by Mark Wilson

I probably should have been born in the 1940's.

Why?

Because I look up to many of the old school bodybuilders from that era.

Long before steroids and performance-enhancing drugs soiled the sport, these men carved out astounding physiques, the old school way.

By training smart, and eating right.

Men like Armand Tanny, John Grimek, and Vince Gironda.

These pioneers of the muscle game didn't keep a bottle of testosterone cypionate in the medicine cabinet.

They didn't rely on fractioned, low-fat, over-processed foods either.

Vince shunned the primitive soy-based protein powders of the day, and got his aminos the way mother nature intended.

From food!

He believed a large percentage of your daily food intake should be consumed in a raw, natural state.

His go-to guys were steak tarter, whole eggs, and raw milk.

Yup, Vince, John, Armand, and most of the other muscle men of that era ate what I like to call "man food."

Food that real men consumed, before fat phobia took over our collective conscious in the late 70s and early 80s.

As a matter of fact, these men embraced fat, from clean, animal-based sources, and for good reason.

For one, fat is good for you!

Surprised?  More on that later…

Second, fat, especially saturated fat, is vital for optimal Testosterone Production.

Studies have shown conclusively, that male vegetarians, who typically consume very little saturated fat, have considerably lower levels of testosterone compared to non vegetarians.

In 2005 JS Volek conducted a study titled, The case for not restricting saturated fat on a low carbohydrate diet.

This research compared the dietary records of several men involved in weight training.

The authors found significant correlations between testosterone levels and total and saturated fat intake among men with a history of at least one year of weight training.

Penn State researchers came to some of the same conclusions…

Specifically, they found that monounsaturated and saturated fat raise testosterone levels, while polyunsaturated has the exact opposite effect.

The take home message from the study above?

Avoid the oxidized, liquid oils in clear plastic bottles, sitting on the grocery store shelf.

Instead, get your fat from grass-fed beef, free range eggs, whole milk, almonds, and olive oil.

These foods, specifically meat, milk, and eggs, are swimming in substances that a man's body needs in order to build muscle.

These include zinc, cholesterol (a steroid hormone precursor), B vitamins, choline, vitamin A, K, and D, iron, protein, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, calcium, etc..

Remember…

Take the yolk out of the egg, the fat out of the milk, or the meat out of the diet, and you can kiss these nutrients bye bye, because they're gone!

But what about health you say?

I say, don't sweat it!

As long as your fat doesn't come wrapped in two all beef patties, special sauce, and a sesame seed bun, you're going to be OK.

In other words, the fat, in and of itself, isn't the problem, it's what you're eating along with the fat, that is.

So, drop the burger, the fries, and the super sized drink, and you've got nothing to worry about.

Need proof?

The French diet is very high in saturated fats from butter, eggs, cheese, cream, liver, and meats, yet they have 50% less coronary heart disease, compared to those living in the US.

The Masai out of Africa, who consume meat, blood, and milk, and get more than 50% of their calories from saturated fat, suffer very little heart disease.

In a meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Siri-Tarino and colleagues concluded that the evidence does not support "the conventional wisdom that reduced dietary saturated fat intake is beneficial for cardiovascular health."

They went on to say…

Clinical trials and prospective-cohort studies have not consistently shown that reducing dietary saturated fat lowers cardiovascular risk. And, replacing saturated fat with carbohydrate has NOT been shown to reduce CVD risk.

Again, I go back to the old school bodybuilders for proof that this current dietary mindset is entirely misguided.

Our three boys, according to conventional wisdom, should have all died very young from heart disease.

But, that's not what happened…

Vince survived to within a month of his 80th birthday.

John Grimek made it to 88, and Armand Tanny, the biggest carnivore of them all, lived until the ripe old age of 90.

Compare these numbers to the new school guys, who often check out before they reach the age of 60.

We could all learn a lot from the old school bodybuilders.

Mark Wilson is the owner of Boost-Your-Low Testosterone.com, a website dedicated to natural therapies you can use to increase testosterone levels, build muscle, and boost sex drive, without doctors, drugs, or artificial hormones.

HINT: It's about building LOTS of muscle and losing LOTS of body fat simultaneously. I've written about trying to build muscle and lose body fat at the same time – it's very difficult. But what I"m about to share with you will make the task immensely easier.

Stay tuned. More tonight or tomorrow.

When I was a kid, my favorite movie was Conan the Barbarian, starring bodybuilding legend, Arnold Schwarzenegger (multiple Mr Olympia winner, movie star, and now Governor of California).

I loved how he didn't take crap from anyone and if you got in his way, he ceremoniously lopped off your head! The movie was kind of crappy (looking back on it now), but the physical superiority displayed by Conan left quite an impression on me.

I remember reading Muscle & Fitness during those days; they ran a story on how Arnold trained for the movie (I kept those magazines – I'll have to dig it up). It was quite amazing. Just learning how to use that big-ass sword must have been grueling!

Now, Arnold was in great shape, having won the Mr O for his last time in 1980. However, he obviously trained for the part, learning how to wield that giant sword, battle, and otherwise beat the tar out of his enemies.

Back in Conan's day, there weren't any weights to lift; those warriors trained hard, but they trained in a primitive way, using whatever implements and heavy stuff they had laying around. If you want to build a body like Conan, you ought to train the same way.

Lean Hybrid Muscle is a system I ran across that was put together by 2 strength athletes who wanted to build muscle and lose body fat at the same time.

Why do I mention this? Their system is very similar to how Conan, the vikings, and other warriors must have trained back in their day. In fact, modern strongmen often compete in events that mimic ancient strength exhibitions. Mike Westerdal, of Critical Bench fame, and Elliot Hulse, a modern-day strongman, are giving away a free copy of their "The Warrior Physique" where they show you specific training exercises that accomplish both muscle growth and fat loss.

You can get your copy of The Warrior Physique right here.

I love this program! It's full of unconventional exercises that are sure to build the body you want in record time. Get it now while it's still free.

I got an email from a reader recently and wanted to share with you the general recommendations I have for simultaneously building muscle and losing body fat.

Rules of thumb for gaining muscle and losing fat simultaneously are:

• High protein
• Low carb
• Moderate to high fat (kind of comes with the high-protein territory, so to speak)
• Plenty of milk, eggs, beef, poultry, fish, nuts, protein powder (for between-meal snacks)
• 3 days a week weight training
• 3 days a week high-intensity cardio, coupled with 3-4 days of moderate-intensity cardio

How much protein? I'd shoot for an average of 1 gram per pound of body weight. This may sound high, but it's really not that hard to consume, if you're taking in 3 regular meals and 3 snacks a day. Even easier if you break it into 8 meals.

I'm a big proponent of cycling diet, supplementation, and training. By this, I mean that you should eat big 3 days in a row, then take off a day (same with training). Cut out all the supplementation (except for the joint supplements and daily vitamin/mineral) on this "off day" to give your body a chance to rest a little. I have had good success actually juice fasting on this "4th day" where I only ingest juice and water. It really sets the body up to load up on carbs the following day.

Your muscles will really swell the next day.

As for dieting "clean" – I do believe in cheating. On your diet! Meaning, once a week, eat nearly whatever you want in any portion you want.

All other days, eat virtually whatever you want, but in smaller portions than you may like. You'll get the flavors you need but you won't be taking in excess calories.

If you're interested, I've got some meal plans posted up on the User Forum – http://ow.ly/189YQ

You'll need about 3300 calories to maintain your weight (this is a rough estimate – there are a lot of factors that play into this) – if you want to gain weight, add 500 calories; if you want to lose weight, subtract 500 cals.

You may be in a situation where you want to maintain your weight, but just redistribute body fat weight to muscle weight…modify accordingly.

I know we're all in a hurry to get big, lose body fat, and otherwise enhance our athletic performance. In that light, I'm starting a series, a Top Ten if you will, on getting things done better and faster.

The first part of this Top Ten is all about building muscle: What are the tricks, tips, and techniques for building muscles that are bigger, faster, and stronger?

Without further ado, here they are:

1. Do compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, rows, pull-ups, and overhead presses. In that order of preference. These exercises stimulate more muscle growth because they employ more muscle fibers at once, cause increased growth hormone production, and also facilitate the mind-muscle connection.
2. Do 2-4 sets of each exercise.
3. Do sets of 6-10 reps.
4. Train to concentric failure on the last "heavy" set of at least one exercise per workout. This means that if you work chest, back, and shoulders, do at least one set of Bench Presses, for example, until you cannot do another rep without help.
5. Throw in a forced rep or two every few weeks.
6. Cycle your training. Don't go stale. I suggest using mini-cycles of 3-6 weeks on, one week off. The harder you train, the fewer weeks of hard training you do before a rest.
7. Cycle your supplementation. I suggest 3 days on, 1 day off. Repeat. Make your diet coincide with your training. This means that every 3 to 6 weeks, you take some time off.
8. Work toward progress. A little progress is better than none at all. Tweak here and there to keep progress moving. There's no sense in trying to build Rome in a day. It won't work and you'll get hurt and/or disappointed.
9. Get plenty of rest and drink a ton of water. Reduce inflammation by cutting out junk food including sugar, high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and other crap. It does you no good. Even if it tastes really yummy and gives you a killer buzz. Nothing in life comes easy.
10. Everything is subject to change. Nothing is written in stone. Including these "rules."

That's it for now. Next up: Fat-loss Top Ten.