The M.E.T. - Maximum Efficiency Training System

Blueprints for Success
How To Completely Transform Your Body and Your Life!
Lesson 7

So far we have covered golden rule number one - the two sided agonist/antagonist factor ­ and how it leads to superior results than the traditional push/pull training theory.

We have also stressed the importance of intensity and knowing how to train within your MET level and also when to stop! Knowing how to balance training intensity and muscle recovery is essential for continued progress.

And let’s also recap rule number two - always train major muscle groups (back, chest and quads) first in workouts. This way you have more energy to put into these body parts. They require more weight and effort given the greater number of muscle fibres.

Now, here are rules three and four:

MET Rule 3: Always go to peak ‘positive’ failure

Just how hard should I push and how far should I take each set when training with weights? The answer is, while maintaining good form, you always go to peak ‘positive’ failure (PPF). This is vital to your success in the MET System.

What is PPF? In weight training, it refers to carrying a set to it’s absolute ‘positive’ conclusion with your full physical power. For example, if the set calls for 10 reps and as you approach the tenth rep you realize you have enough strength and energy to do more, you keep going until you can do no more reps.

On your MET tracker sheet (download them under the m.lackner tab at www.bodyfitness-uk.com), if the MET program calls for 10 reps and you manage 15, make a note of it. Then, the next time you train that body part, you simply adjust the weight up by approximately 10% so that the new weight for that exercise will bring you back into the ideal target rep zone.

So remember as you train, you want peak positive failure ­ nothing less will do!

MET Rule 4: Squeeze each rep and deeply feel the exercise

This will take some experience for newcomers to weight training, but the time spent mastering this technique will be more then worth it. Real change, with regards to muscle size and physical shape starts with muscle contraction. If you don’t squeeze and contract (and fully feel) the muscle, particularly at the contraction point of every exercise, you are reducing the level of results you are going to receive from performing that set.

Exercise form and the level of "feeling” and muscle contraction is always more important then the amount of weight used. In fact, you don’t want to even think of the weight as either being heavy or light. The words heavy, or light, are really very relative in relation to effectiveness.

Performing each set with meticulous form while fully contracting at the top and stretching at the bottom and feeling the heat build up as you squeeze out the last few reps is what great work out are made of. It’s not about grunting and groaning just to see how much weight you can throw around. That really is a waste of time and ultimately leads nowhere. You’re always best to leave that kind of stuff to the weekend warriors who show up for the odd appearance but never manage to change their physiques.

For steady growth and change remember, fully squeeze at the contraction point of each rep and stretch at the bottom. Go for the form and feel of the exercise to stimulate muscle growth and never compromise either for the sake of using too heavy a weight. You’ll be far happier with the end results and your joints will be much happier thanks to your intelligent choice.

Before I close this month, let me just touch on something I was asked at the gym yesterday. It was: “If I eat well every day with very little, if any, junk food, what reason would there be for me to take supplements?”

The answer I gave was that a number of studies based on blood tests have shown that not only people who exercise regularly, but most people, are actually low in various nutrients and can benefit greatly by taking supplements. Now, for people who exercise on a consistent basis, the need becomes even greater.

Regardless of what the old-time dieticians used to say, there is very solid science connecting peak performance and the use of quality, absorption-enhanced supplements.

I just read that now even the US National Institute of Health recognizes the important role dietary supplements play for physically active people. As I have explained in past lessons, the nutritional content in fruit and vegetables today is not as high as in the past. Issues such as with soil quality play a big role in the end product. The fact is that much of the soil in the US and other countries is seriously deficient in essential nutrients, and we in turn are starting to come up short at the level of the physical body. How the food was prepared and whether it was sprayed with pesticides are among various factors also affecting the nutrient content of fruits and vegetables.

When training and dieting, you need to ensure you have an adequate and regular supply of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Relying exclusively on regular food these days, I believe, is just not enough. I mean, if you went through the steps of having a lab dissect and measured each gram of food you ate for its nutritional content, in order to ensure you were getting all your nutrients, you would quickly find that in order to reach that level each day you’d have to eat way too many calories.

That’s where quality supplements can help and why I strongly support use of strong, absorption-enhanced supplements such as VMA. VMA is an all-in-one, absorption-enhanced mega vitamin, mineral and antioxidant formula and I use it every day along with absorption-enhanced UDA protein powder

The fact is that people who exercise regularly automatically require more nutrients then sedentary types. Throw dieting into the equation and supplements becomes even more important.

Next month: recuperation

That’s it for this month. Join me next month as we go through the last of the five MET golden rules, which is titled: Muscle recuperation: a powerful but most misunderstood link.

Until then, please implement what you’ve learned so far and train with passion. Work the plan, make it a habit and it will work for you! With right knowledge backed up with real determination, all boundaries start to fall away. Use the days when you don’t feel like training as an opportunity to test and strengthen your power of mind.

Go the distance and radically transform your physique this year by committing to the MET plan. It’s worked for so many hard gainers, it worked for me and it can work for you! I’ll see you back here next month.