Maximum Efficiency Training

The ultimate system for burning fat and building muscle
Met Fast Tracking

IMPORTANT: This article goes with the training booklet (PDF) so you can save time and put M.E.T. into practice - now!

© Health Sciences and Human Performance, Inc.

Attention bodybuilders of all ages and experience levels - allow me to introduce the newly-crowned undisputed world champion of training systems. The Maximum Efficiency Training System has knocked out plateaus, boredom, confusion, over-training, injuries and a host of other progress-hindering forces on its way to becoming the saviour of the physique transformation culture. Whether you have never exercised before, or you are considered a fixture at your gym, the MET System is an all-inclusive program that will guide you to a level of improvement you never thought possible.

This is no mere program that instructs you to work chest this day, train back that day and do some aerobics. It is a comprehensive system based on knowledge, experience and innovative ideas that will guide you through your physique transformation. It will tell you exactly what days to train, exactly how many sets to do, exactly how many reps each set and exactly how much time to rest. On top of that, the MET system includes a profusion of nutritional information, so you can gain muscle, lose fat and improve your overall health. The MET system also teaches you about proper supplementation for those that train their bodies. In addition, there are charts to keep records and monitor progress as well as insert progress photos. Everything is done for you, all you have to do is show up at the gym and have fun. MET does all the thinking for you, so all you have to think about is that next set. It is like carrying your own personal trainer around the gym with you. The only difference is that it won’t drain your pocketbook and tell you stupid jokes!

The developers of the MET system know the importance of having a plan and they have provided a comprehensive strategy on how you will approach your workouts in order to make the maximum amount of gains in the minimum amount of time (that is the EFFICIENCY principle). Just think about how many people go aimlessly through their workouts everyday and then complain they are not getting the results they expected. With Maximum Efficiency Training you have a precise layout of your session before you even step into the gym. You will know what exercises you are going to do, their order, how much time it will take and exactly how each set is performed. No more going to the gym and trying to decide what to do, wondering if you should do another set, or if what you have already done is enough to get results. The MET system, MET Progress Reports and the comprehensive MET course of lessons – starting in BodyFitness next month - allow you to do one thing only and that is to succeed!

Think about it for a second, what great accomplishments have ever been achieved without a plan? Do you think we learned to fly without a plan? Do you think transmitting radio signals so we could communicate across oceans happened by trial and error? Were skyscrapers built just by randomly laying bricks on top one another? Or, in order to get a degree, does a college just have you take a bunch of arbitrary classes until one day you have enough to get a degree? No, you must follow a plan of specific courses and experiences that will enable you to obtain the knowledge you need for your respective field. Take it from me, I am a design engineer for one of the worlds biggest companies (the company I work for has been voted the best company in the world seven straight years by industry leaders). No matter how small, every change we make to a product takes meticulous planning. A very explicit set of rules and steps must be followed in order to keep quality up and consumers safe. Any worthwhile endeavour needs a plan if it is to be executed successfully. In addition, if you get lucky and "stumble" upon an achievement, how are you going to reproduce what happened?

What if you do go to the gym and after years of training you have a sudden burst of gains? However, you don’t know what caused them, because you weren’t following a plan and keeping records. Was it the training, the diet, or the supplements? Even if you think it was specifically the training, what did you do differently to create the gains? You will never know, because you weren’t following a plan and you did not have a record of what you did. Do you remember exactly what weights you did last month and how many reps you got with those weights? Which exercises did you do and in what order? How much rest were you allowing between sets? What special notes did you make during the workout to allow yourself to reflect upon and learn from? Whether with your workouts, or any part of your life, you need a plan in order to reach your goals. If you leave success up to chance, then you will never learn how to reproduce those successes and keep progressing. Envisage your goals. Plan your path to them. Execute your plan. Succeed.

The MET system provides the tools you need to plan your strategy for a new physique. This month we are giving you a MET Progress Report booklet as the first step to creating your plan. Contained in your booklet are MET Tracker charts allowing you to list what body part you will train on specific days, when you will do aerobics and what days you will let your body recover. It also has charts for every muscle group with each specific level listed, how many sets you will do per level, how many reps in each set and how those sets will be performed. (NOTE: the MET levels and complete MET diet strategies will be explained in detail in my upcoming articles.) The MET Tracker charts in your booklet also include a space for notes. Let’s suppose you did an opening set with a certain weight and it was too easy. All you have to do is write yourself a note. The next time you do that exercise, you will know to start with something a little heavier. The sheet has space to track start and finish times, so you will know if you are taking too long, or even going too fast.

There is a Goals Tracker sheet. This enables you to write down your goals and attach specific dates to them. You can also write down what daily behaviours you want to change or adopt. The advantage of this is that you not only can look back and see if you are accomplishing what you set out to, you also can keep your goals firmly planted in your mind by consistently revisiting them. You can list all the short term goals you must accomplish in order to achieve your long term goals. It acts as almost a "check-off" sheet while you are following your plan. This enables you to maintain focus as well as enjoy all the small successes leading up to the main goal.

Probably the greatest advantage of the MET system is that it will work for anyone at any training experience level. It is specifically designed to be an adaptive process. There are four levels to the system that challenge you as you become more fit and conditioned. Obviously, a beginner would start with level one of the program. As they became more physically fit, they would continue to add levels. This is not a program limited to a specific group of people. Level one was created with the beginner in mind. Each level was created to target a particular rank of athlete. This way, the athlete can customize the program to match his or her degree of conditioning. A seasoned athlete could start at a higher level and then work their way to the fourth level. If all sets are done with maximum effort and with minimal rest, then even those who have trained for many years will find the Maximum Efficiency Training system challenging and rewarding. The MET system is your plan for real, measurable results in the least amount of time.

Like any activity, if you want superior results you need to put in the effort. It’s when effort is blended with the right plan or the right set of the sail that great change can take place. The MET Program is, in a way, the best set of the sail. However, after each workout, you should look at your reflection in the mirror and be able to convince yourself that you left nothing behind. There was no way that you could have performed one more rep. If a particular level instructs you to do 10 reps with a weight, then that is all you should possibly be able to do. By the time you get to rep number seven, your muscles should be failing. To get rep number eight, you should have to really push it out and give it all you got. Number nine and ten should come from deep within your spirit - you have to know no surrender. When the set is done, flex the muscle as hard as you can and hold it for a count of three. When each set is complete, the muscle should feel like it was used as a piñata. The "maximum" amount of rest between any two sets will be 1-2 minutes (see MET workout tracker booklet for set by set specifics). This keeps the workout at maximum intensity. Guess what else it does? When performed correctly it keeps you in the gym for around 30 minutes, which means you will not only have time to get into phenomenal shape, you’ll also have time to enjoy life.

The Maximum Efficiency Training Program eliminates confusion, redundancy, overlap, misinformation and wasted time. And it doesn’t mater in the least if you haven’t experienced visible results under other programs; the MET program is different. The science behind the Maximum Efficiency Training system, diet, nutrition and supplement strategies allows anyone to build a better body in far less time – irrespective of age or genetics. The key is not to try to change things in the program, but to follow it as it rolls out and, especially, don’t add more volume or sets.

There are many reasons the levels and rest times are set up as they are. Just one example would be that performing the sets as laid out generates the greatest surge in your body’s production of growth hormone (GH). Furthermore the increase in lactic acid in muscle tissue due to the specific rest times outlined between sets triggers a further stimulus for the production of growth hormone. When performing the 30 minute session, keep in mind the correlation between lactate build up in the muscles and growth hormone. As you increase lactate levels by restricting rest times to one minute or less you will trigger your pituitary glands to substantially increase growth hormone production. Now, when you add to that the supplement Primestrin+ and ADL3 from Venice Beach, things really start to take off. Primestrin+ further increases Growth Hormone (GH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone levels. ADL3 blunt cortisol secretion, reduces muscle soreness/muscle break down, increases nitrogen retention and protein synthesis while boosting your immune system and overall sense of well being. It’s the most basic combo to take on this program when mass building is your goal.

Remember, GH is a potent stimulus for building muscle mass and strength. It’s also a powerful hormone responsible for reducing body fat levels. Other factors associated with GH include increased bone and tendon strength, increased drive and performance, faster healing of injuries, boosted immune function, improved cholesterol and a lowering of blood pressure. Here is the important take home point, though, if you want to maximize your growth potential: because cortisol can suffocate or kill your GH release, you want to be sure ADL3 is being used daily to effectively blunt cortisol and keep the flood gates open while on the MET program.

M.E.T. SYNOPSIS

In the MET Weight Training Program each body part is worked fully *once each week. Each Met Weight training workout follows a very specific format and utilizes the agonist–antagonist principle, which is based on the biomechanical relationship of specific muscles.

As many experts in the field of exercise physiology have noted, the Maximum Efficiency Training Method provides athletes with a superior way to train a muscle for better strength, growth and joint longevity. It’s more scientific and is clearly superior to the old push/pull method so many people still follow today.

The key points athletes are advised about when getting on board with the MET Weight Training System are:

1) They must train the muscles on both sides of the joint during a single training session.
2) Major body parts are trained before smaller or minor body parts.
3) Each body part is worked with absolute intensity and then is given the optimal time for recuperation and growth given the order in which each body part is exercised.

Workout sessions with MET are typically broken down so that Back, Biceps and Triceps are worked on day 1. Quads, Hamstrings and Calves are worked on day 3, and Chest, Shoulders and Abs are worked on day 5. On scheduling the MET workouts the weight training sessions are performed on Monday Wednesday and Friday and if one’s goals dictate, MET Aerobics sessions are done on the alternate days from the weight training sessions, i.e. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Again, I emphasize "if one’s goals dictate".

The point here is that not everyone will need to include aerobics into their program three days a week. The number of weekly sessions will ultimately depend on your individual goals. Simply put, if your goals are to reduce body fat while improving your overall tone and shape you’ll want to do three sessions a week as outlined below. If your body fat level is pretty much where you want it to be, but your goal is to maintain or improve cardiovascular fitness while continuing to transform your physique, then two sessions per week are in order.

Persons who seem to be able to eat almost anything and still stay slim, and whose goal is to gain weight and increase overall muscle mass, should limit aerobic sessions to 0 - 1 session per week - maximum. Before starting, you’ll need to decide where you fit with your cardio, in terms of these three categories and your overall fitness goals. The three categories are pretty clear-cut, so I would suggest you take a moment to decide if 1, 2 or 3 aerobic days suits you best. Then, just keep that in mind, so that when we get to laying out your first 6 week training cycle, you’ll know exactly what number to plug in for your customized program.

As you start to read the MET Lessons for Success, starting next month, you will come to see that the key to success in the MET Training Program involves following the MET Program as it is laid out and to always train within your ideal level.

Intensity is also important. There are a number of intensity techniques you’ll be introduced to as the lessons unfold. With MET Training, intensity is far more important then exercise volume within the frame work of a three part system. In the case of MET Target Aerobics, the possible time frames are 12,18 or 24 minutes (plus the warm up and cool down) each with advancing degrees of intensity. As your body adapts to one level, that degree of energy expenditure or force will no longer seem to be an effort.

In short, with MET, your body will be steadily adapting and mastering advancing degrees of physical stress and getting stronger and leaner in the process. As the weeks go by, what seemed to be a challenge at the start will no longer seem difficult. When this happens you’ll know it’s time to move up a level so that once again you can challenge your body and thus take your physique to the next higher level.

BETTER RESULTS COME NOT FROM TRAINING LONGER BUT BY TRAINING, EATING AND SUPPLEMENTING SMARTER!

With Maximum Efficiency Training, after you’ve moved through all the lower levels to the advanced level, the goal then is to increase the intensity (MHR) and not to just randomly add more volume or time onto the sessions. With MET Target Aerobics, the most one would need to do cardio for is 30 minutes three days a week. This includes time spent in the warm-up and cool-down phase. The length of time spent on a machine does not correlate with improving fitness. If that were so, the fittest people in the world would simply be those who can stay on the treadmill the longest. With longer and longer workouts these people would just burn out in due course, have to take a complete break from exercise and then start all over again. How much sense does that really make? With MET TARGET AEROBICS the key is always to train smarter and more efficiently – not to just exercise longer. More is not better with cardio - and so it is also with the MET Weight Training System.

Also, by following the upcoming MET lessons you’ll know exactly how to eat and what supplement strategy to take at specific times to get the best results. The MET Diet, which I’ll cover in depth in part one, will outline exactly how to eat to build muscle and loose body fat.

When following the MET Diet, you quickly start to feel and experience the benefits sound eating has on your body and mind. Not only will you be more mentally alert and lose body fat (and keep it off), you’ll experience a new level of stamina and energy throughout the day. With the MET Program, you really feel and see the effects that correct nutrition can have on your health, fitness and physique. In addition, you’ll come to see from your own experience why food and targeted absorption enhanced supplements are so important in the transformation of your physique.

THE MET WEIGHT TRAINING PROGRAM

In the MET Weight training program there are four levels (eight possible sets in total per body part) and, as mentioned earlier, each body part is worked completely once a week – no more and no less. During each workout we are trying to fully stimulate muscle fibres and in time create an adaptation response. Studies prove that the stimulation required to signal growth happens fast, or not at all. Hence, the maxim, "You can work out hard or long." It’s either one or the other. For best results you want to perform brief but intense workouts and follow a very specific sequence or pattern when exercising in order to fully maximize growth and recovery. All this will be explained in more detail in my future columns. For now, just keep in mind that to balance optimum training intensity and optimum muscle recovery you have to give up the notion that marathon workouts produce the best results – they don’t.

The body has a limited "natural" ability to recover from physical activity. If you continually do marathon workouts you’ll over-stretch your body’s recuperative ability and thus limit your growth and progress. This is why it’s important to accurately access which of the MET levels you should start at and always be on the look out for the over-training cues, which you’ll be learning about in the MET Lessons.

If your body is easily handling one level, then plan to step it up to the next level. On the other hand, if you are noticing some of the over-training cues and your body is not recovering fast enough, simply bring it down a level.

The MET Charts that you use to follow and record your MET workouts on are in the booklet attached to this magazine. In addition, you could print the free MET Progress Report Training Charts available on the Web, which I will talk more about in my column.

Virtually everyone can find their own individual starting level in the MET Training System. Of course, there will be a little bit of trial and adjustment going on in the first week, that’s normal. The key is to pick a level based on your training experience and get your feet wet by doing. You can always adjust things later. Two big factors to be aware of initially are your starting fitness condition and your muscle recovery capacity. Always be honest with yourself. Pay attention to what your body is telling you and use this information wisely. The best results always come from training within the level right for your body.

Let’s now look at the key components of the MET Weight Training Program and then I’ll take you step by step through a typical MET workout with all the bells and whistles.

The Two Side (agonist/antagonist) Factor:

The MET Program includes a number of important techniques and each workout will be set up in such a way that by the natural unfolding of the program you will be training more intensely and experiencing better recovery between workouts.

This is accomplished in several ways. As touched on earlier, the program follows the MET two side (agonist/antagonist) method. This means we are not only training for muscle strength and size, but also maintaining the balance of the joints. How does this translate into better and more efficient workouts?

First, the whole purpose of the muscle is to move your bones. Each muscle connects to two bones creating what is known as a "bone-lever" system. The muscles are connected to the bones by your tendons, which allow the force of muscular contractions to be transmitted from muscle cells to the bones. The bones come together at the joints where they are cushioned by cartilage and other material that stops bones rubbing on each other.

There is a muscle on each side of the joint to allow the bones to move in more than one direction. As an example, your biceps and triceps control most of the motion of the forearms. When your biceps contract, it pulls the forearm towards the shoulders. As the triceps contracts, it pulls the forearm away from the shoulder. While either the bicep or tricep is contracting, the other one is elongating. That is what creates the "two-sided" agonist-antagonist relationship. The muscle that is doing the majority of the work is called the agonist, while the muscle group opposing it, and helping with balance and control, is called the antagonist.

Accordingly, when training your biceps, you will indirectly, and to a lesser degree, be training your triceps. As such, if biceps and triceps are trained the same day as outlined below, and not separated out with biceps worked on day one and triceps on day 3, you can be assured not only of greater benefits on the day of the workouts, but also better recuperation between workouts. If you’ve trained triceps alone, you’ll notice that invariably you get a pump going in your biceps and visa versa. It’s because you are indirectly bringing biceps into play when training triceps and triceps in when training biceps. The same goes for quads and hams, or chest and shoulders. So, by following just the first principle alone and grouping your muscles more efficiently when training, you will automatically experience better and more complete muscle recuperation between workouts. You’ll also experience greater muscle stimulation and pump on workout days, which translate into better growth in each of these muscle groups.

Before we get into the core work out, I would like to go over the proper technique for performing a repetition. There are two parts to a rep, the positive and the negative. The positive is when you are doing the work. For example, when you push a barbell off of your chest while doing bench presses. The negative part is when the weight takes over and you are resisting gravity in order to keep control of the weight. This is when the bar is on its way down towards your chest and you must resist against it, or it will crush you.

Get your breathing pattern timed with your reps. The beginning of a rep is when you are in a "locked out" position preparing for the negative component of the rep. At this point, you should breathe in through your nose and completely fill your lungs with air. Then, you lower the weight to a count of two seconds and do not expel any air. When the weight is at the bottom of the movement (the end of the negative), you pause for a fraction of a second. Then, you erupt the weight upwards (the positive) and release your air as the weight moves to the completion of the rep to the same cadence as the negative. It takes some practice, but having a breathing pattern in time with your reps makes it easier to get oxygen into your system while training.

Alrighty then, let’s take you through a sample muscle group. Since Chest appears to be a favourite of both men and women, we’ll use that as our model. We’ll pick a basic mass movement to start Level One with. I choose Incline Barbell Presses, since most people have a difficult time developing the upper are of the chest.

For the first set, our MET chart instructs us to do 15 reps. The first set is also your warm up set so you would choose a weight that is NOT your all-out max but rather one that will allow you to comfortably stretch the muscles and really get the blood flowing.

While performing the 15 reps you want to use the time getting your mind connected to the muscle group. Feel every motion, every contraction. Start envisaging what you want that muscle group to look like. Get your concentration levels at their peak. The only thing that exists in your life at this moment is you and your ensuing battle with the weights. The only thing you can think about is the muscle group you are about to train and how you want it to feel when you are done.

After you set the weight back in the rack, you only allow one minute of rest. Then, you add a little more weight and grind out 12 more reps. That will complete Level One.

Once again, rest for only a minute. Now, for set three you are shooting for 10 reps. Naturally, you again slightly increase the weight. Choose a weight with which you can really only do 7 or 8 reps and the final two you squeeze out through pure determination. In good form and using all out effort you pump out 10 of those bad boys. Right, now we are breaking a sweat and feeling a little bit of a burn. The chest is starting to fatigue and is filling up with blood. The right thing to do is to add more weight and keep the fun going.

The second set of Level Two (your fourth set since you started) will consist of eight reps. While maintaining careful strict form I lower the weight all the way down, hold it for a split second and then press it up. At the top I squeeze my chest muscles and then slowly bring the weight down again. By the time I reach my fifth and sixth rep I’m starting to feel the burn and by the time I start my eighth rep it’s an all-out challenge.

Now, we are done with Level Two and our chest is swollen up and feeling the muscle pump. If you are a beginner, then for the time this is where your chest workout would end.

For intermediate lifters, before proceeding onto level 3, we allow two minutes of rest (to be nice!). Think of it as giving you more time to think over what is about to happen to you next. In Level Three, you will choose two movements and do what is known as a superset. This is when you select two movements for the same body part and perform them back to back without any rest. For chest, we will do Flat Flies and Flat Dumbbell Presses. We will start off with the flies, since we just got done doing four sets of a pressing movement. As you think about your set, also think about how good it feels to work so hard and take another step towards reaching your goals.

Begin Level Three by smashing out 10 reps of Flies. As soon as you complete number 10, you set the weight down, grab the weight you use for presses and try to grind out 8 reps of those. On this set the chest muscles are already feeling a deep burn and by the time I hit reps six, seven and eight the chest muscle are absolutely on fire.

Upon the completion of this last set in level three your chest should be feeling like burnt toast. If you are set to do level four then know that this is not a level for beginners. To do the bare minimum requirement of level four you have to get yourself set up and immediately dive into 8 reps of Flat Flies. By the mid-point in the first set of level four your chest muscles will be screaming for time out, but ultimately you know that this, right here, right now, is where the greatest growth occurs. If you are a level four athlete, then you know only too well that caving is not an option. You pass beyond reps six and seven and with all honesty, if you’re doing it right, you should just barely be able to squeak out your final rep number 8. Level 4 is more mental than physical and when you introduce the MET high intensity techniques (which you will learning about in the later lessons), it becomes an almost surreal experience.

After I put the weight down, I know immediately that I have one last set to do. Remember, advanced athletes, this set is a super set and resting at this point is NOT an option. If it is absolutely a must that you rest then that’s OK. Rest, but just be sure to make note of it and take the next work out back to level three and then try to work forward again from there. However, if you are hungry for iron and still good-to-go, then let’s finish off…

As soon as I complete number 8 on the flat flies, I set the weight down, then I grab the weight I set aside for the presses and prepare to begin. I take a deep breath, lay back and boom - one, two ,three, four! By the fifth rep the pistons are shaking and you should be feeling the resistance big time. The muscles are being pushed to their limits and boiling over big time, but that’s okay because this is the path I chose. The path of breaking out of the norm and saying "I want more than to just be average. I do not wish to walk along side of the ‘normals.’ Nothing but nothing can beat a person that can’t be beat. See the end result again in your mind and complete the set at 100% intensity, just as you saw it completed your mind before you started the workout.

At this point you can’t help but sit there and smile. You made it! You did what most mortals do not dare. You are now one step closer to that physique you always dreamed about. The feeling of pride and accomplishment takes over. Yes, you tested your inner strength and discipline and you grew, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and you did it all in less than 15 minutes for a body part. Like I said before, Efficiency.

The MET system is your tool for the growth process. It teaches you how to create a plan, follow it to achieve goals and stay with your plan until the ultimate goal is realized. This system is more than just a recipe for improving physically. It educates you in the process for improving your total life quality. If you are able to put together a complete plan and follow it to achieve physical goals, then you will be able to do the same for all aspects of your life. Being successful with the MET system will allow you to prove to yourself that you can use this type of process to deal with all of your future endeavours.

As you notice, I keep referring to this as a system. That’s because it is more than just a program for using weights. There are also aerobics for cardiovascular training, nutritional lessons, supplementation strategies and many other lessons that mentor you in your quest for optimal physical fitness. I have laid out here enough for you to get started, but the higher levels of MET have yet to be told. In this article I was only able to scratch the surface. To learn the complete steps of how athletes build and then maintain lean, muscular physiques in half the time, I would encourage you to view the upcoming MET Lessons as a kind of a correspondence course. By buying BodyFitness your tuition is paid and now all you have to do is join in on the ground floor – lesson one. Next moth it begins. However, you can take the booklet and what you learned so far in this issue and start putting it into practice TODAY!

How about the alternate day MET Aerobics System? You are in for a treat because the information you will learn in the lessons ahead will change the way you think about aerobics. I’ve been carrying it out religiously in my training for quite some time and I just found out that this method, which I will be sharing with you in the upcoming lessons, was used by the Japanese speed-skating team. It was actually the only cardiovascular conditioning exercise regimen these Olympic-calibre athletes followed. This awesome little program not only conditioned them both aerobically and anaerobically, which directly spiked their overall power output dramatically, it accomplished this in as little as 1/10th of the time! The results were superior to anything else they had previously tried. Best of all they experienced an overall reduction of body fat in record time.

If you are frustrated with the results you’ve been getting in your old training program, maybe now is the time to jump ship and try something better. If you do, you can be assured that I and other top trainers will be right here as your personal MET coaches, providing more and more information (and motivation) on how to master the MET System and reach your ultimate physique transformation goals. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

It’s often said that practice makes perfect. That’s not quite correct. It’s perfect practice that makes perfect. You must have a well-researched and thought out plan. You must have a well put together system that allows you to execute that plan flawlessly. Above all, you must have the desire and fortitude to stay with the plan in the face of the adversities that arise.

The Maximum Efficiency Training System is the ideal plan to support you in your physique transformation goals. It will be your complete guide to efficient workouts, diets and supplementation strategies to get you to where you want to go in the least amount of time. So keep tuning in each month, your journey to excellence commences…