This week I am taking a break from my usual training and focusing on improving my strength by incorporating resistance bands into each workout. Yesterday was leg day and I am ecstatic at how I performed…
I have been focusing mostly on Front Squats for the past few months and it felt great to bust out some Back Squats. 365 lbs was a personal best for me while using the resistance bands.
If you are feeling stuck in designing a personal nutrition plan to help you lose fat and gain muscle you’re in luck, because in this article I am going to share one of my daily meal plans that will help you achieve your goal.
In this video you get to go behind the scenes and look over my shoulder to see exactly how I prepared each of these fat burning and muscle building meals. Make note of just how quick and easy it is to prepare each meal. These body sculpting meals are portable as well… meaning, it’s easy to pack them in your lunch or bring with you in the car when you are out shopping.
Meal Plan To Get Ripped
This was one of my lower calorie days. Currently, while following the Metabolic Masterpiece Body Sculpting Program I spend 3 days in a 20% caloric deficit and 3 days in a 20% caloric surplus. This suits my current goal of gaining lean muscle mass without the fat.
The list of health benefits associated with the consumption of a fish oil supplement is a mile long. It’s been a staple in my diet for quite some time, along with Krill Oil. There is also a good amount of research that has demonstrated the positive impact that fish oil supplementation can have on fat loss, with evidence pointing toward increased fat burning during exercise.
Fish oil has been shown to decrease cortisol levels (stress hormone). It’s safe to say that this will also have a positive indirect impact on your fat loss since stress reduces your ability to burn fat. In addition to reducing cortisol levels, fish oil has also been shown to reduce inflammation, which is also a bonus when it comes to fat loss as well as muscle building.
Recently, thanks to Will Brink and his team, I’ve been learning about the benefits that fish oil has on gaining muscle. Will Brink is my go to guy when it comes to sorting through the bogus supplements from the supplements that actually work, so when I read through the studies that were referenced on his website it really peaked my curiosity, especially since I’m in muscle building mode right now.
There are three things that I love about the almond cookie recipes below; a) They are high in protein and super healthy, b) They curb your cravings and it feels like you are treating yourself with something sweet and tasty, c) the healthy fats are also a craving buster. Oh, and one more thing that I really like… they are super easy to make.
These recipes and the guest post below come courtesy of your fellow MM Physique Artist Stef O’Donnell, author of the Cougar Fitness Blog.
————————————————————
We all have to eat to survive. I guess that’s the problem. Why is that a problem, you’re wondering? It’s an issue because, while we know we should “eat for fuel”, we often end up “eating for taste”.
Yes, it’s true that eating chocolate cake for breakfast could be the best solution for long term fat loss and it’s been backed up by research published earlier this month. The media has jumped all over this. After all, who wouldn’t want to hear that eating junk food could help you lose weight and keep it off?
These findings may sound shocking and confusing to you coming off the heels of a big promotion in the online fitness industry that revolved around skipping breakfast as the best method for long term fat loss. Who are you to believe? Which method really works best?
We’ll get to that answer soon, but first let’s take a look at this recent research, exploring the benefits of eating chocolate cake for breakfast…
Today I have a treat for you. It’s an absolutely outstanding guest post written by Metabolic Masterpiece Body Sculpting member, 43 year old mother of twins, up and coming Fitness Rockstar, and a fellow Physique Artist Nation representative, Cassandra Healy.
“It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world.” ~ Og Mandino
How Everything Came Into Focus for Me
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result. To many, this saying is profound when we hear it because it reveals what appears to be a simple, basic and somewhat obvious truth, yet the reality of that truth in our own life can somehow elude us.
Overall, I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent person, especially when it comes to fitness. After all, I’m 43 years old and I have been at this game for some time now. True, there have been pockets of time where fitness was lower on the priority ladder for me, but overall, fitness in general, and weight lifting in particular, have always been a part of my life to some degree for over 20 years or more.
This is a guest post by the most recent addition to the Physique Artist Nation… John McLellan. Enjoy!
Hey gang. My name is John, and I’m a physique artist. I say that with total confidence, even though if you currently saw me you’d see a guy who’s still somewhat of a “typical overweight Irishman.” Three months ago I’d have never made the claim that I’m a physique artist. No way. A lot can change in twelve weeks.
Life was forever flipped upside down for my wife and me last May when our son Finnegan was born. He didn’t sleep well for the first four months of his life, and although I’d try to go jogging or hit the weight room a few times a week, I was falling into poorer and poorer health. I was beat from getting up all night and I had zero focus on anything during the day. I pounded coffee every morning, drank beers at night to fight off the caffeine buzz and I had no will power to control my eating. Even the simplest of tasks like doing dishes or mowing the lawn seemed to take monumental amounts of energy. I had depression. Even though my awesome wife and healthy son made me happy, I was in a constant fog. My head was a mess. I knew that I had forty pounds of extra fat on my body that I had to get rid of if I had any chance of getting “back to normal.” I had no plan, only hope.
Last year, as I examined my physique for lagging body parts that were preventing me from having ideal proportions and sculpted symmetry, there was no doubt that my legs required some serious improvement. To put it bluntly, I had stick legs
From that point on I made leg development a top priority with Front Squats at the top of my list. I love the way this exercise feels. I love the burn in the quads and sculpts the “tear drop” above the knee. I love that I can go deep with the movement. I love that it doesn’t bother my lower back. I love how it ROCKS my core!!! My abs really contract, especially with heavier weight and during those last few reps.
I’ve come a long way with this exercise during the past 7 months…
…Not bad for a guy who weighs 155 lbs and is in an aggressive caloric deficit right now as I prepare for my next photo shoot.
Once I shift into my next muscle building phase I will be really looking to ramp up my strength in the Front Squat and watch how it improves the development of my quads.
As much as I love the Front Squats, Back Squats are still the better of the two for building mass in your legs, which is why I still incorporate them into my training. Last month I focused on the Back Squat and was happy to see that I still had my strength even though I hadn’t performed them in 3 months.
Have you been incorporating Front Squats into your training? Do you prefer them over Back Squats? I’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts and opinions in the comment box below.
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant
About The Author
Scott Tousignant, BHK, is a Certified Fitness Consultant with a passion for transforming fitness enthusiasts into physique artists. His most recent program, Metabolic Masterpiece guides you through the process of sculpting your body into a work of art, by applying what Scott has coined, “The A.T.T.R.A.C.T. Formula.
With his synergistic, boredom busting body sculpting workouts you will melt stubborn fat and gain muscle while skyrocketing your metabolism!
When sculpting a chiseled chest is a goal of yours it pays to go “old school” and apply the time tested and proven exercises from the Classic Physique Artists such as Vince Gironda.
Physique Artists train for looks (cosmetics), take pride in their body, training, and health while embracing the journey and the joy of the process. Here are two outstanding chest exercises as prescribed by the Classic Physique Artist Vince Gironda…
If you tend to perform certain exercises at the beginning of a workout or toward the end, I encourage you to mix things up. There was a time when I would only perform Pull Ups toward the beginning of a workout because they are a very challenging exercise. Simply shifting this exercise toward the middle and the end of my back workouts made a big difference in the impact that they produced.
I’ve also been guilty of saving Dumbbell Pullovers for the end of my back workout… until now. For the Metabolic Masterpiece Prime Time Pump back workout I selected a superset between Pull-Ups and Dumbbell Pullovers to kick off the workout. Here’s the superset in action…
Today I have a treat for you. It’s an absolutely outstanding guest post written by 
This is a guest post by the most recent addition to the Physique Artist Nation… John McLellan. Enjoy!
Last year, as I examined my physique for lagging body parts that were preventing me from having ideal proportions and sculpted symmetry, there was no doubt that my legs required some serious improvement. To put it bluntly, I had stick legs 
