LegendaryLife Blog

This is a nice break from writing my next book… the series “Steroids Saved My Life” is interesting to me as it shows people totally what NOT to do when taking them.

Episode 4 – Roidboy

• day 1: 138 pounds (6.8% fat), day 19: 152 pounds, day 26 he is 9% fat
• 1350 calories per day before taking steroids, calories on cycle, 3500+, so now we know for a fact that he wasn’t eating enough to begin with and his phenomenal gains are probably more diet related than taking the 10mg pill with orange juice every morning… so the reason for him taking steroids is what?
• it took 4 episodes before he admits to being monitored by a doctor, this info isn’t on his site when I checked it, so I am assuming he is getting regular blood work done as well, but is this “mild” dosage based on a doctor’s recommendation or a bodybuilder’s cycle? These are completely different things.
• The first smart thing Peter has said so far is that he has stayed away from alcohol during his cycle.
• 4% of women like skinny men (source?)
• more testimonials at how great steroids are and how much he has changed as a result, new habits don’t form nor change in 19 days time
• a woman at the birthday party says he looks great and it’s the confidence that he is lacking
• “Steroids are a quick fix, an easy way out” says Big Red
• Runaway Taylor now says after seeing all the amazing changes that have happened in Peter’s life, he is “considering taking steroids” himself, at least he says he would use needles
• Peter’s goal is to get to 175 to 180 pounds (in 30 days). This shows his complete lack of knowledge yet again, 30 pounds in 30 days is borderline impossible, his goal is to go up 42 pounds! The faster you gain the weight, the faster you lose it as well. He will be lucky to keep 15 pounds a few months after getting off the steroids and looking at his diet and experience, my guess is he will end-up back to 140 pounds in less than a year.
• Peter’s workout routine is 5 days on and two days off… this is INSANE! It’s nice to see how little research he has done in the foundations of a good exercise routine.
• day 22: he was SICK! I wonder if it’s got something to do with over-training, under-eating and completely shocking the hell out of his system over the past 22 days.
• day 26: 147.6 pounds, he has lost a lot of weight (read above)
• Peter tried to go to the gym and was just throwing-up
• Peter is now having doubts about continuing the steroids, what I find ironic is that I am willing to wager that steroids have nothing to do with him being sick, it’s just his body going into shock from all the stress he has put on it over the source of the last month. He could have had these gains WITHOUT steroids too.

Episode 5: The Roid Team

• Peter is now, if his video is to be believed, the be all and end all expert about steroids, nutrition and exercise along with Mr. Fantastic and Suga(r). I think “The Three Stooges” would be more apt.
• Peter says now that he had the stomach flu, steroids (correctly) and the shock he did to his body over the past month had nothing to do with it (incorrect).
• Day 29, all his tests (would be nice to know what they were) show that he is perfectly healthy and fine
• day 33: 150.4 pounds, my guess is the few days off due to being sick gave his body some time to recover (hence the weight gain)
• woman is saying she doesn’t see a difference so he needs to up the dosage (would be nice to know what he IS taking and dosage)
• picture showing Anavar, HCG (and a few others I can’t read) so it looks like he is taking both injectables and oral steroids, not sure why it took 5 episodes to finally show this, the entire format of his cycle should have been made in the first episode of this show
• measurement time, day (?) and his chest is 33.5 inches, thigh 19.5 inches, biceps 11.5 inches, calves 14.5 inches, shoulders 42.5 inches… here is another question to ponder, is the woman in the show been taking the measurements during the entire month so far? If different people are doing measurements, unless they measure the SAME SPOT, these changes are utterly useless.
• “implants are awesome” says the measuring woman, so far, only Bear seems to be the only one with any type of common sense and knowledge about what is going on.
• day 1 and day 33 pictures are shown side by side… how the heck am I suppose to see a difference if the day 33 pictures is scalled-up? Where is a measuring stick or something to show an accurate scale?
• “Is viagra cheating?” question shown. If you have male impotence (which is a possible side-effect of steroids by the way), then who cares but if you are perfectly healthy, why would you need it?
• the measuring woman says that if she was a guy, she would take steroids because they make you look better and stronger. My question is what the heck do steroids have to do with looking better and stronger?
• More Steroids = More Fantastic, using this logic of more is better, why doesn’t Mr. Fantastic or Suga(r) look like bodybuilders? They are big but if you told me they were on steroids, I wouldn’t believe it because they don’t have anything that couldn’t be achieved naturally
• great wisdom from the measurement woman who says “who doesn’t love steroids… they’re just haters if they don’t love steroids”, I am guessing she must be Peter’s personal trainer as a 5 day on, 2 day off routine would make total sense if it came from her

Episode 6 – Midway Point

• showing before / after pictures, I find it hard to see a difference to be honest
• Peter says his reason for taking steroids is because of “a lifetime of being unsatisfied physically” (from episode 1) with video showing him taking 10gm pill with orange juice
• admits his form is horrible and doesn’t have much to build from (two great reasons right there why he shouldn’t be taking steroids)
• day 40 Peter says “I am doing basic exercises being monitored by my trainer… to make sure I am using the right weight… using the right form and not over-exerting himself”. If you are on steroids you NEED to over-exert yourself to the extreme, hence the reason why you need a strong physical, mental and dietary foundation established FIRST.
• routine is 10 minutes of cardio to warm-up followed by 10 minutes of stretching, one hour hitting the weights then a light circuit rotation or light stretching
• Monday: Chest, Tuesday: Back/Abs, Wednesday: Legs, Thursday: Shoulders, Friday: Arms
• this personal trainer got their degree from a 2 day weekend course, this routine is HORRIBLE to say the least. When you are on steroids, you should be exercising the same body part 2x a week as heavy as you can (recovery is very fast on steroids) and do as little cardio as possible because your goal is to gain MASS, it looks to me like his personal trainer is trying to have him gain muscles and stay lean at the same time, which is the wrong approach in my opinion… stretching should be minimal (studies have shown they can cause more damage then they are worth) and done during your weight training routine. Start with light weight (warm-up) and build yourself up from there. If he is doing a circuit rotation after a one hour workout, he is not working out with enough weight.
• bench press was 65 pounds at the beginning, after 6 weeks, 105 pounds
• squats was 95 pounds, 180 pounds after 6 weeks… complains about the bar hitting his spine (???)
• I noticed when ever he goes to the gym, he forgets to wear his t-shirt
• shoulder press weight was 20 pounds (each dumbell), now 35 pounds
• deadlifts were 85 pounds, now 160 pounds
• measurement woman says “I like big thick boys on steroids”
• Suga(r) says steroids help him to “breaking down doors, kicking-in big screen TVs, punching through car windows”
• Peter saying again he eats fast food 2-3x a day and lists all his other phobias related to food (no wonder he is skinny)
• day 32: he is complaining about being hungry all the time. If you are serious about gaining weight, especially on steroids, you should be eating 6-8 times a day, hunger never has a chance of showing-up! This shows he still isn’t eating ENOUGH.
• Over the past 6 weeks, his chest grew by 5.5 inches, thigh by 5 inches, bicep by 1.75 inches, calves 2 inches, shoulder 1.75 inches
• day 40 he says all tests show that steroids are not affecting him in a negative way, which is great! The problem with steroids isn’t when you are on them as much as when you get OFF of them
• he now says his original goals are no longer important for him, he just wants to be healthy now
• after 6 weeks, he is now 152.2 pounds, gaining a total of 13.4 pounds in a month and a half, which is perfectly do-able… he must realize now that there is no way he will gain 42 pounds during his cycle as gains will taper off around the last third. He could have achieved this in probably a two month time period without steroids by the way following a good diet and exercise routine.
• Peter says “the most dangerous part of steroids is not knowing where they are coming from” which is true but what is even more dangerous is people who have no idea what they are doing while taking steroids in the first place! I hope he doesn’t get an abscess on his butt from the injections that so far, he has made no mention of but showed bottles for. A few seconds later, he says he is getting his steroids from a good source (ei: not all from a doctor but from where he doesn’t really know where it’s coming from)
• day 36, he is talking about upping the dosage (???) He should have had his entire cycle planned far in advance with all the drugs bought, sounds to me like he is doing this week by week.
• Peter says “this entire experience has been an eye opening experience for himself and for those viewing the show”, sadly, he is educating people who are watching the show in how NOT to do things, which sadly, most people will not realize
• “I’m feeling tired and sore… I think the problem is that I am not taking enough steroids” is what Peter is thinking now. He is exercising a body that, a little more than a month ago was use to tennis and a Wii (???). Of course his body is sore, he is over-training, under-eating and has no foundations (mental or physical) to handle what is going on. The last thing he needs is more steroids!

Thoughts so far

I thought the first three episodes were bad but the way things are going now, this is just a rush to the bottom. The amount of pure BS being told as “fact” is horrible and even worse, people who are skinny like him (I was like that too), will follow his extremely uneducated and flawed advice and get themselves in big trouble physically and mentally. For instance, he managed to almost double his squat in a 6 month period, the problem is his muscles can handle this strain but not his ligaments so he is being very careless with his joints and only has his age protecting him for serious tears. His logic that because his body is screaming at him to take a break, he needs more steroids to overcome his physical (mental) limitations is incredibly flawed thinking. I am beginning to think the personal trainer he is using may know enough about physiology to give him an exercise routine that will exhaust him so that he doesn’t go with heavier weight and snap something. I am eager to see how this proceeds!

Real information about steroids, fitness and diet

• Muscle memory is great… too bad it doesn’t last
• Why I decided not to take Anabolic Steroids
• Gaining Weight 101: Tips from a fellow Hard gainer
• LL Question: Even with bad genetics, can I become the world’s strongest man?
• Better Living Through Chemistry
• Taking Time Off and Muscle Memory

Buzvia: Steroids Saved My Life (Television Series)

I realize this pure link bait but I can’t help myself when I see something so WRONG!

Background: Steroids Saved My Life

First, this guy was skinny, not dying from malnutrition, HIV or any other wasting diseases which is what steroids are medically used for. His life was NEVER in danger either before or after the steroids from what I can tell.

About “Peter” on Steroids Saved My Life

He is 22 years old, 138 pounds. His site there is not one bit of information regarding essentials like:

• weight lifting history
• diet history
• family history
• steroid dosage and course
• post cycle clomid therapy

His site lacks any measurements over his “experiment of stupidity” nor anything else that could possibly provide any type of educational information about steroids. Bodyweight isn’t a true measure of muscle mass, body fat %, actual measurements of his body parts etc are. His site also has misinformation regarding steroids as well, which I will address below. I don’t understand his reasoning behind not saying the steroid type and dosage, he is already admitting to taking an illegal substance (which I don’t think should be anymore illegal than alcohol or tobacco) so what’s the harm in being a little more specific?

Now, time for the real fun, an episode by episode review!

Episode 1: The First Pill

• Peter’s first major screw-up, taking pills over injectables. Pills are a wonderful way to fry your liver twice as fast as they are processed through your system twice vs once with injectables. He is either scared of needles or has no clue what he is doing… my guess is both. He should have called this episode “The First Plunge”.
• 22 years old, 6ft 1, 138 pounds
• Peter says “If I am smart about it, steroids is a good way to jump-start so I can grow and not be skinny anymore”. Jon says “if you are smart, you will learn how to exercise and eat right and NOT take the easy steroid way out (which it isn’t).
• Peter talks at length at how much he hates his body, this is a psychological problem, not a physical one, which steroids cannot change
• footage showing him take one small 10mg pill with orange juice which is about what your body produces anyways on a daily basis so if this is true, he is screwing up his endocrine system to replace orally on a daily basis what his body was producing anyways (????)
• day 1: 138 pounds
• day 2: 138.8 pounds (this is water weight gain, not muscle) at 6.6% bodyfat
• day 3: 140.2 pounds (again, more water) with a few more comments about how much he hates himself
• Peter says “(being skinny) is a lifetime of being unsatisfied physically”, again, more signs of depression and blaming his lack of muscle for all the problems he has had in life
• Peter says that people who have side-effects steroids are abusers who took it for a very long amount of time and aren’t doing the proper things to begin with such as eating properly and going to the gym everyday. As such, he is inferring that he has far more knowledge about steroids (hence taking pills over injectables), nutrition (hence his low weight) and exercise (playing tennis and with a Wii) so he won’t have side effects.
• Sadly, I see Peter investing far too much of his self-esteem in a pill instead of himself
• day 4: 142.2 pounds, without knowing what he is taking, the muscle gaining effects may be starting to kick in now but for sure, he did not gain 4.2 pounds of muscle in 4 days. He gained a combination of muscle, fat, water etc…
• Peter says “steroids isn’t cheating”, I completely agree generally but at 138 pounds, he readily admits to “cheating himself”. His testosterone receptors are already going on all cylinders at his age and the gains he does make don’t need steroids involved at all to achieved
• day 5: 143 pounds, he is taking far more than a 10mg little pill with orange juice in the morning
• Peter’s friend says “what’s the worst case of taking steroids? Looking fantastic! That’s it!”, now I know why Peter is taking pills, he is hanging around clueless people who shouldn’t be advising anybody

Episode 2: Side Effects

• day 8: 142.2 pounds. Mmmm… he is losing weight on steroids, this is a huge hint that his skinny problem is based on nutrition (or unknown medical condition). My guess is that he is probably reverting back to his calorie deficient diet which kept him skinny to begin with.
• admits to using very bad exercise form, “thinks” steroids are kicking in so he is basically saying he rarely went to the gym before starting steroids, if you talk to veteran steroids users, they will almost all tell you not to even touch steroids until you have spent at least a few years in the gym WORKING OUT HARD.
• Sugar Babies (who are very nice eye candy) say “if you are an informed user, taking steroids is ok” but so far in this show, all I see is misinformation and a complete lack of knowledge regarding steroids, nutrition and exercise
• day 9: 142.4, he really needs to EAT MORE!
• I like Peter, his logic makes no sense at all. He says now that his reason for being skinny is because he has concentrated so much on his mind that he let his body go, so taking steroids will bring his body to the level of his mind… a perfect zen-like balance will be achieved. Knowing this, I think his body is a perfect reflection of his mind already, he just hasn’t realized it yet.
• “…it can only do good things, he will only benefit from this”, this is from the same friend to said steroids had no side effects other than a fantastic body.
• Davin, another friends says that steroids “will teach him everything he needs to get the women”. Wow… I didn’t know that steroids could act like a virtual teacher on the opposite sex and tell you all their secrets!
• 142.2 pounds, Peter continues his enlightened rant at how detrimental being skinny has been to his life and once steroids kick-in, his entire life will change! (Jon inserts viagra music)
• Another incredibly enlightened friend (J-Rock) says that steroids side effects over the long term aren’t known but are probably ok because the FDA releases a bunch of other pills without knowing what happens to them long term either. I fail to see the relationship regarding long term use of steroids with other drugs, the effects of steroids are well known (though exaggerated)
• Peter says “you don’t see my abs yet but they will come (with steroids)”. Seeing your abs isn’t a muscle “problem” but a fat one. Bigger abdominals are nice but if you have a layer of fat over them, regardless of how muscular you are, they will still be hidden. Unless he is taking 2 grams a week, steroids doesn’t have much of a thermogenic effect on the body.
• Sugar Shane, an experience steroid user says basically anything not used properly (abused) will have side effects, which is like saying “if I don’t abuse steroids, I won’t have side effects”. Steroids at any dose will stop your testicles from producing testosterone, which is why they shrink, when you stop taking juice, guess what, the testicles don’t just pick-up where they left off, they take a long time to get going again, hence post cycle clomid therapy and GH being used to give them a boost.
• day 11: 144.4 pounds… he finally learned how to EAT!
• Peter gets a sunburn (which is preventable), I hope he prepared better that this for after his steroid cycle is over, otherwise, his gains will be very short lived
• Peter says that taking the proper precautions and supplements, he thinks, steroids will not damage his body (I think he forgot to ask his endocrine system and liver for a second opinion on this)
• Big Bear says putting chemicals in your body isn’t the right course of action, I completely agree if you don’t know what you are doing
• Peter says his testicles haven’t shrunk yet (I will take his word for it but I doubt he would notice a 1mm difference in circumference)
• Mr. Fantastic says “Steroids are fantastic… it’s only a matter of time before they become legal”
• day 12: 147 pounds, see Peter, eating right does make a difference
• Sugar Shane is doing a wonderful job of continuing the myth that steroids cause ‘roid rage relating to many incidences he boasts proudly about. ‘Roid rage is a myth created by people to excuse their bad behavior.

Episode 3: Revenge of the skinny

• Peter, in his infinite wisdom says “there is no scientific fact that steroids are really that damaging to your body… most of the evidence suggests that steroids are generally positive”. I agree, if you are being closely monitored by a doctor, get regular blood work, eat a proper diet, have a good exercise routine etc. Let’s see, it’s a scientific fact that steroids does damage your endocrine system, leads to premature baldness (if you are genetically prone to it), increases your blood pressure and affect sleeping patterns. The fact that he is taking pills instead of injectables and started at the gym after starting steroids shows he is clueless, so I wouldn’t take his word for it.
• Big Bear is the smartest guy in this show, he says Peter’s problem is in his eating habits
• Peter admits to “eating fast food 2-3x a day”… add an inability to cook to his lists of problems
• He prefers McDonalds (???) to vegetables and healthy foods because he doesn’t like the smell, taste and feeling it gives inside of his mouth… he is started to sound like an anorexic person!
• Davin says “his childish eating habits play on his childish personality”, I agree!
• Whitney says “when he is done his treatments, he will have a false sense of popularity and self-confidence”, I agree!
• day 17, Peter says “I am more hungry but can’t eat a lot of food”, this explains his lack of weight gain (before taking steroids and now that he is taking them)
• day 18, 149.6 pounds, bodyfat is 9.5% to which Peter says “I’m almost normal” (funniest things I have heard so far)
• J-Rock says “I don’t think steroids are any worse than nicotine and alcohol”, again, he has no clue what he is talking about
• Mr. Fantastic says that because other athletes and actors are taking them, that it’s ok because he doesn’t see any negative side effects on them… it’s good to know that Mr. Fantastic has access to the stars medical records!
• Picture of Carrot Top working out without a shirt, now that we know Mr. Fantastic’s role model, he is starting to make some sense now (no insult meant to Carrot Top)
• Davin says “he’s not going to rely on steroids, he’s smarter than that”, obviously Davin hasn’t been watching the show as all I see is a cycle of dependence lead-on by mis-information
• Sugar continues on this bad-ass rant at how steroids turned him from a normal person into an out-of-control monster
• Peter has no problem taking protein for the rest of his life but food is an issue for him… talk to any bodybuilder and they will tell you point-blank that protein is a supplement, not a staple
• day 19, 152. Now Peter is ranting at how his new body will create the life of his dreams, full of benefits that, because he was skinny, were not being offered to him. Look at Carrot Top for a moment, this guy was skinny as hell and he became incredibly successful THEN started working-out and becoming big. Peter again continues on the train of excuses as to why his life is shit all because of his skinny body.
• “What are the effects of steroids” to which Mr. Fantastic says “looking fantastic… I told you already!”, Mr. Fantastic has a learning problem
• day 19, calves 14 inches, waist 32.5 inches, chest 33.5 inches, biceps 11.5 inches

Series ideas

This entire show is a huge wasted opportunity full of mis-information and uses a very flawed person as its test subject. Peter needs to get over his food phobias, get a personal trainer to show him how to exercise and drop the steroids ASAP because the only thing I see from this show so far is how unprepared he really is both physically and mentally for the brick wall that is coming right at him when he gets off of them.

Real information about steroids

• Muscle memory is great… too bad it doesn’t last
• Why I decided not to take Anabolic Steroids
• Gaining Weight 101: Tips from a fellow Hard gainer
• LL Question: Even with bad genetics, can I become the world’s strongest man?
• Better Living Through Chemistry
• Taking Time Off and Muscle Memory

Buzvia: Steroids Saved My Life (Television Series)

Smoking and alcohol have NO ROLE in a healthy lifestyle.

I got a comment regarding my article about the benefits I was  having with muscle memory (Muscle memory is great… too bad it doesn’t last) and I got the following comment:

Hey man, I am wondering what brand of protein/ creatine supplement you use. I don’t want to end up buying lean body supplement which makes me lose weight. Also, what’re ur typical meals? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your question and I have broken-up my answer for you below.

Supplements

My friend left me protein that had sit under his counter for a year in a clear plastic bag because he couldn’t stand the taste, wasn’t sure if it was still good so I tried it, no problems so I finished it up. It lasted me about a month taking a 5 tablespoons a day ration (protein powder is very hard to find here) mixed with water. There was no brand so your guess is as good as mine. I took it not to gain weight (at these doses it isn’t a weight gainer) but to make sure I got a good Amino Acid profile to supplement my diet. I haven’t been on creatine for about 3 years now. I just got a call from customs that they have allowed my supplements into the country now so I should have my favorite protein (4 bottles of EAS 100% Whey Protein Chocolate 5 lbs) and creatine (2 bottles of Prolab Creatine, 300g). Creatine is creatine so just get the cheapest stuff you can find – sure it’s like eating sand but it does work. I use EAS because they are relatively cheap, good quality and I don’t get tired of the taste. Other supplements I take daily are two multi-vitamins and glucosamine. That’s it supplement wise.

Diet

Breakfast

When I have oatmeal available, I eat plain oatmeal for breakfast with a table spoon of brown sugar thrown in. I down that with either a cup of green tea or coffee which I started drinking last week for the health benefits… still think coffee tastes like shoes but if it gives me another few weeks of life on this planet, I can live with it.

Meals

I don’t differentiate between lunch, diner etc… so here is my typical meal (I eat 3 solid meals a day)

• baked salmon with rice, potato, carrot, onion (all these together on one tray in the oven) and corn – I add extra virgin olive oil to everything and honey to the salmon, corn is boiled with butter.
• chunk of beef with potato, carrot, onion – I add extra virgin olive oil to everything
• tuna sandwich, two cans, add a bit of mayo and butter
• vegetable dumplings with rice
• mystery fish, same process as baked salmon
• pasta with fresh crushed tomatoes, sauce, ground beef, mushrooms, onions, carrots and beef chunks
• chicken pieces boiled in seaweed along with onions and carrots – soup

Snacks

I eat 2-3 solid “snack” meals a day, which bumps my total meals to 5-6. I alternate one “snack” with one solid meal. When I get my protein in the next few days, I will replace two of these with protein and add one more “snack” somewhere.

• dried squid (tastes great and is cheap yet is almost all protein)
• peanuts or cashews with a 67% cocoa chocolate bar or cheese
• seaweed slices, not sure what to call it but here, it’s all the rage so I eat it too

That’s it for food, nothing processed, I cook everything and at one time or another, it was actually alive. I rarely eat at restaurants because to be quite frank, my food tastes better and is cheaper than their offerings.

Drinks

I only drink water, green tea, coffee and a few other teas. In the summer I usually drink a shot of salt water in the morning as I lose a lot of it exercising and don’t add salt to any of my food. I also drink some 100% Welches grape juice 2x a week for the health benefits (wine is bad for you, grape juice is good). I maybe drink a beer every 6 months or so and any other alcoholic breverages I don’t touch. Alcohol is a diarretic and empty calories, it has no place in my lifestyle. The only thing I smoke is my competition

Exercise routine

After a few months of not really lifting much of anything, I began my workouts slow for the first two weeks to get my mind ready for what was to come then switched to lifting as much as I could using drop sets, pyramid sets and split sets. I gained weight because I forced my body to, not because it wanted to. I exercise for about 30-45 minutes, 4x a week alternating legs and lower back / chest and back / biceps and triceps. I workout instinctively, I don’t track anything nor do I plan anything out… if I feel up to it, after a thorough warm-up, I can jump into a power lifting routine one day and something different at another. None of my workouts are the same so the body never really adapts to any one lifting style or method. If I hit a plateau, I switch from high reps to low reps, change the sets… whatever it takes. I do close to two hours of brisk walking everyday and once the weather warms-up, hike up some mountains on the weekends.

Gaining weight

I am 32 years old now and I have been working out since I was 12-16 on/off then got seriously into it at around 16. As such, I have never been obese, never injured directly because of my workouts and know my body. If you are not gaining, it’s because you aren’t eating enough. I know you are tired of hearing this, so was I, but there is no supplement (other than steroids, slin or GH) that will allow you to gain weight on a bad / deficient diet. Eat clean, eat a lot and move around! There is NOTHING more anabolic than food. About 90% of your gains will come from the food you eat, that extra 10% will be the supplements which allow you to lift a bit more for a little longer than “normal”.

Mental

Having lifted weight and been very active most of my life, I can tell you with confidence that the amount of weight you can lift is more dependant on mental than physical ability. You have to become good at ignoring what your mind is telling you when your body is saying otherwise. For instance, if you are doing shoulder presses and your mind says “ENOUGH”, you got to ignore this and keep going… if my body physically starts to shake, then I know I am coming close to my physical limit. I have never been injured following this and it has given me great gains but if you don’t know your body, have proper form or don’t have a few years of solid weight training under your belt, don’t go to this extreme. When I am not happy, I am very happy so I don’t know depression which does affect workouts big time.

Disclaimer

All the above works great for me but every body is different, you can follow what I do and get great gains or get nothing or injured. Be sure to get a physical check-up by a doctor before starting any program or change in diet. I know personal trainers are a dime a dozen so ignore them unless they have qualifications beyond an online weekend course. If you are in the gym, find the oldest and biggest guy in the gym and ask him to just review your exercise and if he (it’s usually a he) sees any things you are doing wrong, to tell you.

Other articles that may be of interest to you as well

• Muscle memory is great… too bad it doesn’t last
• Why I decided not to take Anabolic Steroids
• Gaining Weight 101: Tips from a fellow Hard gainer
• LL Question: Even with bad genetics, can I become the world’s strongest man?
• Better Living Through Chemistry
• Taking Time Off and Muscle Memory

The stupid way to gain weight

I just saw this after writing the above article and all I got to stay is this is the stupidest thing I have ever seen! I would look like this guy if I didn’t workout at the gym and watched my diet. This guy doesn’t need steroids, he needs confidence and FOOD! If this guy thinks steroids will change his life, he will have a huge wake-up call when he gets off of them and loses ALL his gains and then some. This is pure exploitation for ratings and they make light of a very serious drug. If you want to take steroids, get to 200lbs relatively lean THEN start, not at 140lbs as it means you have your fundamentals down. If you want to take steroids, don’t do it to improve your self-esteem because you will cry like a little girl once you hit clomid. If you want to take steroids, make sure you have had your kids first as a major side-effect is possible infertility. If you want to take steroids, make sure you are supervised by a doctor and your growth plates have fused (ei: you aren’t growing anymore). This guy is a horrible example, he looks green at the gym, green diet wise and is nowhere near mentally able to cope with what is about to happen to him. THIS GUY IS HEADING INTO A DEAD-END OF SELF-PITY AND BIG TIME DEPRESSION.

The Bottom Line

Advice is free but implementation isn’t.

I sure miss Stinky and Sticky... hmmm

Just a few days ago, I approved the final proof of my upcoming WoodMarvels.com self-published book. I am happy to announce, after 7 months of production (yes, I screwed-up that much via trial and error) that it’s finally print ready! I did everything myself… considering I never wrote a book before, quite an accomplishment!

…and then I ran out of HD space!

Developing products for my other site, WoodMarvels.com has lead to progressively larger chunks of hard drive space being eaten up. Not only are the models getting more complex but the added post-production work from music to the actual construction progress have just topped-up my hard drives. How much? Well, I HAD 240GB in my laptop and am now stuck playing with about 2GB! I can’t even fathom doing things in HD which is the next step towards improving the quality of the animation work that I am eager to explore… maybe even stereoscopic 3D!

Everything happens for a reason

I believe everything happens for a reason, and this case is no different. I ordered a 1TB external HD but it won’t be here for several weeks, being out in the boonies has it’s benefits Anyways, I can’t really do much animation work, forget capturing building processes or music production but guess what… 2GB is just enough space to begin working on my next book! The way I see it, I was meant to run out of HD space to give me enough “off-time” to begin and hopefully finish my first motivational book draft!

Why this book is special

My last book, which should be available online and through retailers in a few weeks time, was focused on the top selling WoodMarvels.com wood projects while this one, will be focused on motivation. I have read more than my fair share of motivational and business books… so many in fact, that I grew bored of them so, learning from their mistakes, I hope to create something mind-blowingly unique! More details later but it’s release in a few months should coincide with the public release of LegendaryLife.com (finally!). So far, this book has 140 pages but I am considering bumping it up to the mid 200s depending on some feedback I am waiting for.

Three weeks to organize some electrons

The way I see things now, I got about three weeks of heavy mental work ahead of me organizing random electrons on my screen into something legible! This is no small task but all the headaches I had with my last book taught me so many things, I think it’s do-able… I will try at least! I already have the book formatted, pictures finished and in place (close to 100 if I go with the mid-200 pages) and several decent pages of script worked-out… now the tough part, writing high quality work without repeating myself more than once! Once this book is done, I am eager to get moving on publishing my second volume for WoodMarvels.com which can be done in a few weeks time as all the work is already done (blueprints and assembly instructions). I have a lot of goals to accomplish this year, being the Australian Great Barrier Reef Caretaker among them!

Writing is fun!

Let’s see, the progression of me as a writer began ON THIS BLOG! If you go back, you will see my first few articles were rather spare and they took me hours to formulate, a few years later, with a lot of practice (including writing over 2 500 dream interpretations for DreamClue.com), I have things down to a science now. I enjoy the process of writing and want to get into more video production as well as time permits… I don’t do things half-assed so I will keep practicing in order to improve the quality of my work till the last breath that escapes from my mouth.

Things will be a little quiet for a few weeks

Without being able to do much of any modeling or other tasks I enjoy, I will be able to focus almost entirely on my motivational book, I will post regular updates on this blog but I would expect my businesses to fall quiet for a few weeks as a result. Taking a break is good so no worries!

The Bottom Line

Love what you do and do it often!

This is a great case study as to the power of muscle memory!

During the summer, I ran off to the Philippines for a few months were my diet consisted mostly of rice, bananas and water so I did the equivalent of an extreme diet while relaxing on the beaches and exploring the local area.

Taking a break from working out

I absolutely love working-out at the gym, the weight is always the same but depending on your diet, mental attittude and overall fitness, you can either lift more or less on any given day. It’s the ultimate in optimization as you can see the results quantified on a weekly basis as you tweek your lifestyle. It seems that every year, I end-up being somewhere for a few months were my diet (still healthy) gets severely limited, I sweat a lot and without a gym, lose some muscle mass and fat like I was on some sort of extreme diet. Stressing the body in this manner makes sure it’s constantly reminded and optmized and never gets use to any particular set of habits.

Results of an extended break

As expected, I loose about 30 pounds of weight over a few months time, my pants need belts, my shirts seem like they are a few sizes too big and my weight lifting ability (once I do return to the gym) would make a little girl feel strong!

…then muscle memory kicks in!

I started again at the gym two months ago, since then, I have gained back 25 pounds, almost doubled all my weights lifted since I began and my “old body” is coming back wonderfully! Two months ago, I had trouble lifting 14kg dumbbells, now I am lifting 25kg dumbells without must trouble and will probably hit the 30kg ones in a month or so the way I am gaining. My arms, chest, legs have all grown noticeably as well during this time and the fat gained has been extremely minimal due to my extremely clean diet. I have managed all these gains without the use of ANY supplements other than a little protein powder a friend left me, no GH, no steroids… not even creatine! This is muscle memory at it’s best.. I have been working out for more than half of my life so these gains are just getting back what I had, nothing “new” yet. A few guys at the gym who are still lifting what I use to lift two months ago are astonished by my gains, they come-up to me and say a few things in broken English but mostly “you’re strong!” hahahahhaha… I tell them this is nothing, wait a few more months once I hit the creatine and real protein powder! I am now just on the verge of hitting 180lbs and my goal is to be 200lbs by September with as little fat as possible.

My body type

My body is originally ectomorph which means I am a very hard gainer, naturally skinny and have a very lean build. Through years of hard work at the gym, I have transformed myself into more of a mesomorph while maintaining the traits of a ectomorph… meaning (once muscle memory is done), my gains are very hard to come by, I have to eat like crazy just to gain a little weight and the gains that I do make go away very fast once I stop. I am still gaining a lot overall thanks to muscle memory right now but that will soon taper off… too bad the 45 degree curve of progress doesn’t keep going huh? That would be amazing but as soon I approach about 190lbs, my natural limit, things get extremely tough for me at the gym, hence why this time around, that is when I will START taking the creatine and protein supplements.

The Bottom Line

Muscle memory creates steroid-like gains without the side effects.