Nick Nilsson just re-designed Metabolic Surge and I have to tell you that it's pure dynamite. Take a look at his "before" and "after" pictures – they-re quite astonishing, aren't they?

I just got a note from him that said this about Metabolic Surge:

1. Burning Fat and Building Muscle at the SAME Time

This program makes it happen. You're not going to do it at the EXACT same time…you'll be using short cycles where you totally change up your training and eating to focus on each of those major goals. Going back and forth quickly between these two goals is the ONLY way to accomplish both in a given timeframe.

The cool part is, when it you do it like this, it works even BETTER than focusing on just one goal at a time!

2. Your TRAINING is Tailored to the Exact Nutrients You're Eating…

This goes right back to #1…when you're eating low-carb, for example, you should definitely NOT train the same way as when you're eating low-fat. To truly maximize fat-burning when eating low-carb you want to maximize lactic acid production, which in turn increases fat-burning hormone levels.

Same thing goes for eating low-fat. In the Surge program, you'll be focusing on fat-loss for the majority of the program with a short burst of muscle-building training when you switch from low-carb to low-fat. This allows you to take full advantage of the loading of water and nutrients that come rushing in when you make the switch.

Honestly, it's insane how well it works, plus I've got a few other tricks (of course!) to maximize the effects.

3. I've Just Put Together Metabolic Surge 2.0

And yes, this is where I went all "mad scientist"

In addition to revamping the look and adding to and improving the content, the book now contains SEVEN complete "paint-by-numbers" training programs that are effective and easy to follow.

1. The NEW Metabolic Surge – a more "athletic"-focused version of the training program, this new version focuses more on  performance, in addition to fat loss.
2. The Original Metabolic Surge – the classic program and just as effective as ever!
3. Level 1 – perfect for beginners, this version uses fewer sets and somewhat longer rest periods.
4. Bodyweight Surge – training at home with limited equipment? THIS is the program for you. This one uses your bodyweight and  very simple items found in your home (like chairs and a broomstick).
5. Specialization Training Surge – got a weak bodypart you want to improve or a bodypart that GETS weak when you go on a diet? This version of the program will help bring up your weaknesses while dropping fat.
6. Muscle Surge – if you want equal parts muscle-building and fat loss, this version is for you. It'll accomplish BOTH goals FAST.
7. Stink Training Surge – by training with exercises you stink at, every workout you do will be harder and more inefficient…and inefficiency means more calories burned and more fat loss.

4. A MONSTER Online Exercise and FAQ Database (210+ videos so far!) This one really rocks!

If you have any questions about any of the techniques, this will answer them…I've got exercise videos covering bodyweight and free weight stuff, training technique demos so you know exactly how to perform every phase of the program, frequently asked questions…you name it…and I'm going to be adding even MORE to it in the coming weeks and months.

Okay, that's all I'll hit you with right now, but stay tuned and definitely check my horrible "before" picture

Metabolic Surge

P.S. For the next few days (until Friday, June 11th at midnight CST), I'm going to be throwing in ALL FOUR of my Best Exercises ebooks when you pick up Metabolic Surge 2.0. These normally sell for $110 on their own and you'll get them at no charge.

This question was asked on Yahoo Answers and my answer was chosen as the best. By the way, the Stair Step Training System virtually eliminates any chance of a prolonged plateau, simply by forcing periodic short plateaus!

Muscle Building Plateau?

Best Answer – Chosen by Asker

Source(s):

How can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time? That’s right up there with “How do I get six pack abs” as one of the most frequently asked fitness questions of all time.

The problem is, when you ask it, you get all kinds of conflicting answers – even from experts who are supposed to know these things.

So what’s the deal? Is it really possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time?

There's now a definitive answer, which is backed by science and real world case studies:

YES - you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time!

Natural bodybuilder and fat loss expert Tom Venuto has just published a new ebook on the subject that explains it in detail, called:

The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program: how to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time

You've probably heard me speak about Tom Venuto before. I have so much respect for his work, and I think everyone should follow what he’s doing as well…

Tom has definitely hit a home run again with this new "holy grail" book.

The Holy Grail is a 74 page ebook that is destined to set the record straight in a way that you could say it's the LAST WORD on gaining muscle and burning fat at the same time;

It's impressively referenced with peer-reviewed research and frankly, it just makes sense.

New discoveries in the emerging sciences of within-day energy balance, nutritional periodization, nutrient timing and natural hormonal manipulation have pointed the way to a proven method of achieving simultaneous muscle gain with fat loss…

…and it's NOT what most people think!

There's NO magical workout program or supplement that assures you of gaining muscle while stripping off fat. It takes hard work.

This is not an easy goal to achieve – So if you're looking for magic bullets, go elsewhere. This is a serious, scientific and very strategic program.

But for anyone who is serious about getting leaner AND more muscular, you just have to take a look.

Here's a sample of what you'll learn inside the Holy Grail Body Transformation System ebook:

• Why you MUST understand "energy partitioning" – the fat burning, muscle-building process BEYOND CALORIES-IN vs CALORIES OUT! (page 13)
• The keys to forcing your body to drive energy and protein INTO MUSCLE CELLS and pull calories OUT OF FAT CELLS! (page 13)
• The power of hormones to dramatically shift fat to muscle… discover what steps you must take to achieve hormonal control for maximum muscle growth and fat loss (page 13)
• The 4 "X-Factors" of concurrent muscle gain and fat loss – these are the special conditions that allow above average muscle gains while losing fat at the same time (page 9)
• The 5 "X2-Factors" that influence your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time; They all depend on your current body composition (lean or fat) and dieting status (dieted down or not dieted down)… Depending on which category you're in, it can totally change your approach (page 11)
• How to choose the right body transformation goal: should you focus on burning fat, gaining muscle or doing both at the same time? (page 14)
• How to steal the proven system of training periodization from world class athletes and apply it to your muscle-building and fat-burning goals…
• How nutritional periodization might be the single biggest breakthrough for building muscle and burning fat at the same time – This is HUGE! (page 17-21)
• 5 post-workout nutrition strategies to improve muscle growth and optimize recovery from your workouts… (page 23)
• Carb tapering and carb targeting strategies explained for 2010… These are the latest updates to the time-tested techniques used by some of the best bodybuilders, fitness models and figure competitors in the world (page 24-25)
• Cycle dieting techniques under the microscope… find out which methods work and which ones will actually make you fatter (pge 27)
• 4 reasons why cardio can help you gain more muscle and lose fat at the same time, if you do it right… and why you will get weaker and smaller if you do it wrong (page 33)
• 8 carb-cycling menu plans … all DONE FOR YOU, laid out meal by meal, calculated for precision and results (appendix 1)
• Burn the Fat Foods 2.0: … the official new calorie and nutrient data base – it's a CLEAN EATING food list – NO JUNK This is the list of foods you SHOULD eat… (appendix 3)
• Tom Venuto's NEW WORKOUT SYSTEM – "TNB" Training – As Seen in Men's Fitness Magazine … the perfect way to train while following the Holy Grail nutrition plan (FREE BONUS! See bonus section)

Here's the deal:

From now until Midnight (PST), May 13th, 2010, you can get a copy of the Holy Grail Body Transformation program ebook absolutely FREE when you purchase the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle e-book from this web page:

Holy Grail Body Transformation System

Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is the "bible of fat loss" for tens of thousands of men and women in over 144 countries worldwide and if you don't have a copy yet, then this is a better opportunity than ever because you can get the Holy Grail ebook as a bonus along with the Burn The Fat program. This offer expires on May 13th, 2010 at midnight PST and it will be taken off the market for at least a couple of months before it goes up for sale on its own, so I highly recommend you visit the Burn The Fat website now and jump on this great deal while you still can.

You may have already heard of Tom's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book before, so if you already have it, the other way you can get his new Holy Grail program is by joining the Burn the Fat Inner Circle – all members there are also getting access to it this week up until Thursday the 13th.

Plus, I'm giving away a whole bunch of stuff if you buy Holy Grail Body Transformation System by the end of the day, May 13. Check out my Super Bonus page.

Almost everyone knows about the Biggest Loser – that reality show / weight loss contest on TV where overweight people drop ridiculous amounts of weight – like 15 or 20 lbs in a week, and 150 or 200 lbs by the time the show is over.

This past January the guys at over at the Burn the Fat websites completed their first ever body transformation challenge contest.

But their contest was NOTHING like the Biggest Loser.

In fact, Josh Ketter, the overall men's winner, and Ryan Cochrane, one of the finalists, only lost a pound.

Now, you must be thinking, "What the heck kind of weird body transformation contest were they running where the winner and the finalists only drop a pound?

Well, it would seem weird if you thought that success at body transformation meant dropping weight on the scale.

But did you ever stop to think about the difference between fat weight and muscle weight?

Think about it – if those contestants on the Biggest Loser gain muscle – they get penalized, right?

Penalize someone for gaining muscle?

Shouldn't contestants be REWARDED for gaining muscle as well as burning fat?

That's the problem with weight loss contests today and with a lot of people in the industry in general – they are obsessed with scale weight but they don't pay any attention to body composition (the fat-to-muscle ratio).

Of course, some of the contestants in that contest did drop a lot of fat – 15, 20, even 25 lbs in only 50 days. But the person who dropped the most pounds was NOT necessarily voted as the winner.

That explains how the judging was done – some of the winners were rewarded because they made tremendous improvements in their body composition, even though their scale weight didn't change that much.

Josh lost 8 pounds of fat and gained 7 pounds of muscle in just 50 days. He only lost a pound on the scale because the muscle weight replaced the fat weight.

Ryan Cochrane lost 8 pounds of fat while gaining 7.7 lbs of muscle in 50 days. His weight hardly changed.

Sarah Kensington actually GAINED a pound, from 119 to 120 but her body fat decreased from 19% to a ripped 12.6%. That's a 7.9 pound GAIN in lean body mass and a 7 pound loss of body fat – remarkable for a MAN, almost unheard of for a woman!

When you look at their before and after pictures, you can see that even though their weight changed by less than a pound, they TOTALLY TRANSFORMED THEIR BODIES!

How?

They gained muscle and lost fat at the same time!

Maybe you're thinking, "Wait a minute, I thought it was impossible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time? Don't you need a calorie deficit to burn fat and a calorie surplus to build muscle?"

Well, yes and no. Calories do matter, but according to fat loss expert Tom Venuto, the guy who sponsored the recent body composition fitness contest, it's much more complicated than that because of things like within-day energy balance, hormonal fluctuations and "energy partitioning."

It was these unusual contest results that prompted Tom to dig into the scientific research on concurrent muscle gain and fat loss and create a new program that he calls:

"THE HOLY GRAIL BODY TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM: How to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time"

This is not an easy goal to achieve – So I'm sorry, but I have no miracle for you. If you're looking for magic bullets, go elsewhere. This is a serious and very strategic program.

Concurrent muscle gain and fat loss is the most difficult goal to achieve.

That's why people call it the "holy grail"; because it's so elusive.

BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE: IT IS POSSIBLE.

I'm sure you've heard this subject debated ad nauseum on discussion forums. Those debates probably left you confused and not sure what to believe either.

This new ebook sets the record straight in such a way that you could say it's the LAST WORD on gaining muscle and burning fat at the same time; it's impressively referenced with peer-reviewed research and frankly, it just makes sense.

Tom Venuto's previous best selling ebook, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) has become known to many as a "fat loss bible."

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle

But BFFM is designed specifically for fat loss. What if you want to lose fat AND gain muscle?

That's exactly why this new program was created.

It's the first course of its kind that builds on the techniques of BFFM and teaches a system for gaining muscle and burning fat simultaneously, and explains the process scientifically.

If you're skeptical, I don't blame you. Even I was skeptical when I heard about it.

But when you see BOTH real-world case studies AND the scientific proof, it makes you want to stop and take a look.

Right now the 1st edition of Tom’s new HOLY GRAIL body transformation ebook is available for just the next 3 days in limited release.

It's actually not even for sale separately yet.

What Tom decided to do was offer the Holy Grail ebook as a bonus with the purchase of his Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle ebook.

The Holy Grail ebook is available only until Thursday, May 13th, 2010)

On May 14th, he's going to take the Holy Grail course off the market for a while, to correspond with some of his new customers and collect feedback and case studies to incorporate in the 2nd edition.

Then The Holy Grail ebook will be officially re-released later this year at the regular retail price.

So, this is a great opportunity to pick up Tom's fat loss bible AND get the Holy Grail ebook for free at the same time.

If you'd like to be in this first wave of people to try this new combined muscle-building and fat burning system, this is the ONLY way to order at the moment: The Holy Grail

Purchase a copy of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, and the HOLY GRAIL body transformation ebook comes along with BFFM for free.

I've added in a killer bonus package, too, that you don't want to miss. Details here.

If you want to learn as much as possible about building muscle and losing body fat, then this is the no-brainer of the year. I'll make this short and simple:

Buy Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle by pro bodybuilder Tom Venuto and get all this for FREE -

1. The Holy Grail Body Transformation System (learn more about this killer fat-burning and muscle-building system here),
2. Foods that Burn Fat,
3. Foods that Turn to Fat,
4. The A food B food lecture: How to get good grades on your food choices,
5. FREE Updates to the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle,
6. How To Measure Your Body Fat in The Privacy of Your Own Home,
7. The Hardgainer Manifesto,
8. Mega Arms,
9. Muscle-Building Meal Plans,
10. Body Transformation Tracker,
11. Exclusive access to the Muscle-Build.com User Forum

I won't put a phony value on these bonuses. I will tell you, however, that I sell #7, #8, and #11 for a combined total of $74.

Here's how this works:

1. Use THIS LINK to buy Burn the Fat
   
2. Get Bonuses #1 through #6 instantly delivered to your email inbox
3. Email me with your ClickBank receipt # (put Holy Grail in the Subject line) and I'll set you up with #7 through #11. I'll ask you to fill out a form; once you do, I'll send you the bonus package.

Note that The Holy Grail promotion from Ton is only good through May 13. After that, he shuts it down and sells it by itself for $47 (maybe more, who knows).

Here's some advice on how to build muscle and gain weight if you're on the skinny side -

Yahoo Answers

After a few comments that it would be better if I just posted the answer here on the blog, I've decided to do just that! So, here it is.

You need to concentrate on 3 things for building muscle:

1. Train right
2. Eat right
3. Recover right

For training, you want to lift heavy weights for 2-5 sets (more sets for more experienced lifters) of 6-10 reps on compound exercises only (exercises that use multiple muscles like squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull ups, overhead press). Train 3 times per week. Full body workouts.

For nutrition, make sure you eat at least 6 meals per day. Get 20-40 grams of protein per meal. At 160 pounds, you want at least 160 grams of protein a day. Good protein sources are eggs, milk, beef, fish, poultry, and pork. Eat plenty of raw fruit and vegetables, too. Drink lots of water.

Before your weight training workouts, mix up a protein shake. Make it a double serving. Mix whole milk and a good protein powder and drink roughly 1/3 of it about 30 minutes prior to working out. During your workout, drink another 1/3. Afterwards, finish it off.

Get at least 8 hours of sleep and rest as much as possible. Walk when you can run, sit when you can stand, lie down when you can sit. The idea is to expend as little energy as possible throughout the day.

The best system I've seen for building muscle is the Stair Step Training System (SSTS). It's a 16-week course that shows you how to build muscle, shred body fat, and get bigger, stronger, and faster all over a 4 month period.

I wanted to let you know that I've published a new 16-week muscle-building and fat-shredding course called the Stair Step Training System (SSTS). It's a course that's delivered via the web over the course of 4 months and covers all you need to know to build the body you want by combining training, diet, and rest & recovery (the 3 Pillars).

It works for beginners, intermediates, and advanced trainers alike; it uses a simple yet very effective method that's been tested over many years. SSTS is really the system that pro bodybuilders and professional athletes follow for building muscle, strength, and speed, as well as stripping body fat and improving athletic performance.

You can check it out here.

Hi all, I just did a review of the newly-released Triple Threat Muscle by Jason Ferruggia.

You can find it here – Triple Threat Muscle Review.

When you're done there, come back here and order through this link and I'll give you a super special bonus. Remember, it's $47 through tomorrow night. After that, plan on paying at least another $30.

This is good stuff. Seriously. Go check it out. Jason is one of the most respected personal trainers around. He knows his stuff.

Here's an interview with Jason Ferruggia, creator of the famous Muscle Gaining Secrets muscle-building course. He has a new course out called Triple Threat Muscle that is on sale now for $47 through Thursday. Friday, the price goes up to $77.

At either price, it's a fantastic bargain. Jason provides real-deal muscle-building info.

Most guys are being told to follow bodybuilding splits, train multiple times a day, and other non-sense training tactics that don’t work. What tips do you have for people looking to build muscle as fast as possible?

The key to making consistent size gains is making consistent strength gains (in a hypertrophy rep range) while eating enough food and allowing enough time for recovery. You need to constantly be doing more weight or more reps. The body will respond to any given stimulus one time and one time only. If you place the same demands on it a second time (like pressing the same weight for the same reps) nothing will happen. You must always be forcing it to adapt and thus you must always ask it do something it isn’t used to.

The easiest way to do this is add more weight or do more reps with the same weight.
Aside from making consistent strength gains the next most important thing to consider is training frequency. To improve anything in life you need to do it frequently. Building muscle is no different. So you want to train a muscle as frequently as possible, while it is in a fresh and recovered state. This means that you should be training each body part once every 2-5 days, and not once a week like a lot of the muscle mags recommend. That’s too little frequency. The more times you can stimulate growth throughout the year the better. Obviously 104 growth stimulating workouts per year for each body part would be a lot better than 52.

I have seen the phrase “stimulate, don’t annihilate” on your blog in reference to training. Can you explain what you mean by this and the relation to training volume?

To elicit a training response you need to present the body with a stimulus that it isn’t used to. This stress will cause the body to adapt. The body adapts by building itself up bigger and stronger.

Where people go wrong is that they think they need to annihilate the muscle in order to elicit any type of response. This is completely counterproductive. When you annihilate the muscle with tons of sets and reps and intensity techniques like drop sets you drastically increase your recovery time. And as I mentioned previously, frequency is very important. So when you increase your recovery time you have to decrease your training time. You’re shooting yourself in the foot.

The key is to do just enough to stimulate size and strength gains but not annihilate yourself so that it takes forever to recover, or worse- that you put yourself in a state of overtraining.

Triple Threat Muscle is your new program. What separates this program from all the others and can you tell our readers why you created it?

My Muscle Gaining Secrets program is specifically geared toward skinny guys, hardgainers and beginners. This is more of an intermediate/advanced program that is more athletically based. So while the main focus is still on building muscle there is also a shift toward a bit more speed work, mobility and conditioning in Triple Threat Muscle.

The new program was created for the typical weekend warrior or Average Joe who wants to look and train like an athlete but doesn’t actually have the time or recovery ability to spend more than a few hours per week in the gym.

I spent the last two years experimenting on a wide group of individuals to come up with the most effective and fastest way to do this. Triple Threat Muscle is the result of two years of hard work and is based on all of my findings.

And finally, what general tips can you give to our readers who want transform their bodies?

• Strength train 3-4 days per week.
• Lift heavy and keep most of your sets in the range of 3-10 reps.
• Don’t go to failure.
• Train each body part 2-3 times per week.
• Don’t do more than 12-16 total sets per workout.
• Always strive to get stronger.
• Eat natural, organic foods and avoid anything processed.
• Sleep 8-10 hours per day.
• Minimize stress.
• Get out in the fresh air and sun more often.

If you order Triple Threat Muscle through this link, I will send you a special bonus package that consists of the following awesome products:

1. Lifetime Platinum Membership to the Muscle-Build User Forum (check it out here – there are a TON of benefits to joining and joining is FREE but only if you order through my link) (Conservatively valued at $27 because one of the many benefits is free access to the entire Muscle-Build.com electronic library)
2. Hardgainer Manifesto, the definitive bible to gaining muscle when nothing else works (a $37 value)
3. Mega Arms which will show you how to build up to a half-inch of upper arm muscle in one day (valued at $10)
4. Body Tracker Software. This is a killer tool that tracks your workouts, diet, and progress.
5. Muscle-Building Meal Plans. These cover various daily caloric intakes for different gain weight goals.

Hi everybody, I wanted to share a little marital bliss with you (don't worry, it's not what you think!) – yesterday (St Patrick's Day) was my 9th wedding anniversary and the wife and I got a night away from the house and kids and spent a night on the town.

Needless to say, I'm stoked!

So I wanted to share some cool product news with you.

As you may know, I am the publisher of several muscle-building programs and I'm going to show you how to get them for dirt cheap.

The Hardgainer Manifesto normally goes for $37. You can see that here. But I've put together an experimental website where I've dropped the price to $27.

However, I'm going to show you how you can get the Hardgainer Manifesto PLUS Mega Arms for only $17.

Here's how –

Go to Mega Arms and order it for $7. In the order process, you'll be presented with a "One-Time Offer" for Hardgainer Manifesto for $10 (you won't find a lower price anywhere for material of this quality).

There, you're done. $17 for both manuals.

I won't be leaving the price for the "One-Time Offer" at $10 forever, so don't delay. Act now! Operators are standing by!!

(Not really, but I always wanted to say that.)

I also want to mention that if you sign up as a PAID Platinum member on the Muscle-Build.com User Forum, you can get lifetime access to the user forum and all that that entails, including access to everything I've written already PLUS anything I write in the future for Muscle-Build.com. There are two ways to pay – $5 a month or $27 once (do the math).