I’m going to be blunt and honest with you here. If you want to burn fat, discard several pounds, and get into better shape and health, I’ve got some news for you. Looking for a nutrition and workout program that you can follow for life will not do you any good at all. In fact, I believe that the traditional lifestyle approach to fat loss is a bunch of crap. I’ll share my Non-Traditional Lifestyle Approach to fat loss in a moment, but first, here’s why I believe lifestyle plans suck…

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I survived the 28 day Muscle Explosion Challenge. I’m going to request that Nick Nilsson, the creator of the program, get some shirts made up with that slogan on them. It’s the least that he can do after what he put me through in the past 28 days. But it’s all been worth it. I gained 6 1/2 pounds of muscle in only 28 days. I never thought those words would be uttered out my ‘hard-gainer‘ mouth.

Following the Muscle Explosion has been one of the best things that I’ve ever done for myself. It forced me to step outside of my comfort zone. It forced me to try exercises and variations of exercises that I would have never imagined trying. I has totally transformed my physique, and I’m loving the comments that I’m getting from Angie and my friends in the gym. But most of all it’s transformed my mind.

I think that it has something to do with the challenge itself. I felt like a different person when I entered the gym. I had laser focus. I pushed myself harder than I’ve ever pushed myself in the past. I really wanted to put the Muscle Explosion program to the test.

The biggest thing that the Muscle Explosion program did for me was get me excited about putting on even more muscle. I’ve basically mapped out the next 6 months and Muscle Explosion is a big part of those 6 months. That in itself has a lot to say for the program. If it didn’t work for me I certainly wouldn’t be going back on it again. I’ll share my long term plan with you later this week.

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Last week I shared an article from my friend and colleague Tom Venuto about high intensity interval training versus steady state training. When Tom first shared that article with his readers it produced more emails, blog comments and web hits than any newsletter so far this year. Obviously, there is a lot of interest in cardio training and how to do it right. Sadly, most people are still doing 2 things terribly wrong and it’s killing their results…

2 Cardio Mistakes You’re Probably STILL Making

By Tom Venuto
www.BurnOffTheFat.com
www.Burn-The-Fat-InnerCircle.com

As I thought about reviewing the newest scientific study from Australia this week, or explaining the post workout “afterburn effect” (EPOC) that comes from intense forms of cardio, it dawned on me to backtrack, and ask…

“WHY are people still confused about fat burning cardio in the first place when the solution is drop dead simple, common sense and right in front of our noses?”

I thought to myself,

“if I could help remove the SOURCE of the confusion, then regardless of which cardio program you choose, every decision and action that emerges from your new understanding would be more productive right?”

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In a recent blog post “Essential Fatty Acids To Burn Fat“, Jayson Hunter and I discussed the fat burning and fat blocking properties of Krill oil. We also mentioned that there are almost unlimited health benefits of consuming a Krill oil supplement. Two major health benefits of Krill oil are preventing heart attacks and reducing arthritis.

When it comes to reducing the risk of heart attacks the focus of our medical society is to prescribe you a drug to reduce your cholesterol levels. In my opinion these drugs are over prescribed, but that’s for another debate. The fact is that only a very small percentage of heart attacks are a result of high cholesterol.

I still recommend that you get your cholesterol checked, but at the same time you should have your doctor test your C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. This is a major indicator if you are at risk of a heart attack. If your heart is under stress you will have more CRP released into your blood stream and raise it’s levels.

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When it comes to the HIIT vs Long Duration Cardio debate, the HIIT extremists as I call them, are bombarding you with the words, ‘stop doing long boring cardio‘ and ‘long duration cardio will hurt you‘. Once again, I have to question if they have your best interests at heart. You never hear them mention that HIIT training can be harmful to people with certain body types. You also very rarely hear about the health benefits of long duration cardio. I’m going to share just one of the stories from one of my readers, as well as a very informative 14 minute interview with Kevin Gianni below. I encourage you to read on.

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When people think of fat loss supplements they traditionally think about supplements like caffeine, ephedrine, Hoodia, and all that other crap that can cause serious side effects and mess with your body. What they don’t realize is that there is a healthier and more natural supplement, which is very effective at burning fat and preventing fat from being stored and that is Krill oil and other healthy omega fatty acid supplements.

Recently I interviewed Jayson Hunter, the head of research and development for a very reputable supplement company called Prograde Nutrition. Jayson is also the creator of the Carb Rotation Diet. In this 23 minute interview, Jayson explains how consuming healthy fats like Krill oil can actually prevent you from storing fat and help you burn fat.

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There is no doubt that lack of time plays a critical role in whether or not you will ‘fit in‘ your workout or not. In today’s society most of us seem to be running around with our heads cut off. Busy is often an understatement. And once again, many fat loss marketers will play off of this and hit on all those emotions that come with having a busy lifestyle. How can anyone possibly have time to fit in a 30 minute jog into their day?

In my humble opinion, in an effort to sell their programs they are reaffirming your self limiting belief that you have no time to workout. You certainly won’t get that from me. Angie and I know what it takes to get 6 pack abs and it’s not just a few minutes a day three times per week. Even these other fat loss experts know that, they just hide it in their ‘fine print’.

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Today marks the beginning of the final week of the Muscle Explosion Challenge. After 21 days on the program I’ve added 4 1/2 pounds of muscle and 1 pound of fat to my body. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a difficult time adding 4 pounds of muscle in 3 months let alone 21 days. This is a bit ridiculous. I can’t wait to see the final measurements at the end of the 28 days to maximum mass.

The workouts this week are the same as last week and I’m loving them. The stretch-pause style of training has been very effective for me. I love the pump that it gives me, and I love that it has helped relieve the pain in my left shoulder.

On Saturday I had an hour deep tissue massage which was awesome. I can take the pressure on my upper body, but I usually have to ask the therapist to ease up on my legs because they are so frickin tight. But this massage was different. The therapist noticed right away. He said, “Wow, your calves and quads are not as tight as they usually are, and you’re not wincing in pain.”

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Day 17 of the Muscle Explosion Challenge is a day of rest which was much needed. This gave me the opportunity to take a few measurements. After 17 days I have gained 2 1/2 inches on my chest, 1/2 an inch on my shoulders, and 1/4 inch on each arm. I’m surprised that I haven’t gained any size on my legs after all the deadlifting last week, but maybe they still need to recover from all the punishment and abuse that I put them through.

It just goes to show that the mirror can be a really good indicator of the progress that you are making. It has been obvious to me during the past 5 days that my chest has been filling out quite noticeably. This excites me more than you can imagine because developing my chest muscles has been a major challenge for me over the years, especially since injuring my shoulder over 10 years ago.

The amazing thing is that

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My legs are screaming at me after and intense day of training with the Muscle Explosion program. My legs just about gave out on me during the last set of leg presses and sissy squats. This was a brutal combo for this style of training. When I was doing the sissy squats my legs were shaking out of control while holding the stretch position. It was crazy insane and amusing all at once

Nick proved how mean he can be by following up this pair of exercises with a leg curl and stiff leg deadlift combo. Not nice Nick! Not nice at all. I went from thinking my quads were going to seize up to thinking that my hamstrings were going to cramp up and I wouldn’t be able to stretch them back out.

In addition to legs, I also trained

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