HolyGrailBodyTransformationReview

"How can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?" That's right up there with "How do I get six pack abs" as one of the most frequently asked fitness questions of all time. The problem is, when you ask it, you get all kinds of conflicting answers - even from experts who are supposed to know these things. So what's the deal? Is it really possible to lose fat and build muscle simultaneously?

Short answer: Yes, you can gain muscle and lose fat at the "same time."

Long answer: It's difficult and it's complicated. Allow me to explain%u2026.

First we have the issue of whether you really lose fat and gain muscle at the "same time."

Well, yes, if your definition of the "same time" is say, a month or 12 weeks. But in that case, you're probably not gaining muscle at the "same time" literally speaking, as in, right now this very moment you are reading this, or 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for months in a row.

The best explanation for what's really happening is that you alternate between periods of caloric surplus (anabolism) and caloric deficit (catabolism) and the net result is a gain in muscle and a loss in body fat.

You see, if you stay in a calorie surplus, it's the body's natural tendency for body fat and lean body mass to go up together. And if you stay in a calorie deficit, it's your body's natural tendency for body fat and lean body mass to go down together.

There may be exceptions, but the general rule is that it is very difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time - the mechanisms are mostly antagonistic to one another. When it does happen, it's almost always the result of "unusual conditions" - I call them X factors.

The 4 X-Factors

The first X-factor is "training age" . Ever hear of "newbie gains?" The less trained your body is and the further you are from your genetic potential, the easier it is to gain muscle. The reverse is also true - an advanced bodybuilder with 20 years experience would be thrilled just to gain a few pounds of solid dry muscle in a year!

The second x factor is muscle memory. It's easier to regain muscle you've lost than it is to gain new muscle in the first place (ergo, the fat out of shape semi retired bodybuilder who starts training again and blows up and gets ripped "overnight").

The third X factor is genetics (or somatotype). Ever heard of the "genetic freak?" That's the dude who sprouts muscle like weeds even when he's on the "50-50 diet" (50% McDonald's and 50% pizza)%u2026 and he never gets fat. (That dude chose the right parents!)

The fourth X factor is drugs. It would stun (or sadden) you if you knew how many people take performance and physique-enhancing drugs. I'm not just talking about pro bodybuilders, I'm talking about "Joe six pack" in the gym - not to mention those fitness models you idolize in the magazines. How did they get large muscle gains with concurrent fat loss? Chemicals.

I'm not a gambling man, but I'll place a wager on this any day: I'll bet that in 99% of the cases of large muscle gains with concurrent large fat losses, one or more of these x factors were present.

That's not all! There are actually 5 more X factors related to your body composition and diet status (the X2 factors). But I'll have to talk about those later.

So you're not a beginner, you don't take roids, you're not a genetic freak and you have no muscle memory to take advantage of. Are you S.O.L? Well, I do want you to be realistic about your goals, but%u2026

There IS a way for the average person to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

The Secret: You have to change your "temporal perspective!"

Traditionally nutritionists and fitness pros have only looked at calorie balance in terms of 24 hour periods. At midnight, you could tally up the calories like a shopkeeper closing out his register, and if the balance were positive, you'd say you were in a surplus for the day. If the balance were negative, you'd say you were in a deficit for the day.

But it's entirely possible that you might pass through periods of "within-day" surplus where you were in a highly anabolic state (for example, you eat the biggest, highest carb meal of the day after your workout), and you were in a deficit the rest of the day.

If you did intense weight training, and you timed your nutrient intake appropriately, Isn't it possible that you could gain a small amount of muscle during those anabolic hours, while losing fat the rest of the day? Granted it might only be grams or ounces - but what if you kept that up for a week? A month? Three months?

As you pan out and look at the bigger picture, what if most days of the week you were in a deficit for the entire day, and on some days you were in a surplus? If so, then isn't it possible that over the course of the week, you'd have a small net gain of muscle and loss of body fat a a result of the caloric fluctuation?

These within-day and within-week phases are called microcycles and mesocycles. If you also had a primary goal with a longer term focus of several months, say 12 weeks or 16 weeks, that would be a macrocycle.

What I've just described is nutritional periodization. Some people call it cyclical dieting. it's where you manipulate your calories (primarily by fluctuating carbohydrate intake, hence "carb cycling") in order to intentionally zig zag your way through periods of surplus and deficit and create specific hormonal responses.

The end result: muscle gain and fat loss during the same time period!

I know that someone out there is having a hissy fit because I've only talked about calories: deficits and surpluses. Rightfully so. Calories matter but there's more to it than calories - most importantly, hormones and "nutrient partitioning."

If you're in a calorie deficit you are going to pull energy from your body.The question is: From WHERE? If your hormones are out of whack and you're eating crap, you could lose more muscle than fat in a deficit and gain almost pure fat, not muscle, in a surplus!

But WHAT IF you could manipulate within day energy balance, use nutritional periodization AND control your hormones with food and lifestyle strategies?

AHA! NOW you can see how concurrent muscle gain and fat loss are starting to look possible!
Make no mistake - concurrent muscle gain and fat loss is a difficult goal to achieve. The good news: difficult does not mean impossible. Or as George Santayana said, "The difficult is that which can be done immediately, the impossible, that which takes a little longer."

The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program: How to Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at The Same Time

You can learn more about gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time in Tom Venuto's new e-book called, "The Holy Grail Body Transformation System."

You'll learn all about nutritional periodization, cyclical dieting, hormonal manipulation, within day energy balance, nutrient partitioning, AND the all the X factors, including the 5 "X2-Factors" - which are the keys to gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time.

You'll also get Tom's new "TNB" training system, as seen in Men's Fitness magazine (the complete, expanded version that Men's Fitness didn't have room to print).

To learn more about the Holy Grail Body Transformation Program Click Here

Tom Venuto is the author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, the best-selling fat loss diet ebook AND of course the Holy Grail Body Transformation Program (his new book about how to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time)

Tom Venuto has been involved in virtually every aspect of the fitness and weight loss industry since he started in this business in 1989: personal trainer, nutrition consultant, motivation coach, fitness model, health club manager and best-selling author.

Tom is a freelance writer and he has written more than 400 articles on nutrition, training, fat loss and fitness motivation, and his articles can be found on thousands of websites worldwide including www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com, About.com, The Huffington Post, Bodybuilding.com, Men's Fitness.com, Lee Labrada's Lean Body Coaching Club, Christian Finn's Facts About Fitness.com, Will Brink's Bodybuilding Revealed.com and too many others to list.

Tom has been writing and publishing online since 1999, but he's also been featured in the bodybuilding and fitness print magazines including IRONMAN (US, Italian and Australian editions), Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men, Men's Exercise and Men's Fitness.

Tom has been featured in the mainstream media too, including Oprah magazine, First for Women magazine, Experience Life magazine, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Tom has also been interviewed on dozens of radio shows including Martha Stewart healthy living (Sirius), WCBS-AM, 1250-ESPN and BlogTalk Radio.

Quite a few years back, (Tom was born in 1968, if you must know%u2026 August 6th if you want to send him birthday gifts!), he received his bachelor of science degree in Adult Health/Fitness (Exercise Science) from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He was very recently honored to appear in the University's Alumni magazine for his writing and publishing achievements, (the story was called "No Gimmicks"%u2026 because he doesn't believe in them!)

He's also a long-time member of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the National Strength And Conditioning Association (NSCA) and all of the weight loss research societies (plus he reads ALL the major obesity, nutrition and exercise science research journals every month - he may look like a "muscle-head" but he's also a science geek!).

He's been training since 1983, he's competed in bodybuilding 28 times since 1989, and he's lifetime natural (which means steroid-free!). His titles include the Mr. Natural New Jersey, Natural Pennsylvania, Natural New York State, Natural Mid Atlantic States and NPC Natural Eastern Classic championships. He also won 2nd place in the Mr. Natural USA and 2nd in the Mr. Natural North America contests.

Last but not least, Tom is the founder and CEO of the Burn The Fat Inner Circle fat loss support website, where he has created an amazing community of over 13,000 members - and it's growing by the day.

Tom lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, which is right across the Hudson River from New York City. In fact, I hear he has a superb view out of his window at the Empire State building! Hoboken is best known as the birthplace of baseball and Frank Sinatra (they also have Eli Manning of NY Giants fame). Tom loves Jersey and New York City, but he says the winters are a bit of a drag%u2026 (Tom told me he dreams of Southern California daily and training on the fabled "Muscle Beach"!)

Tom trains at Strong & Shapely Gym in East Rutherford New Jersey (The East Coast "Mecca of bodybuilding") and at Club KO in Hoboken, NJ. If if you drop by one of those gyms for a workout, you might just bump into Tom!

If you're interested in fat loss, whether that's losing 100 pounds or more, the last 10-15 pounds or actually getting "ripped" to the point of 6-pack abs, then please visit my fat loss website and read all about Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle - it's an amazing program that has transformed literally hundreds of thousands of bodies%u2026 it's the SAME program Tom uses to hit contest or photo-shoot condition and to maintain his body fat in the single digits all year round when he's not competing.

If you're interested in losing fat AND gaining muscle at the same time then you should check out Tom Venuto's Holy Grail Body Transformation Program. Its a powerful new program created by Venuto that answers the controversial question "Can you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?"

The answer is YES and this program breaks it down for you%u2026

To learn more about the Holy Grail Body Transformation program Click Here or scan through the other articles on this official Holy Grail Transformation Review site.

I hope it helps you achieve the physique of your dreams!

Train with purpose,

Kyle Battis CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Download Holy Grail Body Transformation Program