Before Vs After

So here I am after 12 weeks of gruelling hard work behind me and plenty more to come, I feels its only right to reflect on everything that has happened in the past 12 weeks.

Starting this programme I was pretty nervous, I thought I pushed myself quite hard in the gym and was relatively happy with where I was in terms of my body composition. After deciding that I was going to become a Natural Body Builder and set my sights on competing early next year I knew I had to step up my game, I needed to learn and grow at the same time.

 I felt this programme has taught me so much in terms of how my body works, what feels good, what needs improving, where I am weaker, where I am stronger etc. By using so many different training principles I think I have been able to deduce what is best for my body, what is best to promote growth and how I need to train some more specific muscle groups in order to actually get something out of them.But enough of all of that, lets show the before and after pictures, on the left is 12 weeks ago, the right is today after waking up, completely dry weight.

Relaxed Before

Relaxed After

Front Double Bicep Before

Front Double Bicep After

Lat Spread Before

Lat Spread After

Back Double Bicep Before

Back Double Bicep After

Quadriceps Before

Quadriceps After

Calves Before

Calves After

So look at the pictures the first thing I notice is that I am not as trim now as I was 12 weeks ago, which I totally understand and I know its due to my increased calorie intake over the past 12 weeks. I do feel that my muscles look a lot fuller in my after photos. My back for one I am very happy with, the width and thickness of it really shows up here, my Quadriceps and Biceps deserve and honourable mention too as they have beefed up very nicely too!


Now lets look at the numbers!

Before Measurements:

Chest-44inLat Spread -46.5inWaist-36inThigh-25inCalf-18inBicep- 16in

After Measurements:

Chest- 44in

Lat Spread- 47.5in

Waist- 35in

Thigh- 26.25in

Calf- 18.25in

Bicep- 17in

So after looking at the statistics I can see I was correct in saying my Back has grown! as well as my Biceps, also by taking in my Waist it will give the illusion of bigger/wider Back and Shoulders and smaller Waistline. I am not massively  impressed with my Chest, although I know my upper Pec development has come on my mid and lower development hasn't come across too much, but now I have time to work on it and develop it the way I need too for my personal look.

The past 12 Weeks have been a real pleasure! I am so incredibly happy with all the amazing support that I have been shown by my friends and family and really hope you continue to stand by me throughout my journey. 

I won't be completely stopping the Blogs, so don't worry! I will be trying to move my attention across to Vlogs, as it is nicer for me and easier viewing for you guys too, I can then better get across information in a fast effective way. 

Once again thank you everyone, I have loved every minute of this and really look forward to progressing further with my training!

Happy Lifting you bloody wonderful people!

Week 12 Day 1 - Fairwell Legs (1200 Rep Leg Day)

15/06/15 Day 77 – Legs & Calves

Here it is, the beginning of the end. Week 12 is upon me and boy do I know about it, finishing off just as hard as I started this weeks DTP training is in the form of Uni-Lateral training, basically working one limb in isolation, then followed by the opposing limb, going back and forth with as little rest time as possible, whilst working up and down pyramid, so yeah, it hurts. This style of training is fantastic for development of the individual limbs as you are actually able to produce more force! Enough of the preamble, lets take a look at the session:

Single Leg Leg Press – 10 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,10,15,20,25,30

Bulgarian Split Squat – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Close Stance Split Squat – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Single Leg Seated Calf Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Single Leg Standing Dumbbell Calf Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

Just looking at that session made me tired, let alone actually doing it! Well needless to say I made sure I performed a huge warm up and active stretch out before even attempting to start this session and rightly so because I needed it.

Starting with my Single Leg Leg Press, I was thrown in at the deep end. Starting my sets with the foot towards the bottom and centre of the foot plate allowed me to incorporate more of my Quadricep muscles, by isolating them I got to really work them to failure on each set. The nice thing (I guess) about this style of training is that whilst one side is working the other can rest, meaning that even through you aren't actually resting going up or down the pyramids you do get a small rest period in between sets. It was pretty damn brutal pushing out so many reps on only one leg but I really surprised myself with the amount of weight each leg was able to carry, as I have never really trained like this before it was a bit of a eye opener to how strong I have actually become, which I am really happy with. Once hitting the 10 rep mark in the middle of the exercise, I took the foot placement higher and wider, by doing so I meant I was able to incorporate more the Hamstring and Glute muscles now, so I could share the work load across the whole leg. With the fatigue starting to settle in working back up the pyramid was just as savage as coming down it! But rep after rep I pushed on, supporting the knees and making sure everything was tracking properly, until I finally finished my last 30 repetitions and I could move on.

Transitioning to a exercise like the Bulgarian Split Squat mean that my core and stabiliser muscles now had to work a little harder to support me in the exercise. By working like this I knew I was not going to be able to lift anywhere near as heavy as the last exercise, but that was completely fine. With a old knee injury still reaping havoc on my balance it also gave me a little bit more of a test, which I never shy away from! Starting with no weight at all I worked my way down the pyramid, bumping up the weights as I went to really fatigue the whole leg out before moving onto the Close Stance Split Squat. With the Close Stance Split Squat I used the exact same weights as I did going down the pyramid to come back up the pyramid, putting all sense of fatigue to the back of my mind I just kept pushing harder and harder as I progressed on. After set three I found that I had to rest pause my way to the end of the sets, my quads were just cooked to pieces by this point, I do also recall having to take a few minutes to go outside and take a breather in the cold air, as I could feel my breakfast coming to revisit me, thankfully I kept it down and was able to carry on with the sets until I hit my 30 reps again.

So all that was left now was the calves! To work these bad boys I started on the Single Leg Seated Calf Raise, this is simply because the Leg Press was being used and I needed to improvise. I was really surprised at how well the exercised worked, really squeezing out a deep contraction through the whole calf showed me that I had in fact made a good choice. As per usual I was working my way down the pyramid with the weight getting pushed up with every passing set, I really felt shot to pieces at the end of this, but needless to say this wasn't the end for me!

Single Leg Standing Dumbbell Calf Raise, this was the only thing standing in my way between finishing my last Leg Day of this 12 week muscle builder! Grabbing hold a big ass dumbbell I mounted a wooden block and prepared myself for the pyramid set from hell! Rep,rep,rep went by, one leg to the next, drop the weight and back on the block, it didn't stop I was a man possessed, nothing was going to get in my way. With my calves pumped full of blood it felt as though they could have exploded at any second, but with my final repetition, I placed my dumbbell down and in a state of complete relief gave myself a big pat on the back, waddled over to the mats and began my cool down and stretch. So there it is 12 Weeks, 12 Leg days, boy am I glad that's over, so much learnt and now its time to keep the progress going!

If you are stuck, feel like you aren't progressing and need a change, contact me at: mgonlinept@gmail.com for a 100% tailored programme, guaranteed for results!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 11 Day 1 - In The Pump We Trust

08/06/15 Day 70 – Legs

The beginning of a new week means as always the beginning on a new style of training, still working within the confines of the DTP training. This week I will be training through Giant Sets, for those of you who don't know what a Giant Set is here is a definition:

“A series of 3 or more exercises performed in succession with no rest break between them”.

This style of training is perfect for the high volume nature of the DTP training and I must say, I achieved a stupidly hardcore pump from this leg session and put it all down to this type of training! So here is the session:

Giant Set 1

Leg Extension – 5 Sets x 30 Reps

Leg Press – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Hack Squat – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Giant Set 2

Lying Hamstring Curl – 5 Sets x 30 Reps

Leg Press – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Hack Squat – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

As had no steady build up, I had to make sure that going into the session I was really well warmed up, really well stretched out and most importantly incredibly focused for what I needed to achieve. With this style of training it isn't always easy being able to get on to every piece of a equipment, especially in very busy gyms and peak hour training, so remember to be thoughtful and let other people jump in between your working sets, it keeps everyone happy and you might even get a little rest break out of it!

As I began with the first Giant set I made sure the focus was entirely within my quads, knowing I was hitting my Hamstrings after allowed me to work to failure on every set without fear of not being able to complete the second half of the session. Keeping the Leg Extensions constantly at 30 reps meant that I was able to actively pre-fatigue the quads in an isolation movement before going on to the next two compound exercises that would be aided by other synergistic muscles. To keep the main focus on the Quadriceps I took my foot stance on the Leg Press low and narrow, meaning that the Glutes were not able to influence the movement, which simply allowed me to beast the Quadriceps even more! After the Leg Press came the Hack Squat, this was an insane way to finish off each set, which such a high muscular demand for the exercise I found the first two sets I wasn't able to use anything but my body weight as my legs had become so incredibly fatigued and pumped up. As spoken about previously, having such high levels of blood being forced into the muscle (such as “the pump”) allows the body to trigger, release and transfer higher levels of Human Growth Hormone into the cells, enhancing the size and strength of the muscles and thus allowing the body to grow. With each set that went by my legs felt heavier and heavier, not just due to the ridiculous levels of blood in them but due to the battering they were being put through. As the number of reps went down the weights went up, trying to constantly push the muscles to the brink of failure only means that they will come back bigger and stronger. As I am currently in the off season for my competitions I am only focused on getting some solid lean muscle mass on my frame, so pushing to failure is a key task in my method of madness.

With the Quadriceps utterly obliterated it was time to work back up the repetitions now, but taking the emphasis to the Hamstrings and Glutes. Taking on the same pre-fatigue style to Hamstrings that were used on the Quadriceps, although this time I started at the bottom of the rep range with the Leg Press & Hack Squat allowing me to smash those heavy weighted sets out to start with, then tapering down the weight whilst the repetition range increased. To take full advantage of the Hamstrings and Glutes I changed my stances around once again with the Leg Press & Hack Squat, taking my feet high up on the platform, taking my stance really wide and pointing the toes out very slightly, this then put the emphasis on the target muscles and did I know about it! Maybe it was due to already being fatigued but working through the Hamstring work was completely soul destroying, I was trying my hardest to constantly keep working through the reps but by the time I made it to the hack squat I was completely flagging and thus found myself rest pausing from around 15 repetitions on every set, which only added insult to injury in the sense that it took so much longer to finish each set.

With the final set of 30 reps done and tiny tear of joy I made my way to the mats to some my legs so TLC and have a great stretch out, with my protein shake in hand to feed the muscles I spent a solid 15 minutes stretching out what was left of my legs. Before the gym starting shutting down for the day and it was time to go home. All in all it was a wicked session and I loved it, none the less it was still incredibly testing.

Hope you are having a great day where ever you are!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 10 Day 2 - Pectoral Punishment

02/06/15 Day 64 – Chest & Triceps

Feeling still shaky after yesterday's leg session it was time to draw my focus in on the next task, which came in the form of chest and triceps, looking at the session I knew it was going to be just as tough as yesterdays session, again looking at big volume, big weights and lots of work. So here is what the session looked like:

Incline Barbell Bench Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Flat Barbell Bench Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Decline Dumbbell Flyes – 12 Sets, 30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Incline Dumbbell Flyes – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Rope Tricep Extension – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Seated Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Close Grip Press Ups – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Bench Dips – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

With some much needed rotator cuff work being done and a certain buzz about me I started the session with the Incline Barbell Bench Press. Here my focus was to stretch out the chest at the bottom of the movement and squeeze the pecks together as I exploded out of the bottom of the movement. My first few sets were incredible, as if I had found a power within me that changed the whole dynamic of the exercise, but as quickly as it came it was gone, hitting set four I smashed into a mental wall, the pecks were now struggling to contract properly and I found myself fighting every single rep. Finally I finished the first exercise, swelling nicely I moved on to the Flat Barbell Bench Press for the DTP drop set to follow. With lots of smaller plates on the bar the intension was to complete the reps stated then strip a few plates, go for the reps again and continue the pattern until the sets were complete. Now on paper this seems fine, but after seriously pre fatiguing the chest this became very hard, very quickly. Pushing up through the palm of my hands I made it a game of quits, I wouldn't put the bar down till I finished, that meant I either crushed myself under the bar, or I pushed my limits out of the way and finished the set.

Now came the pain train. Working through 12 set on Decline Dumbbell Flyes was no walk in the park, as I was working with both maximal strength and endurance I had to really concentrate on the motion, I could have easily injured my self If I wasn't so switched on. Feeling for the tension through the pecs with every rep meant I could be as effective as possible during the workout. With only a few weeks left of this programme it is all about being as effective and efficient as possible to gain the best results I can for my body. With the final sets draining my energy like a punctured tire I was so happy with my determination to keep on pushing, always looking forward to the future and thinking about the body I am building is the motivation I need to carry on and this is exactly what allowed me to excel in this workout.

Onto the final exercise for the chest, the Incline Dumbbell Flyes, this was simply a burn out exercise. By pushing through heavy reps with a low set range meant I was able to go a lot heavier than the previous exercise, this meant more muscle fibre tears and promoting more HGH (human growth hormone) to be distributed into the muscles. Boy did I have an all mighty pump by the end of this exercise!

With the chest cooked to pieces it was time to turn the heat up a bit more and get my triceps sizzling away and what better way to do so than the Rope Tricep Extension! One of my go to exercises during my past training routines, I was no stranger to the burn I was about to feel. The great feeling of my triceps growing throughout the sets kept me focused on the work at hand, keeping the elbows tight allowed me to keep the focus on the triceps purely. When raising to the top of the motion I made sure I was incredibly slow and controlled, this meant I could put the triceps under tension for a longer period of time and thus allow the muscles to be worked more effectively.

I then found myself facing a new challenge in the form of the Seated Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions. This is a completely new exercise for me and with the added factor of burnt out triceps that I was meant to be burning out even more its needless to say this SUCKED (but was also awesome). Getting an insane contraction through the whole length of tricep meant this is a new exercise that will be put straight into my top 10 favourites for triceps!

By this time I couldn't fully lift my arms up, my chest was swollen and my triceps were burnt to pieces. I took myself to the matted area to finish off my session with Close Grip Press Ups & Bench Dips. The press ups were impossible to complete fully, so I went to my knees and even on the knees I couldn't fully support my body weight, which only proved that I had worked my triceps to their breaking point. The bench dips also had to be performed in a reduced range, with my feet on the floor I tried to keep the focus solely on my triceps, but when they wanted to give up I had to introduce a bit of force with the legs to just keep pushing myself through the final sets. The rest period between the sets were equal to the number of reps performed, much like the principles of previous DTP Extreme weeks.

Well it fair to say I am looking forward to tomorrow's rest day, I will be preforming some light abdominal work to keep ticking over as well as some light cardio to keep the metabolism up, but I will be checking in with you beautiful people on Thursday/Friday!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 10 Day 1 - 2hrs 1140 Reps & One Stupidly Pumped Up Leg Session

01/06/15 Day 63 – Legs & Calves

Here I am! Week 10 of this 12 week muscle builder, coming into the last couple of sessions on each body component. With such little time left and such a great demand on results every single rep counts at this point and boy are there a lot of reps! Working with the DTP style of training once again, all about volume, all about size and it's certainly all about will power. I find that with such high rep ranges as the ones you will see today its 80% mental ability to concentrate and 20% of actual physical ability. Remember that your brain doesn't know how many plates you have on the bar, it only knows you are working against resistance, so follow in my foot steps and leave your ego at the door and get ready to get pumped up!

Box Squats – 12 Sets, 1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Leg Extension – 3 Sets x 50 Reps

Hack Squat - 12 Sets, 1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Lying Leg Curl – 3 Sets x 50 Reps

Cable Stiff Leg Deadlift – 12 Sets, 1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Single Leg Calf Press – 12 Sets, 1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

Needless to say a whopping great warm up was the only way to start off this Goliath of a training session, loosening up every joint, warming up all the muscles till they radiated heat. With my pre workout tingling my skin, the itches telling me it was time to start, so I plugged my ear phones in with the music blaring and the smell of sweat in the air and got ready to climb the mountain of a session ahead.

Box Squats were the first task at hand. Being so tall depth can sometimes be an issue for me when it comes around to squatting, I have never been a massive fan due to this, not to mention the torn ligaments in my right knee, but I pushed all that aside as this had to be done and I am not one to back down from a fight. With the lower back burning away, the quads filling with blood and my breath escaping me I soon realised that this wasn't going to get any easier (just the way I like it). Making it to the half way point seemed like an eternity had passed, but now it was time for a the Dtp drop set, hitting every rep I had previously done in reverse order with no rest apart from the time stripping the bar. Well bugger me that has to be one of the hardest sets of squats I have ever done! With basically nothing on the bar for the final two rounds I still felt like I was holding the world on my shoulders, the legs were stiff and the sweat was tickling down my skin, by the end all that was left of me was the pool around my feet.

With the squats all done and dusted (thankfully) I moved on to the Leg Extensions, here the idea was to continue the the stimulation of the quadriceps and allow even more naturally occurring human growth hormone to be flooded into the system. Trying battle against the machine with less weight then I had previously used even seemed like a bridge too far, I fought and fought until my mind surrendered, I dropped a plate off and honed in on the final set with all my might, making sure every rep was a tight as the last. I couldn't believe the struggle, I had never felt this beaten before, but then I realised that each week I have to try to better myself and this was just another test, of course its harder, that is how I will become the best, because I have no limits, only what is in my mind!

Moving on to the Hack Squat my only thought was that this was the last exercise for my quads, this was a land mark in the session and it was my job to push through it. Starting off light I wanted to drill good technique into my cranium, just trying to take my thoughts away from the rattling of my legs. Each set it got harder, the legs trembled more and I reached to my phone to turn up the music, anything to take away my focus from the burn, but alas the volume was all the way up, it was blaring and I didn't even realise over the screams of my quadriceps. It isn't meant to be easy I had to keep reminding myself, working like this will make me a champion and with that set in my sight I drove through to the end of the exercise. Thank Christ.

With my quadriceps completely cooked it was fitting that now I could move on to the hamstring section of the work out, starting with Lying Leg Curls. Here the emphasis was on high reps and low sets once again, trying to push myself to failure before I had even started, it seems all I know in the gym these days is failure but if that is what it takes then I am not one to argue. Between each set I sprang off the machine and stretching the burn out of the muscles, cursing under my breath it seemed like I couldn't stop myself. Hopping to and fro until I was finished, well only two exercises left. I knew I could do it, but it seemed like this session was never going to end!

The Cable Stiff Leg Deadlifts were a new one for me today and I must say I really enjoyed them, I have a tendency to lose the contraction in my left hamstring at some points usually, but due to the flexibility of this exercise I could tweak my movement to maintain an insane contraction that would later come back to haunt me. Working down the ladder to only crawl back up was a real chore, but I wasn't going to quit this close to the end and that is why I am barely able to walk now. But I LOVE IT!

I had done it, the final exercise was here and I managed to end the session on a real high. The Single Leg Calf Press was all about working each calf individually without rest, after one side was done it was on to the other straight away, with as little rest as possible. I pushed and pushed and pushed, with 2 sets left between me leaving all I could think about was my post workout shake. After draining my calcium deposit through the workout it was almost impossible to squeeze a good contraction out of my calves any more, feeling knackered I allowed some momentum to influence my final set. I was finished, the hard work had been completed.

Wanting to nap right now, but being 1pm its not really an acceptable time, plus my meal prep won't do itself!

To make a change to your body and your life, get in contact with me now at: mgonlinept@gmail.com for your bespoke gym plans and nutritional programmes!

Change your future today.

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 9 Day 5 - One Way Ticket To The Gun Show!

30/05/15 Day 61 – Arms

Today was a very short, simple and insanely effective gym session, with only 4 exercises in the entire session it was all about going heavy, hitting failure and pushing through my mental and physical barriers to complete every set.

Here is your ticket to the Gun Show:

Standing Over-Head Dumbbell Tricep Extension – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

SuperSet

Seated Dumbbell Curls – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Decline Skull Crushers – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

SuperSet

Ez Bar Spider Curls – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

As usual I started my session with a really solid warm up, made sure I worked my rotator cuffs and did a lot of warm up work on the triceps, as religiously when doing overhead tricep work I tighten up very quickly. So some explosive active stretching followed during my warm up sets, the hoodie came off and it was game time.

With the first superset, it was 100% about trying to hit complete failure on every single set, so for me I looked at the dumbbell rack and asked myself what would I usually lift for those reps, then moved a few kilos up so I knew I had to really work hard to finish off the sets, I found this worked really well in my favour as I actually managed to lift stupidly heavier then I perceived I would be able to. Two or three sets in to the first super set and my arms where feeling seriously swollen, with the weights getting heavier and heavier I really had to draw all my attention in to my contractions, with my spotter standing by for a comfort blanket I pushed myself to the limit. Very happy with my new personal best of 40kg overhead dumbbell extension, if I look a few years back it was something only I dreamt of and now I'm living it, just goes to show that hard work pays off! The dumbbell curls felt really good today as well, with my focus on this exercise to twist the little finger up towards the ceiling to engage the inner head of the biceps I found it encouraged the pump nicely.

With my arms well fatigued and blood surging through my triceps and biceps I moved on to the final two exercises. The Decline Skull Crushers felt really awesome today, by taking the arms further back, past eyeline it meant that I could keep constant tension through the triceps. Keeping the tension through the target muscles for as long and possible will help to promote the release of human growth hormone by the body, so if you are not using performance enhancing drugs like myself this is a brilliant way to build that awesome thickness that makes the body look a lot fuller. The opposing exercise (Ez Bar Spider Curls) really helped to isolate the outer head of my biceps, taking the close grip on the Ez bar meant I couldn't recruit much of the inner head, allowing me to work the entire bicep through the duration of the session. As I started to fatigue in the later sets due to the higher reps I made sure that I was pushing the ticeps into the preacher machine to stop the temptation of swinging the bar up but instead forcing the biceps to contract harder to lift the weight. Remember: If you are going to do something, do it right.

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 9 Day 1 - Total Leg Annihilation (960 Reps)

25/05/15 Day 57 – Legs & Calves

Unfortunately I got hit pretty hard by a cold/virus on Friday and despite my best efforts it has whittled me down slightly, I worked pretty damn hard during my Arms session on Friday, but simply didn't have the mental or physical strength to get a Blog out to everyone, so sorry about that. Even though I have been feeling pretty shoddy I managed to get down the the gym yesterday to hit up some light cardio, hoping to sweat most of what ever I had out, luckily it worked a but and I am not feeling quite so lethargic today, although my lunges feel quite constricted and I have now adopted a wicked cough (not wicked as in cool!). But today was the beginning of Week 9, so I put everything to the back of my head and pulled my ass down the gym for a bank holiday training session, needless to say the gym was RAMMED but I didn't care because lots of people don't train legs (burn) so I had the upper hand on getting most pieces of equipment with easy.

If you feel like your usual leg sessions don't demand that much of you, then you have to try this out, the most intense hardcore session of the 12 week trainer so far! Here it is:

Leg Extension – 3 Sets, 1 x 50,40,30

Leg Press – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Hack Squat – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Leg Extension 3 Sets, 1 x 30,40,50

Lying Leg Curl – 3 Sets, 1 x 50,40,30

Stiff Leg Dumbbell Deadlift – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Lying Leg Curl – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Seated Calf Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Standing Calf Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

Starting with a very, very thorough warm up ensured that I wouldn't pull or damage any muscles during what was the most intense, energy sapping, mentally demanding session so far. With the pre-workout flooding my veins with energy, tingling away at my skin I began the session.

The Leg Extension warmed me up for what was to come, working with such a high volume requires a certain sense of mental endurance to make sure that you aren't simply going through the motions but instead you are making every single rep count for something. After the first few sets I could really feel the muscles beginning to pump and swell, it felt great, I knew that this volume of training would inhibit a high release of human growth hormone in my body, but feeling such a strong pump, so early on clarified that this was going to make me grow.

Moving swift on to the Leg Press next ensured that this pump wasn't going to waste. With the weights increasing with each set I made sure I pushed my legs to the absolute limit, using a rest pause to finish off the heavier sets determined that I would push myself as close to complete failure as possible, without creating long term damage. Remember: When using a leg press you keep the feet close together to focus on the contraction within the quadriceps, or take the feet high and wide to recruit more the glutes in the exercise.

Then came the first DTP XxTreme (see what I did there) set of the workout, which came in the form of the Hack Squat. Keeping the feet close together once again ensure I was beasting my quadriceps into a oblivion, working through the reps with the tiny rest breaks really did mean my legs became incredibly tight very fast, so in between the longer sets I made sure that I hopped off the machine and stretched out to ensure the muscles elasticity and prevent any long term harm to the knees (or anymore damage should I say).

Finishing the quadriceps off as I started I moved to the Leg Extension machine once again to well and truly cook them. This time I worked up in the repetitions and down in the weight, really really really fatiguing the muscles, breaking down the tissue and building me some quads that could hold up a small house. I have to say the last set completely recked me, even with a very light weight I felt as if my legs just wouldn't work anymore. I employed a rest pauses strategy to finish off the exercise, as I couldn't battle through 50 reps straight off, which annoyed me slightly, but I welcome failure as I know it will make me grow.

After I cooked the quadriceps it was time to move onto some fresh meat which meant it was time to jump on the Lying Leg Curl. Starting once again with huge amounts of volume really took it out of me, by this point in the work out I was very fatigued, I felt massively warn out and was worried that this session was going to get the best of me, so I put my headphones in, cranked the volume and awakened my inner beast. Smashing out reps like they were going out of fashion allowed me to warm up the hamstrings for some nice heavy weights on the next exercise.

Then I hit the Stiff Leg Dumbbell Deadlift for some heavy ass reps. Making sure the contractions was felt in both hamstrings was the main focus for me, even development of the body will help me when it comes round to competition time as I won't have to worry about the symmetry so much if both sides of the body are being worked equally. I took the last few reps incredibly slow on the final 2 sets, I wanted to feel every single contraction throughout the whole of the hamstring, squeezing the muscles till there was nothing left.

Working to failure meant going back to the Lying Leg Curl for the next DTP Xxtreme was going to be no walk in the park (in fact I don't actually think I could walk at this point). Using a weight I would perform for 20 reps I began the flogging, having to fight myself to carry on, to break through the pain barrier and to implore myself to finish the exercise. With the final reps getting the better of me I rested for a few seconds as I got too much, which aided my completion of this awesome, yet sickening set.

With the Quads and Hamstrings well and truly shot to piece it was time to finish off the legs, with some testing Seated Calf Raises & Standing Calf Raise. The seated raises were fantastic, working up to a really heavy weight had my motivation levels high and had me chomping at the bit to finish this session off. The only thing left for the session was the grand finale of DTP Xxtreme, the standing raises. The standing raises were done only with my body weight off a step, due to the intensity and already pre fatiguing them it was hard enough working through the short burst sets, squeezing both the Soleus and Gastrocnemius through each and every rep.

By now it was fair to say I was running on empty, after a wonderful stretch out to encourage the recovery of these beaten up muscles I grabbed my bag and went on my way.

Still feeling a little tired I find myself here sipping my BCAA's and typing this up. I hope you are having a wonderful bank holiday those of you in England and to everyone else Happy Monday!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

(No photo today, I feel and look far too awful for that)

Week 8 Day 4 - Serious Shoulder Session!

21/05/15 Day 53 – Shoulders

Today was day 4 of the 2^nd week on the DTP Extreme trainer, today session was created and designed to complete annihilate the deltoids and that is exactly what it did. Feeling pretty darn tight in the legs, chest and back I made sure my body was prepared for today's session. Last night I began visualising what I wanted to get out of the session today, creating a mental game plan, so as soon as I stepped foot in the gym I knew what was I was going to do.

So here it is, today's session:

Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Cable Upright Rows – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Cable Shoulder Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cable Seated Front Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Cable Rear Delt Flyes – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Dumbbell Later Raises – 3 Sets , 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cable Rear Delt Flyes – 3 Sets , 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

I really had to make sure that I was thoroughly warmed up today, with the joints feeling a bit creaky and having quite hardcore DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) I wanted to be 100% sure in my own mind that I was ready for the session ahead, so worked through lots of rotator cuff work as well as some dynamic stretching to try and work some more blood into those tight muscles and aid their recovery.

Starting the session with a super set was pretty fun, jumping back and fourth between the Dumbbell Shoulder Press and the Cable Upright Rows really was a great introduction for the shoulder joints into the DTP Extreme massacre of the muscles. Working my way up the weights in these first sets was a nice eye opener for my strength, I sometimes lose track of how far I have come until I do a session like this where I am constantly going back to the rack to pick up heavier dumbbells because I am choosing to light a weight, which really felt fantastic. Working the front and lateral (outside) head of the deltoids in these two exercises allowed the muscles to share the work load, which was another contributing factor to the heavier reps.

Then came the first DTP Extreme exercise, moving on the the close cable system I lowered the handles, placed a bench down and began my journey on the Cable Shoulder Press. A bit of a bizarre exercise for me, as I have never really tired using the cables for any shoulder pressing movements, but I have to say it very much tested my ability and strength and will be something I come back to in the future. Really hitting the smaller fixation muscles in the shoulder as well as those big deltoid heads really allowed me to get a fantastic workout out of a very simple exercise.

With the deltoids screaming out after those presses it was only fair to work them a little bit harder, with around 1 ½ minutes rest I moved the bench out from the cables. With a relatively light weight on the stacks I set myself physically and mentally and began the next DTP Extreme set which was the Cable Seated Front Raises. Isolating the Anterior (front) head of the shoulder meant this already fatigued muscle group was being pushed to is complete limit, I loved every minute of this exercise but that isn't to say it was easy, I often found that I had to stop for a few seconds here and there because my shoulders were on fire, the build of of lactic acid really had me grunting out every single rep in the last few sets.

Giving the front portion of the should a bit of a break I moved over to the wide cable pulleys and set out on my second super set of the session, which was the Dumbbell Lateral Raises followed by the Cable Rear Delt Flyes. With a few minutes rest since the last DTP set I was ready to crack on, working with the high reps meant that I was working with quite light weights to start with, but as the sets went on I was slowly creeping up the weights and forcing my muscles to complete failure, this allowed me to breakdown more muscle tissue, which will then have to be resynthesised by the body to create larger and stronger muscles.

With the super set done and dusted it was time to move on to working the movements in isolation for the final two DTP Extreme sets! Starting with the Dumbbell Lateral Raises I worked with the same weight I performed for 20 reps in the previous exercise, to ensure I would reach failure on the 20 & 30 rep sets in this exercise. Remember: Do not be afraid of failure, working your body to its maximum is the only way it's going to grow.

With the end in sight I prepared the cable system for the last push through the soul shattering Cable Rear Delt Flyes. Here you may have noticed I was only working through a 10,20 and 30 rep range, keeping the duration shorter and thus the rest periods also dwindled, forcing more blood into the muscles, keeping them under tension for longer and if you have been following these blogs over the past 8 Weeks then you will know it is all about Time Under Tension (TUT). With the final set done and the weights completed, I ensured that I stretched out for a while, still having all the blood pumping around the delts made them tight and needed to be flushed out.

I hope you kill your session as hard as I murder mine today!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 8 Day 3 - Training To Go Saiyan

20/5/15 Day 52 – Chest & Calves

After destroying what was a humongous DTP Extreme leg session yesterday it is fair to say I am feeling incredibly sore and tight today. When I feel like tight like this I have to take special care to make sure I don't over do it when training, so a solid warm up and stretch is 100% necessary to make sure I don't pull or strain any muscles (which would be devastating). Although I push my body to it limits every day I do play it smart and listen to my body, if something doesn't feel right I will try and diagnose what this issue is and try to adapt so as to resolve the problem.

Today was a bit of a strange session, incorporating the calves that were not in yesterdays programme along with chest! So let's have a look at what my session looked like:

Incline Dumbbell Bench – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Decline Dumbbell Flyes – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Leverage Chest Press– 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Single Leg Calf Press– 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Peck Deck Flyes – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Calf Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Cardio- Interval Training 15mins Total

With a nice warm up complete I hopped onto a bench where I preformed a few sets of 15 reps on a very light weight, this was just to loosen the chest muscles in partnership with some active stretching. I also want to make sure the joints were well oiled for the session ahead, as there is once again a huge emphasis on volume with this DTP Extreme training I want to be sure in myself that my joints can keep up with the work load.

With the warm up complete it was time to launch myself into my training I began with the Incline Dumbbell Bench, with this exercise I want my core focus to be keeping tension through the chest throughout the whole set, the way I achieved this was by keeping the elbows nice and soft and not locking out at the top of the movement, when I hit the peak of my contraction I lowered the weight back down in order to flush the muscles with lots and lots of blood, which will help me to increase muscle size.

With the final heavy sets completed on the incline bench I took the bench down to the floor and chose a weight I could perform around 15-20 reps on and prepared myself for the DTP Extreme set of Decline Dumbbell Flyes. When working with such great volume on one exercise its hard to keep focused on the contraction, so here I wanted my goal to keep solid and strict form and try not to pause during the set as much a possible. The fatigue kicked in around the 15 mark and really made it difficult to push through the sets, but with a few small brakes supplementing my rest between sets, it allowed me to finish the exercise strong.

Then came the one and only super set of the session, it was a bit of a strange one as the Leverage Chest Press really hits the chest and triceps well and then the Single Leg Calf Press works purely on the calves. With the big split between upper body and lower body it meant I could afford to go really heavy with both exercises as they were not having any direct impact on each other. I hit a new PB on the leverage press which I was really happy with, starting to feel a bit of tension through the triceps at this point I tried to think about contracting my pectorals as much as possible, being a bigger muscles group it aided me with the heavier weight more than the triceps ever could.

Down to the penultimate exercise, which was performed in the DTP Extreme style of training. The Peck Deck is a old school favourite for most, for me its not a machine I enjoy much as the range in the arms do not suit for people like me who are 6 foot 8 and have over a 2 metre wing span, but none the less I toughened up and pushed forward into the sets. Selecting a weight I would usually do for around 20 reps meant I knew when passing 20 reps I would be well and truly fatigued, this means the muscle breakdown will be greater in the targeted areas and thus meaning I can build more muscle onto that area. With some tension being put through the shoulders during the final sets I wanted to really emphasise the drawing together of my pectoral muscles, this meant I could get the most out of the movement.

On to the final exercise the Calf Press, at this stage the calves had been warmed and primed for this last set of DTP Extreme work for today. When several plates on the leg press machine I extended and locked the legs out and prepared for my working sets. Making sure the heel was dropping past the foot plate with every rep meant I was able to fully elongate the muscle before each contraction, working the whole length of both the soleus and gastrocnemius, for maximal effort under a large work load. The final few sets really did sear through my calves and it felt like they would never stop burning, but after a brisk walk around the gym I managed to shun the pain and enjoy a well deserved rest, as today's session was complete!

Felt very good about the effort I put into my session today, I do feel complete smashed and could do with a lay down, but fortunately work calls and I must stay awake, I know I am going to sleep like a baby tonight!

Hope everyone is having an AWESOME Wednesday I know I am!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 7 Day 2 - How to Build Your Chest (Extreme)

12/05/15 Day 44 – Chest & Biceps

Following on from a pretty intense day on legs, today's treat comes in the form of a DTP Extreme Chest and Bicep session. Training alone today which I must say was quite a struggle, no music, no distractions just 100% pure focus and determination. The idea behind this DTP Extreme training is to work up and down pyramid sets with a variation on weights and reps. Let me show you what today looked like for me:

Barbell Preacher Curl – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Decline Dumbbell Bench – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Dumbbell Bench – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Barbell Standing Curl – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Standing Bicep Cable Curl – 3 Sets 1 x 30,20,10

SuperSet

Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3 Sets 1 x 30,20,10

Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3 Sets 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Standing Bicep Cable Curl – 3 Sets 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

With the knowledge gained from yesterdays session, I knew that today was going to be no walk in the park. With my pre-workout beginning to pump around my body I picked up some light dumbbells and began my warm up, focusing on what I needed to achieve during the session allowed me to home in my focus on my muscle contractions as much as possible.

Starting with the superset of Barbell Preacher Curl & Decline Dumbbell Bench allowed me to fully work the arm and chest without fatiguing the muscles needed for the opposing exercise. Working my way down the pyramid allowed me to really wear the muscles down for the DTP Extreme sets to follow. My main thought on the descend was to get my range and contractions right so I could get as much out of my muscles before I burnt them out. Once I had pumped out the last 5 Reps on each exercise with a nice heavy weight I rested for around a minute, during this time I moved to a flat bench where I picked a weight I could perform for 20 reps, then picked up another barbell which I could also curl for 20 reps. Then came the fun part, DTP Extreme! I was not super setting these two exercises but instead I worked through the rep ranges, with my tiny rest breaks (correlating with the amount of reps I had done) breaking down my muscles to complete failure. When I was hitting failure at around 15 reps I lowered the weight slightly so as I could keep good form and not risk injuring myself.

With the Chest and Biceps starting to swell really nicely I set up for what would be the 2^nd and last combo for my session today. This combo included the Standing Bicep Cable Curl and the Incline Dumbbell Bench. The idea behind these two is to make sure we are targeting the same muscle “group” but yet hitting muscles that had not been focused on the last two exercises, so for myself I took a wide grip on the cable curls as it targeted a different head of the bicep and of course the incline bench is targeting the upper chest region. Thankfully these exercises were only working through the rep ranges of 10,20 and 30, so although they are less endurance based, the small rest periods and completely sapped muscles made it really hard to even work through that. The descending rep range allowed me to push to some pretty heavy weights once again and really get those muscle fibres firing, but when it came down to the ascending rep range portion (or the DTP Extreme portion) I had very little left in the tank. To get the reps I needed to out I had to employ a rest/pause principle, whereby I put the weights down for a few seconds to give the muscles a very short rest in order to keep working through the reps all the way to completion.

With the session done and my body screaming it was time to get some fuel on board, so I chugged down my Whey Protein and had a nice upper body based stretch session. Now I find myself sat here drinking my water and talking to you beautiful people. Hope you are all having a fab day wherever you are!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 7 Day 1 - 840 Reps Later...

11/05/15 Day 43 – Legs & Calves

Today marks 2 things, the beginning of Week 7 and thus DTP Extreme Training, but also it is my 21^st Birthday today, so celebrating all weekend has lead to possibly one of if not the HARDEST training session of my life.

DTP stands for Dramatic Transformation Protocol and it draws from a Extreme version of pyramid training, there will be a shed load of reps and sets. You will discover a whole new meaning of the word volume. Lets see what my Birthday training looked like:

Leg Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Leg Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Leg Extension – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Lay Leg Curl – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Leg Extension – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Laying Leg Curl – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Seated Calf Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Seated Calf Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

Starting today's with a really solid warm up was key, I knew that the session was going to be stupidly difficult so mental preparation was paramount. With several minutes on the bike it was time to crack on with stretching and some mobility work, when hitting such high volume you must,must,must warm up for a good amount of time otherwise you will tighten up to fast and render that whole session worthless.

After jumping on the Leg Press it became very apparent very quickly that this was going to be a very Extreme session. With two sets in (30 reps & 25 reps) my legs had already become fully swollen, with around a minute rest between each of the first 6 sets meant that going heavy was a easy possibility. Building the weight up with every sets merely helps to pre fatigue the muscle before getting into the “Extreme” portion of the exercise. For the next 6 sets the weight would be kept on whatever weight was used to do 20 reps in the previous sets, then I had to perform 5 reps, 10 reps, 15,20, etc. up to 30 reps. The number of reps I performed was the amount of time I was aloud to rest, 5 reps = 5 secs, 10 reps = 10 secs and we did this all the way up to 30 reps! Needless to say I was on the verge of crying through these 6 sets. If you want a challenge, you need to try this out.

We then moved from the Leg Press to a wonderful superset using both the Leg Extension & the Lay Leg Curl. Using the exact same method here as the last exercise we built up the weights as the rep range dropped. With the legs so heavily fatigued just adjusting the machine was a struggle enough let alone trying to actually do something, so I was not looking to achieve any personal bests here, but instead simply work my way through these sets, in wait for the horrendous pyramid sets to follow. Thankfully with these exercises we didn't have to superset them on the 2^nd lot of sets and work through the 5,10,15,20,25 and 30 reps on each machine separately. With such short rest periods between sets my legs were screaming at me for most of the session, I got used to the fact that it felt like my legs were on fire for the majority of the time, but what was really hard was how the muscles took such a beating, by the final few sets the muscles just didn't have the energy to contract fully. It was a very strange feeling having your legs just give up on you in such a way, but it certainly let me know they were being worked.

To finish off the lower body we used the Seated Calf Raise machine, using the same principle as the last 2 exercises we built up our weights through our first 6 sets, which by this point was so difficult. Even though it was a fresh muscle group our bodies just couldn't handle to beating it had taken, so we (my partner and I) had to try our best to encourage the other person one, counting out every rep and every rest interval allowed us to just get on with the actual exercise. As we got onto the final 6 pyramid sets it almost became a case of stretching in between every set, the calves as a muscle group for me like to tighten incredibly quickly and almost get a burning fizz running through them for the session, which really isn't ideal, so stretch and make the most of it!

I hope everyone has had an awesome weekend! I certainly have. Lots of new comics to wear and a bunch of new gym vests to show off to you guys!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 6 Day 3 - How To: Eat Your Way To A Summer Body

06/05/15 Day 38 - Active Rest

With the intensity of the Week 6 HIT training coming into play this week will host a rest day in the middle of the week, splitting up the 4 days training. Today I wanted to take the opportunity to talk through some simple points that could help those of you looking to lose a weight of weight before beach season hits us, so here it is! 

5 simple points to help you lose that unwanted poundage 

Today I'm talking about a few easy tips that will help you shed some of that unwanted weight before come round without having to go on any outrageous detoxes or calories deficient diets!

1)Firstly thing I will mention is about the consumption of Protein, protein is a nutrient that is massively under consumed and under-rated. Its ability to resynthesise muscle tissues is remarkable, but it burns fat just consuming it! As the molecular structure make the protein so dense it effects something called our TEF=Thermogenic effect of food, this basically means our digestion system heats up (thermo) as a result of the breakdown of particles from the moment we put it in our mouth and our salivary amailase (saliva) starts to slowly digest our food, this happens right the way through our body. This process in itself will help us to burn fat. But surely you can do this with any food Matt?? Well quite simply yes! you can but the difference is quite scary. Per gram of fat consumed TEF accounts for 2% energy use, Carbohydrate is 5% and Protein is a country mile ahead with 25%! that's 5 x the amount that Carbohydrates use!

2)Next is food regulation, most people will eat 3 times a day, these meal will normally be rather large in the hope to keep the person full till right up to the next meal, which in real terms is around 4-6 hours without a meal. This quite frankly is a ridiculous ask of the body, the majority of us will start to feel hungry after around 2-3 hours after the meal, sometimes even quicker depend on your exercise routine. We feel hungry because we are getting a massive drop of insulin in our blood levels from our massive spike in our consumption of our big heavy meal. This means we are going to start getting some cravings now, and these cravings are going to be for the naughty things, quick fixes that satisfy our need so food, often unhealthy and most certainly not going to help us level out our blood sugar. So instead of having 3 big meals, start trying to eat 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day, this keeps our bloody sugar levels lower, and means no more cravings for naughty things that will mean we keep putting on the poundage! Also means our TEF can work more readily to keep that fat burning.

3)Which brings me on to the next point.Stay away from pre packaged meals. These microwave meals have had layers of there natural fibre coating removed in order to be heated up quick. This means your body has even less work to do when it comes to digestion, effecting our TEF and not to mention shovelling tones of artificial preservatives into our body that cant be used as fuel. Stick clean and eat raw, whole foods that packed with vitamins, minerals and natural fibre.

4)Do you drink enough water? not to mention the delivery of vitamins, minerals and essential   fats through our body water also increases our metabolism. Increasing our BMR (basal metabolic rate(the rate which we burn fat at rest) is vital to burning as much fat a possible. By increasing your intake of water by 1.5 litres a day for 1 year you can burn 2kgs alone, now this isn't much but for an easily sustainable act as simple as drink more water  you can lose 20kg of 10 years, that loads!!

5)The final topic I will talk about is stress, stress is the biggest cause of weight gaining and putting on fat. But now we have to go back to the first days of the cave-man. When cave-men were stressed out it would be over the fact they missed a kill and would now have to go without food for possibly days on end, what happens now is incredible! When the cave-man got stressed their bodies releases a hormone called Cortisol, cortisol breaks down muscles tissue in the body and  uses it as a energy source, as its denser than fat, and with a massively depleted fat store, death is imminent, so the cave-man allowed their own body's to eat their muscle tissue, as they had plenty of it in order to give them the energy for the next kill. Muscle is one of the biggest contributing factors of fat burning as the more muscle we have the more fat we burn, just look at top end body builders! So when you are getting angry because someone has cut you up, or your stuck in traffic, or your toast lands butter side down, just think that you can be releasing cortisol! So I recommend finding something you enjoy doing that is relaxing, such as yoga or reading a book or taking a nice long bath, or even some simple meditation and simple breathing to alleviate the stress in the body and keep you burning that fat all day long.


I hope you have found this article interesting, if so check out the rest of my posts.

If you are interested in some personalise Gym/Nutrition plans, guaranteed to get results send me an e-mail at: mgonlinept@gmail.com  and change your future today!

Happy Resting,

Matt