Training, Diet and Rest

by Joel Sward

You are about to learn how to train to build lean muscle & strength. The information comes from me personally, Joel Sward, Founder & Owner Of HouseOfMuscle.com, and is built on more than 25 years of weight lifting and fitness training. Over these 25+ years I have had one overriding goal -- to put as much hard, lean muscle on my body as I could and at the same time have the lowest possible amount of body fat.

Over the years, the amount of focus, energy and time I have put forth toward this goal has fluctuated. But through it all, I am proud of the long periods of time I have devoted toward this goal. It is worthwhile, healthy for you and builds self-esteem. Also, if you are an athlete of any kind, this type of training, which I have been devoted to, definitely increases athletic performance.

If there is one thing that I have learned over these many years of paying my dues it is that there are three main principles that apply to the proper life-routine that is required to achieve a goal of building lean, hard muscle and strength while maintaining low body fat: 1) Training, 2) Diet and 3) Rest.

TRAINING
Intensity!This one word sums up my principle theme when it comes to training. I want my current physical condition (how much lean, hard muscle is on my body and how low my body fat is) to improve each and every time I train. The only way to make this happen is to train with enough intensity so that you are feeling something -- THAT YOU HAVE NEVER FELT BEFORE!

Whether you are increasing the weight, or the sets, or the reps, or decreasing the rest between sets, or running harder, farther or more often, something has to change each and every workout. Each day you are either getting better or getting worse. You never just stay the same. You are either moving forward or backward and if you don't fight with high intensity, you will slide back.

DIET
Clean!This one word sums up my principle theme when it comes to diet. You need to fuel your machine (and that is what your body is, a machine) with the highest quality fuel you can. The highest quality fuel is fresh, green vegetables, yams, brown rice, fresh fish, lean chicken, turkey or beef, nuts, like almonds and peanuts, the occasional piece of dark chocolate or small glass of red wine. Overall, your diet needs to be mostly "CLEAN". NO CRAP! No chips, no ice cream, no pizza, no McDonald's, no candy. NO CRAP! At least as long as you can commit to a good amount of time, like 9 months. If you stop eating CRAP and start eating "CLEAN", your machine, your body, will feel better, run better and do better.

Besides eating "CLEAN", you also need to eat small portions, frequently throughout the day. Try to eat about six small meals each day by eating every 2 to 3 hours. This keeps your metabolism churning and this is advantageous whether you are a young, lean man trying to put on muscle or an older, overweight man, trying to burn fat. Keeping your metabolism cranking is good for everybody. Do not go long periods of time without eating. If you do, your blood sugar will crash and then you will "binge" (overeat) later on. So keep the portions down in size, but keep them coming, please.

A great way to help with the small but frequent intakes of quality nutrients is by using House Of Muscle 100% Whey Protein. Drinking a protein shake two or three times a day is an easy way to get in a high quality protein meal.

You also should consider using a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement, such as House Of Muscle's Train Hard!, and if you are not getting a lot of fresh fish in your diet, you should look at taking a fish oil supplement that is rich in DHA and Omega-3 fatty acids, such as House Of Muscle's Omega Gold.

House Of Muscle Recovery Orange is another excellent supplement for helping with diet. It is loaded with L-Glutamine and BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids). You can also step it up with House Of Muscle Kre-Alkalyn Creatine and/or House Of Muscle SHOCK. SHOCK is all about cranking up your workouts. (Remember above -- INTENSITY!)

REST
Recover!This one word sums up my principle theme when it comes to rest. To recover effectively take some time off now and then to smell the roses, have other hobbies, interests, careers, goals, family, friends and all that good stuff. BUT, when you are taking this time off, you are RECOVERING from the TRAINING (remember INTENSITY) we talked about above. So, going out late drinking with your buddies the night before a big squat day is not resting. Hanging with some friends for a few hours (before and after which you drank a House Of Muscle 100% Whey Protein shake) and then getting a good night sleep before a big squat day is resting.

Relieve stress. Do whatever it takes for you to do this in a way that is not destructive to your body, but actually is helping your body recover, like leisurely, scenic walks, or meditation, or massage, or just enjoying a good night of restful sleep. (By the way, there is a lot of positive feedback that House Of Muscle ZMA Night Growth helps sleep.) All this will help your body recover big time. Then you can get back in the gym for, you guessed it -- INTENSITY!

Ok. There you have it. Training, diet and rest are the three cornerstones of any successful body transformation -- PERIOD, end of discussion. There is no easy way out, no quick fix or a magic pill that can instantly transform your body.

It may sound strange for the founder and owner of a sports nutrition supplement company to say that there is no such thing as a quick fix or a magic pill. But it is the truth. I truly believe that sports nutrition supplementation needs to be one part of any successful body transformation process -- A VERY IMPORTANT PART! But, the key word is "part". I have emphasized that training, diet and rest are key to any successful body transformation, but above and beyond that sports nutrition supplementation will definitely help you reach your goals. You still have to pay your dues though! Embrace these three key principle -- Training, Diet and Rest -- and make a real commitment to doing them all very well and you can achieve your individual fitness, training or body transformation goal.

Train Hard!