From now on you can expect to receive a Get Big issue each and every month.

Thanks much to all who have visited the site and offered up suggestions for improvements and pointed out missing items and errors. I really appreciate your help. It all helps to make the Guide that much better. I have been amazed at the level of support I have received for this little project and it has encouraged me to keep working to make the Guide bigger and better. Getting bigger and better, after all, is what the Guide is all about.

Again, this effort is greatly aided by your comments, questions and suggestions so please send them in to me. Just go to the Contact Form.

I really love feedback, whether negative or positive.

In this Issue...

1. New stuff At The Site
2. Interesting Off-site Reads - Lactose Intolerant?
3. Bodybuilding Tip of the Month - Increasing your Appetite
4. From the In-Box - Q&A - "Breathing Squats" "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It" "Don't Want To Be a Bodybuilding Woman"
5. Future Plans

Site New Stuff

RSS Feed - The site now has a fully functional RSS feed. What the heck is that? Well, it's a cool little deal that lets you keep up to date with your favorite sites and news sources. Whenever the site updates, you're notified on your reader. The best thing about it is that it is FREE. To learn more, check out this page.

New Blog - I set up a muscle building blog at Blogspot and, quite cleverly, called it The Muscle Building Blog . On the blog I'll post some questions that don't make it to the ezine, discuss muscle building topics and, undoubtedly, rant and ramble a little bit. One neat feature with the blog is that you can post comments right there. I hope you do, otherwise it will be a lonely pursuit. You can also add the blog to your RSS feeds - the feed address is http://www.muscle-building-blog.blogspot.com/atom.xml. Check it out when you get a chance.

Warm-Up Sets - As pointed out by a reader (thanks Lawney), no where on the site was there any mention of how warm-up sets could or should be done. This article attempts to rectify that situation. Despite their previous exclusion, warm-up sets are a very important part of the mass gaining workout.

How Do I Gain Weight? - Nothing new or revolutionary in this article, just the basics of how to gain weight. I wrote it basically to publish on other sites in hopes of bringing some interested people to the site and some of you may have already read it elsewhere.

Lactose Intolerant?

Milk, along with other dairy products, can be a huge help to those trying to build muscle and gain weight. It is a great protein and calcium source. It is also a cheap source (very good). Unfortunately, many people are in fact lactose intolerant. The numbers show, however, that many people that believe themselves to be lactose intolerant really have no problems digesting lactose. And for those who do have the condition, the good news is that studies have shown many people can build up their ability to tolerate lactose products.

Here are a few articles on the subject I found interesting and helpful...

Milk Does a Body Good?
Lactose-intolerant people should drink more milk, expert says
Got Weight? Get More Dairy Don't think I've gone to the "dark side" by suggesting an article that discusses weight-loss theories. It is applicable because the lack of calcium is suspicioned to increase body fat and we don't want that.

Bodybuilding Tip of the Month

Increasing Your Appetite

One of the first difficulties that can arise in a weight gain program is getting the stomach to adapt to the increased caloric intake demands of a weight gain diet. The stomach just isn't used to processing so much food. Many people immediately get frustrated with this problem and assume that genetics has again conspired against them and dealt a fatal blow to their gain weight goals. This is not the case.

The best way to go about getting the stomach up to speed with the rest of your program is to gradually increase your calories over the period of a couple of weeks. If you have your body conditioned to expect an 1,800 calorie a day diet and then try to immediately up your intake to the 3,200 calories your weight gain diet calls for, you will likely experience some difficulties.

Instead, go up gradually, increasing your caloric consumption by a couple of hundred calories every few days. You can do it by increasing your meal frequency (going from 4 to 5 to six meals) or just starting at six meals and gradually increasing the size of each meal.

All this may not be enough. Short of your caloric goals, you may still find yourself feeling "stuffed," like it would be absolutely impossible to consume another thing. This isn't the time to throw in the towel, but rather to get a little innovative...

One technique that has worked well for me is using products like Ensure. This is a dietary aid that can be found at most supermarkets and drug stores. Until recently, it was marketed primarily towards the sick and elderly as a meal substitute so you may have seen your grandparents chugging on a bottle of it. Don't let this dissuade you from giving it a try if you are having trouble reaching your caloric goals. If it makes you feel better, the makers of these products seem to be now marketing the product to athletes.

These products are basically highly concentrated calorie drinks, with about 280-350 calories per 8 oz. serving. I have found that when I get that stuffed feeling at the beginning of a weight gain program but have not yet met my caloric goals, these products are much easier to get down than either solid foods or other MRP-like supplements. If for example, you have a meal that calls for 500 calories but feel you can't eat another bite, try drinking half a bottle rather than just giving up on the meal.

This helps the body adjust to the increased calories you want to feed it. Soon you should be able to get all the meals down without the aid of an Ensure-like product. This is a good thing as these products are not inexpensive and also don't usually represent an ideal nutritional breakdown (too high in saturated fat).

Do you have a tip that has helped you increase your appetite? Send it to me and I'll put it in the next issue.

From the In-Box - Q&A

Breathing Squats

I have been trying the 20 rep breathing squat routine and have done it twice. The problem is that the first time I did it, the weight was too much and I only got to 12 reps. The second time it was too little and I could have done more than 20 reps. Is there any formula I can use so that I will know what I can do for 20 reps. I feel like I've wasted 2 training sessions. (from Kendall)

Relax, you haven't wasted your workouts. Armed with the knowledge you now have, your next set should get pretty close to right on. One thing I would suggest is that, if you do discover the weight you have used is too light, you keep going beyond the 20 reps until you reach the point of significant fatigue.

Picking the right weight to use will be difficult the first few times you use breathing sets or cumulative fatigue training (see the Workout Routines: Methods for Muscle Growth Page). The weight is difficult to guage because you have little experience working the muscles in these ways. Unfortunately, there is no formula I can give you that will have you magically arriving at the correct weight right out of the box. The best I can tell you with regards to breathing sets is to start with the weight that you normally use for a 10 rep set done the traditional way and then make adjustments from there. The actual weight that will work for you will be dependent on your unique muscle-fiber make-up.

The good news is that, if you are appropriately tracking your program, you shouldn't have this problem more than once. When you are done with this routine and then want to someday do breathing set squats again, you will have your training log to look back on and will be better able to identify the correct weight to use. Getting it exactly right will be rare but this isn't a problem. In any muscle building set, the important thing is to always work until you have significantly fatigued the muscle.

If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

I have been doing the same workout for about 10 weeks before reading your article (Weight Training Routines: Change is Good). I have been doing good, increasing my bench press max by 10%... I'm wondering even though I continue to increase my bench would I be better off to change (the routine) since I have been doing it too long? (from Ron)

As long as you are getting satisfactory results, don't change a thing no matter what anyone tells you. By all means, ride that horse until it drops. Just make sure that when that horse drops, you are quick to bury it and move on. Don't get sentimental for a routine just because it has brought you some nice results in the past.

As far as the changing a routine "every three to six weeks" I advise, that isn't meant to be a rule but rather a generalization. For most people, changing routines every three to six weeks will be about right. If you pass six weeks and continue to show good results (make sure you are accurately gauging your results - strength gains, bodyweight, bodyfat, tape measurements) don't change something just to try and conform to the average (after all you're working to become above average). Remember, we are all made up uniquely and will all have our own little oddities. It may be that your body just adapts slower to weight training (which isn't a bad thing).

You didn't mention how long you have been weight training but it is common for that "first routine" to keep producing longer than future routines will. Keep an eye on it.

Don't Want To Be A Bodybuilding Woman

...First off, I'm a girl and I have only once got my weight up to 100 pounds. That was when I was stuffing myself all the time but it was making me sick. I still want to gain weight cause my friends all the time tell me that so and so asked them if I was anorexic. I am not anorexic! I eat as much as most people I know but don't ever gain weight... I can't even go to the bathroom for a long time after I eat because I don't want people that don't know me thinking I'm puking... I don't want to do weights and look like one of those body building women, I just want to gain enough weight to look normal and not have people think I'm anorexic... (from Karen)

Karen, if you truly don't want to look like a bodybuilder then don't get near the weights. Even a glance at them could have you some day waking up, looking in the mirror and seeing a huge freaky muscle monster staring back at you.

Seriously, I always find it interesting that so many people who have never trained with weights, both men and women, get genuinely concerned that doing so will make them "too big." As if pumping a little iron starts an irreversible process that creates massive muscle people. I assure you it doesn't work that way.

In your case, you state that you eat as much as "most people." Often times underweight people think this is true because when they eat a meal with friends or family, they may indeed eat as much everyone else at that sitting. What they fail to account for is the between meals time when other people may be snacking. Or, maybe they go bite for bite on a big meal with a group of friends at a restaurant one day and then the next day, unconsciously, they really don't eat much as their body tries to balance out that big meal.

I used to think that my being skinny was entirely a result of a fast metabolism. I thought that I ate as much as anyone. But when I counted calories for a bit, it became clear that this was not the case. Count calories for a week and you too may be surprised at the results.

Regardless of how your consumption compares with others, you obviously need to start eating more if you are to put on the pounds you want. Check the bit about increasing your appetite in this issue as well as the Weight Gain Diets page for some ideas.

I would also recommend you re-evaluate your policy against weight training. I think you will find that adding a little lean muscle weight will be more what you have in mind for your body (as opposed to just any weight, which will likely be largely composed of body fat). The bodybuilding woman I suspect you envision and wish to avoid becoming is likely someone who has a little more than protein powder running through her veins. Unless you wish to totally dedicate every waking minute of your life for the next five years to becoming her, I don't think you need to worry about it happening any other way.

And if your friends do start telling you that so and so asked them if you were on the 'roids, relax in the knowledge that you can quit your training and get back to your old self quite quickly. Newly built muscle is very easy to lose.

Future Plans

I have many plans for the site. Next on the list is updating the Weight Gain Diets section. Additionally, I have plans to add some articles from other sources. And if you haven't yet noticed, I am begging for your input. Give me some suggestions, about the site or the ezine, please. Contact Me

Have a great month. Eat well and lift heavy. Talk to you soon.