We moved out of So Cal and into our new beautiful home in Summerlin in Las Vegas.  It’s been really rough on Mommy Anhski and the two little girls Muscle B(Alex)and Gabriella.  They had to do the lionshare of work prepping us for our move as Daddy was all over the Country traveling for his new gig.  Now that we’re all moved in, everybody is happy but tired.

Daddy and Mommy never really sleep more than 3.5 hours in a row due to Gabriella waking up needing to be fed.  The wonders and joy of parenthood.  We’re not complaining though.  Through it all, we’ve kept up our training and Anh is looking BETTER THAN EVER after giving birth only 10 weeks ago. <Thank God for Energy Pills and VPX Meltdown>

We’ve started training at LVAC (Las Vegas Athletic Club) and couldn’t be happier with the child care nor the facility itself.  It’s absolutely huge and totally modernized in every facet.  Open 24 hours a day 7 days a week, their “Playpen” for Children is open from 7AM until 9PM at night Mon thru Friday and until 6PM on Saturday and Sunday.  This gives Mommy and Daddy great relief knowing they can continue to train together.

Daddy is adjusting to his new job well but traveling a great deal and unable to keep up the blog writing like normal.  Hopefully once he gets better acclimated he’ll have more time to focus on quality content again.

If any of you would like to help contribute with content, please feel free to do so.  Just send us an email with your article or idea:

musclecouple@gmail.com

Here are some recent pics of Anh.  She should be back to “normal” within two weeks.

Her Cardio schedule is once a day and she is hitting the weights at least 4x per week.  Her goal the next couple of weeks with Daddy on the road is cardio twice a day.  Once at home and once at the gym while the girls are in child care.  She’ll be on her own as will Daddy as his travels take him to Miami and South Florida in the next week.

We appreciate your continued support of the site.  If you are ever in Vegas for any reason, please don’t hesitate to look us up.

Have a great week everybody!

MIHWCS

I.  Introduction to Calorie Restriction and Intermittent Fasting

The science is clear: Calorie Restriction extends life and improves health.  A person following a CR way of eating will have a greater chance at avoiding cancer, diabetes, or heart disease.  A CR practitioner can also extend his life.  There are two problems with CR eating.

First, you will always be hungry.  A calorie-restricted diet means an obsession with hunger and eating.  CR subculture is thus bizarre and cloistered.  Second, you will lose muscle.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know what happens when muscle is lost for any reason.

How many those of us do not want to lose muscle or go through life hungry take advantage of Calorie Restriction?  The answer is Intermittent Fasting (IF).

During an IF diet, a person fasts for approximately 14-16 hours each day.  Often the fast begins at night.  You can eat your last meal at 7 or 8 p.m., and break your fast in the late morning or early afternoon.  (For example: A person at dinner at 7 p.m. and had breakfast – literally, breaking the fast – at noon would have had been in a fasted state for 17 hours.)

You want to break your fast with protein and fats, with perhaps a low-glycemic carbohydrate like blueberries. You do not want to spike blood sugar with your breakfast.  For life extension generally, you do not want to spike blood sugar.

II.  Putting IF Into Practice

My day’s eating changes based on whether I am training or not.  Let’s say that I’m going to train on Tuesday afternoon.  I would eat my last meal at 8 p.m.  I would break my fast at approximately noon.  My first meal would contain mostly protein.

Before my workout, I would consume carbohydrates and protein.  I personally use FiniBars and NO SyntheSize.  FiniBars have a combination of slow- and fast-release proteins.  SyntheSize contains a fast-digesting protein and leucine blend.   Experiment for yourself.  The carbohydrates will fuel your workout.  It’s simply too hard to train in a carb-depleted state.  After training, I’ll have one or more meals of lean meats, vegetables, and perhaps berries.

III.  Sample Day’s Eating

A.  Non-Training Days

• 8 a.m. – Black coffee; the Ultimate Fat Loss Stack.  (See the upcoming Muscle Couple Special Report for More Details.)
• 10 a.m.  – Resveratrol; indole-3-carbonal.
• 12 p.m. – 2 whole eggs, 3 low-fat chicken sausage; sun-dried tomatoes.
• 4 p.m. – lean chicken or steak, stir-fry vegetables.
• 8 p.m. – Lean meat, fish oil, Vitamin D, blueberries.

On a non-training day, I consume between 1800-2200 calories.  I don’t count calories, but instead listen to my body/auto-regulate.   Once you’ve eaten the IF way, you develop an instinct for eating.  Plus, if you’re only eating lean meat, vegetables, and berries, you won’t overeat.  How many people binge eat when their blood sugar/insulin stays level?

B.  Training Days

• 8 a.m. – Black coffee; the Ultimate Fat Loss Stack.  (See the Muscle Couple Special Report for More Details.)
• 10 a.m.  – Resveratrol; indole-3-carbonal.
• 12 p.m. – 2 whole eggs, 3 low-fat chicken sausage; sun-dried tomatoes.
• 4 p.m. – lean chicken or steak, stir-fry vegetables.
• 4 p.m. – 3 FiniBars.(More on these Meal Replacement Bars in a Future Blog)
• 4:30 p.m. – 2 servings NO-SyntheSize.
• 8 p.m. – Lean meat, fish oil, blueberries

On a training day, I consume closer to 3,000 calories.  The FiniBars and SyntheSize add about 1,200 calories around my training time.

My training is simple: 45 minutes of rest-pause, and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio – where I maintain a heart rate of 150 beats-per-minute.)

IV.  Conclusion

It is possible to train seriously with weights while incorporating Intermittent Fasting.  By stuffing myself with protein and carbs before and during training, I’m able to train at a high intensity.

Even if IF didn’t have incredible health and longevity benefits, it’s the only way for me to live.  I don’t have blood sugar swings throughout the day.  I don’t have mood swings.  I’m never tired after a meal.

People at work often start passing out after lunch.  This is due to the constant ups-and-downs of blood sugar.  If you’re following IF, you will never have these violent swings.

Once I get older, I’ll transitions fully into IF.  For now, this hybrid approach allows one to gain muscle and strength while also improving health and lifespan.  Practicing IF allow you to live longer, looking good.

MIHWCS

The Muscle Couple is moving from beautiful So Cal to even Sunnier Las Vegas, Nevada!   That’s right, TMC is moving to VEGAS and the beautiful community of Summerlin.

Our Beautiful New 3000 Sq Foot Ultra Modern Home in Summerlin Vegas!

To say it’s going to be quick transition is an understatement.  We plan on being moved out and moved in by March 1st.    We are very excited and looking forward to the change.

Please bare with us as we endeavor to get settled in our new Home.

We’ll try and periodically post updates on the blog with pictures and diary updates from Anh.

Look for one soon.

MIHWCS

We would encourage many of our newer readers to play around with the tool by searching by topic.

There is a wide range of articles already written about supplements, protein, training, fat loss and numerous other subjects.

Check it out when you have a few moments.

<Note>There are major changes ongoing in TMC’s life.  We’ll have an update soon.

We’ll also have another update on Anh and her amazing-radical transformation.

Enjoy your weekend!

MIHWCS

Here is her update in her own words:

I’m 12 weeks out and have started my show preparations. I’m so excited! My show’s near enough that it’s a lot easier to stay focused and motivated. The show is 83 days away! (April 24^th) I’ve included some videos, pictures and a rundown of my daily routine for you guys. I will keep you posted more frequently because my body will really start to change in the following weeks. It will be a challenge and I have a long way to go but am looking forward to the journey.

My Stats from last week:

129 pounds

19% Body Fat (Actual Probably Lower because we Posed before Measuring it)

(We also take my waist, thigh, calf, umbilicus, chest and bicep measurements weekly. I don’t have all of them from last week but I do remember my waist is back down to 26”.)

Diet:

The only real change has been eliminating some of my fats. I took my egg yolk out and stay away from red meat most of the time. I also took out my red potatoes. The potatoes did not sit well in my stomach. I’m more sensitive to food than I’ve ever been and can feel what each food does to my body. So, unless I run out of energy, the potatoes are out of the picture for now. Also, I’ve gone back to no “cheating.” (I had plenty of fun over the holiday season.) I’m at a point now where I really can’t afford any mistakes and I can honestly wait less than three months for anything. I’ve been pretty solid so far, but if I do get the case of cravings, I might have a scoop of peanut butter or a protein bar in the next few weeks. (Peanut butter is my weakness.)

Here’s what a my normal day looks like:

Meal 1:

1 Cup Prepared Oatmeal (Mix in ½ Scoop Whey for Flavor)½ Cup Egg whites (All Whites are a Blessing, and you can drink them Raw)

Meal 2:

5 oz. Fish (No Salmon) Usually Tuna or Halibut

2 Cups Vegetables

Meal 3:

2 Scoops Whey Protein

Meal 4:

5 oz. Chicken

2 Cups Vegetables

Meal 5:

2 Scoops Whey

Supplements:

I started taking the VPX Meltdown again this week to kick start my “cutting.” I really liked it the first time. I take it 6 days a week. It also gives me energy with my low carb diet.

I take daily vitamins. I don’t want to get sick and have to take any time off. I take a women’s multi, 1000 mg of Vitamin C and 1000 I.U. Vitamin E a day.

Workout:

Here’s the fun part. My workouts are my favorite part of my day. It sounds silly but they’re nice because they give me daily motivation and help me stay focused. When I’m in the gym there are no distractions and I think about my goals. I’ve started hitting the gym 2x a day. In the morning I do 45 minutes of cardio and then I do my lifts in the evening and another 25 minutes of cardio.

Here’s my lift split. Claire added more volume for now to get my training kick started. I’m also working my shoulders 2x a week because my back and arms make them look small.

Monday: Lower Body

Smith Machine Squat 4×12

Smith Machine Squat (Heels Elevated) 4×12

Lunge (Front Foot Elevated) 4×10

Lunge (Rear Foot Elevated) 4×10

Low Cable, Outer/Inner Thigh 3×18

Prone Leg Curls 5×15

Leg Extensions 5×15

Hanging Leg Raises 3×12

Oblique Decline Twist 3×12

Tuesday: Chest

DB Flat Press 5×10

DB Incline Press 5×10

DB Incline Fly 4×12

Cable (Hi) 3×14

Cable (Low) 3×14

Dips 3×15

Wednesday: Back

Stiff-Legged Dead-Lifts 3×10

Lawnmower 4×14

Wide Grip Seated Row 3×14

Hammer Narrow Grip Row 3×10

Narrow (Underhand Grip) Lat Pull down 3×14

Lying Leg Lifts for Abs 3×12

Oblique Lifts 3×12

Thursday: Shoulders

DB Press 5×12

Hammer Strength Military Press 3×12

Plate Press 3×10

DB Front Raise 3×10

DB Side Raise 3×10

Cable Front Raise 3×12

Cable Side Raise 3×12

DB Rear Delt Raise 3×12

High Cable Rope Pull 3×12

Friday: Arms

DB Bicep Curl 4×12

Preacher Curl 3×12

Cable Curl (Rope) 3×12

Lying Cable Curl 3×12

Tricep Kickbacks 3×12

Skull Crushers 3×12

Plate Overhead Presses

Bosu Oblique Crunches 3×12

Kneeling Ab Pull 3×12

Saturday: Whole Body

Only 30 Minutes of Cardio

2 Exercises from Ea. Day

2 Ab Exercises from Week

Sunday: Shoulders

No Cardio

I’ve gained a ton of strength in my upper body (minus shoulders). I was so excited to DB Press 55 pound dumbbells, use 40 on skull crushers and preacher curl 50 pounds.

Posing:

Starting this week, I’m meeting with Claire weekly to practice my posing. I will be performing the four quarter turns, a “relaxed” pose and my individual routine on stage.

This week I’ve been trying to put together my individual routine. I will do this when I get introduced individually on stage. I will perform three poses, a side pose, a front pose and a rear pose. For my individual routine, I can do whatever I’d like. I’ll be trying to do poses that look best on me and show off my best assets.

Posing is a lot more difficult than I imagined. I sweat like crazy. We met to pose for the second time this weekend and worked for about 45 minutes on my posing and my entire body is sore as heck, especially my calves and back. You stand there (in 5” heels) and try to flex every muscle in your body.

Posing will make or break me on stage. I could have my body ready, but lose out if I slack on my posing.

Here are some photos from my initial posing sessions.

Rest:

Rest has become very important for me. As you can see I do A LOT (plus school and work). So, when I get time to relax, on the weekends especially, I do as little as possible. I’ll lounge on the couch a lot and work on homework.

I also try to get as much sleep as possible at night. I usually get about 8 hours, but try to get no less than 7.

TMC Commentary:

We are really proud of Amanda.  Her physique is light years ahead of where it was when she started her journey almost 10 months ago.  She is clearly making great strides in every element of her preparation.    There really is not much we can offer as she appears dialed in almost every phase.

It’s OK to “Cheat” with Peanut Butter every once in a while.  Just try to eat a tablespoon and be done with it.  When you’re really hungry and on reduced carbs a great strategy to avoid cravings and hunger pangs is to drink a bunch of water with Fiber Capsules or Metamucil powder.  The fiber is needed anyways to keep your system regular on the reduced carb intake.

Please keep the updates coming Amanda.  Maybe send us one every two weeks.  Just a couple of paragraphs will do.  And you know pictures are the best.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out and call or email with any last minute contest prep questions.  We wish you the best of luck.  We can’t wait to see you step up on stage.

MIHWCS

Michael Cernovich is a very close friend of ours.  Mike has a widely read legal blog Crime and Federalism he’s been writing for years.  He also has a profound interest in Life Extension topics.  Mike is incredibly knowledgeable about the latest and greatest from the Life Extension Institute.

In this article, he introduces a new health and fat loss strategy not widely known within fitness circles.  We recommend you consider it as an option to radically change your body composition.

Before we throw out the article, we’d like to point out that Mike practices what he preaches.  At one time in his life he ballooned up to 260 pounds.  Through diet and exercise especially employing the principles soon to be mentioned in his article, he dramatically altered his physique for the better.

Here are his before photos at 260 pounds.

Here are his current photos at a super lean and chiseled 178 pounds.

Caloric Restriction and Intermittent Fasting

Would you like to extend your life, and decrease the odds of dying from cancer or a heart attack?  I have a simple, scientifically-proven solution for you.

Caloric restriction is an effective intervention for delaying age-related disease and extending good health into later ages of the mammalian lifespan. Much interest in caloric restriction (CR) has centered on its unique life-extending effects, but increasingly, its impact on age-related disease and biomarkers of the aging process have received attention. In mammals, CR has been found to combat inflammation (Kalani et al., 2006),reduce endogenous levels of oxidative stress (Yu, 2006), increase insulin sensitivity(Anderson and Weindruch, 2006), decrease core body temperature (Mattison et al., 2003) and promote elevated resistance to stress treatments (Bruce-Keller et al., 1999; Apte et al., 2003). Taken together, these effects appear to combat many diseases of aging. Mammals that consume 30–40% fewer calories exhibit a lower incidence of Type 2 diabetes(Astrup, 2001), neurodegenerative disorders (Logroscino et al., 1996; Patel et al., 2005), hearing loss (Someya et al., 2006) and cardiovascular disease (Fontana et al., 2004). An especially important effect of CR is tumor suppression and reduced mortality due to cancer (Kritchesky, 2001; Hursting et al., 2003; Klebanov, 2007),

Well, if you are still paying attention, ask yourself: Why haven’t you heard about Calorie Restriction (CR). Shouldn’t CR be everywhere?

You haven’t heard about CR because of this text (which I didn’t highlight for you): Mammals that consume 30–40% fewer calories.

Calorie Restriction is not easy.  It requires a person to be hungry during nearly every waking hour.  For many, that is no way to live.  There is a way to mimic Calorie Restriction’s effects without starvation.

Instead of doing CR, you could combine Intermittent Fasting with resveratrol supplementation.

Intermittent Fasting

One can receive many of the same benefits of CR through Intermittent Fasting (IF).  IF works simply: You don’t eat for 16-32 hours.  When you eat, you eat nutrient-dense, nutritious foods until you are full.

For me, I eat my last meal at 8 or 9 p.m.  My last meal is usually a small serving of lean protein and mixed nuts.  My next meal is sometime around noon or one.

Oh, but wait: Isn’t that how Americans eat?  Large dinner, skip breakfast, get fat?  And aren’t you supposed to eat 5-6 meals a day.  Well, yes and no.

The problem with Americans isn’t that we skip breakfast.  It’s what we ultimately break our fast with.

If you break your fast from Carl’s Jr. with a Hostess in the morning…Well, no offense, but there are probably other posts to be reading.

I break my fast with protein powder and fish oil; or blue berries and kefir, or some other healthy combination of lean meats, dairy, and nuts.
Intermittent Fasting can be hard.  Unhealthy food is delicious and tempting.  Food scientists know how to manipulate you into eating more.  It’s scientific fact that junk food is delicious and toxic.

Most worthwhile activities are challenging.  Intermittent Fasting is no different..

Resveratrol

Resveratrol has been all over the news.  In animals, resveratrol expands lifespan and decreases diseases incidents.  Resveratrol saved my dad from the daily agony of benign prostatic hypertrophy, and there’s substantial research showing that resveratrol can prevent prostate cancer.

Vitamin D and fish oil.

Vitamin D (and, no, you don’t get enough from milk) and fish oil are so insanely good for you that I am not going to talk about it.  There is so much science behind vitamin D and fish oil that any discussion would be banal.

If you’re not already taking 3-6 grams of fish oil and 2,000 IUs of Vitamin D a day, you’re literally killing yourself.  I use Carlson’s brand fish oil and Vitamin D, both of which you can purchase here.

Does it work?

I don’t know.  I’m too young to have prostate issues.  My blood work is insanely good.  My HDL level is 68, even though I eat egg yolks, and full-fat milk.

Subjectively, I feel fantastic.  Since starting IF and resveratrol, I feel like a wild animal.  I am more active (unusual given I have a family of depressives), less inhibited – less tame.  There is research that hunger triggers movement:

ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2009) — A body that is provided with food too often gets caught up in the maelstrom of a lack of exercise, obesity and ultimately diabetes. The trigger is a molecular switch that is controlled by insulin, a new study by scientists from ETH Zurich has revealed.

That which expands life has the wonderful side effect of enhancing it.

How you live today and how you will die tomorrow is your business.  It is possible to have a longer and better life.  It’s up to you.

Feel free to leave questions on the blog about anything he has written about.  You can also email Michael directly at cernovich@gmail.com.

Mike will post a future blog detailing a diet and exercise schedule designed to maximize the usage of this protocol

MIHWCS

In that time period he’s had some time to focus on his training and most importantly his diet.

He recently was in San Francisco investigating some new technologies and while there met with his good friend Mike Cernovich (to be featured in a blog soon) at World Gym in San Francisco for an awesome training session.

It was the culmination of 10 Days of Militant Cardio and Dieting and some photos were snapped.

We’ll be writing about the 10 Day Program in a future blog.  Let’s just say it works big time!  Possibly better than anything we’ve ever done previously.  (It’s brutal though and not for everyone)

Here are some of the photos.

Jay has never been leaner.  Weighing in at an all-time low of 187#’s.

Stay tuned for an update from Amanda (The Genesis of a Female Fitness Competitor). She is less than 3 months away from her first show and you won’t even believe what she looks like. 

We also will have an incredible article on Caloric Restriction and Intermittent Fasting from Mike Cernovich.  Mike presents some amazing new studies and information that is way beyond cutting edge.  You won’t want to miss it.

<HINT-HINT>Some of these pictures are the results of his program.

Stay tuned.

MIHWCS

She is making some amazing strides and Daddy is very proud of her.

It’s not easy to raise two little daughters and still find time to exercise and stick to a diet.

Check her out!

Stay tuned for a “diary update” from her.

Have a great weekend!

MIHWCS

We love it!

It tastes great and is perfect with a tablespoon of peanut butter blended together right before bed.

We recommend this product highly for supplemental casein protein.   For a refresher on the types of protein to consume and when, read our 3 part article “Protein for Dummies“.

You will also find these articles  at Gymtechnik.com

Stay tuned for an update from Anh after 10 days of dieting and cardio.

MIHWCS

As requested, here are 4 recently made ones.

Assisted Dip Machine

Pull Down Machine

Standing Lateral Raise Machine

Seated Shrug Machine

Stand by for the first week update from Anh with pictures.

There appears to be a noticeable difference after only 7 days of cardio and dietary restriction.  She won’t begin weight training for another week.

MIHWCS