The Testosterone Advantage Plan: Lose Weight, Gain Muscle, Boost Energy - Softcover

Lou Schuler; Jeff Volek; Michael Mejia; Adam Campbell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743237919 ISBN 13: 9780743237918

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2003

Synopsis

Eat like a man to look like a man.

For years now, the so-called experts have told you to avoid the foods you love. That you're supposed to ditch the weight room and jog your way to maximum fitness. And that testosterone—the hormone that makes you a man—is actually a problem for you, rather than the solution to your problems. In the meantime, American men have kept getting fatter and more frustrated. Which is why we've looked into all this, and from what we've learned, we can tell you—the know-it-alls are know-nothings.

The Testosterone Advantage Plan is about realizing your full potential as a man, and will:

-show you how nature intended you to eat.

-explain how the male body differs in its nutritional needs from the female body—especially when it comes to the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats that are not bad for you.

-give you a superior workout regimen to help you attain the muscular physique you've always wanted.

-explain how you can boost your testosterone and energy levels naturally, without supplements or quick-fix fads.

-help you tick off the long list of benefits you'll likely reap in terms of energy and enthusiasm, power and potency, confidence and charisma.

This much you know: What you've done in the past hasn't worked. Why not try it our way? You have everything to —and nothing to lose except your gut.

About this title

Review:

Wide shoulders, narrow waist, thick chest, muscular arms and legs: today's male ideal physique is the same as that of ancient Greece. Aerobics and the Food Pyramid just won't yield that shape, argues Lou Schuler, certified strength-and-conditioning specialist and fitness director of Men's Health magazine. For weight loss and the Greek physique, he proposes the "T" (testosterone) plan: weightlifting and a diet of 33 percent each carbs (mostly low-glycemic-index), fat (the "good" kind), and protein; no alcohol; and minimal sweets and processed food. The book includes a meal planner, grocery list, and recipes. A 100-page, clearly illustrated weightlifting program progresses from circuit training to bodybuilding to power lifting, with both home and gym exercises.

This research-based program was tested on 16 willing, hefty guys. After nine weeks, they lost an average of 18 pounds, dropped waist inches, gained strength and energy, and improved their sex lives. The book includes before-and-after photos and quotes from the happy campers.

Schuler's man-to-man style is clear, direct, and witty ("one gorilla wearing a stringy tank in July is all it takes to leave a bench soaked in ectoplasm"). The Testosterone Advantage Plan is recommended for men willing to commit to a rigorous lifting program to achieve their ideal physique. --Joan Price

From the Author:

I'm a fitness journalist who has spent the past 10 years trying to find better ways to help guys lose fat, build muscle, and see the physique they want to see when they look in the mirror in the morning.

When I started out, I was perfectly willing to follow the rules, recommending low-fat diets, bodybuilding routines, and lots and lots of cardiovascular exercise.

Never mind that none of this was working for me, and that I was getting pudgier as the years went on. By the time I turned 40, I was almost embarrassed to tell people what I did for a living. To look at me, you never would have guessed I knew anything more about fitness and nutrition than anybody else on the street.

About four years ago, I started working closely with Mike Mejia, a trainer in New York who wanted to write articles for Men's Health magazine, where I had just started as fitness editor.

Mike had some amazing ideas about how guys could get in better shape, most of which I wasn't ready for. He followed a diet that was higher in protein and fat and lower in carbohydrates than what we were currently recommending. He did workouts that were different, too -- fewer exercises, slower repetitions. He put more emphasis on lifts that worked the body's biggest muscles, and figured the smaller muscles would take care of themselves.

And he did no cardiovascular exercise at all. Mike believed that long, slow, steady-paced cardio exercise -- the type most people do -- is a bad idea, since it interferes with muscle gains.

It took me a couple of years, but I finally figured out the two keys to what Mike practiced and preached: testosterone and metabolism.

The way Mike lifted -- emphasizing big muscles -- has been shown in studies to raise post-workout testosterone levels higher than other types of strength training. And a diet that's low in fat will lower testosterone levels, in comparison to a diet with moderate levels of fat -- say 30 to 40 percent.

Metabolism increases when you do intense weight workouts, and it stays elevated up to 48 hours after you set down your last dumbbell. It also increases when you add protein to your diet, and a long list of studies demonstrates this.

When you put the two keys together -- maximizing your body's testosterone action, and increasing your metabolism -- you get the formula for losing fat and increasing muscle that is at the heart of The Testosterone Advantage Plan.

The diet program put together by Jeff Volek, R.D., Ph.D., is easy to master. My colleague Adam Campbell put 17 of our coworkers on the program for nine weeks last January, and showed everyone that the program not only works, but works a little better than we'd anticipated. Some guys lost more fat than we'd thought they would, given the fact none of their diets were below 2,000 calories and that they were building muscle simultaneously.

But that's what happens when you give the male body what it needs to function hormonally, metabolically, and mechanically. Our bodies need fat, protein, and muscle-building exercise.

The results you can get from The Testosterone Advantage Plan are proof of that.

Lou Schuler

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0743237919
• ISBN 13: 9780743237918
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312