The MET - Maximum Efficiency Training System

How To Completely Transform
Your Body and Your Life

Lesson 13

This article is a small part of a much larger series of articles to follow on maximum efficiency training (met) and is a ‘must read’ for any serious athlete.

Join the thousands who are packing on muscle and burning fat - lightning fast - using the MET blue prints for SUCCESS!!!

Is it possible to achieve even greater results with less time spent in the gym? In this breakthrough training article mike lackner reveals the radical training system and supplement secrets behind venice beach nutritional/muscle research.

Maximum... Efficiency... Training… Remember these three words, you will learn to live by them! Soon you will be shaking your head in disbelief at the people in your fitness centre that are wasting their time with the futile effort of their time-consuming (I should say, time wasting) marathon workouts! The days of the "gym-rat" are gone, it's time for the "gym-cobra" ­ make a quick strike and move on. Thanks to studies by scientists such as those associated with Venice Beach Research, it is now becoming evident that you don't need to spend hours in the gym everyday in order to get the body you want. With the proper regimen and intensity, just 30 minutes a day could make all the difference you need in order to maximize your gains. Additionally, Venice Beach Research has put together innovative high quality nutritional products and targeted programs that will maximize your body's recovery. This means maximum gains in a shorter amount of time.

What is Maximum Efficiency Training? Well, I'm glad you asked. It's a system targeting the beginning to advanced athlete that will enable you to put on size and strength quickly and, more importantly, safely. Also, it will keep you in the gym for a lot less time than you thought. Now, you will have more time to show your body off outside the gym, and do the activities you enjoy. Unless you are the type of person who likes to spend two hours doing things that only require 30 minutes with greater efficiency, or if making three trips to the store instead of one makes more sense to you, then you probably won't like this system. However, if you want BIG gains in LITTLE time, then keep reading. I’m going to give you the best information you have heard in a long time, and the Maximum Efficiency Training (MET) System will even be charted out for you for easier understanding.

The MET System will not only help shock your body into sustained growth, it will keep you in the right level or zone, cycle by cycle, so you avoid over-training. Too many beginning athletes make the common mistake of trying to train like some veteran athletes. They figure, "Hey, if so-and-so looks the way they do, and they train in a certain way, I’ll train like they do so I can also look like them!” What they don't realise is that there are many other factors involved. In addition, those individuals would have been training for years and have conditioned their muscles to be able to sustain heavy loads over a lengthy period of time. As a novice lifter you need to start out at a lesser volume and work your way up. However, what you give up in volume, you will make up for with intensity. In addition, you will learn MET tools and techniques that will allow you to get far more out of each and every set. Also, your sets will be executed with minimal rest and maximum effort. If I tell you to do a set of 10 reps, that means you can really only do 8 reps, and someone has to put a gun to your head for you to squeeze out reps 9 and 10. Your results will be directly proportional to your effort! Additionally, the products developed by Venice Beach will suppress the release of cortisol (ADL3 and VMA) as well as enhance your body's production of testosterone and growth hormone (Primestrin+ and AGF). This will maintain muscle recovery at a much higher level, thus helping to eliminate over-training while improving the results derived from each and every workout.

So where do we begin? First let’s look at some of the MET basics

The Maximum Efficiency Training System will be broken into four levels. Each level will consist of two sets (See “MET Progress Report Chart” for actual breakdown). If you are a first time lifter, you will start with level one and add levels as your body progresses. Levels three and four are composed of super-sets and drop-sets (or “strip-sets”), so this system is a little more intense than you might think. Therefore, if you are an intermediate lifter, you can still push your muscles into parts unknown. First, for those who are unfamiliar with super-sets and drop-sets, I will explain what they are. Take two different exercises for the same muscle group (both movements will hit different heads of the muscle) and perform them one right after the other without allowing time to rest. As an example, let's suppose you were training your triceps, and you just finished doing the basic mass builder for them, which is comprised of the first four sets. They are thrashed and entirely engorged with blood. Now it's time to completely decimate them and stretch your skin to its limit. A good choice would be cable press-downs and tricep kickbacks. You would do a set (10 reps) of press-downs and as soon as you finished the tenth rep, you would grab a dumbbell and perform eight reps of kickbacks. That is super-setting ­ two back-to-back movements with no rest in between them.

During a drop set, you will begin with a weight that you can handle for 6 reps. Then, after the set you will immediately take off 20%-25% of the current weight (not the original weight) and begin doing another set. For example, here is a list of weights you would use if starting at 100 pounds: 100, 80(100 less approximately 20%), 65(80 - 20%), and 50(65 - 20%). You would not drop 20% from the original weight each time (as in 100, 80, 60, 40). You will do this for three “drops”. Each rep should be accompanied by a full squeeze at the peak contraction of the muscle. The last rep of each set should be the absolute last rep you can possibly do! If you felt you could do more than 6 reps with a particular weight, then increase the weight on that particular set next time! If you do these correctly, the muscle group you are training should be completely pumped, and you should barely be able to move it when you are done. Now that you are an expert on what super-sets and drop- or strip-sets are, we can begin the fun!

LEVEL ONE:
Before beginning any workout, do not forget to do some light stretches for the muscle group that you are about to train. Level one will always be a basic mass building movement. This is because you should do these type of exercises when your energy levels are at their highest. They require the most muscle (as well as accessory muscle) involvement, so you should do them when your strength and energy levels are at their peak.

You will perform two sets of the Basic Mass Builder with your first set being your warm up. The first set will be for 15 reps, and the second for 12 reps with increased weight. The sets should be done with a maximum of 1 minute’s rest between them.

Level one should be only for the pure beginner. If you have been training for more than a few months or so, I would recommend doing at least the second level in order to promote gains.

LEVEL TWO:
Level Two will be another two sets of the same Basic Mass Builder that you selected in Level One. In order to work on building some strength, you will increase the weight a little more and do a set of 10 reps, followed by a set of 8 reps with further increased weight. Again, 1 minute’s rest max between sets. As mentioned earlier, you should be completely exhausted when you have the last two reps remaining. Then, the last two reps should be done as if your life depended on it. If you can get the last two reps easier than this, then you should increase the weight.

Now, you have done a basic mass building movement for a total of four sets while increasing the weight during each set. This will help you to add strength as well as size to the muscle group. Do not forget ­ always use strict form and concentrate on the squeeze when the muscle is fully contracted. Control the weight at all times and resist the negative part of the movement (when gravity takes over). Resisting the negative part is where you actually build your strength. Train like a monster, but don't have monstrous form!

LEVEL THREE:
This is where things really get fun! Just thinking about super-setting makes me start to tremble… I'm not even at the gym and I can feel the weights resisting me as if the gravitational pull is increasing exponentially. Even though I just completed my first gut wrenching set in level three, I immediately pick up the next set of weights and without resting I grind out a sadistically pleasurable 8 reps of another movement! My muscles are so full of blood I can barely move them, and they throb with a burning sensation to the rhythm of my heartbeat. I'm not going to lie… if done correctly super-sets will burn like crazy! However, they will help you work the muscle harder and far more efficiently in less time. Working both the red and white muscle fibres. This will give you maximum growth potential!

LEVEL THREE EXECUTION
Once you have completed your first two levels (four sets), select two final exercise movements for the muscle group that you are training to finish off with. They should be isolation exercises that work one area of the muscle specifically. The first movement you pick should be the one that isolates the area you need the most work on. The second should be an area you don't need as much help with. The reason for this is that you want the muscles as fresh as possible when working trouble areas so that you have more energy to put into that particular movement.

Now, in taking on the two sets in level three (which would be your fifth and sixth actual sets since you started) perform the two exercises in MET super-set fashion with virtually no rest between them. By now, the muscle group should be crushed! After completing levels one to three, you should have worked all angles of the muscle group as well as both muscle fibre types. This should have taken you less than 10 minutes ­ how's that for efficiency! As I said before, “Maximum… Efficiency… Training!”

Now hold on one minute, I’m not letting you off that easily! Even the most advanced lifters can benefit from this… it's time to move on to Level Four!

LEVEL FOUR:
This should be called “Level Horror” instead! I hope you took your Engauge (Venice Beach's Thermogenic/Neurogenic Workout Formula) before the workout, because you are really going to need the energy and focus! Combining strip-sets with super-sets may seem a little harsh, but you want workouts that maximize your growth. You're not in the gym to fool around, you're taking care of business and that's why you will stand out from the rest. With MET, it's all about training S M A R T E R and more effectively, NOT longer!

Level Four will be a MET strip-set, followed by a regular set of six reps of the second exercise. These two movements will be super-setted. However, you won't do the second exercise of the super-set until you have completed the strip-set of the first movement. One more time: do a strip-set of the first exercise and without resting do a second exercise for a set of six reps. After one set of this you will be so pumped that you'll feel your heart beating in your muscles. This structured system will deliver the greatest possible gains in size and strength. Anything beyond this however will move you into the realm of diminishing returns and possibly over-training. Again, why waste valuable time and energy that could otherwise be used in helping your body recover. Get in and hit the iron with all you’ve got, then get out and give your body the time it needs to relax, fully recover, and grow! Trust me, I know from first hand experience that this system works big time when executed correctly (and performed up to the right level according to your body's recuperative abilities), while so many other programs tend to leave one to wonder if any positive changes are really happening at all.

The MET Chart is available to print out free by going to the MET icon at www.bodyfitness-uk.com. Six 2-page sets (12 pages in total) of the MET Progress Report will last you for one complete 6-week MET Training cycle. Bringing these MET Tracker Sheets to the gym with you and using them daily to track your workouts is extremely helpful.

This is a total of only eight sets for each body part and it will only take a brief amount of your time to complete a body part workout! Yet, you will work the muscle entirely, and promote optimum growth in both types of muscle fibres. In the MET Weight Training System, each body part is worked once a week and the body parts are trained in the following order: 1) Back, 2) Triceps, 3) Biceps in your first weight training session of the week; then 4) Quads, 5) Hams and 6) Calves in the second session; and finally 7) Chest, 8) Shoulders and 9) Abs in the third session, with a full day’s rest separating each weight-training workout. The only exception to the 1-minute rest interval between sets that I tell my body building clients is when training quads. Here the rest time increases to 2 minutes in the first two levels. Again, this is because of their specific goals. Other than that all rest times remain the same.

That's it my friends ­ give it a try! This is a physique transformation program that you can grow with over a lifetime; one complete system and positive philosophy that works and changes lives, not just physical bodies. By learning to take charge over your body and mind and mastering this system, you'll find that there is a spill over effect. The strength in mind and body you acquire by following the Maximum Efficiency Training System will support you in all areas of your life. If you missed any of the MET lessons or want details on the more advanced MET tools and techniques please go to the MET icon at www.bodyfitness-uk.com. There you will find a library of information and more Training Diary Charts that can be used to help you master the MET System for life.

Don't forget to stretch after the workout, and replenish your system with the nutrients it needs in order to recover. Your nutrition regimen is just as important as your training strategy. The old cliché, “you are what you eat,” is never truer than when used in health, fitness, and bodybuilding. When it comes to supplements, I always tell my clients to stick with second-generation absorption enhanced supplements. Specifically, I ask them to look for ones that contain valuable co-factors like Absorbal or Absorbal-P, which increase or magnify the absorption rate and effectiveness of a product by up to 250%.

A stronger case for protein

Directly after a MET workout, you want to be sure to supplement with a good whey protein powder. An effective second generation absorption enhanced protein powder that I like is called UDA Whey Protein, which was originally developed for professional athletes. It's highly purified, yet undenatured, and contains the highest levels of the crucial native protein compared to other proteins. Studies show that UDA Protein is especially abundant in glycomacropeptides (GMP) and it enhances immunity up to 500%. Other proteins have little effect. GMP is important because it releases a hormone that stimulates digestive pancreatic enzymes to begin their work. It also helps eliminate toxins filtered from the liver. Valuable peptide fragments, or small protein pieces, are especially abundant in UDA Protein. Why is all this valuable to people who work out? Research shows they can help aid in your recovery time from training by up to 200%. Also important is Lactoferrin, which is commonly destroyed by most other processing techniques. Lactoferrin, also abundant in UDA Protein, boosts the immune system, enhances tissue repair, and has even been shown to be anti-carcinogenic by helping to prevent malignant (cancerous) tumours.

Also, to support muscle growth and recovery, you need optimum levels of key amino acids (often called the ‘building blocks’ of protein), along with minerals and electrolytes. UDA Protein contains added levels of these, which help prevent muscle wasting or catabolism while further helping lifters improve their recovery time. Most important by far however is the Absorbal-P that really boosts protein absorption and utilization! Studies have shown that athletes using second generation protein powders like this absorb up to 55% more free form amino acids directly into the bloodstream. This, my friends, makes a huge difference over regular protein powders and is a big asset for athletes looking to pack on size and boost muscle recovery. Athletes that use it maintain higher levels of amino acids throughout the day compared to individuals who don't use protein containing Absorbal-P.

The muscle growth kit                                                             

The other targeted, absorption enhanced supplements that are often sold as a muscle growth kit and are great assets to any bodybuilders on a mass building program would be Primestrin+, ADL3 and AGF. How so? Let me explain…

Primestrin+ is a maximum strength (bio-active absorption enhanced) anabolic/HGH activator. It contains true Bulgarian tribulus terrestris (45% saponins), which spikes testosterone production and luteinising hormone (LH) levels. Primestrin+ also contains pure Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC), which further spikes LH and testosterone along with ProStat HGH, combined with Absorbal to maximize the body's absorption rate of these active ingredients. In effect, Primestrin+ will raise both your testosterone and your body's growth hormone (GH) levels at the same time naturally, which means SAFELY. This is an example of ‘synergy’ (raising GH and testosterone levels together for better gains). It should be taken 30-60 minutes before training and again just before going to bed on a 5-day-on, 2-day-off/6-week-on, 3-week-off rotational cycle.

ADL3 is a potent non-hormonal (anabolic) cortisol antagonist, which is used to perform the following muscle sparing functions: diminish cortisol secretion (due to the ingredients Methoxy PS and Phosphatidylserine), reduce muscle breakdown, increase nitrogen retention and protein synthesis, and stimulate the body's immune system. Take 3 capsules twice a day (on training days only) during the first two weeks of each new ‘advancing’ 6-week MET program then reduce the dosage to what is described on the bottle throughout the remaining four weeks of the 6 week MET training cycle. The recommended times are directly after training and after your last meal of the evening. Again, it's safe, potent and highly effective.

AGF MAX by Venice Beach is a rich glutamine based anti-catabolic formula that increases both muscle preservation and recovery elements of working muscles. AGF MAX also increases protein and growth hormone production (for quicker muscle building) while substantially reducing protein degradation (which results in muscle breakdown). AGF MAX also contains a secondary transport system that increases the level of actives that pass through the stomach cell membrane and into the blood, resulting in a far greater effect than just taking glutamine by itself. I think AGF MAX is the most potent legal anti-catabolic supplement available on the market today. When used in combination with ADL3 and Primestrin+, users are creating the most ideal metabolic environment for lean muscle growth to occur.

Using these specific products will decrease the amount of cortisol your body produces after your workouts. Remember, cortisol naturally reduces the level of GH you release, so it breaks down muscle tissue, causes amino acids to leave the muscle tissue, and causes your testosterone levels to drop (by releasing ACTH).

Now here is the key if mass building is your goal… increasing testosterone and GH levels with Primestrin+ while simultaneously reducing cortisol levels with ADL3 will provide a greater shift in the direction of anabolism. As IFBB pro John Simmons wrote recently, Primestrin+ tips the scale towards muscle mass by substantially increasing the amount of testosterone and growth hormone secreted by the body.

Primestrin+ also causes the cells on the hypothalamus to begin to release more gonadotropin-releasing hormones (GNRH). ADL3 helps stop the rise in ACTH after training which again, if not taken would lead to an actual lowering of testosterone levels and a sharp increase in cortisol due to exercise induced stress. When these products are used together as part of a real mass building program you finally feel the full release of your own testosterone combined with an even greater “extended” release of testosterone and GH from Primestrin+. ADL3, in addition to retarding the release of cortisol, also helps prevent the rise in catabolic prostglandin-E2 (which further shields muscle cells against EIC's immune system attack) while actually boosting the immune system so cells can devote less energy to defending and more to the matter of muscle growth and recovery.

With this supplement strategy and the synergy provided, you can essentially raise the level of your muscle building potential and get more out of each and every workout.

The multiplied power of synergy

Synergy is when you have two different elements that when added together, make each other work better than they would individually. If product #1 had an effectiveness rating of 3, and product #2 had an effectiveness rating of 4 when used alone, then putting them together would give you an effectiveness rating of 7(4+3). However, if they are truly synergistic, as in the case of the Venice Beach products, then they make each other work more efficiently, and the effectiveness rating is more like 14 or 21, instead of 7. In other words, they don't just ADD to the effect of each other, they MULTIPLY the effect.

As mentioned earlier, Primestrin+ will raise your testosterone and GH levels, and from that you will experience definite accelerated muscle growth. But if you want to really magnify the effects, start to include this outrageous “combination” technique. Remember, if you take a testosterone/GH-boosting supplement without blocking cortisol, the cortisol will reduce the effect and limit your body's production of GH. In addition, it will block testosterone production (in some cases up to 50% by releasing ACTH) and limit the amount of amino acids your muscle tissue will absorb.

When combined as described above with ADL3 and AGF, cortisol is blunted and Primestrin+ is permitted to work without cortisol inhibiting its effect. Now Primestrin+ will work unopposed, and its anabolic effect will be much greater than if used alone. Your body will release a much greater amount of testosterone and GH.

Now it's your turn to move out from under the marathon training sessions and the borage of crapshoot supplements we read so much about today, and get on the fast track to real results. I encourage you to join the thousands who are currently realising that they don't have to live in the gym to achieve the body they desire.

It takes a commitment of thirty minutes a day and through upcoming MET articles like this one, the website mentioned above and the Q & As in the “Top Trainers Network” column, you can continue to receive ongoing MET coaching, motivation and support on how to implement and master what I believe is the best and certainly the most efficient physique transformation system ever devised.

Maximum efficiency training!

All you need to do is implement what you've learned so far and stay tuned to the many great upcoming MET “how-to” articles in this magazine. Also, be sure to keep up on my series of lessons and my MET body part articles that will show you step by step how to fully master the more advanced aspects of the MET Training System.

I congratulate anyone willing to try a better way, and the MET Training System in my opinion is not only a better way, it's the best way to build a physique - and in far less time! To all who start on the MET program, I invite you to e-mail and share your progress - English only PLEASE - at toptrainersmedia@earthlink.net. Who knows, you could end up appearing in the magazine and inspiring others with your story. All that is required from you is a clear decision to improve your health, fitness and physique.

Until next month… CONCIEVE, BELIEVE, ACHIEVE and TRAIN WITH PASSION!!