One of the biggest "secrets" that I've learned in my 20+ years of training
(cripes, I feel old when I say that..."back in my day, weights were heavier
and I had to carry them to gym on my back, uphill both ways") is that
you CAN'T do a "straight line" type of program and expect to see long-
term results.

Your body just doesn't work like that.

If you want to make continuous progress, you need to work WITH your
body...challenge it in a way that it can predictably respond to.

My friend and fellow natural bodybuilder Hugo Rivera (author of the
EXCELLENT muscle-building program "Body Re-Engineering 2.0")
has put together a nice article talking about exactly HOW to do this...
and his advice is EXACTLY in step with the way I structure my own
programs.

With that said, check out Hugo’s trick for continuous gains below:

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1 Training Trick For Continuous Muscle Gains and Non Stop Fat Loss

A big problem encountered by bodybuilders, fitness enthusiasts, and
those looking to lose weight and get toned is the fact that they
plateau (stop making gains) after a few weeks of using a specific
program. The way to do fix that is to make use of the cycling
principle, which is the principle that forms the basis of my
successful Body Re-Engineering program.

In order to achieve consistent gains you need a routine that makes
changes in an orderly manner that takes the body to the brink of
overtraining and then allows it to recover, and thus,
overcompensate (grow) in response to the stress. These changes are
what the cycling principle is all about.

The Cycling Principle is the key to consistent and rapid increases
in muscle mass, strength and fat loss. This principle states that
in order for the body to respond optimally, it cannot be trained in
the same manner all the time and that the best way to make the body
respond is through the correct variation of exercises, volume
(number of sets times number of reps), intensity (how heavy the
weight is), and rest periods between sets.

Workout parameters are going to be determined by the phase of the
program you are in. There are going to be three phases that we will
be repeating over and over again. The first week will be an “Active
Recovery Phase”. In this phase you will only train with weights
twice a week on a full body routine before you start the next phase
which will be called the “Loading Phase”. The “Loading Phase”,
which is three weeks in duration, is going to be a high volume
phase with short rest between sets. Training volume gradually
increases over the course of the three weeks in order to stress the
body almost to the point of overtraining.

Then the next three weeks are going to be a higher intensity/lower
volume phase (heavier weights) with longer periods of rest between
sets. This phase is called the “Growth Phase”, as volume is reduced
but weights are increased in order to let the body catch up and
super compensate (grow muscle size and strength).


The Active Recovery Phase

The Active Recovery Phase has three main functions:

* First, according to leading strength expert Tudor Bompa, Ph.D.,
“you are trying to adapt the anatomy of the body to the upcoming
training so that you can create, or produce an injury free
environment”. Essentially, your tendons and ligaments should be
strong enough to support the stressful periods that will follow.

* Second, this phase is a great time to address any strength
imbalance that your body might have. This is the reason why mostly
dumbbell work will be used during this phase.

* Finally, this phase will act as a great time in which the body
will re-charge its energy stores and allow for complete physical
and mental recuperation.


The Loading Phase

* During the Loading Phase the body is stressed with an increasing
high volume of work that if kept for too long will eventually
result in overtraining and injury. During this phase, three things
will happen:

* The growth hormone output goes through the roof due to the short
rest interval between sets and the high volume.

* Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs by the body increasing the
levels of creatine, water and carbohydrates inside the muscle cell.
This phenomenon is called muscle voluminization.

* The body’s recuperation capabilities are upgraded in response to
the stress imposed by the increasing volume of work coupled with
short rest intervals.


The Growth Phase

During the Growth Phase the body is not stressed by volume. This
time the stimuli are heavy weights. If this phase would be kept for
too long eventually the body would stop making strength gains and
you would plateau. This is the reason why you always need to go
back to a Loading Phase. During this phase the following three
things will happen:

* The testosterone levels go through the roof in response to the
longer rest in between sets and the heavier weights.

* Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs by the body increasing the
actual diameter of the myofiber (the muscle fiber size) through
increased protein synthesis (Note: protein synthesis is creating
protein strands through DNA and RNA and it takes place in the
cytoplasm of the cell.)

* Since your body’s recuperation abilities were built up to the
maximum by the previous phase and the volume has gone down
dramatically, these extra recuperation abilities are used to
increase strength and build more muscle mass. The reason the body
does this is in order to be prepared for another stressful period
like the one it just went through. This adaptation mechanism is the
one that ensures the survival of the species.

* Even if you are training for fat loss, your main goal should
always be to stimulate growth. Otherwise, if you were to
drastically reduce training poundage in order to perform a lot of
high reps, there would be no reason for the body to keep the muscle
around. Because of this, you should always train with muscle growth
in mind and let the nutrition and the cardiovascular exercise take
care of reducing your body fat levels.

Using these 3 phases consistently in your training program will
allow you to get the body that you have always dreamed off in the
quickest amount of time possible; and that is regardless of whether
you are a male or a female and whether you are looking for a
competition physique or simply to lose weight and tone.

Best of luck!

Hugo

———————End of article———————

Check out the testimonials of the people who have used Body Re-Engineering ===> click here now

Stay tuned for some cool suprises tomorrow and an incredible article on
nutrition tactics that will radically alter the way you look!

Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"

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