2006 is quickly disappearing and it is time to start preparing to make 2007 a very BIG year. The top muscle building programs are preparing with some BIG improvements and just below we’ll take a look at some of those updates.

In this month’s bodybuilding tip, we’ll take a look at 5 new years resolutions you can make that will certainly result in a BIGGER you in ’07 (provided you stick with them).

Also, please note the changes to the Ezine that will start next month. These aren’t necessarily BIG changes, but hopefully they result in a better ezine.

And finally… Again (and again), if you need/want to contact me, please use the site’s contact form. I like to hear from you but if you simply reply to an ezine I won’t ever see it - it will go to a spam folder and I won’t likely have the time to wade through all the Nigerian money scams and diet pills offers to find it.

In This Issue...

Site New Stuff

Reviews

I updated the reviews for Sean Nalewanyj’s and Jeff Anderson’s programs as they both came out with major updates. More on that below.

And there are 3 new reviews of programs I rated with 2 of 5 stars…

• Review of Matt Murphy’s Maximum Muscle In Minimum Time
• Review of “Doberman” Dan’s Hyper-Growth Muscle Mass Training
• Review of Gary Matthew’s Maximum Weight Gain In Ten Weeks

Free Video Lesson From Sean Nalewanyj

• Proven Principles For Thick, Powerful Pecs - In this lesson, Sean tells you exactly how to structure your chest workout for maximum strength and muscle mass and follows up with a few solid sample chest routines. This is a great way to invest a few minutes of your time if building up your chest is among your goals (and it is, isn’t it?)

Also, note that there is a free transcript of the lesson available for download on the page.


New Articles from Marc David

• Weight Training, Soreness And The Effective Workout - A great read from Marc exposing the fallacy of the common belief that you are only effectively working your muscles when you experience next-day soreness (delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS).
• Muscle Building Sleep - Another great article from Marc on the importance of sleep to the muscle building process and some tips on how to sleep your way to better gains.

• New Weight Gain Tips from Scott M. (a fan of milk) and an update on Daniel W.’s program. By my calculations, Daniel has put on a total of 51 pounds. Congrats to Daniel who has moved on to a cutting phase, ready to rip up that new physique.

Program Updates

With the beginning of the year and all those fresh resolutions being made, this is the big season for the top programs. Not a bad investment at all - if you’re determined to make ’07 the year you finally start casting a shadow, the top programs can definitely put you on the path and provide the necessary support to ensure your success.

Updates

• I told you it was coming and , Sean Nalewanyj’s Truth About Building Muscle did indeed get a huge update. Sean added a complete video lesson library, a separate audio lesson and tracking software. There are also some optional upgrade items. This is one huge package and Sean just keeps on improving it. Check out the Updated Review of Sean Nalewanyj’s Truth About Building Muscle.
• Jeff Anderson also updated Optimum Anabolics. You now get a full years access to his member’s area, an audio version of his course and some other interesting tools. Check out the Updated Review of Jeff Anderson’s Optimum Anabolics.

  Unfortunately, with the increased bonuses there also comes some increased prices. I warned you that Nalewanyj’s price increase was coming last month (even still, I got a couple of emails from annoyed site readers who were planning to buy but didn’t trigger in time).

  I didn’t get a chance to warn you of Anderson’s increase but… I’ve got your back.

  On this page, you will find the before and after pictures of those who participated in Jeff’s Body Transformation Contest that I mentioned a couple of months ago.

  And then if you cast a vote for the contestant you think achieved the most in the 9 week contest, you will be taken to a special page which will give you one last opportunity to get Optimum Anabolics at the old price ($68). You have until midnight on Thursday (the 14th) to get that deal (I don’t know what time zone so don’t push it). Once you cast your vote, you go to the special price page. If you click off of that page, it is gone for good and you will not be able to access it again.

  Even if you aren’t interested in OA, its always a good time to check out before and after pics and help decide who takes home the $1,000 cash prize. Before and After Pics

• Finally, I also warned you last month that Will Brink’s Muscle Building Nutrition System was getting an update/price increase. And you are now down to just a day or 2 before this program also increases in price. I have had a chance to preview the changes and updates and they are impressive, solidifying its place as the pound for pound leading value in bodybuilding resources.

Bodybuilding Tip of the Month

With 2007 rapidly approaching, here are 5 resolutions you would be wise to adopt if you truly expect the coming year to bless you with some added muscle mass.

• I won’t go hungry – When you hear your stomach growling, you are failing. If your goal is building muscle, you don’t want to make your body ask for nourishment. Instead, you want to be proactive. Always keep one step ahead of your body and never leave it wanting for the materials it needs to build muscle.

  Think of your job. If you are a computer technician and the electricity goes out, if you are a printer but run out of paper, if you are a truck driver but run out of gas – Exactly how productive of a worker are you in those situations???

  Don’t expect your body to be a productive muscle builder if you fail to keep it supplied with the materials it needs to get its work done.

• I will not quit early – Intensity is a critical part of the mass building process. Those who struggle to put on muscle-weight often struggle because they don’t understand what everyone is talking about when they say, “You must workout with intensity.” It simply means that you never quit early.

  For an effective workout, you must constantly challenge yourself. When you stop short of giving all you have, you stop short of signaling the to the body that it needs to add muscle. That extra rep will take effort and it will be painful, but it will be rewarded.

  You can fool everyone else in the gym that you are going all out when you are not. You can grunt louder than the next guy. But you can never fool your body. It always knows.

• When not in the gym, I will be lazy – Few people adequately appreciate the value of rest to the muscle building equation. A body at rest is a body that can focus on building muscle. It can take the designs you’ve given it with your lifting and the materials you’ve provided with your diet and produce the product you want: MUSCLE TISSUE.

  A body constantly distracted by activities and stresses won’t be the most productive muscle builder. So, relax. Get your sleep. Sprawl out on the couch a little more often in ’07 and you just may find your body rewarding you with a little more muscle mass.

• I will never again give the “benefit of the doubt” to any supplement company – In ’07, there will be many, many new supplements introduced and all will be sold under the hype of being “revolutionary.” A quick look at the recent history of bodybuilding supplements should serve notice that the odds aren’t exactly in favor of any of them living up to their hype.

  In the past 15 years I’d list creatine, improving protein powders and the short run of prohormones as being legitimately “revolutionary.” That’s it. And what happens if an ’07 product really does turn out to be amazing and you aren’t the first to try it? Well, take a lesson from the first prohormone products – there was something to the science but those first products that flew off the shelves later proved themselves to be worthless. It was a couple of years before the prohormones really started having some value.

  I’ve said it before and I am saying it again – the supplement companies aren’t marketing to knowledgeable and experienced trainers, they are marketing to beginners who still think you can buy muscle in a bottle. You won’t find the experienced trainer getting all glossy-eyed at the newest MuscleTech product site. He’s too busy concentrating on the things that actually will build muscle and that is where you should keep your focus in ‘07.

• I will relentlessly track - Quickly, go check your log for how many reps you bench pressed last week and at what poundage. And then check and tell me a good approximation of how many calories you consumed last Thursday.

  If you don’t have the above information, you haven’t made a serious attempt to reach your bodybuilding goals in ’06. Trainers who get results know what they are doing. They have a plan and they follow that plan with consistency. If that plan isn’t working, their tracking data gives them the information they need to make appropriate changes.

  Trainers who don’t track (the majority) wander aimlessly. They never maximize results. It takes only a few minutes a day to appropriately track. Make sure you track in ’07, IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

The alternative to adopting these resolutions in 2007? You can start receiving your mail at the gym, breeze through some very “pleasant” workouts, get on a first-name basis with the GNC staff, save a lot of money on grocery bills (only to give the savings and then some to the supplement companies), have no clue what you’ve done or what you are doing and look about the same one year from now as you do today.

It is up to you.

Ch-Ch-Changes…

This ezine is going to attempt a slightly increased publishing schedule in ’07. One criticism I have received more than once regarding the ezine is that it is just too long. I tend to be a bit wordy and an email isn’t necessarily the best place to let go with a lot of words. So, the goal will be to reduce the size of the ezines and instead deliver more frequent, quicker-to-the-point newsletters.

The basic schedule will be a flexible biweekly, an ezine about every 2 weeks. The goal of the ezine will remain the same: To update the changes and additions to the site and provide some solid tips and inspiration for those looking to get a bit bigger.

I have a lot of ideas for making the site better in the coming year (contests! new tools!) and hope to make more frequent updates (that’s my new year’s resolution anyway).

As always, if you have suggestions for the site or ezine, please let me know - Contact me. I love to get that stuff.

The Muscle Building Blog format will also change. In the past it has been a place where I posted some Q&A and miscellaneous stuff. While my email has increased as the site’s popularity has grown, it is more and more difficult to find questions that haven’t already been answered in some way and also have some potential of interest to a great number of people. This has led to a slowly decaying blog.

Therefore, the blog will become more a place to highlight the muscle building/weight gain news and available off-site resources. I’m constantly traveling the web and often happening on some interesting stuff. So, in ’07, I’ll be making it a point to post on all that stuff. Check it out.

That’s it for now – Happy Holidays to all and I’ll talk to you next year.