This guy really has the drive and determination most of us want but just never seem to get up for it! You know Vince as the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building and a contributor to Men’s Fitness Magazine. He used to compete but hasn’t in about three years.

Well, recently he was on the edge trying to decide whether or not he wanted to get on stage again. This is a shot of him on April 16, still undecided:

Well, he started to get in shape and decided to go for it. This shows hie initial progress as of May 4:

Looks like he’s got a good start. This is an update as of May 31:

Look’s like he will be in shape! He only has a few more days until he goes on stage at the World Fitness Model Championships in Toronto, Ontario. This will be the first time in 3 years that Vince has competed and I’m sure it was not an easy decision to make. Getting up for a competition just is not in the same class as simply wanting to “look good”. He obviously knows what he is talking about when it comes to fitness. I wish him well.

I’ll post his results here, so check back mid-June! In the meantime, check out his No Nonsense Muscle Building course for the straight scoop on how he gets in shape!

Technorati Tags: Muscle Building, No Nonsense Muscle Building, Vince DelMonte

I have completed my review of the Jason Ferruggia’s updated Muscle Gaining Secrets and I was really impressed with it. Not so much with the basic content itself – it was great to begin with. But some of the extras that Jason has added in make this a hard to beat, must have program for any serious body builder.

Check out all of his new additions and see what I have to say about them at:

http://JasonFerruggia.muscle-building-reviews.com

But be sure and come back and read the Part 2 of our interview with the author himself.

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Interview with Jason Ferruggia – Continued:

Question: You are known in the industry as the go-to coach if you are looking to gain strength and put on muscle size. Can you first just give a little background about how you came to your training philosophy?

Answer: I started out training in middle school and was taking the advice of a nearly 300lb pro wrestler whom my cousin was dating at the time. I didn’t know it then but he was obviously juiced to the gills. He wrote me a program and I got nowhere. This road continued all through high school as I continued to get advice from the muscle mags and whatever else was popular at the time. Eventually I broadened my horizons and started to look elsewhere. I began reading about what a lot of the old timers did before anabolic steroids became popular. I also studied the methods of every popular strength coach and trainer at the time. I read everything I could get my hands on, went to seminars, did internships and basically just became a sponge for training knowledge.

I opened up my own private training facility in the mid 90’s and trained over 500 clients there during the 11 years that I ran it. Most of my clients were athletes with a small percentage being general population people just looking to get bigger and stronger. Through all those years of experience working with that many people I came to some pretty strong conclusions about what works for building size and strength, fast. Read the rest of this entry

Technorati Tags: bodybuilding, muscle building review, Natural Bodybuilding

Jason Ferruggia has just released an updated Muscle Gaining Secrets which I am now in the process of taking a look at. At first glance, it looks like one of the few really complete bodybuilding program available but I’ll hold off my final comments until I have had a chance to get inside of it.

In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in a question and answer session with Jason himself to discover who he is and how he got where he is. It was a long interview and this is only Part 1. I’ll post Part 2 in a day or so. It’s a long read, but Jason has a really great story, so don’t skip any of it.

Question: Jason, your transformation was pretty incredible going from 147lbs to 231lbs. How much trial and error did you think you went through training wise until you found what really worked?

Answer: Oh man, I can’t even begin to tell you. I tried so many different methods and systems it was unbelievable. I actually started out as a beginner on a six day a week high volume body part split. This was back in the 80’s so I think I was just looking in the magazines at whatever Shawn Ray or Aaron Baker or Gary Strydom were doing and just copy it exactly. Obviously that didn’t work out too well.

I entered high school weighing less than 100 pounds and after four years of training my ass off and growing almost a foot taller, I only weighed 147 pounds at graduation. So obviously, all my experimentation during high school didn’t work out to well either.

During those four years I was still doing whatever I could find in the magazines and even ordered some courses like Cybergenics and some other stuff that was popular at the time. I think the first training books I had were the Arnold Encyclopedia and one of Dr. Hatfields. I tried everything I read in both of those.

My experimentation during college was quite extensive and quite varied. I finally stumbled upon the HIT movement and Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones. It was like a beacon of light and I adopted that training philosophy immediately. And for the first time I started to really grow, which isn’t shocking since I was so grossly overtrained. But as anyone who has had a similar experience can tell you, those gains don’t last too long either.

I could be here all day telling you about all the crazy stuff I did but I think it’s pretty safe to say that I was in the game and wasted an inordinate amount of time and money for a good ten years before I really figured out what really worked. Read the rest of this entry

Technorati Tags: Jason Ferruggia, Muscle Gaining Secrets, Natural Bodybuilding

So you finally decided to take some action to get that toned body you’ve wanted for so long. Like millions of others you are ready to join a gym to get all of the advantages membership offers so you can really see some progress for a change.

Many people find that gym membership can be the needed spur to get them to exercise regularly. And if you actually use it, it can be a great way to go whether you are looking to build massive muscle, tone up the muscle you already have, or shed a little belly fat. But you have to use it.

And therein lies the rub – you actually have to use it!

I just came across a shocking statistic on this. These numbers come with the disclaimer that I found them in an ad for one of the most expensive exercise machines available – the ROM, which sells for $14,615. Like all advertising you are not too sure how much to rely on the information. That being said, they claim that: “Over 92% of people who own exercise equipment and 88% of people who own health club memberships do not exercise”.

From my own observations, the numbers are right on.

How many times have you seen exercise bicycles, treadmills, weight benches, rowing machines, etc., etc., sitting unused in a friends home? Or in a garage sale? Or in your own home?

Gym membership is pointless if you use it as often as you use the treadmill catching dust in your garage. Even if you start out strong, the odds are against you continuing to actively use the facilites for more than a few months.

Membership in health and fitness clubs can be expensive, and you normally need to sign a contract for a certain length of time to get the best rates. Gym memberships typically run around $50 a month, with some going as high as $100 a month. Plus, there is usually an added initiation fee to start up. And various upsells.

Memberships can be a bargain if you take advantage of everything available. But they are nothing but a financial drain if they are not used.

I am not trying to discourage you. There are definite benefits to working out with other people. They provide the motivaiton to keep us going. We can pickup tips to help us. Clubs are air conditioned and clean. Group activities are available. There really are many great features of gym membership. But if you don’t use them, they are just another waste of good money.

Before jumping into a membership you may not use, take some time to review several bodybuilding and fitness programs offered online. Several include live coaching that can be a super motivator to keep you on track. They have the advantage of being reasonably priced and most come with a guarantee – no questions asked. So if you decide after a few weeks that it really isn’t for you, you can just cancel and get your money back. Gym memberships never offer that option.

Two programs that deserve the attention of anyone searching for a good program to start at home are Simply Eat which is a great program to tone up while losing weight and Every Muscle which sorts out myth and fiction from bodybuilding basics.

Start with a basic program, get a workout/motivation partner and then get a gym membership when you know you will stick with it!

Technorati Tags: bodybuilding, gym membership, losing weight, workout programs