Killer Muscle

Life is a Fight

Franco — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 01:06:00 +0000

Life is a fight. Sometimes things are going to happen but you got to dig down deep and fight hard when life hits you hard. Anything can happen so you have to be on your toes at all time. I drifted from a few friends recently and it has been extremely hard on me. However, you realize things change and you need to move on. Nothing is forever. We will all die someday so our own lifes aren't infinite like time is. You cannot spend life crying and depressed. You have to spend it hunting down your dreams and fighting for what you believe in because that's the difference between living with a purpose and living just because you are on earth.

How Skinny Guys Pack on Muscle

Franco — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:20:00 +0000

If you are naturally a very skinny guy than gaining muscle may not be that simple. However, you must try and the way to do that is to just eat like a bear. I know it sounds crazy but you got to eat everything that is not nailed down. It should be mainly healthy food that you consume but some junk food won't hurt. You basically just have to force yourself to eat because thats the only way you'll get big. You have to eat big to get big.

Secondly, you need to lift heavy. You need to go extremely heavy in the gym so you build that core strength and mass. If you go heavy it will stimulate new growth by putting imense strain on the muscle. It will also shock your body and therefore the heavy lifting along with eating big will have an anabolic effect on your body and most likely you will turn into a freak of nature. You just need to stick with it and don't get discouraged if you don't see results right away.

Back from Seaside

Franco — Tue, 29 May 2007 10:51:00 +0000

I'm back from Seaside. I'm glad Memorial Day Weekend is officially over. I dieted down so hard for this to the point where I became totally sick, not to mention my body is so tired and beat up from all the intense training. I did do what I set out for and that was to be the most well conditioned guy on the beach in terms of definition and being ripped however it damn near cost me my life.

However, that is the price I am willing to pay to be the best because this is all I have in my life. Its just like the way all Rocky Maricano can do is fight. I have no choice all I can is whatever happens, happens. The point is I am obsessed with winning and being in the best shape. I will do whatever it takes to please everybody because I know what is expected out of me even it does cost me my health. I have no girlfriend, very few friends, and I don't have the personality to win girls over so If I'm not 110% shredded I am worthless. We'll see what happens but only time will tell if I will be successful in the end.

Beach Opens Tomorrow

Franco — Thu, 24 May 2007 10:51:00 +0000

I am just about ready to go down the shore and show everybody what I have been workin so hard at for all these months in the gym. Tomorrow will be the culmination of all my hardwork and dedication. I didn't get up at 4:10 a.m. nearly everyday for 3 months straight for nothing. All the grueling cardio and extreme dieting was all for this people should only know how hard its been and tomorrow hopefully I will get the recognition that I deserve.

Memorial Day Weekend is Upon Us

Franco — Mon, 21 May 2007 12:35:00 +0000

It is finally rolling in. Memorial Day Weekend is just a few days away and I am pumped. I'm completely shredded and ready to step out on the beach down in Seaside Heights. I dieted down and have lost a good 20 pounds or so getting ready for beach season to look my best. All those grueling mornings of cardio and practicing a very restricitive and deperiving diet will all be worth it now. Its good to be big, but if you got the abs and v line you will be getting some looks from the ladies. My six pack abs are in and now all I need to do is go finish what I have started.

Whey Protein Ice Cream

Franco — Wed, 16 May 2007 13:16:00 +0000

I discovered how to make whey protein ice cream. I took a weigh protein shake that I didn't have room for in the refridgerator and put it in the freezer. I saw that it was half slushy and decided to eat it. It tasted amazing and for us bodybuilders and fitness models that can't have ice cream this may be our best and only solution. The lighter the protein shake in terms of calories and fat content the more it is best to eat. In my case I tried it with an EAS 2g net carb Carb Sense Shake. I had the chocolate flavor and it tasted amazing. I truly reccomend this for any bodybuilder or fitness model espeically during cutting or beach season.

Bigger Isn't Always Better

Franco — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:46:00 +0000

Many guys believe the bigger you are the better you will look. That isn't necessary always true. You can be on the leaner side and be completely shredded. If this is the case you will look grat on the beach. A guy who is bigger may be lacking a few stiations or cuts that you have. That would make your body more sculpted and therefore the more attractive physique.

However, you don't want to look anerexic or undernourished because that is really unattractive to the opposite sex. Girls love the whole greek god "perfection" look but they rather have a bigger, less cut guy than a kid who is to lean to the point where he looks like he belongs in National Geographic Magazine regarding starvation in a 3rd World country. It is best to just use your judgement and if you feel you are always hungry and are feeling weak do not be afraid to eat more but make sure you eat healthy with good nutrient, dense food.

Stress and Building Muscle Do Not Mix

Franco — Fri, 11 May 2007 11:38:00 +0000

Stress is something that is really hurtful. I deal with it everyday, the more goal oriented you are the more stress you will most likely have. Pro-longed stress eventually will physically destroy you and may even kill you. Stress will siginificantly hurt you from building muscle and making gains in the gym. The best way to deal with stress is to find a positive way to look at things in life and always have a sense of humor about things. More often then not most things we stress about can easily be made light of into a joking matter. A little laughter might save you from losing muscle and always enabling you to build additional muscle.

I Run on Caffeine

Franco — Thu, 10 May 2007 10:51:00 +0000

For me, caffeine is extremely effective. I work 3 jobs and now because it is cutting season I am in the gym twice a day. Drinking black coffee, red line and sugar free red bull are what keep me going due to the carbohydrate depletion and lack of sleep. I understand that I have responsibilites and nobody is going to care that I'm not ready or not prepared. I have to do whatever it takes to be successful all aspects of my life. Failure is simply not an option and because I have no time for myself I rely on caffeine to get me through my long days of work both in the gym and at the office.

Prevent Overtraining

Franco — Wed, 09 May 2007 09:27:00 +0000

Overtraining is a problem that all bodybuilders have to deal with at some point. It is a problem that needs to be avoided at all costs. If you overtrain it can really be detrimental towards accomplishing you're bodybuilding or fitness goals. It is tough not to overtrain once and a while if you are extremely determined or are training for a specific bodybuilding contest.

Overtraining is when you train beyond what his a healthy stimulus. Too much of anything in life is no good and that applies to weight training as well. Overtraining can mean lifting too much during the week, spending more than 60-90 minutes in the gym, not consuming calories enough to support your weight training routine, and lack of rest which in most cases is less than 8 hours of sleep. Overtraining can lead to losses in body strength and a decrease in stamina and endurance during weight training and cardio as well. It can also cause you to lose muscle because the body has no time to rest and is suffering from a lack of calories so it starts to become catabolic and break down muscle glycogen for fuel.

In bodybuilding like any other sport or athletic event that requires training, you need to be sensible. That means to know your body's limits and what it can and cannot handle. Do not try to be a hero because the whole purpose of bodybuilding is to improve your physique and athletic performance through weight training. Doing too much will just be counterproductive and therefore limit and prevent future gains in muscle.

Body Building Diet

Franco — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:37:00 +0000

As a bodybuilder eating is very important. It is equal if not more important than training. What you put in your body will determine how your body will perform in the gym. You're body needs the propper amount of nutrients and fuel to propperly respond to the stimilus of weight training.

You should be consuming 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight and 2 grams of carbohydrates while training to build muscle. Make sure you're carbohydrate and proteins are coming from good sources. By that I mean good nutritient dense food. For protein egg whites, tuna, chicken breast, and turkey and for carboydrates yams, long grain brown rice, and plain oatmeal are excellent sources. Fats should be consumed in the forms of avaccatos and plain almonds. A bodybuilding diet is one where you eat 6-8 small or moderate meals throughout the day every 2 1/2-3 hours as opposed to 3 meals a day or the poor diet of 1-2 big meals.

It is always a good idea to measure your food to know exactly how much you are getting so you don't over eat or under nourish yourself. Having a propper body building diet requires a lot of discpline and awareness but like anything else in the world of body building the choice is yours. If you choose to eat right along with the propper weight training regimen you will eventually see definite results at some point.

Building Muscle with Patience

Franco — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:31:00 +0000

Rome was definitely not built in a day. Throughout history, all great masterpieces take time. If you are knew to bodybuilding you have to understand that building muscle takes time and you have to be patient. I know many guys get discouraged and fustrated when they do not see immediate results and because of that, they end up quitting. These are the guys who often just talk about building muscle and getting huge but never actually do anything about it because they don't have the patience and determination to stick it out.

Building Muscle requires staying consistant. It takes numerous times of breaking down a muscle in the gym and going through the propper amount of rest and feeding your body the propper nutirence to build muscle and see some positive results. You can't just do it for 3 months and expect to look like Jay Cutler or Arnold in his prime. It may take as long as a year and a half due to genetics to be able to build muscle and put on a significant amount of muscle mass. You must keep it at though, because bodybuilding is like anything else in the sense that you get out of it what you put into it you just have to be patient and you will build muscle.

Six Pack Abs get Attention in Chicago

Franco — Fri, 04 May 2007 19:28:00 +0000

Six Pack Abs once again bring up some sexual attention. A Chicago billboard has people thinking and analyzing and may causes some invetible divorces to definitely take place. It never fales if you got the goods and in this case abs because apparently if you're out of shape you're marriage could be jepoardy. Six Pack Abs may be the only thing that can save your marriage. For us guys, if you are married and you're wife is in the gym and takin care of herself and you're not, the your life may be turning into an episode of desperate housewives. Your wife might see a guy at the gym who is single and has nothing to lose, he's handsome, fincially set and has a six ab versus your beer belly. So my advice to you, unless you want to be told by your barber that your wife is banging some other guy who looks better than you is go out and get a rock hard set of six pack abs.

Stay Motivated with Music

Franco — Fri, 04 May 2007 11:03:00 +0000

A great way to stay motivated during a physically draining workout is by listening to music. Music can give you that extra boost or trigger a thought that may inspire you to crank out that one last rep or set. Most gyms have the music on pretty loud already but it is not always want we invidually may want to hear. However, modern technology has came through by bringing us the gift of an i-pod.

I personllay don't own an i-pod and I feel that my gym plays the right kind of music that suits me. I need to listen to either the Rocky soundtrack or classic rock such as AC/DC, Guns n Roses, Motley Crue, and even throw in Pink Floyd. There is nothing like hearing "Eye of the Tiger" when you got one last set of rows or squats to crank out. I would find it annoying to hear any type of music that is soft like Justin Timberlake or Neo. Honestly, who the hell wants to hear about bringing sexy back when you supersetting bicep exercises and are about to loose your lunch. You need something inspiring to remind you why exactly you are weight training in the first place.

However, everyone is different some people prefer rap or house music when working out. I happen to like that kind of music on a social level but not as something I would affiliate with motivation or a tool that could assist me while I lift weights. Basically, you need to find the music that you know you will get the most out of in terms of inspiration which may very well improve your performance that day in the gym and give you a better workout than you usually have. Music, in essence, will add to the pleasure and enjoyment of your workout so if your gym's music choices don't suit you, then my suggestion is that it is time to bring in the i-pod.

Weight Training: Resting Between Sets

Franco — Thu, 03 May 2007 10:26:00 +0000

Frequently, when I'm at the gym I see too many guys taking way too long to rest between sets. This can be a very negative thing because when you weight train effectively, the nitrix oxide effect also known as the pump only lasts for a limited time. You need to take propper rest for the amount of stress you are putting on your body during each set. You shouldn't be taking more than 5 minutes rest between each set and that is the maximum amount of time for a guy who is maxing out on that particular day.

It can be completely rediculous the way guys waste too much time resting between sets. If you are training for muscle endurance or muscle tone you only need to rest for 60-90 seconds between sets. That is enough time to take a few breathes get and get a drop of water in you. Thats all that brief time period should be used for. That time is not to be used for walking across the gym and chatting with Joe about the cops raiding a certain party the previous weekend. The same rule applies when lifting for strength and hypertrophy (muscle size and development) when you should be resting 1:00-2:30 half minutes between sets. Those couple of minutes should be to adjust the weight, get your breath back, let the lactic acid build up go down, and get some water in you if needed. It isn't a social break. It is a necessary rest that you're body must take in order for it to be able to sustain a high intensity and complete your scheduled work out in its enitirety.

When weight training you will develop the pump which is were blood rushes to the muscle that is being worked and temporarily blows it up. If you waste too much tme between sets socializing about meaningless garbage or just for sheer laziness, you will loose your pump and when that happens your workout is pretty much as dead as Vanilla Ice's music career. The bottom line is you need to stay focused on what you are trying to accomplish during that day in the gym. To some degree it becomes a question of how serious you are about weight training and how bad you want it because if you strongly desire to get the most of weight training, then prolonged rest should not be an issue. Just train smart and stay 110% focused and I can basically gurantee you will achieve some level of success as far as your weight training goals are concerned.

Turn in Early to Avoid Cravings

Franco — Wed, 02 May 2007 10:00:00 +0000

When you get down to the last 3-4 weeks out prior to a contest or photo shoot it is very difficult at this point not to want to give in to that over bearing craving for a doughnut or a slize of pizza. At this point of your preperation you have dieted down so much that you have totally depleted your body of any extra energy other than what it uses to be able to get through your morning cardio and your weight training session later on in the day.

You have minized carbohydrates to basically next to nothing and you are just eating 1-1 1/2 servings of broccoli with each meal. Due to this you're energy levels are so small that it feels like absolute hell just to get through the day. I, personally, always find myself getting dizzy. If I'm sitting down and need to get up to get something I feel like I am going to fall over. Meanwhile, I have the most itense craving for a cream filled doughnut.

The best plan that I have come up with to counter act cravings is to go to sleep as early as possible. For me, I find that most of my junk food cravings come at later points in the day so If I find myself craving a doughnut or any type of junk food I will go to bed as early as 7:30. Chances are I will sleep through the night until 4 a.m. when I usually wake up because I am so tired from my body's depleteion of carbohydrates and its very small daily dosage of essentail fats.

Once that craving hits just, go lights out. The last thing you need is to set yourself back after undergone 12 weeks of intense, grueling double sessions in the gym with only 21 or less days remaining until you compete and have the opportunity to showcase what you have worked so hard for.

Train in Layers, Technique to Prepare for Photo Shoots and Contests

Franco — Tue, 01 May 2007 11:10:00 +0000

An effective way to get shredded for a shoot or for the beach is to train in multiple layers of clothers. This is a technique that I use that several of my friends who have a background in amatuer wrestling have taught me. When training in layers, you will sweat more therefore you will be burning more calories and that means increasing the amount of pounds you lose.

The drawback for me and most people is that most of these pounds come from water weight, fluid loss. So two hours later once you've eaten and drank a couple bottles of water. You may have put the weight back on. This technique should be done within two-four weeks out of your photo shoot or competition to drain any unwanted water pounds. To perform this long term in my experiences can be counterproductive. Everyone's body is different so if you feel this is also helping in general overall fat loss to get into competiton shape.

Overrall, I stick to foods that either have no sodium, or are sodium free. Foods that are high in sodium and carbohydrates will cause you to reatin water and look bloated even if you you're body fat is low. I, personally, have a vinal suit which I purchased at Modell's that I use to do cardio in and typically I would wear that, cold gear underarmor, a sweat shirt, and two layers of sweat pants, and two layers of socks. I do this when I perform my cardio routine at 4:30 am. This way not only do I burn the most fat, but I also get those water pounds out as well.

Be very careful with using this layerd technique because it can cause hypothermia and heat extreme heat exhaustion. I do not reccomend this for beginners or for more than a four week span of use. If you are going to try this my suggestion is to start out in 2 layers and see how you feel, before you go to three or even four in some extreme cases. The one thing I will say though if this technique is performed safely and effectively you will SHREDDED!!!!

"Mr. Tough Guy" has No Real Heart

Franco — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:20:00 +0000

This is something that myself and other guys that are strongly committed to training see much of especially in the warm weather months. A guy, such as myself, will be out somewhere on a hot day wearing a tank top or hanes underwear shirt and you will get some skinny little piece of garbage who is going to look for a confrontation with you. Now bear in my mind, the types of guys that do this usually have about as much muscle mass on their whole body as my pinky finger alone does. So with that, its most likely save to say that this so called "tough guy" has never picked up a dumbbell or any weight for that matter at any point in his life.

Basically, this kid intiating the confrontation has absolutely no heart what so ever. He isn't committed to anything and has not the slightest clue how intense and how consistant guys like myself train and the extreme sacrifices we have to make to look they way we do. The reason for this looser to run his mouth is because he is jealous and it could be that a girl who he was with that he has hopes of sleeping with probably now has her eyes soley locked on you and therefore, so called "Mr. Tough Guy" feels threatened and also defeated. He knows he can't just snap his fingers and his physique just magically transform so he feels like he has to take you out.

The best way to handle the situation is to just act calm and confident. Do not for one second think you need to cover up because you earned those results with massively grueling work outs and immensley strict dietary habbits. If he starts a fight with you just end it quick and don't give him a chance to run his mouth even further that he knocked you out because in all honesty, he doesn't deserve to have any glory especially one that stems from a confrontation that he started out of his own insecurity regarding his puny, inferior body.

These situations happen somewhat regularly in the warm weather months, so best advice is just be confident and prepared to throw it down at anytime of course, only fight in a situation when you absolutely have to because you either feel threatened or extremely insaulted because the last thing you want to do is end up in jail over some low life who quite frankly doesn't have the balls to do what you do everyday.

Proper Form During Resistance Training

Franco — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:44:00 +0000

It never seizes to amaze me how many guys I see in the gym using incorrect form when performing resistance training. Correct form and technique is critical because muscle stimulation will not do the job unless the exercises are performed with the full range of motion that is required. I think too many guys are ignorant to what propper form is and so they do the exercise the way they think it is supposed to be done rather than how it actually should be executed. A great deal of guys who go to the gym are just concerned about throwing up heavy weight to show off when in fact that is the absolute most idiotic and egotitstical outlook towards training.

It is most common, atleast in my estimation anyway, that guys seem to zip through a set of an exercise so fast that they don't get anything out of it. This is mainly because they aren't going slow enough to let their muscle full contract and expand. You see this commonly with arm exercises such as bicep curls and tricep pressdowns. You need to let the muscle full contract (shorten) and then expand (lengthen). Another example of bad form is people who arch their back when bench pressing, this is totally unacceptable because it takes all the work off your chest wich is the target muscle when performing anytype of bench/dumb bell press. Your back should remain flat at all times, if you have to arch your back during the last two reps of a set thats one thing but not that it becomes an improper technique in which you rely on. There are many examples of bad form but those are two common ones that I noticed.

So next time you go to the gym, you may want to stop and think that if I'm doing bicep curls my biceps should be doing all the work, and only you know what your feeling. Use common sense and use good judgement because without good form you are selling yourself short and will never reach your full potential for developing a superior physique. Its not about who can move the most weight its about getting the best out of your work out and checking your ego at the door becuase you go to the gym to improve yourself in the aspects of fitness relative to your personal goals for body composition or athletic performance not to show off. Lastly, furthermore for the people that go to show off by grunting and throwing up heavyweight with bad form, you are just a joke and none of serious athletes take you seriously what so ever.

Cardio, The Key to Effective Fat Loss

Franco — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:26:00 +0000

Now it is quite clear that there are many pills and supplemetns on the market that claim to be the miracle drug that make you loose body fat. The fact of the matter there is no subsitute for cardio and a propper diet. However, diet wich I will address in the future on this site, will not do it alone. I don't care how clean you eat you still need a stimulus on your body that will trigger fat loss.

Many bodybuilders, fitness models, athletes and people who exercise regulary all despise cardio and quite frankly, I don't blame them but sometimes in life you have to shut your mouth and just do it. This is one of those times, if you want to be great and have a chance to be possibly labeled "the best" the dealing with grind of carido is a definute must. That sacrifice if made correctly with 110% of your best effort will pay huge dividends come competition, photo shoot or beach time.

A huge factor in getting the optimum as far as cardio is concerned relative to fat loss is timing. Cardio is best to be done upon awakening first thing in the morning. So my suggestion is that if you really are dedicated, you'll cut down on partying, staying out until the break of dawn and you will rise earler and go to the gym and hit that treadmill, eliptical, stepper, or stationary bike. Make sure you do it on an empty stomach because insulin will block lypolysis (the burning of fat) in the body and performing cardio on an empty stomach upon waking up means your body will have no choice but to use the stored fat and carbohydrates as fuel rather than what you have currently eaten. So you won't be constantly at the same point as far as calories in vs. calories burned. Ideally you'd want to take in less calories and burn more to loss fat, wich is known as a negative caloric balance.

Another thing that is crucial is cardio must be done for 30-60 min at 65% of your maximum heart rate for the exercise to have any positive effect towards fat burning. You can calculate that percentage by subtracting your age from 220 and that will give you your max heart rate. Once you have that you need to multiply it by .65 to get your heart rate at 65% of its maximum. Interval training is also effective where you combine short bursts of high intensity such as for example 10-20 second full sprint segments followed by 3-4 minute jog, then a 1 minute walk then repeat the process 5 or 6 times. This will get your heart rate working at about 75-85% and that would mean more caloires burned and ultimately more fat burned in the long term because the total overall calories burned are more.

If you want to be in the best shape and body condition, carido is critical and there is absolutely no way around it. There is no pill or fad diet alone that will magically bring you from 12% bodyfat down to 4% without a little blodd, sweat, tears, and pain. It is your choice. Whether you choose to work at a 65% HR for 60 minutes or 75-85% for 35 minutes the choise is yours but actually having the drive to do it is a question of your will. Are you willing?

Train With Fire

Franco — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:37:00 +0000

It happens all too often when I'm in the gym. I look around and I see guys socializing and making jokes between sets. It is something that really irritates me because the gym isn't a place to discuss your weekend or where you and your buddies are going Friday night. The gym is a place for you to give your absolute best effort to improve yourself by working hard and giving 110% for every second you are there. It, quite frankly, pisses me off to see so many guys in the gym with me that have no fire in their eyes, they are just taking up space and going through the motions.

When you are in the gym, that is your time that you have put aside to train so you can make yourself better. Your only focus should be accomplishing your workout and putting every ounce of your heart and soul into it. When you leave the gym, you should be able to go look your face in the mirror and be able to say, "I gave my best effort." In my estimation, it is going to be impossible to be able to say that if you were too busy being chatting away about your trip to the club last weekend. There is a time and a place for that but the gym is definitely not one of them.

For someone like me, who trains like a maniac , its all blood, sweat and tears for that hour that I am there training. I could care less about the club, weekend plans, who got laid and who didn't. The only thing that matters to me is getting the absolute most out of my workout so I can ulitmately become better. This is only training mentality in which long term success is eventually reached. I know that if I join in the meaningless conversation that I will be selling myself short and wasting my time because I train to be the best and I just will not settle for mediocrity. Failure is just simply not an option for what I'm trying to accomplish in my career as a fitness athlete. So, if you are not going to give 110% effort in the gym to make yourself better then you may as well be sitting on the couch at home eating Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream while watching television because anything less than giving your entire heart and soul is just a waste of time.

Killer Fitness Knowledge

Franco — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:44:00 +0000

Fitness incorporates many different aspects of overall conditioning. To me fitness isn't just done for the body but it keeps you're mind going strong as well. To accomplish any physical fitness goal regardless of whether it is related to strength training, fat loss, power lifting, or endurance, you need to have your mind and heart completely dedicated to reaching that goal.

As a college student and aspiring fitness model, I at somepoint of the year have incorporated all the aspects of fitness named above. I feel that my dedication to fitness makes me feel wonderful throughout the day. There is nothing like leaving the gym early or at midnight and knowing you had an amazing workout. You're muscles may be tired and need to rest and get the propper nutrition repleshment but the endorphins, chemicals released during exercise and other forms stresses, keep you going strong throughout the day. You feel as if the word impossible doesn't apply to anything you want to do. That is just one simple pleasure and in many cases an advantage that fitness gives people. I will discuss many more fitness topics regarding strength training, fat loss, weight management, power lifting, endurance and nutrtion in future posts.

I love fitness and all aspects of it. For me it is a passion and I view having this passion as a gift and I definitely want to use these blogs as a way to express my expertese and dedication toward others and to hopefully inspire them and elevate their enthusiam.