It occurred to me while driving that not many things in life are free and certainly without somebody taking a piece of your effort.  Take for example…

• Wages
• Financial Income
• Bonus Checks
• Licenses
• Purchases
• and so much more

All these things can be taxed.  While this isn’t a fair comparison (the cost of living in society is not the same as personal accomplishments), it’s the number one reason why I love bodybuilding.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment that cannot otherwise be diminished.

You Get What You Put In

If I workout 100%, I get 100% of the gains.  Nobody can take that away.  If I workout 110% (a bit of overtime on the calves) I get that bonus and nobody can take that away.  It’s the only sport I’m intimately familiar with that cannot be touched by political correctness (no matter how you spin it, no two people will ever be equal).

You cannot change it from a privilege to a right thru any means.  For example…

You can change a privilege to drive to a right to drive thru laws and regulations but you cannot change bodybuilding from a privilege to workout to a right to workout even with magic fairy dust.

If I choose not to workout and engage in the correct behaviors for success, I will not be successful.  Nobody can cut me a check for a lack of effort from your gains to make up for my shortcomings.  If you don’t put in, you don’t get out.

You can accuse me of using drugs or being genetically gifted or having too much time to workout when you have a life to live but unless I allow your words to be true, you still cannot take away my success except thru mental trickery (a.k.a. hating).

You can take my wages, you can take my capital gains, you can tax me on a new car, my registration and my bonus checks but you cannot tax my gains on muscle gained or fat lost.  You will never make me equal to another person who works less than I do in an attempt to make accomplishments equal.  The feeling of success or failure is all me and while I have support along the way, the ultimate success rests upon my shoulders.

Be Fit, Stay Strong!

Marc David – CPT

When I first started podcasting back in 2005, I was thrilled with the success of my initial podcasting efforts as nobody in fitness was doing it.  Being quite technical, I excelled at it and lots of people flocked to it because I was almost first to market.

I’ve done over 250 “shows” mostly by myself and a few superstar guests like Tom Venuto and Hugo Rivera to name a few.

It’s been great and I plan to continue at my snail’s like pace by myself because that’s how I roll.

But these 2 shows are worth adding to your favorite player and taking the time to listen whenever you have time.

// BioJacked Radio //

A controversial podcast by John Keifer.  It’s some really cool cutting edge stuff with lots of guests and science to boot.  Keifer does a lot of guest shows so you’ll get a nice two-way conversation.  He’s invested a lot of money into the proper equipment.  You will hear high quality audio and none of that “sound like talking thru a tin can” stuff you get with most other novices.

It’s nearly impossible to find the links to the show unless you are good at searching iTunes or Soundcloud.  There should be a huge link on his page but the guy is a scientist and a crappy web designer.  Luckily you have me who found the link and am publishing it here.

That being said, he’s really informative and fun to listen to and I wish he did more shows on a more frequent basis.  His information is solid and controversial.  He’s the author of Carb Backloading which I used successfully to pack on 10.55 lbs of muscle.  He’s also the reason I’m postponing breakfast for a few hours.

You want to listen to what he’s got to say.  It’s at the very least, a really good conversation to eavesdrop on while you are in the car.

Subscribe to Biojacked Radio using Any Player

// Muscle College //

Dr. Layne Norton and Dr. Jake Wilson are your hosts for this show (real PhD doctors, not actors).  With only 3 total episodes and 50,000 iTunes subscribes, you know it’s Team Norton fans who would listen to Layne if he talked about knitting and his kids first coloring book.

Ever wondered what it would be like to listen to two super smart nerds, under the age of 35 who know a lot about bodybuilding and science? This is your show.

When I first fired it up, I almost fell asleep at the wheel.  These guys have no synergy.  The constant manlove for Ben Pakulski (IFBB bodybuilder) was annoying as I couldn’t give two cents about some muscle-bound monkey turned philosophical guru.

However, the information is why you subscribe right?  Muscle College isn’t TMZ.  It’s not 90 minutes of bullshit.  If you wanted fluff, hot women and people who sound amazing on the radio but talk about nothing, you can find about 10,000 other fitness shows on iTunes that are worthless.

Maybe I am a bit harsh here (jealous they have 50,000 subscribers and only 3 episodes) but the fact is, they dish out some very valuable information.  You can quickly skip over the podcast ads (why anybody would pay to advertise when we all skip ads is beyond me) and get to the good stuff.

I do like me some Muscle College to go with my Muscle Milk.

Subscribe to Muscle College using Any Player

That wraps up this post and I sincerely hope you take the time to check out the podcasts I’ve mentioned.  I found them quite useful and I have no doubt you will too.  It’s more than how to do a bench press or some lame twist on the good old push-up.  It truly is some great information by highly qualified people dispensing it.

Be Fit, Stay Strong!

Marc David – CPT

I think I got a few raised eyebrows when I quietly announced I was going to try Carb Backloading.  There was a little bit of a shock factor.

There’s something so glamourous about swimming upstream contrary to the popular opinion and there is perhaps something unglamorous to being moderate or preaching the current theme of the decade.

But I sure am having fun with it!  So I figured I’d document and post my carb backloading results including a photo, blood work and body composition using the hydrostatic method.

A wise man once said “Results speak for themselves.”

This should compliment my previous carb backloading review which goes into the details of the program.

My Carb Backloading Results

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While there are many ways to get rich (I know of seven), there’s fewer to creating a truly successful supplement company from the ground up.  With all the laws governing the creating and sale of supplements, the previous entrepreneur path of making a product in your garage and selling it are long gone.  By the way…

While it’s true you might make something in your garage today, your distribution methods are limited and it’s not a free for all (Wild West) like it once might have been.  There will always been law breakers, cons and cheats but regulation is much better today than a decade ago.  As a result…

There are ONLY three ways to create a successful supplement company:

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I think when his trainer said dumbbell squats, maybe they meant hold the weights not stand on them?

How do people come up with this stuff?

Shattered ankle in t-minus 5….4….3…

While on Facebook, this image came across my timeline.  I knew immediately this wasn’t some joke or staged exercise.  It was another “functional fitness” believer preaching the virtues of doing stability work.

Before I go on … Stability work is important!

What I do not agree with is the manner in which it is being done.  The image above clearly being one of those.

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Marc’s Carb Backloading FAQ for those who still seeking answers.

With every bodybuilding program that hits the market, over time people have a slew of questions that the book or forums might not answer.  While the carb backloading pdf is filled with science references and a complete table of contents, the one thing missing is organization.

While this is such a simple protocol to follow, there’s hidden gems in single sentences strewn throughout the book.  You will have to re-read it several times to catch these eye-opening observations.

This carb backloading FAQ is an attempt to answer some of your questions that might be found in the manual or just thru my own 4 month usage of the protocol.

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Does alcohol make you gain weight?!

“Does alcohol make you gain weight?” is a common question I get in my Inbox at least once a month   They are probably referring the common imagery of the classic beer belly.

Or as my friend up North asks, “can drinkin alcohol stop you from building mucsle?”

It’s long been a myth that alcohol alone can make you gain weight.  While searching for the answer to this post (doing a little market research) I found the Top 10 results all explaining that drinking alcohol can lead to weight gain.  But none of them mentioned the differences between pure alcohol and a mixed drink or beer.  They lumped the answer into a single “Yes” which if you keep reading, you’ll understand is not correct.

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Starts on February 14th, 2013

My friend Tom Venuto has an interesting concept called the “Love Your Body” challenge. In this contest if you TAKE ACTION,  you can score points and win.  You don’t have to take pictures unless you want to.  You don’t have to write one of those novel like contest essays either.

You can see the challenge and rules here.

How the Love Your Body Challenge is Different:

• The challenge is scored on points (there are no judges – you’ll “judge” yourself)
• You’re not even scored on your before and after progress AT ALL! You score points for TAKING ACTION!
• If you can take productive action such as logging your healthy meals, finishing a workout, posting your goals, or charting your weekly progress, you can score points!
• You get points for posting photos, but photos are optional!
• You can even get points for posting pictures in clothes (no swimsuit pictures required!)
• You get points for writing an inspirational essay telling your 49-day challenge success story, but that too is optional! (Don’t write? Can’t write? no worries!)
• Whoever has the most points at the end wins, but ANYONE can win… just by finishing, you’ll be entered into the finisher’s prize drawing!

Interested?  Check it out.

Be Fit, Stay Strong!

Marc David – CPT

For the last several years, I’ve been asked questions thru e-mail and in person about the particulars of losing weight.  Being mostly skinny all my life, I never really gave it much thought because in my case, losing weight is easy.  I just don’t eat as much and I keep exercising the same or a bit more.  Simple right?

Do we make weight loss harder it should be?

Isn’t it just as simple as:

• Food in moderation (calories in vs calories out)
• Decent amount of exercise

That sounds easy but to the people I’ve spoken it, it’s much more challenging.

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This is a guest post by Shane McGrotty of *Rep Fitness* He has been training in power lifting, Olympic lifting, and CrossFit for several years.

Everyone knows that to have visible abs, a good clean diet is absolutely essential to get rid of the fat covering them.  However, this article is about creating bullet proof abs, not flimsy beach abs.  The type of abs that are useful in sports, taking punches to the stomach, and that make for a strong core.  Having a strong core helps prevent back pain, so don’t skimp on regular abdominal work!

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