Gain Muscle Mass and Lose Body Fat

After waltzing through life always in shape and looking great, I let life little troubles get the best of me, and allowed my self to get fat and lazy. I hated the reflection in the mirror, and was ready to make whatever changes were necessary in order to regain control of my fleeing life. It was then that I ran into Jon Benson training system, after I blasted through his book, and dashed to Walmart to get a stopwatch; I have watched my waist shrink, and my arms and chest regain their former mass, by training for no longer than 7 minutes at the time.

Jon Benson is the author of four best-selling fitness and nutrition books:  Fit Over 40, Simply Eat, The Every Other Day Diet and 7 Minute Muscle, as well as the year-long M-Power Audio Series.

7 Minute Muscle System

7 Minute Muscle is primarily a density-based training system. It demands varying rep ranges done within specific time periods. The protocol factors six of the primary variables of hypertrophy, or muscle growth: Intensity, Load, Volume, Density, Time and Force. (Time includes rest intervals as well as the time required to perform a given task.)

A layman's take on one of the basic laws of physics states that time and energy are interrelated. Doing the same amount of work in less time demands more energy, which translates into more power. While power is a factor in training, our interest is focused on forcing muscle growth and adaptation. This is also an element of time and energy. More energy expended in less time = more power.

If you break down the typical 3-4 set bench press routine, with reps starting at 12 and ending in the 4-6 range, with longer rest intervals between heavier sets, you'll find that the aggregate weight lifted is "less" than a protocol like 7 Minute Muscle, which uses 'less' weight (easier on the joints) but demands more work in less time. In other words, X amount of repetitions done with Y amount of weight in just 5 minutes (phase 1 of our two-phase protocol) ends up being greater than your typical 3-4 set protocol, despite the fact that more weight is used in the latter.

Other routines, of course, utilize this factor of density. Vince Gironda's infamous 8 sets of 8, EDT and so-forth. 7 Minute Muscle goes a bit further by varying rest, load factors and repetition range. Reps will vary from as low as one rep to as much as ten, and all of this is at the trainee's discretion. They have only one objective: Increase the aggregate repetition count from one training session to the next. Since time is limited (broken down into two phases: A Power Phase of no more than 5 repetitions and a Mass Phase of no more than 10 repetitions) the trainee is given a system that more accurately measure the seventh and most crucial factor of hypertrophy: Progression.

More work in less time. Variable repetition ranges. Variable rest intervals. And all in seven minutes (for beginners.) Intermediate and advanced-level trainees are given 14 and 21-minute protocols if they wish to implement them. I myself rarely go beyond 14 minutes, as that is all that's required to stimulate muscle growth.

Jon Benson's new system
"7 Minute Muscle" is perfect for someone who is wanting to not spend their lives in the kitchen or in the gym. This is REQUIRED READING if you really want to see how great you can look in the least amount of time possible. Sure, you work hard. There's no pills or gadgets involved. But it's worth every minute... all 7 of them!

--- read more here

Most articles written on the subject increasing body mass are directed to people that have difficulty putting on body weight (ectomorph).

Very few, if any are written for people that have an overweight problem (endomorph), like my son Mark and I. What you are going to read here is what Mark and I have done to transform him from a overweight 260 lbs teenager into a muscular 180 lbs young man. With in a period of less than six months, Mark was able to lose weight and gain muscle without having to spend every waking hour at the gym.

It is also to Jon Benson's 7 Minute Muscle system that we owe Mark's success, to lose weight and gain muscle in such a short period of time. Mark has been able to accomplish in months what took me years in my youth.

The key to losing weight and gaining muscle is to stimulate the release of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) and Growth Hormone in your body, by combining the right diet with the appropriate amount of exercise. For years it was believed that only the liver released IGF-I when stimulated by growth hormone. Recently it was discovered that IGF-I is also released by fast twitching muscle fibers when correctly stimulated. The blood levels of IGF-I are used to estimate the levels of GH on the body.

Some of the functions of IGF-I are:

Preventing Muscle Protein Breakdown
Increasing Protein Synthesis
Recruiting muscle "satellite cells" to add size to the existing muscle fibers.

As you can see IGF-I is very important in the stimulation of muscle growth.

Ours goal was to insure the maximum release of IGF-I in order to produce maximum muscle gains which in turn would stimulate the use of body fat as fuel.

The main points of our approach:

An IGF-I inducing diet with a focused on high protein, and low carbohydrates to increase IGF-I levels.
Daily walking regimen to increase Fat burning power, promote recuperation and increase Growth hormone (GH) levels.
Short duration workouts to avoid overtraining, and stimulate the maximum amount of IGF-I levels with in the muscle fibers.

A diet that is going to induce the larger amounts of IGF-I is going to be a diet that is:

1.High in protein. Unlike most diets that recommend a lower percentage of protein, IGF-I release is stimulated by a higher percentage of protein. Approximately 40% of your diet should come from protein.

2.Medium Fats. Your body needs the right kind of fats in order to burn body-fat and build muscle approximately 30% of your diet should come from good fats like avocados, mix nuts, olive oil, olives, peanut butter, and fatty fish (salmon for example)

3.Low carbohydrates. About 30% of your diet is going to come from complex carbohydrates.

Now this is the best part of this diet:

At strategic times of the day you can have your favorite food, even if they are junk food (bread, cookies, pizza, cake...) and they will help you build muscle instead of making you fat. Yes you read that right you can have your cake and eat it too.

Besides the above guidelines, you need to figure out how many calories you are consuming and reduce the total amount by 200 to 300 calories per day, after all you are trying to lose weight and gain muscle, so we need to create a caloric deficiency. To figure how many calories you are eating use the formula below.

Plug the height in centimeters and the weight in kilos into the basic equation below:

9.99 (your weight ÷ 2.2) + 6.25 ( your height * 2.54) - ( your age * 4.92)
Men then add 5; Women subtract 161

The resulting number is the approximate number of calories that your are eating
to maintain your present body weight

It is important that you keep the percentages of protein, fats, carbohydrate. To figure those percentages you should know the ratios of grams to calories from the three groups:

1gram of protein = 4 calories
1gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1gram of fat = 9 calories

Remember only reduce your calories by a maximum of 300 calories per day, any other deficiency must be created by exercise.

(Make sure to check with your doctor before starting any exercise program)

Walking is the best exercise. Not a stroll, no stopping, but a continuous brisk walk which increases your metabolism. 4 mph is your goal.

1. 30 - 45 minutes is the magical number. If you walk for at least thirty minutes you will burn an average of 300 calories. Every time you burn 3500 calories you lose a pound.

2. The best time to exercise to burn body fat is early in the morning, before you have breakfast. The first 20 minutes that you exercise in the morning you burn the reserves of glycogen (stored energy) that are stored in your liver. After those twenty minutes every calorie you burn comes straight out of your stored body fat.

Add the walking regimen to burn extra calories. Walking on an empty stomach is a well kept secret. Do your cardiovascular work early in the morning before breakfast, in order to increase your GH levels naturally without drugs. Higher levels of GH stimulate the human body to lose fat and gain muscle.

Another way to bring your GH levels up is by stimulating the certain muscle fibers to release IGF-I.

There are two types of muscle fibers in your body.

Slow twitching muscle fibers
Fast twitching muscle fibers

Slow twitching fibers are the muscle fibers that marathon runners, and cyclists rely on to complete their races.

Fast twitch fibers use anaerobic metabolism to create energy and are the "classic" fast twitch muscle fibers that excel at producing quick, powerful bursts of speed. Short distance runners use mainly this fibers to complete their 100 and 400 meter races.

Now let me ask you a question: who has more muscle mass, a marathon runner or a short distance runner?

Of course, without a question the short distance runner.

So, here is my next question: if you want to build muscle why would you spend hours training at the gym? The longer you train the more slow twitching fibers you recruit and the less muscle you build.

But that is not all, when you over-train, your adrenal glands release another hormone, Cortisol. When Cortisol is released, it stops muscle growth and promotes fat production.

Your body perceives over-exertion done over an extended period of time as a sign of pursuit. It can trigger an ancient hormonal sequence that says, "I'm being chased by a tiger! Horde the fat!"

The body literally shuts down what it considers to be unnecessary activity in favor of self-preservation. And guess what? Burning off those hips and love handles is not a biological necessity.

You have to learn when to hit it hard AND when to rest and recover.

As you can see, what you need is intense short duration workouts that coax fast twitching muscle fibers to release IGF-I, which in turn stimulates muscle growth and fat loss. All this while making sure not to over-train and over-stress your system which can bring your progress to a halt.