s not to say Vince’s is B.S by any means)

I hope that this Muscle Gaining Secrets review was useful to you and that it’s helped you make a conscious decision to start changing your physique and life for the better..starting now!

If You’ve Read my Muscle Gaining Secrets Review and Had Enough of Being Skinny and Want to Build Muscle Fast then Click Here to Check it Out Now

But first here are some notes to make these healthy snacks work for you!

• Portion Sizes – Keep them sensible..even the healthiest snacks are made unhealthy if you gorge on them!
• Organization and planning – Plan your meals in advance. Don’t be caught out being hungry in an inconvenient place. Remember convenience foods usually mean junk foods.
• Home-Cooking – Also part of planning. Make your food yourself and take it with you! This way YOU control what goes in! You don’t get the extra heart disease causing, cancer inducing chemicals that come with packaged foods!

So without further a do..

My Top 10 Healthy Snacks For Weight Loss

1) Tuna Sweetcorn Mix -

A popular snack that is always MISTAKENLY considered a healthy option. Ever looked inside most Tuna sweetcorn mixes in cafe’s or sandwhich bars? When have you ever seen Tuna and sweetcorn that is so sticky and thickly bound together? Well the magic ingredient at work here is Mayonaise!

Now mayonaise isn’t the devil if consumed once in a while (Mayo rarely contains heart-disease causing hydrogenated fats) but there is a better, low calorie option to use in a tuna mix if you want a healthy snack for weight loss.

This ingredient is LOW FAT YOGHURT – Now before you screw your face up at the thought of it, have you ever tried it? It’s very difficult to taste the difference once it’s in a mixture! A personal favourite recipe of mine is :

• A Can of Tuna
• Half a can of sweetcorn
• A heaped tablespoon of low fat yoghurt
• Chopped Onions, Lettuce and cucumber (or whatever vegetables you like! Carrots, tomatoes etc!)

This recipe gives you more protein than the mayonaise option and contains way less calories too due to the massive amount of fat you’ve just cut from the recipe – This will keep you on track to burn fat and lose weight!

2) Lean Beef Burger

“What?? Surely you can’t include a burger in a top 10 healthiest snacks list?” – Well I can and just did Here’s why..

If you can get a hold of lean meat and make your own burgers at home (or even out of a packet as long as they’re not frozen in a box), you’re looking at a great tasting meal which can support weight loss! Lean meat typically contains about 8-12% fat and tastes great because it is still tender. You can even go for extra lean meat if available but this becomes more chewy and less tender. Still a great tasting meal though!

So how is this healthy? Well we’ve been taught that fat is evil right? Especially saturated fat. Well depending on the source, saturated fat can actually be healthy in small quantities and depending on the quality of the meat. That’s why I would recommend picking up organic, grass fed meat where possible to get the healthiest type of saturated fat.

Use the burger as a bed for your salad. Add lettuce, tomatoes, gherkin etc and you’re good to go!

Eat with a small portion of brown rice or a single slice of Rye bread if you need some healthy carbs. or if you want to keep it low-carb, add more salad to fill the gap in your stomach.

NOTE : Don’t throw loads of ketchup or mayo on this meal! You’ll just negate the healthyness of the meal. Make your own relish at home from a can of chopped tomatoes! Tastes better too!  Also remember to keep your portion sizes sensible. Fat isn’t evil but remember it is high in calories. A BIG burger will contain a lot of fat even if it is lean meat.

3) Fruity Frozen Yoghurt

“STOP! Put the spoon down..Slowly step away from the Ben and Jerries…” – Ok let’s be honest, we all love a Ben and Jerries with a movie (I’m more of a Haagen Daaz man myself!) but I think we also know that these rich ice creams aren’t going help to reduce our waist line and lose fat.

A healthier AND great tasting alternative is to make yourself an ice cream substitute! Here are the steps :

Grab yourself a pot of PLAIN low fat yoghurt.

When you get home chuck your favourite fruits in there! Chopped strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, bananas…whatever you fancy.

Mix it up, shut the lid – Pop it in the freezer. Enjoy a great tasting ice-cream substitute a few hours later!

Want to go one step further? Pour the yoghurt into a blender – Chuck the chopped fruits in and blend. Now put it in the freezer and you have yourself a completely flavoured, healthy, awesome tasting frozen yoghurt snack! It’s just like ice-cream but makes you feel less sick afterwards!

NOTE : Again, although this is a healthy snack, your portion size will also depend on whether it becomes healthy or not.  Be sensible.

4) Full English Breakfast!

“NO WAY!” – Yes way! I’m just full of surprises today..

Check it out..

• Poached/boiled/scrambled Eggs
• Baked Beans
• Slice of Wholemeal/Rye Bread
• 2 slices of grilled bacon with fat cut off

How much fat would you say is in that whole meal?

Go to a cafe and you’re looking at around 30-40 grams of the worst fats money can buy.

My version of the full english? 8 grams of fat maybe? 10 grams maximum if you spread a little butter on your bread (NEVER margarine – Most contain heart disease and cancer causing trans fats!).

The food is all healthy. Lean bacon is a great source of protein with practically zero fat. Poached eggs are another great source of protein and they’re not fried in fat! Beans contain protein and carbs with most brands being low in sugar. Rye bread is a slow energy releasing starchy carbohydrate! Also you’re eating this meal first thing in the morning when your metabolism is sky high and will remain that way after consuming this healthy meal!

Again portion size is what is important here – don’t go crazy or the meal then becomes unhealthy. A cup of tea or a small glass of fresh orange juice can also be added to this meal without any ill effect (Cut your sugar down..no more than half a teaspoon in your tea!)

5) Wholewheat Chicken/Beef Tortilla’s

Another great tasting meal that is quick and easy to make! Chop your chicken, chop your peppers, onions, garlic etc and get to work! Use 1 calorie spray to oil the pan and you’re good to go! Make sure you buy wholewheat tortilla.

If you’re trying to cut out the carbs (and bread is usually a good one to let go) then replace the tortilla with a mixed bean salad! Add the chicken and you have one of the best tasting healthy snacks for weight loss!

Add a little bit of guacamole, low fat yoghurt (Yup our good friend yoghurt is back) and/or some salsa! Go get your sombrero and enjoy! (Ok the sombrero isn’t a strict requirement )

NOTE : Please don’t buy pre mixed tortilla seasoning. Most of it is laden with sugar and salt. Usually amongst the top 2-3 ingredients. Try making your own mix. Get creative or find a mix that doesn’t contain much sugar (This will be difficult) and REMEMBER – Portion sizes

5 more healthy snacks for weight loss in less detail

6) Raw Almonds / Raw Mixed Nuts – A handful of raw almonds = good source of protein and fats. (Make sure they’re raw!)

7) PopCorn – Must be air-popped yourself. No Butterkist or any of that stuff..Unless you enjoy blocking your arteries as a hobby..

Fruit Salad / Bean Salad / “Salad” Salad / Chicken Salad / Tuna Salad - You can make a salad out of most stuff and turn it into a well balanced, great tasting, nutritious meal. Add eggs, small boiled potatoes or any other healthy food in amongst your salad. Be careful with salad dressing! Most contain tons of sugar and fat. Squeeze a lemon over the salad or try different types of vinegar. They go down a treat!

9) Little Snacks for your Lunch Box –

• RyeGrain Crisp Bread with Cottage Cheese
• Celery Sticks/Carrots with humous dip
• Dried Fruit and Nuts (Be careful not to eat too much of either of these. A handful should suffice)
• Fruit Salad
• Homemade fruit yoghurt
• I’m sure you can think of an endless list (but the point is they are LITTLE snacks)

10) Homemade Milkshake!

Ingredients for a health shake to help with fat loss

• Scoop of Whey protein concentrate/Casein protein
• Skimmed milk
• Water
• Yoghurt
• Fruit
• Small teaspoon of natural peanut butter
• Finely ground porridge oats

NOTE : These ingredients are interchangeable for your situation. For example if the whey protein you are using is chocolate flavoured, you won’t be adding fruit to it! Porridge oats are great for a breakfast shake or in the afternoon to keep you feeling full and delivers sustained energy.

Women, yes I’m reccomending you go pick up a tub of whey protein concentrate or casein protein too. You won’t turn into arnold. If that were the case you would have got big drinking milk and eating chicken. Protein is a great way to keep your lean muscle tissue which provide you with your curves while burning more fat calories from your body. In my experience whey protein is better tasting than casein.

So there you have it! My top 10 list of healthy snacks for weight loss! As ever once I start writing, I can’t stop..you’ve got way more than 10 idea’s here so go put them to use!

Thanks for reading and remember sharing is caring – If youfeel that this page will help your friends or family, either like the page on FB or Tweet this post for other peoples benefit. Let’s help each other lead a healthier life!

Until next time guys and girls.

Altug

It seems that we’ve all been bowing down to Whey as the best protein supplement to build muscle since..well..forever! It makes sense – I mean whey protein has the highest bioavailability of any protein source and the highest yield of all of the amino acids to help our muscles recover and more importantly, GROW!

But this has left a VERY important protein for muscle building in the dark as a result – This protein is CASEIN!

Why Casein Protein?

“Why not?” is a better question! Why wouldn’t you want a nice slow releasing protein that gradually nourishes your muscles with protein over the course of a few hours? I don’t know about you but I don’t like getting out of bed to eat every 3 hours just to keep my muscles happy! (I get wound up just having to getting up in the middle of the night to go for a pee let alone food!)

Casein is the next best thing! It provides a steady release to your muscles while you catch those all important ZZZ’s! (Waking up in the middle of the night is counterproductive to your growth hormone levels anyway, which peak in a deep sleep..GH also helps your body to recover and build muscles!)

The great news is that studies have shown that Casein can keep amino acids (protein) slowly releasing into your bloodstream for up to 7 hours! That’s a good night’s sleep right there!

Casein vs Whey

Comparing the two initially may seem foolish – Whey has a higher bioavailability which means more of the protein can be used by your muscles for repair.  However, the body uses this protein quicker than you can say “muscles please!” (ok maybe not quite THAT fast but you catch my drift.

So why would you take this before bed? Or at any other time in the day when you would rather have a sustained release of protein to your muscles? Not to mention there are now talks that whey protein actually causes a spike in insulin..something you don’t particular want during the day (not a huge spike anyway).

So Casein, which is derived from milk (Around 80% of milk is Casein protein!) for me is looking like a surprise winner here.

Now there is a time when our muscles SCREAM at us if we don’t give them access to protein quickly (I spoil mine, I really do!)  and that is straight after a workout.

You should know this already but a quick lesson in what happens when you train with weights with any kind of intensity – You create micro-tears in your muscles and empty out the muscles protein and glycogen (energy) stores. Your MOST important meal of the day (yes, more important than breakfast but ALL meals are important for muscle building!) will be your post-workout shake which MUST consist of fast acting whey protein isolate (preferably, but concentrate will do also) and a high amount of fast releasing carbs (we’ll talk about types of carbs on a whole new post).

This is the situation when whey is the best protein supplement to build muscle.

At all other times, I’ve started using Casein where I wasn’t before. Incidently, since I’ve started replacing whey with Casein I’m the biggest I’ve ever been. Coincidence? Maybe, but I’m positive the extra muscle is being built while my muscles get smothered with protein while they sleep!

Ultimately?

Ultimately, my supplement cupboard now consists of both whey protein for my all-important post-workout shake and now Casein for the rest of the day.

This is what I recommend you do as well to keep your muscles getting an optimal stream of protein all day long..and therefore giving yourself the best chance to grow.

On a final note, whilst they’re both as important for different reasons the best protein supplement to build muscle for me is Casein – Simply for the fact that it should be the protein supplement of choice for most of the day (when you’re not consuming whole food of course and apart from post-workout) but both should be in your supplement cupboard!

As you probably already know most of the reviews online just want a quick commision out of you so they’ll throw up a half-baked review when they haven’t even read the book in the first place. I can’t even begin to tell you how many Truth About Abs reviews I’ve seen online that actually have nothing to do with the book!

I don’t work that way – I make sure I review every product personally. For example when I heard all the fuss and hype about The Truth About Abs program I wanted to see whether there was any substance to it.

This program tops the online “fitness” category as the most popular program online by a long shot. Of course this could just mean lots of people are promoting it – It doesn’t necessarily correlate to the quality of the program.

Intrigued about this program and wanting to give an honest review to benefit my readers I got in touch with Mike, the owner of Truth About Abs and asked if I could review his program. This is always my first test because if somebody is confident about their program then why wouldn’t they want it reviewed on a website that currently gets 20’000 page views a month? It would be extra exposure for them. (you’ll be surprised at how many programs don’t respond!)

If You Want to Skip This Review and Check out The Truth About Abs Program Now Click Here

Well, after proving that I was the owner of this website, Mike responded promptly and personally with a review copy of his E-program. Well, he passed the first test but let’s see if his program could pass me with my B.S radar on full beam.

As a trainer in the U.K certified on the highest level of the register of exercise professionals, I always keep my eyes peeled for any bogus claims in any Ebook’s or programs claimed to be written by experts.

So, let’s take a look at how this program sizes up in my honest, no nonsense Truth About Abs review :

What is the Truth About Abs Program?

It is exactly what it says on the tin. A book that claims to tell you the truth about getting lean and burning body fat. Inside the program you will find theory, nutrition, diet plans, exercise plans, exercises pictures and other stuff that I’ll go into much more detail about further down.

What Do You Get?

Inside the members area you get the main program ebook which is 140 pages long. You also get 3 other bonus ebooks about exercise and nutrition. Overall, it for the amount of stuff you get it appears to be very good value..but is it just filler or does this program contain actually contain some substance?

If You Want to Skip This Review and Check out The Truth About Abs Program Now Click Here

So Give me Your Truth About Abs review – What’s the Verdict? Good, Bad or Ugly?

Ok let me break it down and cut the crap. Here is my verdict, chapter by chapter. Unfortunately there isn’t a contents page which makes things a little more difficult but chapters are numbered and organised well so here we go.

1 – Intro : Gives a bit of background about himself and talks about the biggest misconceptions about losing fat and getting visible abdominals. I like his “layman” approach as I can’t stand those trainers who try to talk themselves up by using fancy lingo. Sometimes I think they forget they’re talking to another human. Mike doesn’t do this, so this is a good start. Still, nothing groundbreaking here so far.

2 – Relative Leaness or Bodyfat : Mike dispels an important myth here about gaining those elusive abdominals. A short but effective chapter.

3 – Starting Point : A chapter about motivation and belief. Not a “sexy” topic but an extremely important one. Glad to see that Mike included this chapter.

4 – Importance of Diet : This section is broken down into sub-sections because obviously nutrition is a huge topic and Mike covers it well. I like that he talks about nutrition more simply than in other programs I’ve read (such as The Diet Solution). I believe the average Joe will have no trouble understand what he is saying. Even if you just read and digest every part of this chapter you’ll be well on your way to burning loads of fat pretty quickly. Diet plans are also included in this section

If I had to moan I’d say that it dragged on a little. He occasionally goes into “fluff” territory where he starts talking about things I feel weren’t as important for the user to know. However, maybe that’s because I already know this stuff. You may find it useful.

5 – Safe and Effective Abdominal Development : Probably the section you’re most interested in, right. How to get those abs. Again this section is broken down into sub-chapters. First Mike talks about the anatomy of the abs, then talks about how to train them correctly and effectively, then to finish off he provides about a bazillion ab exercises for you to choose from with pictures. (Don’t worry he doesn’t recommend you do them all..I would have called the book useless if he recommended that).

A well-written chapter which leaves nothing to the imagination. Full pictures are included to make sure you are doing the exercises safely and effectively. Just don’t get overwhelmed with the amount of exercises offered.

6 – Lean Body Mass and Metabolic Rate : Explains the relationship between how much lean body mass you are carrying and your metabolism. A simple chapter really. Also shows you how to calculate your metabolic rate. Pretty simple stuff but important if you don’t know about it already.

7 – Metabolic Effect Of Training : Explains how different types of training effect your metabolism. This section will also surprise you if you weren’t aware of what Mike is talking about. Nothing ground-breaking here but chances are if you’ve been brainwashed by the media or old school methods of training, this section will open your eyes to the truth.

8 – Free Weights Or Machines : Didn’t really need it’s own section. Could have incorporated it within another chapter.

9 – The Problem with Cardio and My Solution : A solid chapter which again will probably leave you wide-eyed thinking “What?? I was never told or taught that?”. Mike dispels more myths here and gives you effective solutions. This section alone will flip the switch on your fat burning!

10 – Frequency and Duration of Training Sessions : Another chapter that probably could have been merged with another chapter. The info is solid but in my opinion it didn’t need it’s own chapter.

11 – Putting it All Together into an Effective Training Routine : This is another longer chapter that is broken down into sub-headings. This is quite an important chapter so pay attention to it as it shows you how to put your training routine together and offers you sample plans and exercises. This is where you will find lots of important full-body exercises pictured and explained to you. Take Note : This chapter is MORE important than the ab training chapter. This is the chapter that will allow you to burn more fat so that you can SEE your abs.

Bodyweight routines are also offered for those who don’t have access to a gym.

12 – Additional Lean Body Tips : Important little tips that you should take on board to maximize your fat loss. In fact I’d say some of these are so important he should have mentioned them in the “diet” area. Or further up in the book rather than leave them at the end where people might skip them. (Don’t skip any of this book if you want best results)

13 + 14 – FAQ’s and Final Thoughts : These are just a collaboration of the questions Mike has been asked over time and has included the answers in the ebook. In the final thought’s he passes the knowledge in to your hands and tells you to take action.

Overall Verdict on my Truth About Abs Review

I must say before I wrote this Truth About Abs review I was very skeptical. I didn’t think it would be much more than an over-advertised, over-promoted and over-hyped program. There are so many out there, trust me on that one.

I was pleasantly surprised that Mike overdelivered with The Truth About Abs. I found myself quite frequently saying “Exactly….Exactly” in agreement when i was reading through his book. So it is quite obvious that he is a certified Personal trainer and nutritionist. He looks the part too.

With the knowledge you gain in this ebook, you’ll have all the tools to burn fat fast and see those abs whether you’re a male or female. But, if you’re not interested in taking action then this book is not for you and I wouldn’t bother recommending it. Like Mike says at the end, “It’s in your hands now”.

It’s up to you, do you want to make that change? If so, after my Truth About Abs Review, I’d highly recommend checking out the program now HERE.

Let me just be frank with you straight away, in my reviews I cut through all of the rubbish you may have heard about products online so far.

Truth is, good luck finding an honest, unbiased review online these days. The only thing people are interested in is promoting bogus products that make the reviewer big commisions when you buy the product.

My reviews will ALWAYS be beneficial, honest and help you to make up your mind about a certain program. In this case, The Diet Solution Program review.

So without any more waiting, let me tell you how it is with The Diet Solution Program.

What is The Diet Solution Program?

The diet solution program is a program written by Isabel De Los Rios who has made astounding losses in fat and transformed her body. To be quite honest, I thought from the sales page that it would be another fad diet and anybody who knows me knows how much I hate fad diets! Maybe I’m just too much of a skeptic..(you kinda need to be online)

Click here if you want to skip the diet solution program review and check it out now

At the moment, this program actually sits at number 1 in the health and fitness category at Clickbank – Which makes it the highest selling diet program online. Pretty impressive but to me all that could mean is that there are a lot of people promoting and advertising the product. (Again, the skeptic in me – I’ve seen too many crap diet programs!)

Well, anyway the curiosity got the better of me and an initial test I always perform to see whether a company is confident in their product is email the owner. I emailed Isabel and gave her my website and proved to her that I owned it. I then asked if she would be willing to let me review The Diet Solution and post it up on my website..To my surprise, she got back to me within 48 hours and said she’d love for me to review it and sent the program over to me.

You should have seen the surprise on my face – This showed me that she was pretty confident in her program so I got straight to work in picking apart the information.

So before I continue, you can see I’ve actually accessed this program so I’m not about to spout a bunch of B.S to you. My reputation is worth more than that. So let’s take a look in detail at the program.

What Do You Get?

Well, once you buy the program you’re taken to your membership page where you get access to an impressive 10 E-books on various nutrition topics such as diet plans, recipes and the main theory book – you can get started right away.

The Main Ebook – The Diet Solution Program Review

Ok so I started off with the main book and it was a whooping 102 pages long. It’s split into 2 parts with 16 chapters altogether.

The Positives :

• VERY detailed book – It leaves nothing to the imagination. You can tell Isabel is well into her job as a nutritionist.
• Isobel talks about things like Metabolism types, how foods effect individuals etc It’s very individualised and if
• you can’t lose weight based on her advice you’re doing something seriously wrong
• You are actually allowed to eat! I was worried this book would be another fad diet but it turned out it isn’t you’ll be glad to know.

The Bad :

• Sometimes Isabel goes into too much detail. Some things didn’t need to be in there and I would consider certain pages in the book to be “fluff”
• She recommends EVERYTHING organic. This won’t be possible for some people due to cost/availability. However, she does offer ways around this so fair play to her

Click Here to Visit the Diet Solution Website Now

What About the Other Books?

Basically all of the other books are branches off of the main ebook. Here is a short review of each one.

Quick Start Guide – This book is pretty good and gives you the option to skip the main manual to get started straight away (although I’d recommend reading the full manual..you might learn something new)

14 Days to a Sexy Body – A short guide to dropping quick weight in 14 days. I don’t like the title of this book..it’s misleading and somebody extremely overweight isn’t going to have a sexy body in 14 days no matter how you spin it. The guide gives a 2 week low calorie meal plan and explains why it works. Content is good but the title is not.

Metabolism Type Test – An important book! This is what Isabel talks about in the main book and you need to do this to make sure you know your metabolism type and achieve success. This is crucial to your success.

Success Journal – Literally that..a journal where you keep tabs on yourself. A motivational tool. It is what it is – A journal..I don’t really have an opinion on it

Recipes – Now we’re getting to the books I would start to call “bonuses”. This is a book of fun recipes to keep your eating habits fun. Some good idea’s in here

Meal Plans – Handy if you want to follow plans already done for you rather than construct your own

Food Shopping Guide – Another non-essential book I’d call a “bonus”. Good advice for finding the foods you need but again nothing essential here.

Top 10 Nutrition Mistakes Keeping You Fat – Quite an eye-opener this book. Could be some things you know or you could learn something new.

7 Day Back Pain Cure – This was an extra bonus that I didn’t take a peek at as it was nothing to do with the diet solution. But those who suffer from back pain may find it useful

So there you have it! The Diet Solution Program review…but how does it fare overall?

The Diet Solution Program Review Overall Verdict

I enjoyed reading this book and it is VERY detailed. Even though the book is written for the masses, it helps you to individualise everything for your personal success. I found that most impressive. If you can’t lose weight after reading this you either didn’t follow the program or you need to visit the doctor to get your thyroid checked! (Don’t ask me how fast you can lose the weight on this program – That part is up to you and I’m not into hype but 1-2lbs of fat a week is feasable and safe.)

The biggest surprise for me was that it doesn’t taboo any foods or get users to follow a strict single track diet. It acknowledges that everybody has a different body type and therefore this will work for everyone.

On the flip side, I thought the main ebook contained a lot of filler especially when isabel explains the foods to avoid etc. Sometimes she goes into “storytelling” mode and I’d rather it was kept more short and to the point.

The other small gripe I have is that it should have contained some exercise information too, which is almost as important as nutrition for losing weight from fat and retaining your muscle tissue. However, I understand that exercise isn’t her field so we can’t have it all.

If you did want a program that covers nutrition AND exercise in great depth then I’d opt for The Truth About Abs by Mike Geary instead (Although his nutrition section is less detailed than The Diet Solution..but I’d recommend it if you want more simplified instructions rather than scientific speak. Depends on your preference – You’ll lose weight with either program if you follow their instructions)

This doesn’t really detract from a great program though and as far as a dieting program goes, this one definitely earns its spot as the best selling diet program online.

I hope that you’ve found my The Diet Solution Program review useful and that it genuinely helped you make your mind up about whether to purchase or not.

If You Want to Get Started with The Diet Solution Program now and Start Losing Weight Today Click Here

Vitamin D deficiency symptoms are crucial to recognise – Being deficient in this very important vitamin could quite possibly have a massively detrimental impact on your life.

The worst case scenario is that the deficiency will lead to a condition where bones do not calcify normally and will even cause easier fractures and deformities.

This condition is called Rickets in infants and osteomalacia in adults. If treated, prognosis is usually positive however bone deformities usually persist in infants where as in adults they do not.

I think you’ll agree it would always be best to catch a Vitamin D deficiency early or even prevent it in the first place through proper nutrition or supplementation

So how do we recognise Vitamin D deficiency symptoms?

Recognising Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms

Early signs and symptoms

Long Term Symptoms

You may not experience all of these vitamin d deficiency symptoms if you have a deficiency but on the flip side of the coin, if you do recognise one or two of these symptoms, it may not necessarily mean that you’re deficient in Vitamin D

If we know what causes Vitamin D deficiency, then we may be better equipped to recognise whether it is a deficiency or not..

So What Are the Causes of Vitamin D Deficiency?

Lack of exposure to sun – Ironically, for all the bad press that our good old sun gets, lack of it is the biggest risk factor for vitamin d deficiency. Vitamin D is synthesised by the body through sun exposure, therefore a lack of sun (or too much sun block) will cause a deficiency.

Race/Ethnicity – Those with darker skin will have more trouble synthesizing Vitamin D due to melanin (the pigment that darkens skin) slowing this process down.

Liver and Kidney Problems – Vitamin D is processed by the Liver and Kidneys so these individuals could suffer from Vitamin D deficiency even if they have enough Vitamin D circulating in their blood.

Genetic – Some individuals are genetically unable to convert sunlight as effectively as others leading to a deficiency symptoms.

Others – Things such as weight/obesity and age are also risk factors which can cause Vitamin D deficiency symptoms. Mainly because older and overweight individuals have a greater demand and requirement on their bones for Vitamin D.

If you are at risk of any of the above causes of vitamin d deficiency, this can be balanced out by taking in the proper Vitamin D supplements

However, if you have a genetic condition or poor liver/kidney function that means you can’t synthesize Vitamin D optimally, I would recommend seeing your doctor – Especially if you are experiencing any of the Vitamin D deficiency symptoms

If getting ripped abs is on your list of priorities when it comes to your current fitness program, do not overlook the importance of your usual strength training activities. One of the biggest misconceptions about getting great abs is that you must spend hours doing ab work alone. Unfortunately this is furthest from the truth.

The real fact of the matter is that when you are lifting heavy during your squats, lunges, deadlifts, and the bench press, you will be using the ab muscles to a great degree. If they were not working, you would find yourself feeling unstable, and chances are, you would wind up injured.

The ab muscles are going to be called into play with every weight lifting exercise you do, so ensure proper form is being utilized during all workout sessions.

Furthermore, one of the major factors in developing ripped abs, is going to be getting your body fat level low enough for them to be seen clearly.

If you’re not approaching close to single digits, chances are you may have great ab muscles, but you aren’t going to see them when looking in the mirror.

Weight training exercises are one of the best ways to boost your metabolic rate, which will then help you burn off body fat all day long. Do keep in mind though that all weight lifting activities are not created equally. A heavy set of squats is going to ramp up the metabolism a great deal more than a set of bicep curls would for example.

To utilize this principle, try your best to program your weight lifting routine so that only core, compound lifts are included. This would be movements such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, bent over rows, shoulder presses, and the bench press.

Not only will this provide you with a far better whole body workout without wasting too much time on needless exercises, but it will also help you achieve that ripped abs look that you are going for.

Lastly, keep in mind that ripped abs and strong abs can mean different things. If you do a great deal of weighted abdominal work, you may actually cause your ab muscles to grow larger, thus giving you the appearance of a wider waist. Unless the body fat levels are not low again, you’ll just end up looking bigger in the middle, rather than more defined.

So, in order to make this goal a reality for you, first focus on getting low enough body fat levels to get those abs showing. This can be accomplished through a solid lifting program and a clean diet. Then, if you are not happy with the shape of the ab muscles or the amount of ab muscle development, start focusing on doing more work focused on just this muscle group itself.

What is Green Tea?

Green tea originates from China and has been used for thousands of years!

It contains many polyphenolic antioxidants which help to combat free radicals and may help prevent ill-health, especially neurodegenerative diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

More recently, this tea has also been considered to have fantastic fat loss properties too!

How Does Green Tea Work?

Green tea has been garnering much interest and it’s not difficult to see why as it has many positive effects on the body.

Green tea has been shown to increase antioxidant levels which can provide a variety of health benefits such as :-

• Increased health of arteries via breakdown of LDL cholestrol
• Act as anti inflammatories
• Certain antioxidants can inhibit the growth or occurence of Tumors
• Anti-ageing

Green tea has also been used successfully by many to help shed unwanted fat through CNS (central nervous system) stimulation due to it’s caffeine content. This helps to shift fat from their cells.

Finally, Green tea also acts as a diuretic to remove excess water which will give your body a harder, more toned look.

Who Would Green Tea Benefit Most?

Everybody! This truely is one of those supplements that anybody could benefit from.

The following populations would especially see the benefits of Green tea :-

• Healthy adults
• Athletes (or anybody who exercises)
• Anybody wanting to lose bodyfat or weight.

What Are The Recommended Dosages of Green Tea?

Although we know a lot about how good Green tea is for us, there are still a lot of benefits that we don’t even know about!

Studies are constantly ongoing and no optimal dose has been established. Stick to your product guidelines.

Side Effects of Green Tea?

Green tea is completely safe! However, If too much is consumed, the same side effects as caffeine would apply as Green Tea contains caffeine.

What Are They?

Guggulsterones are compounds derived from the “Gum Guggul” plant that grows in India. Sounds like a joke right?? Nope! The plant is also known as Commiphora Mukul.

Despite the funny name, Guggulsterone (s) are a potent thyroid stimulator that increase your metabolic rate! This makes Guggulsterones a good option for those looking to lose weight fast and drop bodyfat.

Guggul also has two extra benefits if the above wasn’t already enough! Guggul helps with the users complexion and also has a favourable effect on total cholestrol levels and the ratio of good cholestrol to bad cholestrol!

That’s a pretty good CV!

How Do Guggulsterone (s) work?

Unlike other popular supplements that work on the central nervous system (such as Ephedrine and Caffeine), Guggul works to stimulate the thyroid gland.

It does this by naturally stimulating the release of thyroid hormones which will increase your metabolic rate and help you to burn more calories, even at rest!

This effect is particularly helpful during a restricted diet where your metabolic rate will be naturally slowed down making it difficult to lose further weight!

Who Would Benefit Most?

Of course, anybody who is looking to lose weight and burn fat as part of a healthy lifestyle can benefit.

Furthermore, users who experience side effects with CNS fat loss supplements can benefit from the milder Guggul. (However, the ultimate benefit is to be had by combining Guggulsterone with other CNS stimulating fat loss supplements as you’ll be attacking your fat cells from all angles and accelerating the fat loss process!)

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, Guggul has a fantastic effect on skin complexion and was even shown to be more potent than some anti-biotics for treating acne! Couple that with its cholestrol controlling benefits and you have a supplement in Guggul with a huge upside!

What Are The Recommended Dosages?

Dosages of 20-60mgs should be taken around 3 times per day. (But try to find a product with the highest possible % of naturally extracted Guggul – 10% or above is about right)

Side Effects?

If you have good quality Guggul, you’ll experience a rise in body temperature. This is completely normal and lets you know that you have purchased a quality product which is increasing your metabolic rate.

Other than that, Guggulsterone is known as one of the safest fat loss supplements on the market!

What is Yohimbe / Yohimbine Hcl?

Yohimbine is an alkaloid found in the inner bark of a tree that grows in southern Africa called “Corynanthe yohimbe”. Yohimbe has been used throughout history as an aphrodisiac, and the alkaloids contained in this tree have been at the forefront of many studies.

Yohimbine was used, before Viagra was born, in the treatment of erectile dysfunction! However, Yohimbine has no need to be jealous at being dethroned by Viagra! It has many other desired effects – Helping in the treatment of obesity and aiding fitness fanatics in their quest for fat loss being the most popular effects.

Yohimbine is available most commonly as the herbal “yohimbe extract”. Pure Yohimbine Hcl (Hcl stands for hydrochloride) can also be purchased and is recommended because the Yohimbe extract will only contain around 10% of actual Yohimbine (and this may vary wildly effecting your dosage!).

This makes Pure Yohimbine Hcl a much safer and more effective bet. You can also find Yohimbine in transdermal solutions that are rubbed on to “stubborn” area’s. This may help to keep Yohimbine’s effects localized to the particular area it is rubbed in to.

How Does Yohimbine HCl Work?

Let’s try and make this as simple as possible! Basically Yohimbine works mainly by blocking alpha adrenoreceptors (I know that doesn’t sound simple but stick with me!).

Norepinephrine (NE) is one of the bodies primary lipolytic (fat burning) hormones. One of the times NE is released is after periods of stress or after taking sypathomimetics, for example, Ephedrine.

Now, our bodies can sometimes prevent the release of NE through a number of feedback mechanisms – When NE is released it stimulates BOTH the alpha and beta adrenoreceptors.

The stimulation of beta causes fat to break down where as stimulating the alpha will prevent the release of norepinephrine (NE) and thus, prevent fat loss.

Hence why Yohimbine is used to BLOCK the alpha receptors and prevent this feedback mechanism from taking place, increasing the potential for fat loss. Phew!

Sounds good so far but there are even more benefits to be had by blocking alpha receptors with Yohimbine. “Stubborn” fatty areas (usually the abdominal area in men and butt and thighs area in women) contain a higher ratio of alpha receptors, which means that Yohimbine is particularly effective in these areas and may just have an arguement for those who think that spot reduction of a particular area is impossible.

Don’t forget that Yohimbine was also used before Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction! Therefore, Yohimbine can work to sexually arouse men (and women) by increasing blood flow and reducing sexual exhaustion. A nice side benefit!

Who Would Benefit Most From Yohimbine HCl?

Yohimbine is an effective fat loss agent and would therefore best benefit anybody looking to decrease their bodyfat levels (Depending on an individuals tolerance to Yohimbine).

As Yohimbine is not an essential nutrient, deficiency is not a problem.

What Are The Recommended Dosages of Yohimbine?

A dosing protocol of about 0.1mg per lb of users bodyweight per day (or 0.2mg per kg) is a sensible dose which would be effective for fat loss and free of side effects.

Yohimbine is usually administered around 3 times a day due to its short half-life (around 2 hours) and taken on an empty stomach. It is believed that taking Yohimbine with a meal could reduce its fat burning efficiency!

I’d recommend starting with a lower dose for the first couple of days to assess your tolerance to Yohimbine as this can vary between individuals.

Side Effects of Yohimbine?

At sensible doses, Yohimbine is free of side effects for most people. Anxiety is perhaps the most common side effect of yohimbine (especially with higher doses). So it is not recommended for trainees that are prone to panic attacks etc.

Other common side effects are increased blood pressure and maybe an elevated heart rate. Again, these usually do not show up when using Yohimbine sensibly.

Insomnia may also be experienced but this can be avoided by taking Yohimbine too late in the evening. (Last dose should be around 6-7pm).

What is L-Carnitine / Acetyl-L-Carnitine?

Carnitine, contrary to popular belief is not an amino acid but is normally included amongst amino’s due to its similar structure! However, it is synthesized in the body by the amino acids lysine and methionine.

Carnitine is available in many forms including L-carnitine and ALCAR (acetyl-L-Carnitine). L-Carnitine is the most popular form but Acetyl-L-Carnitine is gaining ground as the extra benefits are being discovered!

Carnitine can be bought in supplement form or can be found naturally in small quantities in most meats.

How Does L-Carnitine / Acetyl-L-Carnitine Work?

Where do we start!? L-carnitine primarily transfers long-chain fatty acids to the mitochondria of cells where they are oxidized to produce energy!

In simple terms, L-Carnitine helps to melt fat by using it as an energy source! This makes L-Carnitine a very popular supplement for fat-burning, increasing energy, and also improving muscular endurance!

L-carnitine has also been found to help with muscle building. Trainees on a strict diet will also feel the benefit as it can help to reduce feelings of hunger and weakness.

As another side benefit, studies have shown that your body’s cardiovascular system can greatly benefit from the intake of L-Carnitine. Many studies suggest that L-carnitine is useful in increasing the heart’s output and improving it’s function.

Support for increased cardiac performance has also been shown which probably explains it’s value in helping with cardio and muscular endurance.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine, as well as having all of the benefits mentioned above, has also been shown to have a positive influence on brain function, namely its memory enhancing abilities!

Pretty good going considering Carnitine is so cheap too!

Who Would Benefit Most? Can You Have an L-Carnitine Deficiency?

Judging by all of the benefits above, anybody would benefit from L-Carnitine supplementation but most people are not deficient so it is of course optional.

However, if you are in hard training for muscle gain or especially for fat loss, this is where L-Carnitine can really show its positive effects. Accelerated fat loss and endurance are some of the benefit’s that will obviously help you to reach your goal.

Vegans, vegetarians and possibly children could be deficient in L-Carnitine.

L-carnitine deficiencies are normally related to a genetic defect though – This defect prevents Carnitine from being transported and could result in possible obesity, muscle weakness, chest pains and/or confusion. Even premature ageing!

What Are The Recommended Dosages?

Dosage can vary but for the benefits mentioned above, at least 2 grams per day is recommended. More can be taken depending on weight and muscle mass if results are not seen with 2 grams.

Some recommend limiting Carnitine intake to an hour before a workout and some sources recommend spreading your intake throughout the day. I’m not aware of any difference it would make so experiment to find the optimal result for your body.

Side Effects?

Taking the L-Carnitine and Acetyl-L-Carnitine versions are very safe and non-toxic. Ingesting over the recommended dose may rarely cause diarhoea

What is Caffeine?

Caffeine is an alkaloid found in tea, coffee, cocoa beans, Guarana, Kola nut and various other plants. It was discovered in 1820 however, some speculate that it has been in use from even further back in history.

I’m sure we’ve all come into contact with Caffeine is our every day lives and heard the quotes, ‘I need my caffeine boost/my coffee’ – The kick you get from coffee is from the caffeine working on your CNS – Central Nervous System!

This daily contact makes Caffeine the most popular stimulant in the world.

Moderate usage of caffeine has shown it to have many positive benefits such as increased mental alertness, energy, endurance and power – hence why it is an extremely popular (not to mention cheap as chips!) supplement for those looking to energize and maximize the intensity out of their workouts.

Progressive intensity = progressive results! See why caffeine is so popular?

How Does Caffeine Work?

Caffeine is very fast acting and gets to work almost immediately providing the user with the benefits listed above (increased mental focus, energy, power and endurance).

Caffeine works by positively affecting the CNS, allowing a more intense workout. It works because Caffeine is almost an energy metabolite all on its own!

Let me explain briefly – Stay with me here…Within our bodies, we have something called cAMP or cyclic AMP. cAMP is derived from ATP (remember this important energy provider? See Creatine for more info) and is a secondary messenger.

Cutting a long long story short, when we exercise cAMP is broken down and when this happens, the bodies energy supply also decreases.

Enter Caffeine – Caffeine tricks the body into breaking it down instead of the metabolite used to break down cAMP. This means greater energy levels and a longer period of mental focus during your workout! Cool eh?

Who Would Benefit Most From Caffeine?

Millions of people benefit from Caffeine every single day without even realising it.

There aren’t any symptoms of deficiency associated with lack of caffeine and nobody really needs it – However it has been estimated that were everybody to stop taking Caffeine, that productivity would fall by 70% (in the USA).

Of course, this is just a guess but just goes to show the influence that Caffeine has on our daily lives.

People who are looking to build muscle fast would benefit from the extra workout intensity. People who want to lose weight fast can also benefit for the same reason PLUS the fact that caffeine increases metabolism and acts as a mild diuretic. (makes you excrete excess water)

What Are The Recommended Dosages of Caffeine?

Difficult to say. For everyday use I wouldn’t go higher than 200mg per day to maintain mental sharpness.

Bodybuilders may use up to 600-800 mg per day when they are using Caffeine to cut their bodyfat levels (Caffeine is normally stacked with Ephedrine and Aspirin for this purpose) but this is normally only for 4-6 week cycles with a period of time off.

Please be aware that the body adapts very quickly and, like everything, I would not go overboard with Caffeine for two reasons – Increased chance of side effects and secondly the fact that you may develop a resistance to it’s effects.

Supplemented caffeine is highly recommended to be cycled rather than being taken year round.

Caffeine Side Effects?

Side effects are not common if caffeine is taken in moderation, however, certain symptoms may present themselves with excessive dosages and are dependant on the individual.

Things like irritability, nervousness, feeling of hotness, jitters and at the very extreme, heart palpitations.

These side effects only appear with excessive doses and as I mentioned, we consume caffeine on a daily basis making it a safe supplement.

Nitric Oxide or NO2 right now is considerably popular. As popular as creatine was when first introduced. So, following the launch of Nitric Oxide, you can see there is a huge demand for the new supplement. Before you go out and purchase some, learn about it, understand what it is and the nitric oxide side effects.

Your body will begin to produce Nitric Oxide gas as it breaks down the enzymes of the amino acid, Arginine. The gas is used for communication between the cells of your body. However, the gas is only momentarily in you when your muscles start to contract.

The gas was first discovered in the ’80s and was heavily scrutinized by scientists. It has already been found to handle replication. Since then, it has become a supplement among athletes and body builders to gain extra mass and build stronger muscles.

Nitric Oxide exhibits its effects because it is a hemodilator. What a hemodilator does is widen the channels of your arteries and increase blood flow to allow more oxygen and nutrients to go to a muscle. A good example is “the pump”. If you have ever used dumbells for lifting, then you will better understand how this works. (If you’ve ever seen “Pumping Iron” – Arnold Schwarzenegger very famously describes the pump!)

While yes, Nitric Oxide is very helpful in some cases. It does have mild, although rare, side effects. Some nitric oxide side effects include:

• Nausea: To much Nitric Oxide can cause you to feel sick.
• Diarrhoea: Over use of Nitric Oxide may cause diarrhoea. This usually passes as the body adjusts to the supplement.
• Headaches: Very rare and usually not at all severe. Caused by your arteries dilating. More blood and oxygen gets to the head. If you begin to start having very bad headaches, see a doctor.

As with any supplement there are side effects but the nitric oxide side effects are extremely rare and when they do occur, are very mild indeed.

Nitric oxide is considered one of the safest supplements on the market.

Thanks for reading.

Our usual intake of these micronutrients are through unrefined foods (like fruits and vegetables) ; However, we can also get the nutrients from external sources – vitamin supplements. So, why would you need to understand the importance of these great vitamins?

I will give you a simple answer – Because, without vitamins, your body would cease to function properly.

Inside your body there are thousands and thousands of processes and chemical reactions taking place to keep you healthy, keep your energy levels up etc I could go on and on.

If you are deficient in just one vitamin (most of us are!), you could stop thousands of important processes from taking place within your body. We really are what we eat!

There are 2 types of vitamins – Fat soluble vitamins and water soluble ones.

The difference between the two types is that the fat soluble vitamins are more readily stored in your body so if you are getting too much of these fat soluble vitamins, you’re more likely to overdose and see signs of toxicity.

Water soluble vitamins are more easily excreted when we urinate. This doesn’t mean we can’t overdose – just that it is harder to. So always be aware of the upper consumption limit of vitamins. (This is different to the guideline daily amount)

Here are some common facts about vitamins that are fat soluble :

Vitamin D: This vitamin will help you maintain and grow your bones. It also contributes to your strong teeth. You wouldn’t want dentures at an early age would you? Cereal, egg yolks, fish, and milk are common foods that will give you the vitamin d you need.

Vitamin K: Ever have a cut and in a few minutes it begins to clot and stop bleeding? That is the Vitamin K in your blood. It acts as a glue for wounds. Soybean oil, milk, vegetables, and yogurt can provide the Vitamin K you will need to clot your blood.

Vitamin E: One of the hardest working vitamins in the human body. It maintains the cell tissues of your eyes, liver, and skin. It also prevents your lungs from collapsing from air pollution. Seeds, nuts, sardines, and egg yolks are a few of the foods that will give you Vitamin E.

Vitamin A: Helps with vision (remember when your parents told you to eat your carrots?), growth of bones, our reproductive system and cell division.

The rest of the Vitamins are water soluble – Here are some common facts about vitamins that are water soluble

Vitamins B Complex (1,2,3,5,6,7,9 and 12) :

The reason there are so many B vitamins is because most of them were re-classified. Ever wondered why there is such a big gap between Vitamin E and K?

Whatever happened to Vitamins F,G,H,I,J etc?

Well, they were re-classified as the many different B Vitamins because they had such a close relationship to the Vitamin B. So vitamin B became a “complex”.

You may have noticed that B vitamin products sold are normally called a Vitamin B complex and now you know why! One of many interesting facts about vitamins.

The benefits of a Vitamin B complex are many – They range from increased energy levels, improved mood and maintenance of healthy skin, hair and eyes.

Being deficient in this vitamin complex will have the opposing side effects – I.e : Low energy levels, depression, dermatitis of the skin etc

Vitamin C : Probably the most well known Vitamin around – Vitamin C is used for many hundreds of metabolic processes in the body including tissue growth and repair, proper function of your body’s cells and helps with healing of wounds.

Deficiencies include low bone density, bleeding gums due to fragile blood capillaries and a decrease in the strength of your immune system putting you at a higher risk of catching colds.

Vitamin C can be found in most fruits and vegetables!

I hope that these facts about vitamins have helped you to understand the importance of having enough vitamins in your diet.

They have become doubly important recently due to increased pollution in our body’s from the environment and the artificial chemicals found in our foods. More importantly most packaged foods you buy from the supermarket have been refined (stripped of their vitamins!).

If you’re an exerciser, then a multivitamin supplement is crucial as your body will be using many more vitamins than the average joe due to your workouts!

Thanks for reading

Altug