A recent article posted on the AskMen.com site made me cringe. I’m not going to cite the official link, because I don’t really want to promote them. I’ve never read anything at this site before, as it’s a little risqué for my tastes, but one of the other sites I regularly read had a link to it. The title was “Maximum Muscle Definition in One Week”.
I thought the title was provocative. So I bit.
Before I even started reading though, let’s clarify something. There’s a difference between “maximum”, meaning “the best you can get” and “sufficient”, meaning that you actually achieve muscle definition.
Nobody can go from undefined, fat, or flabby and one week be ripped. And I had my doubts about this article, that it would promise overnight results.
Sure enough, it starts out talking about “getting ready for an unexpected beach event” or even “suddenly getting that date with a particular girl” as the impetus for the overnight cure they were (supposedly) about to unveil.
There were a few nuggets of good advice, including the need to lift heavy; intake sufficient protein; carb load on day one then reduce carbs steadily.
But the author condenses what should really be an 8+ week program into 7 days. Not only will it not work, but at only 800 words, all the details are left out. Unless you are already an intermediate to advanced weight trainer (and thus, probably already in pretty good shape), most of the advice will go over your head.
Plus, this hurts the entire weight training movement – it’s hard enough to get people to realize how important resistance training (like weight lifting) is. Now, some people will try this guy’s 7-day advice and when it doesn’t work, they’ll quit. They’ll say “weight training doesn’t work to burn fat“. It’s a shame really.
And I’ll say again, it won’t work in 7 days. [If you have a personal story of seeing significant results in 7 days, please share your story and your program – I’m ok with being proven wrong!]
Now summer is around the corner, and I can appreciate that you might want to be ready and comfortable for the beach and a more active time of year. But don’t wait until the last minute.
If you need to be “ready” in 7 days from now, you really better have started out weeks ago! Don’t get your fitness advice from a site that ranks celebrities by their “hotness” (in fact, run away from such sites).
Want trusted sources for getting in shape by Summer? Check out our own “3 Months To A New You” and especially “The Truth About 6-pack Abs” if you really want good advice.
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Tags: fat burning, fat loss, lean, weight training
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April 15th, 2009 at 9:10 am
That’s the problem with most of the low quality articles and authors these days. Everyone wants to see fast results and thus, when seeing a provocative title, you bite.
<> I like that a lot. Things will certainly not happen overnight.
Train/Eat hard/smart and expect results.
Kevin
April 15th, 2009 at 9:11 am
It’s just a load of BS… The sad part is that they don’t realize that they set up so many people for a huge disappointment! or they just don’t care of the way you will feel emotionally. I’ve been at this a long time trust me I’ve seen a lot of this type of horse s… it’s just to bad.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:32 am
If this were real, there would have been no obese or fat persons longer than 1 week!!!
April 15th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Yeah! today people don’t want spend time and work hard so they try to buy fantasy about how to get in shape for 7 days:) other who produce this thing just make money on lazy people. and they really make this couse there are A LOT of lazy people around :)
April 15th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I presume that the title contains a pun: it does not really mean “Maximum muscle definition [possible, obtained] in one week” but “Maximum muscle definition [acheivable] in one week”!!!
Of course, you will obtain a certain degree of definition in a week, and this “maximum” possible definition you can reach is simply… the highest definition acheivable in seven days: you can’t get more, even if “that” “maximum” will not be enough when you are facing the mirror!!!
April 15th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Yes – you CAN make progress in one week. But the popular media (even the “muscle mags”) too often overpromise but underdeliver with their recommendations. If you ever hear something from me that you think is too good to be true, be sure to call me on it!
April 15th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I just read the article and in the comments the editor mentions “this article is intended for the guy who already has a fairly trim physique.”
Professional body builders follow a different workout/diet than the normal training routine before the contest day. While I am not sure if the advice is accurate, I thought that might be the purpose of the article. Any thoughts and advice what should one do one week before the contest day?
April 16th, 2009 at 6:27 am
@John – good observation on the article. Though “trim physique” is a bit ambiguous. I still object to the premise, but maybe I should go easy on the writer – he’s got to make a living right? (smile)
In terms of contest prep, I must be honest – I’ve never competed in a bodybuilding show (that’s not my goal). A guy who would be great to look into is Skip LaCour – he does a blog talk radio show and he just talked about contest prep last week. Let me see if I can get the URL… yeah, it is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/skiplacour . I think it was the April 5 2009 show.