While Dieting, it is virtually impossible to lose body fat and gain lean muscle at the same time. You see, your body requires large amounts of calories in order to gain muscle mass. When you have decreased your caloric intake to accelerate fat loss, your body isn't usually supplied with enough calories and/or nutrients to gain muscle mass.

Here is a program that will make it possible to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously. This program has worked for all body types however if you are an ectomorph or hard-gainer then it is best to skip the Metabolic Stimulation and Dieting Cycle and go right to the Lean Muscle Bulking Cycle.

The first thing you need to do is find your Active Metabolic Rate (AMR). Your AMR is the amount of calories you need each day to sustain your body weight based on your daily activity level. A good Internet site that will calculate your AMR for you can be found here.

For instance, suppose that your weight is 174 lbs., and your AMR is 3286 calories. This means your body requires 3286 calories to maintain your current body weight at your present activity level. In order to maintain your current weight, but add lean muscle and lose body fat, it will take around 3200 calories per day with a ratio of 15%-20% calories from fat, 20%-30% from protein, and 20%-30% from carbs. During this program, we suggest recording you daily calories in a training log to make certain that you stay in your personalized fat loss/muscle gain zone.

Week 1: When you begin your supplementation program, we suggest that you record the folloing measurements so you can monitor your progress:

• Neck:________
• Chest:_______(flexed)
• Biceps:_______(left)_______(right)*flexed*
• Waist:________
• Hips:_________
• Thighs:_______ (left)_______(right)
• Calves:_______ (left)_______(right) *flexed*

Week 1 Dosing Schedule:

• 1 DHEA caps/day
• 1 Tribulus caps/day
• 10mg or 2 tsp Volumex/day for 5 days
• 2 XLA tablets on training days. (Take 1 tab upon waking in the morning to jump-start your metabolism and 1 additional tab before training.)
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Begin your program with a moderate dose of Volumex in order to see how well your body responds to the supplement. Throughout your entire cycle, DHEA and Tribulus will be the key supplements to boosting your on bodies Testosterone. DHEA, Tribulus and Volumex should be taken 1 hour before workout.

Next take XLA twice per day on training days. When this product is taken upon waking in the morning, the r (+) Alpha Lipoic Acid (the pure version of the commonly used antioxidant), Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Gamma Linoleic Acid (GLA) work together to raise your metabolic rate. Normally when you wake up from a nights sleep, your metabolic rate is extremely slow. This is because while you sleep you are in a fasting state with several hours of inactivity. When you wake up, it will take some time for your metabolism to return to its active state. The XLA tablet taken upon waking will allow your metabolism to rise faster than normal and cause your body to burn more calories.

Week 2 Dosing Schedule:

• 1 DHEA/day
• 2 Tribulus/day (1 morning and 1 one hour before workout)
• 5mg or 1 tsp Volumex/day
• 3 XLA tablets on training days. Take 2 tabs upon waking in the morning to jump-start your metabolism and 1 additional tablet before training.
• Also take between 2 and 3 Advanced Formula Triple Threat MRP shakes made with 2 cups of skim milk and 1 tbsp. Flax Seed Oil.

Note: Three XLA tablets may be too ambitious of a dosage for some athletes. In this case, use only one or two per day.

After Week 2, take a second set of measurements. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat, so you may see a weight gain here:

• Date:________
• Neck:________
• Chest:_______(flexed)
• Biceps:_______(left)_______(right)*flexed*
• Waist:________
• Hips:_________
• Thighs:_______ (left)_______(right)
• Calves:_______ (left)_______(right) *flexed*

You may be astounded when you take your second set of body measurements. In just under 3 weeks, you have already begun an amazing physique transformation. Compare your measurements and weight to the first set you took.

Week 3 Dosing Schedule:

• 1 DHEA/day
• 2 Tribulus/day
• 5mg or 1 tsp Volumex/day
• 3 XLA tablets on training days. 2 tabs upon waking in the morning to jump-start the metabolism and 1 additional tab before training.
• 2 to 3 Advanced Formula Triple Threat MRP shakes made with 2 cups of skim milk and 1 tbsp. Flax Seed Oil.

Week 4 Dosing Schedule:

• 1 DHEA/day
• 3 Tribulus/day (1 morning, 1 before workout and 1 before bedtime)
• 4 XLA tablets on training days. Take 2 tabs upon waking in the morning to jump-start your metabolism and 2 additional tabs before training.
• 2 to 3 Advanced Formula Triple Threat MRP shakes made with 2 cups of skim milk and 1 tbsp. Flax Seed Oil.

It's time to measure your progress. Take another set of measurements for comparison with those you took on week 2:

• Date:________
• Neck:________
• Chest:_______(flexed)
• Biceps:_______(left)_______(right)*flexed*
• Waist:________
• Hips:_________
• Thighs:_______ (left)_______(right)
• Calves:_______ (left)_______(right) *flexed*

Off Cycle Phase:(2 Weeks)

The reason for the off cycle phase is to shock your system and to give your system time to get back to its normal state. For more information on the off cycle see Off Cycle Phase on or web site.

After you have finished this phase it is time to start the Testosterone Growth Plan v 2.

Please find the Recomposition Lean Muscle Bulking Cycle here beginning at the end of week 4. Continue to read up on Recomposition Dieting.

Recomposition Dieting

All diets have one thing in common, calorie restrictions and/or an increase in your metabolic rate in an effort to lose weight. Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) can be defined as the energy required to maintain the normal processes of the body, e.g. digestion, breathing, heart beat. Your AMR (Active Metabolic Rate) is the amount of calories you need each day to sustain your body weight based on your daily activity level. This means that the more physical activities you perform, the more calories your body will use as fuel. For example, a 180 lbs. male who lives a sedentary lifestyle (e.g. no physical exercise, non-physical occupation) will have a much lower AMR than a 180 lbs. male with a very active lifestyle. (E.g. active in athletics, occupation that requires physical exertion)

It is extremely important to note that if you do not reduce your caloric intake/and or increase your metabolic rate, then it is not physiologically possible for you to lose weight. The first thing you need to do when you are beginning a new fat loss program is to find your BMR and your AMR. This will determine the amount of calories your body requires each day. A good Internet site that will calculate your AMR and BMR for you can be found here.

For example, when you begin this program, find your AMR. This means that with a daily activity level,your body will require X number of calories each day to maintain your body weight. You will need to keep a diet journal at this point. You should write down exactly the amounts of calories that you are eating each day. During the first week of your diet, you should eat the exact amount of calories calculated from your AMR. The average of your weekly caloric intake should not be higher than your AMR. Try not to sway more than 100 calories higher or lower each day from your AMR. This way, you are almost guaranteed to have a weekly caloric intake that is equal to you AMR.

What is the main physiological process that causes diets to fail? As mentioned earlier, diets require a reduction in calories. Since all diets are based upon a significant reduction in calories, than how come some diets fail? The answer is pretty simple. All human beings have a built in survival mechanism when it comes to dieting. Not long after we begin a diet with calorie reductions, our body will view the restriction in calories as the beginning of a famine and actually slow down our BMR. A slower metabolic rate occurs when your body slows its synthesis of the thyroid hormone T3. The less T3 your body has, the slower your BMR will become. The slower your BMR, the fewer calories your body needs to maintain the normal processes of the body. This means that as we reduce our caloric intake further and further, our body responds by lowering the amount of calories our body will use each day.

This is extremely bad news for dieters because sooner or later your BMR will be so slow that even a very small amount of caloric intake will cause you to gain weight. A slow BMR is the reason why you will always gain weight back after following a crash diet. To make matters even worse, when you have a slow BMR, you body will burn your hard earned muscle before it burns your stored body fat. You see, when this survival mechanism is triggered your body will break down and use amino acids (muscle) as fuel instead of body-fat which your body saves as a last resort.

How can we stop our body from triggering this survival method? This answer is also pretty simple. In order to stop our body from lowering our BMR we must trick it into thinking that we are not dieting. We can do this by gradual calorie restrictions. If we gradually reduce our calories below our AMR, then our body will not fear starvation and will continue to keep our BMR high.

This survival method is the exact reason why a crash diet is guaranteed to fail. When we dramatically cut our calories, our body responds by dramatically slowing our BMR. Shortly after, your weight loss will come to an abrupt stop and further caloric restrictions will not cause any more weight loss. When you decide to increase your calories again, your body will maintain your slow BMR for a period of time so that you gain your health (e.g. weight) back after the "famine." This mechanism will cause a crash dieter's weight loss to return (and sometimes more) after their diet.

Understanding that gradual caloric reduction is the best way to diet, how can we do it? After you have completed your first week, calculate your new AMR. If your body weight has changed at all from the previous week. Now take your new AMR and reduce that number of calories by no more than 5%. For example, assume my new AMR is now 3100 calories. I would reduce this number by 5%, which gives me a new caloric intake of 2945 calories. Each week, recalculate your AMR and reduced the number by no more than 5%. This method will certainly delay the on set of your body's natural survival mechanism.

Unfortunately, any prolonged period of calorie restriction will cause a lowering of your BMR. This will eventually happen even if you are cautious and reduce calories slowly. The only way around this dilemma is through thyroid stimulation. Mass Quantities has produced some very effective thermogenic supplements in recent years that helps shed unwanted body fat.

Cardio Tips

IMPORTANT! Be sure to check with your physician prior to beginning any excercise regimen.

When you do cardio, it is best to do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. When cardio is performed immediately upon waking, there is no food in you digestive system to use as fuel. Therefore the energy must come from your energy stores, which will be your body fat. Make sure that you do not eat simple carbs like (Fruits, Juices, Soda, Sugar). The reasoning is that: simple carbs go in your blood steam as glucose very quickly, so for the next half an hour you'll be burning all that sugar instead of fat. If you have to eat something, protein is not as bad as carbohydrates. Have a chicken breast or a protein shake and hit the treadmill.

When you are doing cardio, pick a machine that you are comfortable with, the treadmill is a good choice. Unlike the stationary bike where only your legs move, the treadmill gets your whole body in action. My cardio machines of choice are the Cybex Stairmill (revolving staircase), the Versa Climber, and the jump rope.

Progressive Cardio Cycling

1. If you are doing cardio for the first time in a while, start easy. Use the Treadmill for 10mins on a flat surface 3 times a week.
2. Find your target heart rate (THR). You can calculate your THR by visitng here. In the beginning, try to keep your heart rate at about 60% of your target and gradually increase the percentage as it will take a harder workout to maintain it.
3. The next week increase the time to 15-20mins 3 times a week; make the treadmill half way inclined after the first 5 min.
4. During the Third week, increase the time to 25-30 min. 3 times a week, after the first 5 min. go half way inclined, and the last 10 min. go 3/4 inclined.
5. For Week four and beyond, 30-45 min., the first 5 min. Go half way inclined, and the last 20 min. all the way inclined again 3 times a week.

Make sure you take a tablet or two of XLA from Mass Quantities half an hour before cardio. XLA contains r (+) Alpha Lipoic Acid (the pure version of the commonly used antioxidant), Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Gamma Linoleic Acid (GLA). When taking XLA first thing in the morning before cardio, you will jump-start you metabolism, which will cause your body to burn more fat. XLA should also be taken before any heavy weight training session as a pre-workout stimulant.

After all this if you are still not losing weight, increase your cardio to 4 times a week, But never go more then 45min cardio, 4 times a week. The reason for that is that you will over train, and your body will become accustomed to ever increasing cardio sessions to lose weight. Before adding a fourth cardio session to your workout, review your diet for excess amount of carbs and for excess sugar in particular. After Cardio, eat a good breakfast, full of complex-carbs to reload the glycogen in your muscles, (the best complex carb sources are oatmeal, cream of rice, potatoes, ect.), and don't forget the Proteins (eggs whites, chicken breasts, tuna fish).

ATTENTION ALL ATHLETES: Anyone subject to drug testing or doping control procedures under IOC, USOC, NCAA, IPC, or IFBB should not use this product.