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By Paul Carter Recently, I didn't eat any food for 60 hours. Like, in a row. I know what you're thinking. So much gains lost. Many catabolisms. Years ago, I would have been right there with you. In fact, I used to call intermittent fasting "intermittent starving." I thought it was the dumbest...

"There was a point in my life where I thought, 'I don't care if I die young. I just want to be in the biggest pine box possible,'" recalls Kaleb Redden. Back in those days, he was a football player and diehard lifter with plenty of gains—and plenty of injuries—to show for his efforts. He was...

There are two things that almost every lifter in the weight room cares about: growing their chest and increasing their bench. Fortunately, if you focus on one, you can usually improve the other. Although strength is usually a bigger priority for powerlifters, bodybuilders can also benefit from...

Pre-workout supplements have become a training staple on a par with protein powder, and with good reason—they're effective and easy to use. So easy to use, in fact, that the very name tells you exactly when to take it. In light of that See-Spot-Run simplicity, how could someone mess up their...

When people are struggling to lose weight, they often don't realize how much of it is because of their diet plan—or lack of one. If you're trying to lose weight and aren't following a targeted weight-loss meal plan, you're making things harder than they need to be. Yes, you can lose weight by...

Dehydration is one of the most popular practices weight-class athletes and bodybuilders use to help shed the last few pounds. In a quest to make weight or come in with a more defined physique, athletes will restrict water intake, perform cardio in head-to-toe sweats, or melt away in a sauna, all...

Americans are experts on gaining size. Sadly, with over a third of our population classified as obese, that's not the kind of "mass" you're after. Yet that's exactly what indiscriminate eating and a lack of exercise can do for you. If you're committed to a resistance-training program, you can...

So, how would you load before a contest if you're following a higher fat, or I should say maybe medium fat, low to zero carb diet? People will call it a ketogenic diet, they're doing bodybuilding contest prep. Usually it's not the case, usually it's not a ketogenic diet. Hardly will it be 70...

All right. Facebook Q and A. Troy Guillory asked a very good question. He was asking, doing steady state cardio around your weight training session if the adenosine monophosphate kinase the amp K promotion would defeat the mTOR response from your weight training or mechanical force resistance...

By: Matt Weik How many different muscle-building or bodybuilding workouts (bro splits) have you tried only to find yourself frustrated and ready to break the gym mirror? Week in and week out, you feel like you've busted your tail in the gym only to see minimal, if any, changes to your...

By: Matt Weik Have you been trying for years to get 6-pack abs, but nothing seems to work? You've tried this diet, that diet, this pill, that pill – only to find yourself frustrated? You're not alone. The fact is, while everyone has 6-pack abs, they hide under a very stubborn layer of fat that...

Years ago I saw strongman competitor Derek Poundstone doing 100-rep work and asked him why he was doing it. One of his main reasons? Mental toughness. Different kinds of work in the gym require different mindsets. A 20-rep set of squats – with a maximum load for that rep range – is brutally...

Shake off a bad mood with frigid water. Get your energy and motivation up instantly. Make Your Next Shower Cold This sounds like an exercise in unnecessary suffering, but it gets easier and the benefits outweigh the first 30 seconds of hell. Plus there are some tricks that make it more...

Here's how to know and what to do about them when it's time to uncover your abs. All of us have trigger foods. These are foods that send us spiraling right into the seventh circle of gluttony hell. Those triggers vary greatly from person to person. This is one area where I'd define foods as...

Want to make a connection and not come off as a creeper? You'll need some guidelines written by a woman. Here they are. A lot of lifters say the gym isn't the place to meet people. But if you're single, wouldn't you want to find someone with your shared interests and healthier lifestyle? The...

7 Dumb Things People Say About Nutrition Stop Saying That! You Sound Like a Moron. Years ago, people, usually well-meaning mothers, would tell you not to go swimming after a big meal because you'd cramp up and sink to the bottom of the lake like a moribund turtle. Medical experts dispensed...

The 6 Unwritten Rules of the Gym Follow Them or Face the Consequences Broken Rules, Broken Skulls Does this even need to be written? Sadly, yes. There's just something about the gym that can turn an ordinary individual into a blithering asshole. As a gym owner, I see it every day. You've...

KETO PHASES: MORE BENEFITS, FEWER DRAWBACKS In 2018, at the peak of the keto frenzy, I was a ketogenic diet specialist who started spreading a very unpopular message from inside the keto community: Do keto. Not forever. At that time, carbs were not welcome at the dining table. Many promoted...

Struggle to keep your eyes open during class? Always find yourself dozing off in the middle of the afternoon? It's no secret, sleep is one of the most important regulators of our energy levels. We live in a culture that is sleep deprived 24/7. Teenagers, college students, working adults, and...

It’s no surprise, you work lots of long hours. You're up before the sun rises and still working long after it sets. But yet, even in spite of all of that, you somehow find a way to fit in your workouts during the week. Whether it be a crossfit WOD, insane circuit, or maybe just lots of heavy...