Want to build NO muscle whatsoever?
Want to bust your ass week after week, month after month and make NO progress AT ALL!
Heck that’s what happens to most guys, so let’s watch what they do and do the opposite.
Oh, by the way, want to do all the above while wasting money on useless supplements? LOL
Then check out these 11 MUSCLE BLUNDERS….
(1) Don’t Eat Enough. Bust your ass in the gym, but don’t feed your muscles with enough nutrients.
(2) Use Strict Form On Every Exercise. Strict form uses…
- less muscle groups per exercise
- minimizes exercise-induced growth hormone release
- minimizes the load placed on the intended muscle(s)
- may lead to injury as it’s harder on the joints
Bad Call! Use Optimized Form instead.
(3) Don’t Get Enough Sleep. Here’s why sufficient sleep is so important my friends…
- The release of growth hormone REACHES ITS PEAK during deep sleep
- Your metabolic rate slows which is perfect for muscle tissue repair and growth
- INCREASED blood flow to the muscles
(4) Use A Beginner’s Program Even Though You’re Not A Beginner. This would involve hitting ALL muscle groups 3 times a week for about 2 sets per workout. Once you’ve been working out for 6 months, it’s time to move on. THT training is perfect for this transition. It is NOT a beginner’s program.
(5) Don’t Keep A Training Log. At each workout, guess the weights to lift and don’t record the reps you hit (please detect the sarcasm). This way you’ll have no idea if you are really progressing or not. You will also not have what I call ‘Set Goals.’ On every set you should have your target reps programmed into your mind. Set this 1 rep higher than last time around. So if on your 1st set of dumbbell curls last week you got 8 reps of 55lbs, start repeating 9,9,9,9,9,9….in your head prior to the set.
(6) Perform Cardio All Year Round. This one blows my mind. Cardio is part of a cutting strategy, that’s it! It will do nothing but stunt muscle gains when the goal is to add serious muscle mass.
(7) Get Stressed! Stress is catabolic! It breaks down muscle with the release of hormones like cortisol. Chill out already!
(8) Workout For Hours At A Time. THT workouts will last anywhere from 30-60 minutes MAXIMUM. Going over 60 minutes on a regular basis is a sure-fire way to overtrain.
(9) Never Take A Rest. One sure way to beat plateaus is taking a week off every now and then. THT accommodates this with 1 week off in every 10.
(10) Lack Focus In The Gym. When you go to the effort off getting your ass in the gym, keep 100% of your focus on the task at hand. You’re NOT there to chat or eye-up the beautiful people. 100% focus will create 100% intensity. Do the other stuff when you get done. 😉
(11) Eat A Low-Fat Diet. Because of the positive correlation between dietary fat and serum testosterone, limiting your fat intake will retard your gains.
So you can see here a pattern. You must create an anabolic INTERNAL environment through:
- REST
- SLEEP
- FOOD
- FOCUS
and couple this with the correct EXTERNAL strategies of Training and Diet.
Train Intelligently My Good Buddies!
Mark McManus
Below what % would be considered a low fat diet?
Thanks
Thanks Mark
Helps remind us all of the basics.
Well presented.
Keep up the good work
Keith D
@Bill. Weight Weighters and the like are around 30grams per day. I personally think anything under 70grams low fat.
@Keith. Thanks man.
I agree with most of what you said, but highly disagree with you on the cardio. You should do cardio year round. It is one of the most important things to keep and overall healthy body. It doesnt burn muscle, it only does that when you overtrain. Up to 40-45 mins of cardio will only burn fat. Cardio is one of the best ways to burn fat especially when you are on a diet and it burns fat from all over the body and not just in the legs. Cardiovascular exercise is great for your energy levels, 45 minutes a day really gives your body a lift as it stimulates your adrenal system and other hormone levels. Cardiovascular exercise reduces stress, etc. I mean I could go on and on. If you think cardio is only good for cutting, you need to check your program.
This was brilliant – I love the sarcastic tone, as that really hammers the points home! Like iRobot, I would modify #6 to say something like “do the *same* cardio all year round”, which would be a mistake. You do need to mix it up. But unlike most of us weight trainers, I actually love cardio…
Anyway, this is a great one.
Thank you Mark, it’s good to be reminded of the basics we so often forget. Lifestyle can play havoc with your focus. Well done!
As for cardio, I tend to agree, while cardio has its place without question, does it not stimulate the release of cortisol, the thing you want to avoid for muscle growth? While on that thought, have any of you guys tried insulin spiking to reduce cortisol straight after training? My research seems to show that spiking your insulin levels striaght after a workout dramaticly reduces cortisol in your system.
A glass of flat Coke doubled my insulin level for 30 mins (Build up then decrease) I would welcome any comments on this. 🙂
Dear McManus,i am a total beginner so am confused about the intensity of workout.please tell me wheather i should immediately start with theTHT or start with beginner’s routine and how many sets per exercise in the beginning.and when should i switch to the THT.plz guide me sir.
Regarding cardio, Mark has a list of stuff and I agree with it all because I’ve read this time and time again from other successful bodybuilders. Cardio during bulking complicates things.
Cardio affects the bulking phase because it’s:
1) Not giving your body adequate time to recover (which rest is the key to rebuilding of muscle tissue)
2) Burning up your energy stores which could negatively affect your intensity during weight training.
3) Burning more calories forcing you to eat more than you really need to. For MANS dudes, fat is a key energy source but it’s also not as efficient in converting to glucose as is simple/complex carbs, so over-training could promote catabolic (muscle breakdown) for energy promotion, not good!
Cardio is important for CARDIO-vascular health, no argument. But, it’s an accepted reality that to get maximum muscle gain during bulking, limit (or even remove) cardio until the cutting and recovery stages is fine. I don’t think people are going to die if they don’t do cardio for 8 weeks bulking periods.
So, If you absolutely feel you need cardio, expect less muscle gain, that all there is to it! Unless you’re a roidy-roy or genetic Herculean type.
Of course, this is just my opinion. Later guys!
To all those who disagree with Mark on the cardio issue. Have you seen the pictures of Mark. You can grate cheese on his abs. If he says cardio is not required, than CARDIO IS NOT REQUIRED!
Ok, the cardio issue, lol.
When you want to build muscle – BUILD MUSCLE.
When you want to lose fat – add some cardio.
Cardio doesn’t build muscle so why bother?
4 – 5 intense weight-training sessions per week, every week, WILL improve general fitness. Will you become a superfit marathon runner? No, but who cares? If that’s your goal, MuscleHack probably isn’t where you should be getting your advice.
Look, work out your required calories for building muscle from one of my articles, then eat this amount and workout THT style. Why would you overeat by 300 calories only to give yourself the effort of having to do cardio to burn them off? Just don’t eat them in the first place.
On the other hand, you may be performing cardio and not eating these ‘extra’ calories, thereby actually creating a deficit when your goal is to build muscle! This is analogous to driving your car with one foot on the accelerator and another on the break!
For those determined to build muscle and lose fat simultaneously, yes it can be done. Read my article on it here https://tinyurl.com/dctax3 and/or buy my abs book for a full breakdown.
Cardio has its place folks, but DON’T overemphasize it!
Mark
CARDIO DOES NOT CAUSE MUSCLE LOSS, in fact it supports the pathways that help you build it! Go google, “cardio and muscle buidling”, and you’ll see hundreds of thousands of articles from pro natural body builders telling you, EVERYONE but beginners should be doing it 3-5 times a week for 20 mins. of intense sessions. I can’t believe this is even being debated. People who are losing muscle are either over training, not getting enough protein, too low of carbohydrate level, not eating enough calories to support muscle growth, etc. Read around and don’t just jump on the first thing you see and think it’ll work for you cause it worked for some one else. Whether your goal is muscle development, fat loss or both, you should always include some form of cardiovascular activity as part of your training program. Unless you’re doing some kind of ultra-endurance regimen,
iRobot,
Have you seen a marathon runner???? They have no muscle mass because after all the glycogen and fat energy is consumed, muscle is broken down for energy. If you show me a marathon runner as big as Arnold then I’ll believe it.
Andrew Mast, what does a marathon runner, have anything at all to do with doing 20 mins. of intense cardio 3-5 times a week? Marathon runners train on average of 20 miles a week and run for hours at a time. They normally dont weight train and arent on a similar diet at all to a body builder. Who said your cardio even has to be running? You’re comparing 2 completely different things than what I am talking about. Go google it like i said and read from some licensed pro’s. Jeff WIllera (Mark’s idol) even does Max-OT Cardio~ 2-3 times weekly at 16 minutes a session to maintain condition and then does 4-5 times weekly to emphasize fat loss. You can google that too. EVERYONE should have cardio in their routine.
iRobot. You seem to have copied word for word the points from this article https://tinyurl.com/dmvec7 See the last sentence and points 1, 2 and 3.
As you say, don’t just believe the first thing you read. You could be robbing yourself of muscle gains.
Time to hit the treadmill, I mean, the IRON!
Yeah Mark, go tell that to 260 pound pile of muscle that plays pro football and tell them to lose the cardio. You have no idea what youre talking about. Go Google “cardio and muscle growth” and read the hundreds of thousands of articles that prove youre wrong.
iRobot,
Alright, I will concede that the point of comparison between marathon and bodybuilding is not very well drawn.
What I mainly was refuting was that cardio CAN cause catabolism and yes, it might very well be due to the reasons you stated: low carbs(aka readily available glycogen), insufficient food, overtraining (too frequent), etc.
I’ll do what you suggested… I’ll read around more than just a link or two. But I still think that cardio is good only for blood and heart health and for muscle building only good for warmup so as to promote blood flow, delivery of oxygen, flushing of lactic acid, etc.
But, despite my previous assertion, I’ll read around.
Andrew, gald to hear you’ll get other opinions and then form your own, in the end you need to works best for you, whether it’s with or without cardio. Here is a guy who had a great set of videos, he’s 48 and in magnificent shape. He gives some other studies and reasons, as well as what is good cardion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0IbZ0eiEiQ
Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out!
Youre welcome and good link to check out is https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mike1.htm It bascially tells you how body building and cardio has changed from the 70’s and 80’s til now and how the bigger and stronger competitors all MUST do cardio now to compete. Cardio also makes your muscles stronger and determining how much you need to do is all based on yourself. It also promotes more energy and a better state of mind, giving you the extra boost when you might need when hitting the weights. Good luck!
I’d imagine the 260lb pro-footballer would need the year-round cardio to maintain fitness for games. That’s why they do it; they aren’t thinking that cardio is increasing the size of their muscle tissue.
Yeah I’m a big fan of Jeff Willet, but I don’t agree with everything the guy says, just as you don’t agree with everything I say – that’s cool.
Also, as regards pro-bodybuilders (and I’m sure some pro-footballers), it’s hard to lose muscle when you’re roided up.
I maintain that increased protein synthesis rates (as required to build muscle) are hampered, not aided by cardio.
My cardio starts in a couple of months when I’m cutting, not a moment sooner.
Different strokes; run (or bike) ’til your heart’s content my friend 🙂
Mark
Not that I need to play peacemaker or anything, but isn’t it possible that EVERYONE is partial right on this? I mean, we all
– have different genetics
– have different diets
– are at different levels (strength, fat, etc.)
– use slightly different routines and intensities
– define “cardio” differently
– are at different ages
– etc.
I mean, for some of us, certain cardio programs might be catabolic. And others of us might find (for various reasons, most likely to include the timing and diet) that cardio isn’t catabolic for us?
As a shameless self-plug, my site is really focused on the issues of bodybuilders/strength trainers who enjoy running (e.g. https://worldfitnessnetwork.com/2009/04/85-reasons-runners-need-to-lift-heavy-stuff/ ).
This cardio debate will last longer than all of us, I’m sure! So do what you love, as long as you are happy with the results you are getting.
oh – and regardless of what you think about cardio, Mark’s list is outstanding and should be posted on the walls of every weight room!
Nice article! Enjoying the debate over cardio here aswell :-D.
In my opinion everybody who trains should have an objectiv attitude towards their training and the way other people train. If people want to do cardio while building muscle, let them do it. If they think cardio hinders their progress, let them think so.
All in all what matters is that people feel satisfied with their own results in the end.
Mark, I do agree with all your points mentioned above. Very good article! However, point number four kind of struck my attention and actually was the main reason for me to write a comment. Ok, I do agree that after a certain time you shouldn’t be training on a beginner’s routine anymore. The kind of routine you mentioned isn’t neccesarily a beginner type routine, though.
My friends and I have been on a 3 day 2 sets per bodypart routine since a year now and we have made terrific progress compared to the people only training one muscle group each day and rest for a week. There are many reasons that speak for our type of training. I’m not saying that THT is bad, it just wasn’t as effective for us as our routine.
So after all what truly counts is having a good foundation (which you built up probably through squatting 6x/week :-D) and incorporating progressive overload. Add solid nutrition into the equation and your body has no other option than to grow.
Well, that’s it from me.
Sorry for my long comment 🙂
Dorian
Mark – Just found your site and this definitely looks like a keeper in my RSS reader. Thanks!
For us newbies to your site, you should post links to this THT training whenever you mention it. I’m looking it up right now… now I see that it’s your eBook. Might have to check it out when I’m done with my new 5×5 program. Cheers
Mark (and anyone else who has used Marks system),
Just wondering what you are refering to with your bulking and cutting phases.
Is it just cycling M.A.N.S. with T.S.P.A. for what ever the required periods the individual feels he needs? Or is there something I am missing?!
Regards Mic
Yea, MANS is the diet, THT is the workout program. That’s all designed to build muscle and maintain as low an increase in body fat (and in some cases a reduction in body fat).
The TSPA diet AND exercise program specifically tailored to burn fat at an accelerated speed for those who are dead set on seeing their abs.
Hey, we all have 6 pack abs, but some just can’t see theirs! HAHAHA
iRobot claims about 260lb football players and cardio activity as a correlation with positive outcomes seems true. Look at marathon runners who are emaciated, but then there’s sprinters who are fairly muscular. Seems like short bursts of sprints for a short duration is the kind of cardio we want?
Loving the debate on cardio.. I used to be a swimmer, doing 6 hours of training in the pool each day, plus weights, plus a few runs a week.
I’m now trying to build muscle but do 20mins runs or cycling to warm up before weights.. Except I can’t call 20mins cardio! That level of ‘cardio’ is not going to strip your body of muscle, only ready your body for lifting weights.
When I reach my goal weight I’ll introduce a proper cardio routine of at least 3 x 1hour cardio sessions per week (the minimum you could reasonably call ‘cardio’.)
I would agree that twenty minutes is not cardio! 45-60 minutes, yes. Anything in the twenty or under range is a warmup. And yes, bodybuilders need warmups or they will hurt themselves. On a side note, I remember hearing something in Whey Protein mixes helping out with this situation… I hate cardio so I am not going to try to hard to defend it, but, if anyone has heard that and seen some evidence please share!