How to Naturally boost Testosterone. Returning back to fitness following a short holiday

Thought it was time for a long overdue fitness blog post. Cant believe the last one was mid July!

I must admit I slacked off a bit during the end of July and early August. We actually had some decent weather here in the UK midlands and I found it more than a little difficult to get motivated in the week before my holiday which started on 15th August. Just a week off down on the Somerset Coast with my lovely 4 year old daughter.

I've started another program. I had seriously thought about re-starting Vince Delmonte's No-Nonsense Muscle Building. However, prior to going away, I did a bit of internet trawling for e-books on natural Testosterone boosting. I came across one "Naturally boost testosterone & build muscle" by Gerald Hall. It made quite interesting reading and I'd recommend it to any guy interested in a T boost the natural way.

Moving on to workout related stuff, I am doing a new program, developed by "The Muscle Nerd" Jeff Anderson, called "Optimum Anabolics". This program promises fat loss AND muscle gain. A bold statement if there ever was one. It breaks down like this...

You use your body's ability to "hyper-adapt" to the stresses you put it under. It is a split body workout routine spread out over a maximum of 5 days. You build your workout volume over a 3 week period to the point whereby you are on the verge of overtraining. At the start of week 4, and for the 2 subsequent weeks, you reduce your volume to 3 sets per exercise so your body "hyper-adapts" to the stress and load you subjected it to in the previous 3 weeks. This works on the theory that your body will be tricked into thinking it needs to build muscle to adapt to the continuing stress.

By then, the body will again get used to the reduced workload, so it is again time to start progressively overloading your body again for weeks 7 to 9. This time, there is a different twist. I don't want to spoil it for you, but even this bit amazes me that I really must try it. Weeks 10 to 12 are another "hyper-adaptive" reduced load cycle, and so the cycles continue.

It seems that Jeff Anderson has given this program some serious thought, and as he is a respected fitness writer, I am quite happily giving this program the attention it deserves. I'm 1 and a 1/2 weeks into this program now, and must admit, following a high volume routine is very challenging. Consider the time in the run up to Xmas a thourough trial of the program.

I started the program at 175lb and 18% body fat (based on his bonus e-book on calculating your body fat) on Sun 23/8/09. I weighed myself yesterday and there was a 1lb loss due to water, but its far too early to be seeing significant results. I will see do my measurements at the end of each loading and hyper-adaptive cycle as I think that will probably be the best way of assessing the results.

Incidentally, I have a FREE e-book written by Jeff, on how you can naturally boost testosterone. Simply click HERE to download it.

I will keep you posted on the progress of my latest workout.

Neil

All quiet on the blog post front!

Its been a while since I posted a blog on here. I now have a "day job" and as an off-peak gym member, the only way I have been able to get to the gym during the working week has been to get my lazy ass out of bed and to the gym for opening time at 6:30am!!!

As you know I started the TT transformation contest blog and then sort of got bored with TT and wanted a different sort of challenge.

Well, I decided to give Vince Delmonte's No Nonsense Mucle Building a shot. However, following the TT mass building program that I did for 3 weeks, and a couple of weeks rest, I have found that Vince's workouts are just far too time consuming for me to do. They were taking me over an hour in the gym as they are 5 supersets of 3X15 reps for 2 workouts and 6 supersets for the other. Plus, I was finding it inconvenient to fit in some cardio to minimize the fat gain. I have also "ballooned" in the belly (although I still have a bit of the 6 pack that was starting to develop before I started bulking), so I have decided that I am going back to TT for fat loss again.

I have no doubt that "No Nonsense" is a great program as I have found the workouts really challenging. The members website is fantastic too with forums, workout downloads, etc. I have an incling that I will go back to complete this, probably during the winter when it will seem more sensible to "eat more", but at the moment, I am pressed for time now that I am working, and only have time to spare for long workouts at the weekend, which is really the time I want to spend having fun at the gym as I used to. I cannot give the time that this program requires at the moment, and I would not wish to do things half heartedly!

So back to Turbulence Training then! I must admit it was great to be doing the fat loss workouts. I am going "Old School" and doing the 2K4 workout which alternates between an A & B workout so it is less complex than the ones I had done before. I am also enjoying being able to do interval training. I started TT again on Tuesday and will go in again tomorrow morning , Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, so as to get back in to the Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday routine.

I went in and did some more cardio this morning. Steady state on the cross trainer for 15 minutes, and then a big challenge, 6 sets 20 second intervals at level 19 (out of 25) with 40 seconds rests in between. That was tough, I could just about handle those 20s intervals, and I was gasping for breath still by the time my cool down has completed! Given that I have been on the cross trainer twice this week already, I think tomorrow I will do some dumbell swings. They are a different take on intervals and quite a different sort of challenge. I have done these before as can be noted from the transformation contest blog.

My left ankle seems to be playing up again so I have bought an ankle support which will be needed as I see tomorrows workout has loads of lunges and bulgarian split squats (which I think is what agravates it!!!)

Anyway I am going to close down for tonight as I will aim to get to bed shortly so as to get up at silly o'clock. Night folks.

Neil

Some simple nutrition tips, plus Neil's special chilli con carne!

I have been thinking of posting some recipes for a bit and I thought I would do a quick post with a sort of sample menu for a normal (non-fasting, or non-cheat) day.

When you are eating for either the purpose of buring fat or increasing calories to build muscle, the basic principles still apply. Eat whole food (in otherwords UNPROCESSED), and avoid at ALL COSTS artificially hydrogenated (trans) fats, drinks such as fizzy pop, sugared tea/coffee, etc. I'm not going to get involved in the stupid argument about artificial sweeteners. For me that is what the filtering system in my body is for.

I find it is worth spending a little time in the kitchen preparing your food, even if you find it a bit of a chore at times, and there is nothing better than knowing that you have cooked a nice healthy meal, untampered by those who can interfere with your healthy lifestyle and sabotage your goals.

One thing I love is spicy food. The more chilli, cumin, coriander, etc the better!!! I especially love Indian food, but the only problem is that Indian restuarant food is usually cooked with large amounts of ghee (more saturated and possibly trans-fats) so it spoils the treat.

I made a nice chilli con carne and home made guacamole yesterday. I used lean minced beef from a local (national chain) hypermarket, half an onion, 3 cloves garlic, half of each of a red & green peper, whole cumin, whole coriander, chilli powder, 2 tins of kidney beans and a tin of tomatoes, plus a little salt to season the whole thing.

I don't use large (or even small) quantities oil to fry things these days, and I NEVER EVER use solid fats for frying either, (although I do use sprays for things like omeletes), so the beef is dry fried. of course the fat and water escapes during the frying which you use to cook the onion, garlic and peppers.

The whole thing makes use of those cheap, store cupboard ingredients, and makes an economic meal, especially if you have a large family.

Anyway I will give you a little sample. I tend to workout as soon as possible in the morning. I am usually in the gym for 7:30/8:00am.

So here goes the sample for today

Breakfast: Plain low fat yogurt with berries (fresh blueberries and raspberries and dried goji-berries) with 2 desert spoonfuls of oats and 2 of muesli. Aprox 350 kcals

Post Workout: Protein shake. (In this instance I am using 1/2 measure of Sci-MX strawberry lean-gro as a whole measure is just too much for me) 175 cals

Lunch: Home made chilli (recipe above) and guacamole + small banana + 6 dried apricots 600 cals

Afternoon snack: Muller light toffee + dozen almonds + 1 measure strawberry Maximuscle Promax shake 300 cals

Tea/Supper: 2 portions of salmon with al dente brocolli, sliced runner beans and raw cauliflower. 400 cals

Bedtime drink: Chocolate promax shake in 200ml skimmed milk. 200 cals

I think this is a great daily menu for fat loss (approx 2025 cals) for someone of my weight and activity level. For maintenance or muscle gain, feel free to increase the calories by adding healthy carbs such as brown rice or pasta and jacket potatoes.

Please post your comments on any recipe ideas you might have.

Neil

Too much flesh!!!!

Thought I'd do the post on here that I didn't get round to doing yesterday.

My weigh in results (see the transformation blog) showed no change yesterday so I did a bit of guilty cardio in the form of the body attack class at 9:30am. I wasn't the only bloke in there. I wasn't quite with it yesterday morning due to feeling guilty for not losing any fat, but went about the routine as hard as usual.

The only thing was one of the women who was standing in front of me had a backless fitness bra top and one of her mates, well, she looked like she was cold despite the fact that the air conditioning in the studio broke down ages ago and is still to be repaired!!!!! Please...I know us blokes get accused of posing in front of the mirrors and being all "LOOK AT ME!!!" when we're doing our weights. But do us a favour, and wear sensible but comfy clothing in the place. No wonder us blokes get accused of being pervs for even being in the same studio as you ladies!!! Just too much flesh for that time of morning, save it for bedtime for your husband please!!!

On a more exercise focused topic, I did the superset workout (as per my blog from the 9th) again first thing this morning. I got to use the big barbell for my deadlifts AT LAST! Again I did the routine as a tri-set and a quad-set. I think the barbell is half olympic weight which I understand to be 14kg and I added plates totalling 47.5kg. I used the snatch grip to change things up a little. I really enjoyed doing the deadlifts and was pleased to up the intensity at last. I am sure I can increase the weight, but I will do this gradually so I can assess where my failure point is. The burpees set and the end of the second circuit is a killer and makes you gasp for air after you've done it.

I was due for a massage today at 5:30pm so before that I went for a swim. I've been toying with the idea of using swimming for some interval training following a tip in the free-ebook report "Training And Nutrition Insider Secrets For A Lean Body" (click here to get a FREE copy) from Mike Geary, author of "The Truth About Six Pack Abs" and a blog posting from Joel Marion, author "Cheat Your Way Thin". So thats what I did. Our gym pool length is 20m so heres the workout.

10 lengths medium paced freestyle (200m) immediately followed by 6 sets of
2 lengths freestyle sprint with 3 lengths slow breastroke recovery (6X100m)

I did enjoy this workout, and given that I haven't done an intense swim for a long while (I used to be able to swim 1km in about 17 minutes at my best and that isnt that long ago!!!) I was quite pleased with the intensity of my sprints. Lets hope that it burns some fat.

Anyway feel free to download the FREE PDF "Training And Nutrition Insider Secrets For A Lean Body" by Mike Geary, by clicking this link. You could even consider buying his "Truth About Six Pack Abs" program by following the links in the PDF!

Enjoy your training and keep your food sensible. Back To Turbulence Training again tomorrow!

Neil

Making progress

Just a quick post on here as I have done a post on the transformation blog.

I'm really pleased as I burnt off 2lb fat this week, so it just shows that following the turbulence training program and doing 2 24 hour fasts per week will help you burn off your belly. I'm now really excited about the remaining 11 weeks, and doing my best not to be distracted by wine and beer.

For me the Eat Stop Eat book has made a difference to my eating pattern. I would never have considered fasting as legit a way to control calories, but it does go to show that it does make a difference.

For anyone considering fasting as a method of calorie control, I would certainly recommend that you do your research and get a copy of Eat Stop Eat before you take the plunge, as the author, Brad Pilon, addresses the principle concerns of most people, such as "Will I lose muscle?", "Won't I go into starvation mode?", etc, etc.

For me, it does seem to be a complementary part of my fat loss program, and is helping me control calories that I may have consumed without even realising.

Anyway I will close up this little blog and post more later this week.

Keep working hard and smart

Neil

What I've been up to this week.

Well we all know I've entered the 5th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest (TTTC). I've been working on that and the comments about that are on my other blog www.neilsturbulencetrainingtransformation.com (tinyurl.com/ngtttc). Please bookmark it, follow it and give me your support as it really will be very much appreciated.

I've not been bad but I've not been brilliant with the booze this week, as I had a couple of bottles of wine over the week, and a beer and bottle of wine tonight. About what I can handle I would say. I didnt find yesterday's TT very intense because it contained exercises I havent done so I had to work them fairly conservatively. That said, I am not doing my TT interval training on the eliptical now (they will be on the treadmill from now on). That will be a challenge because I am a really heavy-footed runner, and whenever I run, for some reason my rhomboids just ache for ages.

So as for my drink tonight which is my treat, I feel I have thoroughly deserved it.

I have done 2 24 hour fasts this week following the "Eat Stop Eat" principles. I've managed not to overeat as well. I'm hoping for some progress this week.

Leaving my TT workouts aside, on my TT rest days I did a cardio/abs from skinny vinny's site, rested on Thursday and was in for the body attack class starting at 5pm. Usually I do circuit training (starting at 4) but it is losing its appeal as now that my fitness has improved I find it is no longer intense enough.

I had been thinking about designing my own workout. I've seen a few of skinny vinny's vids on you tube and he is another documented trainer worthy of trust. I therefore felt that I could design my own workout based on some of his own advice so this is what I did to day:

UPPER BODY

HORIZONTAL PLANE

A BB Chest Press 3X8 @ 40kg
B BB RDL/Bent Over Row Combo 3X8 @ 40kg

VERITCAL PLANE

A BB Shoulder press 3X8 @30kg
B Pull ups 3Xmax (assisted bw - 19kg)

LEGS

A BB Deadlift 3X8 @40kg
B BB Squats 3X8 @40kg
C Burpees 3X12

CLEAN & PRESS

A BB C&P 3X6 @40kg

I then did an abs circuit of

A Plank On Ball 3X90s
B Hanging Knee raises 3X15
C Cable woodchop 3X12 (13.75kg)
D Cable crunch on ball 3X15 (11.25kg)

and then interval training on the cross trainer (Easy = level 13/2 Hard=level 17/25). 3min warm up, 5X 30s hard/30s easy, then 30s hard/90s cool down.

There was only one other person workin out when I had finished. thats dedication.

It took me about an hour and 20 mins to complete the workout, and I was dripping particularly with the resistance training. It wasnt the greatest amount of weight but the supersets were very intense and I found it hard with my grip which is one thing that is on my key improvement goals.

Since doing the TT workouts I've definitely improved in terms of my strength and i can see how much leaner my muscle tone is. my veins are developing on my biceps despite the fact i never do any isolation exercises from my own program or choice.

A funny thing I can relate to is those people who rest too much and dont work hard enough. Today there was a lad who must be in his late teens/early twenties. he hogged the smith machine and rested pretty much most of the time i was doing my supersets. what a waste. I could have done a quick yoga routine between that guy's sets

I may have not done the weight level I wanted but I still had a great workout, that will be more intense and better the next time I do it. I hope I am not too stiff tomorrow.

Enjoy your weekend.

Neil

Trying something different.

As we all know, Turbulence Training is my primary workout program, with my current routine 2k8 being a day on day off, day on day off, day on 2 days off. So what to do in my off days like today?

Well, as an affiliate of, and newsletter subscriber to, Vince Del Monte, I thought I'd give one of his mini programs a whirl. It's imaginitively titled "The 16 week Razor Sharp Abdominal Cardio Workouts".

It goes like this. He gives 6 abs circuits, and 11 cardio routines. I chose workout 1 which was double leg raises (on a ball), and a cable cruch on a ball 3-4 sets, both to failure. I had a real problem with doing the double leg raises on the ball so i moved onto a bench. I was fine with the cable crunch but it took a little bit of experimenting to find the right level of weight, which was 11kg. The only thing is that you do those circuits between 2 rounds of 20 minutes minimum on the treadmill. And they aren't steady state either. My workout was a ladder of 1 minute easy followed by one minute hard, 1 minute easy 2 minutes hard, 1 min easy 3 hard and repeat 2 to 3 times. Well I hate the treadmill and I was going pretty well given my lack of experience on it so rather than repeat I just reversed the process so did 2/1 then 1/1.

As you can conclude, I didn't particularly enjoy the treadmill although the abs work was nice as it was different to what I would normally do, which is usually a circuit of things like planks on ball, side planks, ball jacknifes, etc. That said I think if I do continue with some ab work I will start incorporating cable crunches into my circuits.

I have been thinking about starting my swimming back up, as its been a long long while since I did it seriously, so I've scheduled some swimming in on Thursday.

Another thing I have decided to do for a short period is to drop the circuit training class on Saturday afternoon. Two reasons for this and they are both important to me. 1 I can spend a little bit more time Lydia before I take her back to her mum's, and 2 I can stay at the gym a bit longer after the body attack class, and perhaps do some abs or a little bit of steady state to build up my endurance. And, it will mean I go back home later, and start my Saturday treat (nice bottle of wine) a lot later so that I'm not tempted to over-consume.

That moves me on to the nutritional side of things. I'm waiting to hear about Joel Marion's "Cheat Yourself Thin" affiliate program. As I mentioned, I am experimenting with intermittent fasting, having finished my second fast at lunchtime this afternoon. Virtually every exercise/nutrition system is totally against it (apart from TT) for some reason. So lets see how things pan out.

Final thought for tonight. The TT Transformation contest. I weighed myself yesterday 78.5kg 23.8% BF. I have now started a separate blog specifically for that. Please take a look. I did get my composition done at the gym, which said 19.8% BF. I just dont know. Anyway, I will be using my scales for the sake of consistency.

Will now close it at that, as it looks like Arsenal are going to lose to Man U in the Champions League Semi Final :-(. My best mate will be gloating. So will get an early night and some rest ready for tomorrow's TT workout and body attack.

Neil