The most important part of this endeavor is that I will be doing it from the position of the average person. What does that mean? It means that I will follow these programs to the best of my ability, but obviously work, life, school and everything else will get in the way and I may not always be able to follow these programs to a Tee. But that is the point, only a VERY few people are EVER able to follow any program 100%. Even then, these people may be hiding the times they cheated. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said in his own book in the dieting section that he ate dessert regularly during his offseason bodybuilding and that most of the time if he cut that out his body fat went down far enough for competition. So as you can tell, even the best aren’t perfect all of the time. However, they ARE perfect for a small amount of time as is shown by many bodybuilding documentaries like the Ronnie Coleman series. But you my readers aren’t competitive bodybuilders or even fitness models PAID that make money based on how they look. No, you all are regular people looking to shred a few pounds here and there, perhaps tone up a bit and add some nice looking muscle. You are the people that buy these programs and you need to know if they will work for you or not. Your time is limited and cannot afford to waste it for the various reasons you have such as reunions and the like. So I not being a paid fitness model or bodybuilder (YET!) will cut through the crap for you and give you my own experience with personal results written right here exclusively posted on www.therealpetermidnight.com.  So spread the word and come back for updates regularly as this will give me the incentive to post more than I have been in the past. And now, onto my first review done WHILE actively DOING the program.

For the first program to review, I’ve chosen The Ultimate Muscle Mass Training Program by Bob Myhal. Almost a decade ago, I saw person close to me get amazing results in the gym and he told me that it was thanks to this book. I tried the program briefly, but I never followed it all the way through along with the diet recommendations. I got close, but never all the way and even then I didn’t quite exactly follow the training recommendations properly. So this time, I’ve decided to revisit this program before giving my final thoughts on whether to recommend it or not. The first time through I remember feeling very bloated on the program due to the amount of supplementation that I consumed through various shakes in order to follow the recommendations. Well, I’ve just completed week 1 and below are my results.

So for the first week I did the exercises and towards the end started following the program a bit stricter. So far, I feel sore and energized at the same time. The cardio was not too hard to handle, but the weight training is a bit much. Bob recommends short sessions, but with warm ups this usually adds up to much more than his 45-60 min recommendations. I wonder if it is meant to mean only working sets should add up to this long, but I’m not sure because the book is unclear about this. I’m lifting 4 days a week with a moderate training schedule and maintenance weight dieting.

I have noticed that I look a bit trimmer than I did last week, but due to lack of all essential foods to be consumed can only guestimate that I have either gone over the daily limit or too far under at least 3 days of the week. Another thing that may be affecting my results is the lack of carb supplement that I was not able to purchase yet and have been substituting with organic honey for the present time. Personally, I do not believe (with a few exceptions) that specially formulated forms of macronutrients (carbs, proteins and fats) matter as long as one gets them. But since my commitment is to do what the author recommends for best results, I will work on getting this ASAP!

I really wish the exercises were included in the book, because sometimes I feel like I am doing them completely wrong. In some cases I don’t even know what the exercise IS! For someone that advocates scientific evidence over hype, Bob fails to deliver science like preciseness.

Overall, I feel good, not too sore and am getting results on this program. I will work on getting the as many of the supplemental recommendations as possible as well as working on the diet. I do follow it pretty well in the morning, but dinner is hard because I usually consume it socially. Fortunately, I know dinner will be carb heavy and protein lite so I usually take some liquid protein to balance things out. Since I have not put on any significant body fat (read body fat I can see), I will have to assume that I am not too far off. Starting tomorrow I will be on week 2, which is the deprivation phase of the program. I will be adding cardio while at the same time decreasing calories consumed and amount of weights as well as sets lifted. Supposedly, I will see a few cuts here and there if done properly. I’ll let you know next post how it goes.

Why- I am a student and thought it would be a useful book to read. I have read Cal Newport’s other book, “How to Become a Straight A Student” and apparently this book is its predecessor so I was curious as to what he wrote.

What I liked- The book was written in an easy to read style with simplistic sentences that were to the point. I also enjoyed the double spacing that the book was set to. It is much easier on the eyes than single spacing. Some of the tips I feel may come in handy such as, create Sunday ritual, ask one question every lecture, get involved with your major department, become a research assistant, relax before going to sleep and more.

Unlike Stephen Covey, Newport does not dwell for 75 pages on some mundane topic that could have been handled in 7 pages.  Every tip has a simple reason why you should consider it and examples of what you could do to implement it. When I first glanced at the table of contents, I thought, Oh boy, this might take a while. There are 75 chapters in the book. Luckily, they are very brief. Even if I find nothing useful, I would not waste much time to discover that.

Of course, 75 secrets to college success is a bit much and Newport recognizes this so in his introduction he tells the reader that they do not have to use every tip, just the ones that they feel will help them. This is extremely important to get across in the self-help industry. Many people read or listen to a program that just sounds impossible to bring into their life. When they try it, they fail miserably and end up believing that it is not the system’s fault, but their own. Surely, if the guy selling this to me can do it, so can I they wonder. What they should believe is that this person probably was not always operating on all 8 cylinders, all the time. So I should do what works best for me and let the results speak for themselves. For this reason alone, Newport should be given a hardy thumbs up!

What I didn’t like- There were many issues that I felt brought this book down from a must buy to a suggested pick up. For one, Newport’s list of 75 seems a little daunting at first glance. It would have been better to lump many into themed parts with chapters separating them. Instead they are scattered all over the place and some rules in later sections referring to others back in the beginning chapters felt unorganized and placed unnecessary work on the reader. For example, one theme that is rampant is standing out from the crowd by going the extra mile. Why not lump all of those chapters together instead of placing them in between unrelated sections of the book? What is the logic behind that type of thinking?

For someone that went to school, Newport sure does forget to include a bibliography. He acknowledges the “students” that he interviewed to write this book, but when he mentions them in the book it leads one to wonder who these students are. In the intro Newport claims that he interviewed “successful” college students and this is where he gets his tips from, yet there are no last names to go with his first names. Not one source in the book can be verified. This takes a lot of momentum out of this book. The primary audience is students. Students are used to checking sources, to ignore this simple fact is to assume your audience is nothing but a bunch of fools that will do nothing, but agree with you. Well, I did not and when I wanted to check a source on a claim, I could not. It would have been better if Newport said, These are the things that I personally did and here are the things that I heard other students say they did. If that were in the book, I would have felt better about trying some of the tips out, because the author was being honest with me about his “findings.”

One final problem I had with the book again is Newport’s assumption level of the audience. To a certain degree one has to assume something when they tell another person what to do, but even then Newport goes overboard in his line of thinking. If you read his Bio, you find out that he graduated from an Ivy League school. That means that he was already an extraordinary student when he got into college. While this is not completely bad, his audience is not Ivy League students. Most of his readers are not in “good” schools because they were not good students in high school. My problem with this is that he gives ordinary students the idea that if they just stand out instead of worry about their GPA, they’ll be successful. That is simply not the case. While getting Bs may not keep someone from being admitted to a certain school, it may keep them from getting a job at a certain company. I have been told from a graduate of UC Berkeley that Google specifically checks GPAs in the recruiting process. So if you don’t care about companies like Google, you can follow Newport’s Advice. As for me, I’ll be trying to get into Google (well maybe not, but you know what I mean).

Final Grade- B-

This book does have some above average advice in it, but the lack of sources and outright snake oil salesman approach really bring it down. Since it is a small read and cost less than a movie ticket, I am recommending this book, but don’t expect it to change your life. There are some good tips in the book that one can implement in their life, even if they don’t go to school. The problem is that we don’t know who already put this in their life and that’s a huge problem (since we are told that many have already done so). Maybe next time Newport can find enough time to stick a Bibliography in using APA format.

What I Liked

TASTE

I bought the Vanilla version of this product and found it to be quite delicious. Normally, I would only go with Chocolate, but honestly this made me question whether I would buy chocolate flavored powders ever again.

Mixing

By far one of the easiest mixing formulas out there. No complaints here, it mixed with or without cold water.

What I Didn’t Like

The damn scoop was probably my biggest issue. I must have lost half a canister of protein powder digging for the scoop with my large spoon. Why can’t the makers of protein powders just give us the scoop taped to the top of the bottle?? Seriously, this is one of my biggest issues with Protein Powders in general. The other issue is written below.

The Claims

The first thing that is claimed on the bottle is the secret Triwhey76 trademarked protein formula that features a 76% protein utilization rate. This may sound good, until you realize that eggs, chicken, fish and possibly red meat are greater than or equal to this percentage. Eggs are somewhere in the upper 90s percentage of utilization. The only down side is fat and cholesterol, but even those are being disputed these days. This coupled with the ridiculous advertising of OmegaEFA (as printed on the label) has got to be one of the most intelligence insulting ads I have ever read. What bodybuilder/gym goer buys a protein powder for OMEGA 3S?!! Can someone tell me this?? The idea is ridiculous. I buy protein powder for….PROTEIN! Bet you never saw that coming. We have all of the Omegas set out for us through oils and foods, so please protein makers, stick with what you know.

Also for the record, this is also one of the NO ASPERTAME people. Yes, no aspartame, but plenty of other sweeteners so consume at your own risk.

Final Grade

D+

The taste was pretty good and was the SOLE reason why I did not give this thing a fail. Otherwise, this powder fails based on the outlandish claims and everything in between. The cost is about 2 cents per gram of protein, which is not bad, but at nearly the same price as chicken I would expect a better product. Try it at your own risk and order it from bodybuilding.com for the lowest rates.

Most people suffer injuries throughout their lives, but a person who goes to the gym religiously may have a more difficult time than others in “working through” it. I myself was out of the gym for over two years and nearly gave up because of an injury. I will now relay some of the lessons that I learned and show you how to avoid such long layoffs and more importantly stay motivated.

The first thing you need to have is HEALTH INSURANCE! Let me repeat this, HEALTH INSURANCE!!! In this day and age in the U.S. if you do not have HEALTH INSURANCE, you are living life on the edge. When I hurt my neck, I had just left a job where I had insurance and never even USED IT!! I should have, but I digress. The reason you need insurance is because uninsured medical expenses are just not affordable. If you get injured, you wont have enough money to go to the doctor or get the necessary exams that you need so the problem can be identified as soon as possible. I wouldn’t go to the doctor for a month because a visit to his office was about $80-100 per visit. If I had insurance it would have been between $20-45 (depending on coverage, contracts, etc). When I finally did go, the doctor told me that I needed an MRI. It costs about $2000 ($100 with insurance), much of which I didn’t have. As you can see, costs can add up quickly and that premium money that you thought you were saving can come back to haunt you. As a result of this experience I have a new motto in life, “Either way, you pay” and it is true more than you know now.  Because of my lack of insurance, it took quite a long time to heal (I’m still not fully done yet) and it would have been a lot faster, less hassle and much easier if I had HEALTH INSURANCE!!! So get some HEALTH INSURANCE before this happens to you.

There are places that give you discounts for cash and doctors who charge less without insurance, but generally it’s harder finding them and you have to have the money cash in hand.

When you do get hurt, STOP IMMEDIATELY and go home. Rest the injured area for a few days (3 to a week should do). If the area still hurts, or becomes aggravated when you lift again then GO TO THE DOCTOR ASAP!! This should be obvious, but some men including myself do not follow this advice as often as we should. The above rest advice should be taken if the pain experienced is below a 5 on a 1 to 10 scale. Anything higher and a doctor should be consulted with as soon as possible.  I am not a doctor, nor is this medical advice, but it has worked for me as a general rule.  When you go to the doctor do EXACTLY AS HE SAYS. Whether it is a chiropractor or an M.D. the doctor’s job is to heal you as quickly as possible. Ignoring or only doing some, not all of the recommendations given to you can impair healing results and as a bodybuilder, HOW CAN YOU WANT THAT??? So go to the doc when you feel necessary and don’t delay, as some injuries can be permanent.

If you have to take a break from lifting make sure you take a break from eating. What I mean is that since you are obviously not burning as many calories per day due to lack of exercise, you should probably cut back on total food consumed. If you keep track of this already, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out how to do this. If not, then you have some homework to do. If you do not cut back, I GUARANTEE that you will add unwanted body fat (I speak from experience) and thereby compounding the problem of injury with increase in body fat (because you have done two things that are detrimental to your health).  So cut back on food and enjoy the extra free time.

One problem that can result from injury is a loss of motivation. Particularly when the injury lasts a long time. One thing that may help and hurt is to stay in the game by reading articles or books about bodybuilding or nutrition. It helps by keeping you somewhat in the realm, even if you are not longer in the gym or dieting as seriously as before. It may hurt, because it may become depressing that you have to wait for time to pass you by as you wait and heal up. It happens and I wish there was more I could say to help, but the reality is that you have to wait your turn and do the best you can. Read books or contemplate your current workout routine. See if there may be something that you can do better. Personally, I like reading about nutrition and it has kept me away from gaining too much fat during injury. Also, do NOT let people talk you out of dieting just because you no longer workout. This attitude will lead you to fatsville fast (I gained 40 pounds). Listen to motivational speakers on mp.3 if you have to, but DO NOT stop living like a healthy person. The added fat could make things worse as it did for me by creating unnecessary pressure on my neck. So whatever you have to do, STAY MOTIVATED.

Finally, when you do get the medical or other type of clearance to return to regular exercise, just do it, seems to apply here. One of the many problems I faced getting back into the swing of things was the dread of waking up early to workout. It sucks to a degree to have to do this, but I knew why I was doing it and should have known better. One of the techniques I used to get myself out the door was to repeat a phrase that my high school football coach used to say to us before we would split off into our position groups for training. That phrase was, “let’s go to work”. The gym has become an office for me and when I go, I am there to work, but you wouldn’t believe how saying that short phrase actually made it easier for me to go to the gym AND WORK! So take any steps necessary to get back into prime motivation level when it is time for you to return to the gym.

Injuries can and will happen. Nobody is invincible, but you don’t have to be out for as long as some people claim it takes to fully heal. If you take my advice above (especially buying HEALTH INSURANCE!!!), I ensure you that you will return much faster and in better shape than someone who does not. So remember to stay motivated, cut back on your food, and do what the doctor says. You’ll be glad you did. If you need any motivational tips send me an email (mrcontroversy@therealpetermidnight.com) and I’ll work with you. I lost 34 pounds as a result of the steps above while injured (fat) and you can too (hopefully if you follow the above you wont have to).

WHAT I LIKED

First of all, the scoop was not buried at the bottom of the container. This is a pet peeve of mine and I’m glad I did not have to go treasure hunting or say shiver me timbers looking for the almighty scoop. Also, the non-aspartame feature was nice.

TASTE

I loved the taste. It tastes GREAT!! I opted for the chocolate flavor and I was not disappointed. No bad after taste, and no me shaking my face wondering why I paid for this crap like so many powders have led me to do before. Also, you can mix this in cold or warm water and have an outstanding shake!

MIXING

This drink mixes very easily and only requires a shaker for mixing.

PRICE

The cost is between 2-3 cents per gram of protein. That is much cheaper than my store bought chicken, but less natural of course. Also, this price only applies to the product when bought from bodybuilding.com, so you may want to be aware of that.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

There were two things that I did not like about this product and that was the sweeteners that were added and the advertising to sell the product on the container.

SWEETENERS

I do not like the use of artificial sweeteners for any of my protein shakes or foods period, but I will try it out just so I can tell people my honest opinion of the product. We do not know the long-term effects of certain sweeteners, so I do not generally recommend any of these types of products. I will say that the makers did not use Aspartame in this product, but a sweetener is a sweetener so I wish I had four hands so I could give this part of the review FOUR THUMBS DOWN!!!

BUZZ WORDS AND PHRASES

This product makes some pretty ridiculous claims such as improving weight control, muscularity and increased recovery!! What makes these claims so upsetting is the fact that I doubt ANYONE of them can be proven as a direct result of the product. For example, is it possibly true that someone who takes protein powder more likely to be someone who controls his or her weight? I would answer yes. So why make it appear as if this product (or any product for that matter) will improve my weight control?? The truth is that it will not. The fact that I am seeking a powder is likely the cause of my improved weight control, not the powder itself, but I digress.

FINAL GRADE

C

This is an average protein powder with some kinks that need to be worked out in order to be given an excellent rating. The taste is fine, the mixing is superb, but honesty in advertising and less sweetener use would be a step in the right direction. Something I did not touch on was the large amount of carbs per serving. Even with the use of artificial sweeteners this powder contains an unusually high amount of carbs for a protein powder. What’s up with that?? Either use enough sweeteners to lessen this effect or give us no sweetener at all! Oh well, you can try it out for yourself. If you don’t mind things like sucrose and aspartame then this protein powder might be for you.