Transform your Body and Get RIPPED, How to get RIPPED

My good friend Vince Del Monte is getting married in 2 months. In honor of this special occasion, I'd
like to tell you about the workout program and diet that Vince
and his fiancée Flavia are using to get into amazing shape for
their wedding.

I've known Vince for a few years now and got to meet Flavia
recently and they are one of those "power-couples" who always
look for opportunities to help others. They are truly blessed and they do appreciate it so they are always looking for a way to give back. They are a blast to hang out with too.

If you're planning on getting a beach-ready body for summer,
you can use their super simple and fast workout and diet advice
to be ready for any outfit you want to wear this summer. This is
for BOTH men and women. For the ladies, Flavia will help you sculpt your arms
and shoulders, get a flat stomach and slim down your thighs. For the guys,
Vince will help the guys fill out your upper body and get a
shredded six-pack.

Now the giving back part. 50% of each order will be donated by Flavia and Vince to Food Banks Canada who's mission is to reduce hunger in Canada(this is where Vince lives) by enabling an effective food bank community that addresses the short term need for food and longer term solutions.

a Quote from Vince "We figure, not everyone in the world will be able to enjoy the kind of feast we'll be having on our wedding day so we thought this would be a cool way for all of us to help out:

1.Flavia and I look amazing for each other on our honeymoon!
2.You get a summer-worthy body.
3.We all help out some people towards the hunger problem in Canada."

Watch a short video of Vince and Flavia below (You'll LOVE the
music):

Transform your body in 6 weeks

Another New Year and probably another round of resolutions. I find it funny that many people need to wait for the new year to start making changes they have been thinking about for months. Eiher way it's that time of year and a great time to start getting into shape. In many parts of the world it is cold and miserable out so hitting the gym should be pretty easy since there is a lot less going on.

So what do you want to look like when it comes time to peel off some of the layers once the warm weather comes back? If you have a mental picture of what you want to look like then the next thing you need is a plan. For most that picture would be more muscular, leaner and just all around healthier. The best and fastest way by far to achieve these goals is through regular weight training. For guys especially you would love to have people telling you how much bigger and ripped you look in the coming summer. Right now your body is like a car in the shop, not too many people will see it as you go through the different phases of restoring it to mint condition but when it comes time to unveil it you want people to be in aw and amazed at the transformation.

What you need now is a solid plan of action. Again like the car example you can't half a$$ it . It's time to take control of how you will look in 2010 and get bigger, more ripped, stronger and healthier. Get the ladies and/or men looking at you. Lets face it, nothing will attract the opposite sex more then a hot toned buff body. You have plenty of time to start the transformation all you need to do is take some action.

Make 2010 your year, Build Muscle And Get Ripped now.

I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about intensity. The word intense gets used too much I think for things that aren't intense. It's in the kid's slang, "that's intense," and they apply it to things to indicate something is pretty cool in their opinion. That's OK, but it downgrades the real meaning of the word intense.

Webster's dictionary defines intense as taking something to an extreme degree. That is what I am talking about! You want to have an intense workout every time. Taking that to a deeper level; you want to do every session, every set, and every rep with intensity.

This is one of the keys to getting a transformation in the quickest, most efficient way possible.

An example of having this RIPPED Intensity is thinking about your grip on the weight. Everyone has to grip the weight, no kidding, but how you do it is what I am talking about. Not your actual grip or your hand position; I am talking about holding the weight like someone is trying to tear it out of your hand. Hold on to it like you are hanging on a tree branch over the Grand Canyon. Do you get the picture? This is only one aspect of intensity, and the best way to get results is having these sorts of things in your head all the time you are at the gym. It is like you are turning on a switch as you are heading for the gym and then amping up the energy at you hit the floor and get into your routine.

Your intensity in all things is what can take you to the next level with your lifting and muscle development. Have you ever gotten stuck at a plateau? All of us have. You are benching X amount of weight and maybe you have a mental block about putting on that next plate. Many times this is a 'benchmark' weight level, if you can excuse the pun. It was many years that the four minute mile stood as a record. Runners had it in their heads that it couldn't be broken, but as soon as it was broken, it was like the dam broke, and a few people went sub-four quickly after Roger Bannister did it.

The trick to breaking these barriers is intensity. Maybe you have a block about benching 200 pounds, or 300. Whatever level you are at, you know what I am talking about. Ratchet up your intensity and you will be surprised at what you can accomplish. Remember, what you believe you can achieve.

There are many very good reasons to build the muscle in your body. First is the obvious health benefits. Muscle is stronger and sturdier then fat and a toned body has less of a chance for injury. Not just injury during training either ,but everyday activity injury. You go to lift something and slip a disc or fall down and hurt yourself. Muscle will help prevent these injuries from becoming common place. If you are stronger you can lift more and not get hurt. If your muscles are tight there is less room for things to shift, such as disks, in your body. Strong, Flexible muscles are less prone to pulls and tears as well.

Another reason is weight loss. Although Muscle is heavier then fat it also help burn fat. More muscle eats more energy and so you will store less fat as your body will be using more of your fat as energy

The most popular reason is looks. Bottom line is most people like the look of a muscular body over a fat one. Especially in men, big muscles means more attention. You do not have to be freakishly big ,but a well muscled body draws attention. Women with muscle is also becoming more popular. Again we are not talking about getting huge or as many women say" looking manly" ,but muscle will enhance your figure. a well shaped back and shoulders also helps to hide a bit of stomach while you are working on losing those extra pounds.
The benefits are many. Always consult your Dr. before starting a new program.

One of the biggest myths when it comes to building muscle is that you can't do any cardio at all. This is far from the truth. Now if you are concentrating on getting big more then cutting up it's really going to be more about diet then cardio. Truth is no mater what your fitness goals, if you are working hard it is all about diet. So is cardio bad when bulking up? Not really, last thing you want to have is a lot of big muscles covered by even more fat. All you will do is look big and fat, not healthy and not pretty.

The key with your cardio is going to be timing and intensity. Timing basically means you really should not do your cardio right before your weight training. You will exhaust your body's energy stores which will give you a less effective weight training session. You are much better off doing cardio after weights as you will burn off more of your fat stores. Another option is to separate your cardio sessions from your weight training sessions all together. I personally like to do weight training in the afternoon and cardio at night.

By doing weights in the afternoon( say during lunch) you have a couple of meals in you and more energy to use. You are also more awake and alert. There are even studies that have shown you release more hormones when training mid day as opposed to morning or evening.

By doing your cardio well after you have now already fed your muscles to start the growing process. If you are eating properly your carbs should be less as the day goes on so you will also tap into those fat stores better.

When doing cardio you want to concentrate more on intensity then time. Longer cardio sessions will put your body in a catabolic stage and begin to eat away muscle. The idea here is to burn calories without burning muscle so shorter more intense cardio session are what you will need. Instead of adding time to your cardio sessions to burn more fat try going harder or faster. Now instead of being big and fat you can be big and ripped.

Your eating habits can be your worst enemy when it comes to gaining muscle without adding extra fat. One of the biggest problems many people, including elite athletes, have is the meal plans. What to eat and when to eat it can really be confusing. The old school approach to basically eating everything while trying to build muscle will work to a point but with hat new muscle will also be a lot of extra baggage that you do not want. Starting off way to strict can also cause failure because it will be too hard to stick with it for most people. Like anything changing your eating habits needs to be a gradual thing that improves upon what you did last. These habits will also change with your goals. As your goals change so must your eating habits.

For most people, including myself, the training is the easy part. I personally have no problem working all out to get the most from my body physically. It's what I do after that always throws a wrench in the works. You try to eat what is considered healthy but the key is the combinations of foods. Another thing to remember is just because the company that makes it says its healthy, doesn't mean it is. There is a fine line what can be considered good for you and all the companies making these miracle foods know just what they can and can't say. I remember when I ate my first protein bar. It was a rough go and you needed to drink a lot of water just to get it down. Thing is I really think that bar was much better for you then the now, improved flavored bars. Protein bars today taste like candy. Problem is they also effect your body like candy as well because they are filled with sugar.

What you want to try to do is eat high protein meals from whole foods more then anything else. Your size and goals will effect how big your meals should be and your timing. One thing I found that was really cool was Done For You Meals. You can download a free sample meal plan right now tat will really open your eyes as to how you should be eating.

Just like in anything you do in life half the battle to building muscle is mental. Not just thinking I want to build muscle but also mentally preparing to do the work necessary. Gaining muscle is very hard work and if your head is not in the game your going to lose the battle quickly.

Another mental aspect that is very important is having a very specific goal in mind. You need a mental picture of exactly what you want to look like. As you reach certain points in your training you may change these goals a little but you need a starting point. Picture what you want and then work towards it.

You have to be mentally strong in the face of adversity. There will be a lot of people that will try to sabotage your training. Not on purpose but just because they are not in to the training lifestyle. They may try to get you to break your diet or skip a workout to do something else or just give you a bunch of crap because you are working so hard towards your goals. Most of this is in fun but it can greatly effect the outcome of your training.

You need the mental strength to change what you are already doing. Bottom line is if what you are doing now is not helping you build muscle then it is not going to work later. You have to be willing to accept change and learn what you will need to make your body gain muscle.

You have to mentally prepare yourself before each workout.Find something that gets you going, music, a TV show or anything else that inspires you. You have to go in to every workout 110% ready to give it your all or you will just be going through the motions and accomplishing nothing.

These are just a few aspects of the mental game involved in building muscle and getting ripped. So get your head in the game and watch how much more successful your training sessions become.