Maximum Muscle, Minimum Fat The Secret Science Behind Physical Transformation

by Hofmekler, Ori; Gallagher, Marty

• ISBN13: 9781556436895
• ISBN10: 1556436890
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-29
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Summary

Maximum Muscle Minimum Fat challenges common diet and fitness concepts. Cutting through the confusion of claims, speculations, and pseudo-science often associated with modern diets, fitness, and bodybuilding, the book reveals the true fundamental biological principles of muscle gain and fat loss. In view of the current epidemic of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and other disorders associated with inactive lifestyles, the purpose of this book is to shed new light on the distinct way in which muscle and fat tissues operate and to assist people in making responsible decisions about how to go through a physical transformation becoming leaner, stronger, and healthier. This book leads to the revolutionary conclusion that there is a single overriding biological principle that dictates whether muscle gain or fat loss can possibly occur. The benefit of understanding this very principle goes far beyond just gaining muscle or losing fat. Topics featured in the book include how under-eating and fasting can trigger an anabolic switch that stimulates growth and rejuvenation; how to reengineer the body at the cellular level to burn fat and build muscles; how to naturally manipulate the body's hormones for rapid muscle fusion and faster fat breakdown; how to take advantage of hunger to stimulate growth, burn fat, and boost brain power; how to change muscle composition and to dramatically increase fuel utilization and energy output; how to turn insulin into a muscle builder instead of a fat gainer; and how to shatter training and diet plateaus-and experience a quantum leap in physical development.

Author Biography

Ori Hofmekler is a well-known political artist and health expert. The founder, editor, and publisher of the national health and fitness magazine Mind and Muscle Power, he is the author of The Anti-Estrogenic Diet and other books.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Introduction: A Revolutionary Way of Looking at Maximum Muscle and Minimum Fat	p. xiii
The Biological Switches That Trigger Muscle Gain And Fat Loss
Turning On the Anabolic Switch	p. 3
Anabolism and Catabolism	p. 3
Negative-Feedback Control	p. 4
How to Materialize Maximum Growth Potential	p. 5
How to Turn Growth Potential into Muscle Gain	p. 6
Undereating	p. 7
Exercise on an Empty Stomach	p. 8
What to Eat During the Undereating Phase	p. 8
Overeating	p. 9
The Great Pump-A Day After Competition	p. 10
Muscle Gain and Fat Loss at the Cellular Level	p. 13
Cyclic AMP	p. 13
The Biological Benefits of Stress and Hunger	p. 14
Can You Gain Muscle Without Gaining Fat?	p. 15
Partitioning: Converting Fat to Muscle	p. 17
cGMP: Enhancing Thyroid Actions	p. 17
cGMP and Potency	p. 18
Chronic Elevation of cGMP	p. 19
The Combustion Engine Principle	p. 19
Muscle Gain
Steroid Hormones: The Most Powerful Growth-Materializing Agents	p. 27
Steroid Hormone Synthesis	p. 28
Undereating and Exercise Stimulate Steroid Hormone Synthesis	p. 28
Peptide-Stimulating Hormones and Their Specific Steroid Hormone Targets	p. 29
High Mitochondrial Capacity Required for Proper Steroidal Impact	p. 29
How Dietary Fat and Cholesterol Affect Steroid Hormones	p. 29
High Energy Turnover Enhances Androgen Production	p. 30
How to Take Advantage of Steroid Hormone Actions	p. 31
Regulating Steroid Hormone Levels	p. 31
DHT for Maximum Anabolic Impact	p. 32
How Testosterone and DHT Are Produced	p. 33
Aromatizing-The Modern Man's Nightmare	p. 34
Steroid Promoters vs. Steroid Suppressors	p. 35
The "Cocktail Hormone" Impact	p. 35
Take Advantage of the Cortisol Wave	p. 36
Reach Maximum Anabolic Potential During Exercise	p. 37
Supersets and Forced Sets	p. 38
Aldosterone for Survival and Muscle Toning	p. 39
Steroid Receptors' Super Actions	p. 41
Steroid Hormones: Practical Notes	p. 43
Dietary Fats for Repair and Growth	p. 45
Good Fats, Bad Fats	p. 45
Food for Sex and Muscles	p. 46
Anti- and Pro-Inflammatory Prostaglandins	p. 48
Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Painkillers Suppress Growth	p. 48
Growth-Inhibiting EFAs	p. 49
EFA Balance: The Most Critical Contributing Factor for Maximum Performance	p. 50
EFA Ratios for Reducing Inflammation, Sensitizing Insulin, and Gaining Muscle	p. 51
"Bad" Fat Can Help Build Muscle	p. 53
Practical Conclusions	p. 55
Growth Hormone	p. 57
Growth Hormone Basics	p. 58
GH and Dopamine for Sustaining Potency and Muscularity	p. 59
Stimulation and Inhibition of Growth Hormone	p. 60
GH Secretagogues	p. 60
Feeding Cycles and Growth Hormone	p. 61
Neuropeptide Y and Galanin	p. 62
Hunger and Growth	p. 63
Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1	p. 65
IGF1 and Muscular Development	p. 66
IGF1 and Muscular Differentiation	p. 66
IGF1 and Heat-Shock Proteins	p. 67
Natural Methods to Enhance IGF1 Actions	p. 68
The Anabolic Cycle: Timing Is Everything	p. 69
Short and Long Anabolic Impacts	p. 70
Manipulating the Anabolic Cycle	p. 71
Exercise and Rest	p. 72
How to Take Advantage of the Anabolic Cycle	p. 73
Eat to Gain	p. 75
Conclusions: The Anabolic Cycle	p. 75
Super Muscle: How to Develop Muscle with Superior
Biological Capabilities	p. 77
Size and Power	p. 78
Fast-Twitch and Slow-Twitch Muscles	p. 79
Developing Super Muscles	p. 81
Muscle Wiring	p. 81
Super Muscle Fiber	p. 83
Muscle Shifting: Improving Body Proportion	p. 86
Muscle Gain versus Muscle Waste	p. 86
Let Your Body Redesign Itself	p. 88
Preservation of Active Muscles	p. 88
Muscle Nourishment	p. 90
Post-Exercise Recovery Meals	p. 91
Summary	p. 95
Some Practical Dietary Tips for Muscle Gain	p. 97
Fat Loss
The Biological Principles of Fat Loss	p. 105
Carbohydrate and Calorie Restrictions	p. 106
Eli
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

From the Introduction: A Revolutionary Way of Looking at Maximum Muscle and Minimum Fat

The Renaissance culture that flourished in fifteenth- and sixteenth century Italy idealized the classic muscular body, promoted in part by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. These two great artists attempted to define the ideal human body proportions through drawing and sculpture. The last sixty years, however, have brought dramatic changes in the way men and women treat their bodies. We are now living in a seemingly new renaissance of “body adoration,” and more people than ever are dieting and exercising, striving to build bodies that are hard and lean.

The goal of achieving a lean and muscular body began long before the time of da Vinci and Michelangelo. The admiration of muscularity and physical power was depicted in ancient Assyrian, Philistine, Minoic, Greek, and Roman art. Physical power was perceived as a primal male virtue required for protecting one’s family and defeating or dominating other males.

According to anthropologist Desmond Morris, women are attracted to hard and muscular men with the potential to become strong mates and protectors of their children. But nowadays, women’s desire to look hard and lean is almost as great as men’s. Without delving more deeply into the anthropological definition of “lean ’n’ mean,” the question is: Why do you want to build muscle and lose fat? The most obvious answers are that a hard and lean body:

• Is attractive
• Is healthy
• Earns admiration

Many people, and perhaps most, want to gain muscle and lose fat primarily because they believe that a muscular and lean body looks great. Although that is certainly true, there is a great deal of confusion as to how muscular and lean the body should be. For many men and women, looks come first, whereas health and performance come second. Nothing is wrong with a passionate desire to look big and lean. But big muscles do not guarantee maximum power, and a lean look isn’t always a sign of health, especially in women. In spite of dieting and exercising more than ever, people today are getting fatter and sicker than ever. The vast majority of modern fitness enthusiasts are failing to improve their conditioning in spite of following steady exercise routines.

The purpose of this book is to cut through the confusion of claims, speculations, and pseudo-science often associated with modern diets and fitness programs, and to present the hard-core truths about muscle gain and fat loss. Based on science and epidemiological evidence, the book offers a revolutionary way of improving human conditioning and performance. Science is about predictions based on predictable fact. Life is about surprises based on the unpredictable reality. This book is about both.

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Excerpted from Maximum Muscle, Minimum Fat: The Secret Science Behind Physical Transformation by Ori Hofmekler
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.