The Best Of MuscleHack

by Mark McManus on July 21, 2010

I’m just back from a short holiday. Good times!

I ate loads of unhealthy food and picked up a few new freckles from all the lying around in the sun I did.

I beat my brother at golf, tried my hand at snorkeling (couldn’t breath properly!), and climbed my first wall – 15metres/50 feet; scared the crap outta me but I made it to the top.

Before the climb. Me in yellow tee. Decided to shave my head as well!

An eventful time. I’m still adjusting to normal reality again!

I’ll be back to regular blogging next week but I thought I’d put together a ‘best of’ post in the meantime. These are a combination of the most popular and most important articles I’ve written.

I’m always surprised at how many people haven’t read through the most popular articles; I’m judging this by the questions and comments I get.

If you haven’t read any of the posts below, grab a cup of tea or coffee and settle in for a good read; you’ll be glad you did!

Before I start, if you haven’t read the new THT volume cycle you’re missing out on gains! Go here: THT Volume cycle. The idea is to cycle this workout with the lower volume approach of Total Anabolism 3.0.

TRAINING

You’re never too advanced for a check up on muscle-building fundamentals – How to Build Muscle

Just what is “Overload” exactly? You NEED to know.

The Power Of The Anabolic Window

What the heck is P.O.P. and why if affects your gains - BIG TIME!

Certainly one of the biggest successes of MuscleHack in 2009 was the “Arms Blast Experiment“. This experimental Bicep & Tricep protocol is now available to all in the booklet, “The Arms Blast Experiment Revealed“.

The importance of training to failure. Are you doing it? Are you REALLY doing it?

Like controversy? The current trend for compound-only workouts are NOT optimal for muscle growth (though compound exercises are great). Go here to see why I defend isolation exercises.

FAT LOSS & CARDIO

How long does it take to get a six-pack? Hint: It’s not as long as you think if you know what you’re doing

The case AGAINST cardio. I expanded upon this and added even more reasons in the T.A. 3.0 book. In short, cardio sucks.

My article is featured above the logo: New Anabolic Fat-Blasting Diet!

It’s inefficient at best and counter-productive at worst.

FOOD & DIET

The ever-popular M.A.N.S. carb-cycling diet. A version of this diet was also featured on bodybuilding.com and was one of the cover stories in the December 2009 Iron Man Magazine! Strange thing is, I didn’t even know I had been published in the magazine until someone else read it and congratulated me!

Like carbs too much to cycle them. You need the G.L.A.D. diet – build muscle and lean out like these 2 US soldiers.

Food! All killer MuscleHack recipes can be found HERE!

SUPPLEMENTS

My guide to the Best Bodybuilding Supplements.

What is Creatine and how does it work?

MISC.

Ever hear people say you’re genetics suck? Or ‘that guy is a genetic freak’? Find out what those genetic factors are here.

One of my favorite testimonials here!

Enjoy the articles and I’ll be back with you guys real soon!

And if you’re about to head to the gym remember to BREAK ALL RECORDS!

Mark

{ 14 comments }

1 Samuel July 21, 2010 at 9:47 pm: Really enjoyed this write up Mark. Yes I’d missed a few of those articles which I’ve now bookmarked for reading tomorrow. Your vacation sounded great btw! Thanks
2 calfred July 21, 2010 at 9:53 pm: Whoa… Jennifer Nicole Lee is hot indeed…!
Sorry Mark. I’m a guy.
I can’t believe a super fit guy like you find snorkeling difficult!
Really like your site.
Congrats on your article being published on the mag.
You have seriously low body fat percentage.
You’re a great role model to many.
3 Mark McManus July 21, 2010 at 10:01 pm: @Sam. Thanks.
@Calfred. Thanks man. Yep, couldn’t get the hang of it at all. Kept taking in salt water all the time too – almost made me sick. There was a girl about 10 yrs old was better than me at it! I was great at climbing though – I just pretended not to be afraid.
4 Antonio Wright July 21, 2010 at 11:11 pm: Mark, it’s good to see you back! I was worried for a bit man.
5 Mark McManus July 21, 2010 at 11:21 pm: I’m not going anywhere, Anthony. Good to hear from you man.
6 Antonio Wright July 21, 2010 at 11:28 pm: Check out my latest photo gallery pictures.
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/photos/view-user-photos/s/AntWrig
7 Adam W July 22, 2010 at 12:30 pm: Mark – this is an awesome “best of”!

It’s good to hear that you took some time for yourself. We all need that once in a while.

Rock-wall climbing is wicked! We have one at my gym, actually. I’ll try to get someone to get some pics the next time I go up. It’s been a while!

Catch you later, bud!

Adam
North Bay, ON, Canada
8 Mark McManus July 22, 2010 at 1:49 pm: Thanks Adam. I loved the climbing. It really required good forearm and finger strength. Put some pics up on Facebook if you get a chance.
Mark
9 Mark McManus July 22, 2010 at 4:58 pm: @Antonio. Great pics man. You leaned out well and still kept your size. Were the pics professionally done?
10 John Currie July 22, 2010 at 11:52 pm: Hi Mark. Been doing MANS for 3 weeks now. I’m 43 years old and at 6′ 3″ was weighing in at 228 with 26% body fat. Now a mere 21 days later I’m down to 215 and 22.5% body fat. MANS truly is amazing and I feel great. After a diet consisting of crisps and beer I’d gotten totally out of shape but your plan is my saviour. My wife even remarked yesterday that she could see my ABS. After 3 weeks! I can’t wait to see what I look like after 3 months! All I can say is thank you mate. I have a question for you -i have just purchased a vibration plate and am wondering what you think of them? Will it help? Thanks again.
11 Mark McManus July 23, 2010 at 11:03 am: @John. That’s absolutely brilliant mate. So happy for you.
Not good news on the vib plate though. There’s no free lunch. You need to be the one moving your muscles for it to have any metabolic effect.
Keep up the great work – hope you take pics so you can see the contrast between when you started and when you will finish.
12 Shalin July 24, 2010 at 1:12 am: Hey Mark, was looking over the archives and have a quick question. As you stated with all muscles, specifcally biceps (cable preacher curls) and chest (pec deck) our goal should be: “ensure that we are fighting against the resistance at the peak contraction point i.e. the point where there is maximal muscle fiber recruitment (RESISTANCE AT PCP)” So I’m wondering if it would be wise to do a set and just hold the position at PCP for longer than just one second as you do in the videos, instead to maybe 20, 40, or 60 seconds instead of doing reps for just one set. Seems that if the PCP is when I’m getting max muscle fiber recruitment, it would benefit to hold the position as long as possible. I tried it a few times on my last sets and felt the muscle really burn and feels like it is producing even more microtears in the myofilaments (POP). Thoughts?
13 balu July 24, 2010 at 1:19 pm: glad you are back Mark
i should say that i am totally confused with THT3.1.ie in THT2 you said that you believe 6-9 sets is the optimum set -range for any muscle group for maximum hypertrophy,n i guess this same principle is followed in THT3.1.but btw THT3 came as a surprise with just 1set for a particular muscle group.I read the entire volume and i found it really interesting and i am into the 3rd cycle of the training with noticeable gains.i was more or less expecting a change in the workouts rather than a change in the routine as such in THT3.1.
anyway i am just going to do as you say n incorporate THT3.1 into my workout as soon as i get over with the present cycle.
Thankyou Mark for this wonderful website
14 Josh Bulloc July 25, 2010 at 7:52 pm: Mark,

I love how you have turned your passion and are using the web for your business. Keep it up, I follow you every week for great muscle building tips and to examine how you present your web presence.

Josh Bulloc
Kansas City, MO