Muscle Hack

Build Muscle, Six Pack Abs and Lose Fat Fast. No.1 Free Blog For Natural Bodybuilding

Welcome to what I hope will become the world’s best natural bodybuilding, fitness and diet weblog. My name is Mark McManus and I have started this site as a way to share insights into the oftentimes confusing world of building muscle and losing fat. Most people I meet are interested in getting answers to the following 3 questions

(1) What is the best or fastest way to build up muscle mass?
(2) What is the best or fastest way to lose weight / fat (while preserving or building muscle mass)?
(3) How can I get six-pack abs?

People either want to accomplish one of these three things or all of them; my aim is to provide the best possible answers for you. I hope to become both your coach and your buddy too .

A little bit about myself

I have been working out for about 6 years now. I’ve made many, many mistakes along the way; mistakes that you don’t have to repeat! When I first got started my goal was simple; build up muscle mass and quick!

I just lifted and ate everything in sight! After a couple of years though I started to get sick of the belly fat I had gained and wanted rid of it. My body fat percentage was increasing and I knew I had to do something about it. I have never been really fat in my life, my best guess is that I had a body fat percentage of around 22% at the time.

I tried haphazardly eating slightly less and going for the odd jog but my attempts at losing fat weren’t very scientific and consequently my results were poor i.e. I’d lose fat (a little fat) but I’d also lose some muscle (too much muscle). I tried low fat diets but they only caused me to lose fat in small amounts and again, I’d lose muscle along with it. Also, results were frustratingly slow; sometimes 1 pound per week, sometimes none. Besides all of this there was the hunger - I hate feeling hungry. I knew there had to be a better way to burn fat and obtain the body I desired.

All that changed a couple of years ago when I decided that I was going to sculpt six-pack abs no matter what. I was determined to find the single most efficient strategy for losing fat (especially belly fat) and building muscle mass. I did indeed find that strategy and it’s one I have been fine-tuning ever since.

Today I am sure that I know the best way to:

Build Muscle Mass – The diet and the exercises

Lose Fat – The calories and correct macronutrient ratios as well as the best cardio

Build Six-Pack Abs – The diet and the workouts required to lower your body fat percentage and sculpt hard, defined abdominal muscles.

If these things are of interest to you then subscribe to my feed and please come back here as often as you like. Alternatively, just add your email address into the box to the left to have my latest articles delivered free to your inbox.

All Natural

Please know that I am only interested in Natural Bodybuilding. I have nothing against people that wish to use steroids but it’s not for me. I understand those guys work out every bit as hard, if not harder, than us natural bodybuilders and so I have to respect that. However, juicing isn’t something I ever want to do.

Just Beginning Bodybuilding? Welcome to a Whole New You!

If you are a beginner in the world of natural bodybuilding – Welcome! We all were absolute beginners at one stage and so I’m here to offer you all the guidance and encouragement you need. All too often in the world of bodybuilding & fitness beginners are labeled ‘Newbs’ and condescending remarks echo around the internet’s forums about such people.

That’s not what my site is about and you will find it to be a great resource for all you beginners. Again, whether your goal is to build muscle, lose fat or just learning the truth on how to attain six-pack abs, get excited because you can have all of these things. It all starts with your decision that you will have all of these things!

For the more Experienced Bodybuilder & Fitness Enthusiast

For all you more experienced bodybuilders (natural or not), I hope to share with you the very best techniques on building lean muscle mass, the most efficient diet for muscle building & losing fat and the latest hints & tips on how to optimize your bodybuilding lifestyle for maximum results!

I think it’s also important to cut through all the hype and BS that exists out there in the world of bodybuilding. I don’t like being fed this stuff so I won’t give it to you either. If something works I’ll share it with you, if something doesn’t, I’ll let you know too.

The Focus of MuscleHack

So here, in a nutshell, is the focus of this website laid out for you.

• How to Build Muscle
• How to Lose Fat
• Sharing the best diet on the planet for burning fat & building muscle
• Muscle Building / Fat Burning Recipes to follow this diet
• How to Build Defined Abs
• Building a Community
• Audio Interviews / Podcasts
• Video (coming soon)

All, of course, for free! Let’s take each of these in turn.

Build Muscle – Probably the main focus of the bodybuilder is building muscle. Natural bodybuilders, especially, have no room for error. The only time you can be sloppy and still achieve good results is at the beginning of a bodybuilding lifestyle. Muscle tissue, at this time, is forced to grow out of adaptation to the new stress it is being subjected to. However, after around the 6 month mark you have to start getting things right. This means you must eat right, train right and alter other areas of your life too (e.g. sleep, alcohol consumption) in order to continue your success. Supplementation can play a big role for the natural bodybuilder but I not interested in hype so there are only a few I recommend and this will be discussed in upcoming articles.

Lose Fat – Ah the joys of cutting! Losing fat can be a pain in the ass, especially if you don’t know what you are doing. In attempting to lower your body fat percentage a scientific approach should be taken. This approach will give you a certainty about your results. You don’t have to wonder whether or not you’ll lose fat or if you’ll get to see those abs clearly defined when you look in the mirror, you’ll know they’re on their way! I know it because I’ve done it!

Optimum Bodybuilding Diet - I used to go year in year out on the bulking and cutting cycles like every other bodybuilder on the planet. That was until I found the dietary approach that allows me to stay lean, keeping a very low body fat percentage all year round. I manage do this while building muscle at the same time. The old days of making muscular gains all year just to lose them at cutting time are over! I think this continual frustration is what tempts many natural bodybuilders to turn to steroids; they see no way out this cycle. There is a way out my friends; you can keep your gains and build on them every year. You can lose fat efficiently and preserve your lean muscle mass. When not cutting, you can build muscle while maintaining a low body fat percentage.

Bodybuilding Recipes – Don’t know what to eat? No problem, let me help you out with that. Building muscle requires a muscle building diet and that’s one that adequately meets your daily protein requirements. Likewise, to lose fat you’ll need to get the calories and the macronutrient ratios right in order to keep your hard-earned gains while burning that flab away. I’ll provide you with meals that not only meet these requirements but are tasty too! Again, in the arena of natural bodybuilding, getting the nutritional aspect correct is going to be critical. I know there’s no room for error and I’ve learned from my own mistakes. If you adopt a scientific approach towards your diet, outstanding results become predictable. You’ll know with certainty what the future holds. Build more muscle, Lose more fat – Size coupled with Definition, that’s basically what we all want. There is a way of eating that produces this outcome dependably and I look forward to sharing it with you. I know you’ll enjoy the recipes as they’ve certainly spiced up my diet whilst ensuring optimal nutritional value.

Six Pack Abs - I will give a little more attention to abs than other body parts on this blog. This is simply because it is the body part I get asked the most questions about. It is also the body part that most people find the most difficult to develop. There is no doubt that six pack abs are the icing on the cake within the bodybuilding world. They set off a nice body perfectly; they make a good body fantastic. Why do most people find sculpting clearly defined six pack abs so hard? It’s all down to misunderstanding. A chiseled six pack is the result of two things, exercise and diet. The exercise involves abdominal workouts and cardiovascular work. The diet and cardio must result in reducing your body fat percentage. You cannot and will not create six pack abs with sit-ups alone – period! A body fat percentage of 10% or below is essential but I’ll get into all this in my articles. (By the way, I am currently writing a book which should be on sale before the end of the year. The working title is ‘Total Six-Pack Abs’ and I aim to make it a complete guide to attaining the abs of your dreams. If you have any suggestions of what you would like me to include in the book feel free to email and let me know).

Building a Community - In the future I’ll have a forum within the website so that we can all interact faster with each other. Not only can we share workout tips but we can also advise one another of where to find the right products at the cheapest prices. In the meantime there is plenty of opportunity to comment on each of my articles in the ‘comments’ section below each post. Remember you can also contact me here anytime.

Audio Section - ‘MuscleHack Radio’ is coming soon! This will be the podcast section of the site where I will be discussing nutrition, exercise execution, interviewing other bodybuilders and nutrition enthusiasts in the field and much more. Watch this space.

Videos - (coming soon) – You will be able to watch videos free on musclehack.com. They’ll also be available to watch on YouTube. Here I will speak about various aspects of natural bodybuilding e.g. diet, fat loss, building muscle, supplementation and I’ll even cook some of my favorite recipes for you!

Where to Begin

I recommend you begin exploring this site by going to the archives section to browse for articles that interest you. Alternatively, if you’re searching for something in particular e.g. ‘abs’ enter that into the search box at the top left of this page.

If you would like an estimate of your current body fat percentage then please enter your details into the ‘Body Fat Percentage Calculator’ in the sidebar. This is the U.S. Navy Circumference Method for estimating Body Fat Levels. Please note that the measurements must be accurate to within 0.5cm or 0.25 inches. Centimeters produce the most accurate results though. Bear in mind the following when doing your measurements:

• Height: Without shoes
• Neck: Taken below the larynx sloping slightly downward at the front
• Waist: Men at navel height. Women at the smallest point
• Hips: (Women only) At the largest point

So that’s what MuscleHack is all about folks. Please feel free to make suggestions for articles or anything by contacting me. Also be a part of it by leaving your comments on individual article pages. Thank you.

Mark McManus

If you're new here, please download my free workout and diet book and start transforming your body today!. Thanks for visiting!