Are Actors Raging Narcissists?

28-02-2010 by admin



Self-centered, vain, conceited, egocentric – these are some of the variations on the idea of being narcissistic. We need a healthy degree of positive self-regard, of course, but when it becomes distorted, it is considered narcissism, a personality disorder in its extreme form.

A number of actors have talked about some of the problems with being too self-obsessed, and how it interferes with creative expression.

Ben Affleck thinks narcissism is “the one quality that unites everybody in the film industry, whether you’re an actor, a producer, a director, or a studio executive.”

But, he adds, “It’s a nightmare. Narcissism is the part of my personality that I am the least proud of.”

Kristen Bell says that for her film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” she “just looked into the depths of the most hard-to-admit or vulnerable or bad characteristics of my own personality and what an actress can become if given that kind of self indulgence or that amount of vanity.”

She also thinks actors and especially actresses tend to be self-obsessed, because that’s part of the nature of their career.

But what is narcissism? The basic idea is being obsessively self-absorbed, always putting your own needs first, having poor empathy or appreciation for other people’s needs etc. But what is behind someone operating that way?

Alice Miller writes in her book The Drama of the Gifted Child about childhood harm leading to compromised emotional life as an adult, including those kinds of behaviors and thinking.

She writes in the book about “how inconceivable it is really to love others (not merely to need them), if one cannot love oneself as one really is.”

For an actor, it may be difficult to maintain contact with and love of your authentic self, if you are continually portraying “other people” and getting notice or even fame for those personalities.

Stephen Sherrill writes in his New York Times article Acquired Situational Narcissism about how fame can stimulate narcissism.

He refers to the work of Robert B. Millman, professor of psychiatry at Cornell Medical School, who developed the idea of “acquired situational narcissism.”

Sherrill explains, “People who aspire to stardom tend to be more narcissistic than others, but they don’t develop a true narcissistic personality disorder until they begin to achieve success: the first platinum album, the first appearance in Vanity Fair’s ‘Young Hollywood’ issue, the first public fling with Winona Ryder.”

Having these sort of narcissistic tendencies doesn’t mean you are “crazy” or necessarily need therapy.

But it can be helpful to our emotional growth and power as creative people to be more aware of how we operate emotionally and mentally.

Richard Gere once commented, “The more I grow, the less I become this egocentric thing that is prone to anger and hatred and all this other stuff. The trick is to get out of the way of the ego, so that whatever is of value illuminating inside you or me or the waiter or anybody else can be seen. The job of the creative person is to get out of the way.”

Actor Vera Farmiga cautions, “This business is tough, it is so tough. But my first and foremost thing is like, ego always gets in the way. You gotta keep that in check – you got to.”

There are many excellent personal growth books on emotional intelligence, spirituality, awareness and positive psychology that can help any of us develop healthy self-regard.

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The Outsider’s Tool to Break Into Hollywood

22-02-2010 by admin



Everyone knows that in baseball a pitch is when the ball is thrown for the batter to swing at. But, in the world of entertainment, a pitch has a whole different meeting. A pitch in Hollywood is when the “pitcher”(the person with the idea for a TV show or movie) explains the idea to a “catcher” (a person who works with a company that could produce this idea). Pitching is the lifeblood of how deals get made in the entertainment world.

There are many people who watch television and movies and think to themselves, “I’ve got a better idea than this….or if this actually got on TV or in the theaters, then surely my idea could do the same.” But, they think that if they don’t have any industry contacts or experience, then there’s no way that they could get someone in Hollywood to take them seriously. However, what they’re not aware of is that there is a vehicle created by the enterainment industry that gives novices a chance to pitch their ideas to real industry players who could possibly produce their concept.

So, while for the most part if you are an outsider to the gates of Hollywood it’s very difficult to get such a chance to pitch an idea, there are certain components of the Hollywood system that give outsiders a chance to get their voices heard.

The truth is that while it’s the job of the gatekeepers to keep unknown outsiders out, there is still an interest from the “powers that be” to hear what ideas these unknown outsiders might have….because everyone in the television and movies is scrambling to find the next great big “home run” project.

Thus, a concept called a “pitch event” was born. What happens is an organizer assembles a group of producers who are willing to hear pitches from people without representation and credentials. Then, the clients (the people who want to sell their ideas) pay a fee to the organizer to receive a certain amount of pitch meetings.

Although these meetings are brief (usually about five minutes), they often take place with legitimate people in the industry. I have personally concluded successful deals that began from a meeting at a pitch event.

I have pitched my projects at these events several hundred times and the way it breaks down is always the same. You quickly locate the company you’re going to pitch to at the table they’re sitting at which will have their name on a sign. There is a quick exchange of names, but you don’t want to waste much time on pleasantries as the duration of the meeting will be very quick…usually about five minutes. If I think I know what kind of projects they’re interested in, I’ll confirm that or if I’m not sure, then, I’ll say something like, “I’d like to pitch you the projects I have that are most likely what you’re looking for. Is your company looking for something specific?” Once I’ve gotten an idea of what’s my best chance I give them a brief explanation and then be quiet. If they’re interested they ask questions or sometimes they just say it sounds great, go ahead and send them more information. Or if there’s no match, they explain why. Before you know it, the meeting is over and you wish them well as you vacate the seat to make room for the next hopeful pitcher.

If you think you have an idea for a reality show or a movie and would like to try attending a pitch event these are the basic steps:

1) Select a legitimate pitch event

There are a number of well known organizers of these events that you can find by doing a search on a major search engine and putting in a keyword phrase like “pitch TV and film.” A few examples of legitimate organizers are: Fade In Magazine, Hollywood Film Festival, Hollywood by the Bay, and VIP Pitch Player Tours.

2) Prepare your pitch:

You will only have five minutes to convince the producer that your idea is a blockbuster in the making, so you need to be concise. You will want to create what’s called a “logline.” This is a one sentence explanation of 30 words or less which explains the gist of your idea. For example, if you were creating a logline for ABC’s reality hit, “Dancing with the Stars,” it might be something like:

“Celebrities are paired with ballroom dance professionals and compete each week in an elimination contest to see who can become this year’s champion.”

Besides a logline you’ll want to have a few other items:

If you’re going to pitch a reality TV show, then you should have a breakdown of what will happen during shows and a sample of what a season’s worth of shows will contain.

If you are trying to sell a true life story, then you will want to be able to explain what will happen during the movie. In other words…who is the protagonist, who is the antagonist, and what is the big problem? You should also be able to explain how it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

3) Do the Pitching:

At a pitchmart, the “catchers” are bombarded with hundreds of ideas from a huge onslaught of people. To differentiate yourself from the crowd, you want to present yourself as relaxed, intelligent, and well prepared. Pleasantly introduce yourself, hand them a sheet of paper that has the information about your project and your contact information. Then tell them about your idea. If they like it, they will let you know how to proceed. Some producers may want to e-mail you later or others may give you a card and tell you to contact them. If they don’t think the project is for them, most will explain so.

Attending a pitchmart is a fairly intense experience that can feel like a lot of pressure, but if you’re an outsider who wants to get a shot to pitch your idea to real Hollywood entities, a pitchmart is one viable option very much worth considering. For more information on how to sell your reality shows, true life stories or your scripts go to:

http://www.smallbizriches.com/breakingintohollywood/

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So You Say You Wanna Be Discovered Eh? – Advice For The New Actor

08-02-2010 by admin



Here Is Some Advice For The Brand New Actor

It does happen that people get ‘discovered’. How often does it happen? To answer that question. Here’s another one. What are the chances of winning the lottery?

Getting discovered is like hitting the luck of the draw, so to speak.

On the other hand there is a saying I really like, which says:

“The more prepared I am, the more luck I seem to have.”

That said, if you want to really be discovered, you have to position yourself to be discovered. You have to work hard to build a base.
You have probably heard that it is a difficult profession to pursue and there is truth to that. If you have a method and a strong character, you can be successful. I have been in contact with young and older aspiring and new actors over the past few years and I was inspired to write a book for them.

Many successful people in different walks of life as well as successful actors have the following things in common or they do/have done them very well. It is my advice to you as well.

4 Key Areas

1. YOU: Get to know yourself better, your strengths, weaknesses, the opportunities you have, the resources you have at your disposal (and not just financial, but intellectual, skills, capabilities, talents, etc.)
Figure out what you want out of your life first (specifically). Figure out how acting fits into that. Then figure out what you want out of your acting career. (specifically) Doing these two things will help you save a lot of time, effort and maybe even money down the road.

2. YOUR ATTITUDE: Develop your creativity to invent ways for you to position yourself ahead of your competition and to find new ways to promote yourself.
BIGGIE! Figure out what it is that motivates you and learn how to keep yourself motivated to get done the things you need to get done and to help you deal with the rejection that you will inevitably encounter in this business. Figure out how to develop a strong sense of perseverance if you don’t already have it. There is much to do and you MUST be motivated or you will have difficulty.

3. YOUR PLAN: Put together a solid plan that will ensure that you will get to where you want to go in your actging carreer and have a real chance at achieving the success you want and stick to it. Learn how to plan effectively.

4. YOUR BUSINESS: Find out what the business skills you need to run your business of being an actor. You are an actor. You are a company. And you are a business. You are the CEO of that business. You are/will be a free lance professional. You have a product and that product is you. You have to know how to market it, how to sell it and how to create value for those who ‘invest’ in you.

There are short cuts, but very often, if you skip one of those steps, in the long run, unless you are lucky, it will slow you down and it just might mean that you won’t reach your goal at all.

So what could your next steps be?

1. Try to really understand what it means to be a working actor and start working on the things I mentioned above. Here are a couple of links to get you started, but I would advise you to get a lot of different perspectives of what successful and non-successful actors do in their daily activities.

2. And in the meantime, start taking acting classes. Study acting technique. Study. Study. And develop your SKILL. Without it, you won’t go very far.

3.Start boning up on the business skills you will need to be successful at promoting yourself as an actor when the time comes. I have seen many a wonderful actor, not get much work for this very reason. Not always the best actor gets the work!

Just wanted to give you some food for thought.

There’s a lot more where that came from.

Good luck to you!!!

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The Tintin Movie – Kirsten Myburgh To Play Tintin

21-01-2010 by admin



The Tintin movie rumour mill is starting to crank up. The biggest amount of speculation is who is set to play Tintin. Kirsten Myburgh has been linked to the lead role for a while. There have been many actors linked to the Tintin character. The Tintin movie to be directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson is going to be big box office. The Tintin movie trilogy is due to be completed by 2009. Jackson and Spielberg are producing the three Tintin movies back to back to cut cost and speed up the film making process as Jackson did with the Lord of the Rings.

Whoever gets the lead role will see his stock rose on a seen with Daniel Radcliffe who through the Harry Potter series became recognised around the world. Kirsten Myburgh like Daniel Radcliffe before Harry Potter isn’t known by the movie going public at large. He is an actor whos only credit we could find was in a film called Garden Party that was completed early this year.

It is fair to say he has all the requirements that make him an ideal choice with his natural red hair and he is the looks the right age for the role (Tintin fans estimate that Herge created a young man who’s age is between 15 and 18 years old). The chances are that if he has been linked with the role then there maybe some truth behind the rumour. The fact surrounding the Tintin movie are had to pin down as there has been a lot of secrecy. It will be interesting to see how this story develops.

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Top Bollywood Actors

04-01-2010 by admin



Though there are quite number of Bollywood super hero’s people will never miss to say special sensating icons as their top start. With the growing development in the Bollywood movie industry, several young chaps give their successful entry with their rocking performance on the silver screens. Find the list of top Bollywood actors, who give their starring acting on the big screens.
The first breathe-taking super hero of Bollywood will obviously be Shah Rukh Khan. He is still really charming and inspiring. He has given bags of block buster movies and moreover, he is the dream hero of quite several young bloods. His style acting and ravishing look has always been the biggest factor for his thriving success in Bollywood industry.

The Bollywood industry Big B, Amitabh is the super hero of the Bollywood! Big B has created thunders and wonders in the Bollywood movie industry. His excellent acting and breathe-taking performance on the silver screens has made him to achieve numerous hearts all around the world.
The 3rd generation super hero from the renowned “Roshan” family is the real top star of Bollywood. Hritik is called as a promising actor and he has created thundering effects with her rocking dance performance. He is one of the luck stars, who gave a successful entry with his debundant movie Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. Moreover, Hritik has given several number of block buster movie and most of his films will rock in the box office.

John Abraham is another Bollywood biggie, who has been bagged with good number of offers. He is one among the busy Bollywood actor and he is known for his brilliant acting. John is absolutely smart and he is dearly known for his chic and sexy outlook.

Next super hero of the Bollywood movie industry will be Ajay Devgan. Ajay is absolutely fantastic with his varied play roles and he has given his brilliant performance in quite number of Bollywood movies. Also, the super hero has been crowned with quite several awards and he still rocks in Bollywood.

The next is the Bollywood bad boy, Salman! He is the real super hero in Bollywood, who has achieved quite number of hearts with his stunning acting. Moreover, Sallu has been the headlines in most of the everyday outlets, and magazines. He is one of the charming actors and he is the one, who initiated the fitness factor among actors.

Amir Khan is also a leading Bollywood top actor, who has done quite successful movies in Bollywood. The actor is known for his charm and beauty and most of all he has given good number of big hits. He has worked with well-renowned directors in Bollywood and he has also proved his blasting acting performance on silver screens.

The son of Big B, Abhishek Bachan is one among the smart hero in Bollywood. Abhishek has given his stunning performance and he is bagged with good number of offers in his pockets. Right now, Abhishek is busy working with Priyanka Chopra in the upcoming starter movie “Drona”. The movie is expected to be a block buster!

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Bruce Lee In The UFC

06-12-2009 by admin



Thanks to YouTube, I can get a quick dose of motivation to either train or head for the work out equipment, from a short video clip of Bruce Lee. Although the results can fluctuate by the minute, entering Lee’s name produces 31,900 video clips to view. This is currently more than any other martial art movie star. However, with the thousands upon thousands of video clips of different topics available, each one also allows viewers to post their comments and herein lies the intrigue.

The majority of the comments for Lee’s clips appear to be positive and praising, seemingly from new admirers who were not even a thought in their parent’s young adolescent minds yet when the “Little Dragon” was alive and (literally) kicking. Then, of course, there are those comments from the insecure martial art “experts”, internet tough guys, who go out of their way to view Bruce Lee video clips in order to leave ignorantly rude and immature comments. I believe we are all entitled to our own opinions, which is why I am mainly referring to the comments that would normally entail censorship. Some of the more mild statements however, are the assertions that Bruce Lee was: “Over rated”, “fake”, “just a Hollywood actor”, “gay”, or that he was not a “real fighter” because he never competed in tournaments.

The comments led to comparisons of UFC fighters and that led to the opinion that Lee would have been “destroyed” if he fought in the UFC octagon. They believe because Jet Li admitted he would have been “killed” if he actually fought in the octagon, as depicted in his film Cradle to the Grave, then it must surely apply to Bruce Lee as well.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit there are many Bruce Lee fans that think Lee was the totally invincible fighter who could not be beaten by anyone, based on his movies. Although those who knew him state he could actually do many of the things he did in his films, true fans would enlighten themselves to realize Lee meticulously choreographed those fight scenes, therefore he naturally dominates all of his opponents in his films. I believe Lee Jun Fan (Bruce Lee’s birth name) and his performance in a UFC match should be viewed as realistically as possible without movie fantasy.

First, it should be cleared up that Lee was not an unbeatable, invincible fighter. Ed Parker Jr., son of the late Kenpo karate master, revealed an incident that most Lee fans may not be aware of. While a young Bruce Lee was still filming episodes of the Green Hornet, Gene LeBell managed to get him into a hold that he could not get out of. Supposedly, this incident prompted Lee to begin learning the grappling arts in earnest. I’m sure many will immediately imagine Royce Gracie quickly taking Lee down, easily putting him into a armbar and forcing him to tap out. At this point, it is a plausible scenario.

Indeed, it is difficult to picture a man, 5′ 7

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Why the Big Muscle Look is Dead in Hollywood

01-11-2009 by admin



The Leading Man in Hollywood is Now Slim and Toned, Not Bulky!

Remember back in the 80′s when Arnold Schwarzenegger was the big action star? He was huge. He basically brought bodybuilding to the mainstream and influenced an entire generation of young guys to want to get as big and muscular as possible. It started with Conan, then the Terminator, Commando, Predator, Twins, and many more action flicks.

The Big Muscle Look Began to Die in the Late 90′s.

You see, although many guys wanted to get as big as possible, women had a different idea of what looked great. They wanted their men to look good in dress clothes as well as with their shirts off. Women are physically attracted to the “GQ” look or lean and slim toned guys, not massive freaky muscular guys. If you ever have seen a soap opera, you will notice that all of the men have average amounts of muscle but with exceptional muscle tone.

1999, the Year Fight Club Came Out, Was The Official Death of the Massive Look

For years during the big muscle era, women kept trying to tell guys that they were more interested in muscle definition and not into the bodybuilder look. Guys didn’t really listen until 1999, when Fight Club came out. Brad Pitt finally showed the masses of guys out there that being ultra-lean with a normal build is more bad-ass looking than being huge and bulky. Brad’s character, Tyler Durden, was able to get a “hip” funky look, but had amazing muscle definition when he took his shirt off. This is a winning combination with the ladies and all actors are striving for this look.

Since the late 90′s, Many Hollywood Actors Have Begun to Slim Down

Remember how big The Rock used to be? He is now MUCH lighter and looks great. What about Mark Wahlberg or Ryan Reynolds? Both of these guys have really slimmed down and have the sleek and toned look instead of being bulky. Same with Matt Damon. More recently Will Smith really slimmed down for his role in “I am Legend”. He had to get big and bulky for “Ali”, but dropped a lot of that mass and really cleaned up his physique for his newest role.

Are You “Still” Trying to Get Massive?

Being big and massive is a great way to impress guys in the gym, but won’t get you far with women. There is simply a “cheesiness” factor once you get too big. You can’t really achieve a hip look and clothes don’t fit well. Ever see a professional football player or professional wrestler in a suit? They look stupid. If you want to be more attractive to the opposite sex, then you may reconsider your goal of getting big muscles. Opt for the lean athletic look instead.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Body Building – What Is His Secret?

25-10-2009 by admin



The governor of California is the best known when it comes to body building. With the movie pumping iron body building has become a household phenomenon. He has made the term body building an everyday activity.

When he started on body building he was very young. He was very weak but then went on to become Mr. Universe. He put in a lot of effort and dedicated his time to body building.

There may be no other story which is better when than Arnold it comes to body building. He did many jobs before he got to body building. He even worked as a street worker in California. All his free hours went off in sculpting and toning his body. He was awarded the ultimate body builder title in 1970.

He went on with body building until he decided to get into movies. True lies, the terminator and end of days were movies which proved him to be successful. He got respect from the elite Hollywood actors for any kind of award that was given to him.

His first approach to body building was atypical. He played soccer when he was about thirteen years old and was very dissatisfied with team sports. He did not like it when he was not gratified personally. He also tried other things like boxing, track and field, weightlifting and javelin throw. He found his real vocation when he was working on weights because his coach suggested them to strengthen his legs.

He was awed when he first set foot into a gym. He was awe struck at the sight of muscles which he had never seen before and did not even know the right name for it. The body builders there looked extremely powerful. He then realized that is what he wanted to do and went on. Then began at the age of sixteen his career which got him crowned seven times continuously for Mr. Olympia.

His self confidence grew along with his physique. He also soon discovered what is called the power of size by many. His respect from people grew as his muscles grew. The muscular mass which kept growing in size got him into relationships with women as well as young men. He realized a few women loved his physique while the others were turned off by it. He wanted to grow bigger in size and increase his muscles.

The epitome of a body building idol would be Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you are very serious about body building you can do a lot.

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Intermittent Fasting For a Lean Hollywood Body!

23-10-2009 by admin



So you want to lose body fat right? Of course you do, most of us wouldn’t mind dropping some of that unsightly muscle-masking blubber. Being lean is a top priority if a Hollywood Body is your goal – and I’m sure it is, because you’re sitting there reading my site.

Most of you are aware of the following, but let’s reiterate:

“In order to lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit (burn more calories than you consume). This is a true statement.

The problem lies in the discipline or methods used to do so. Sure, you can count calories 7 days a week, eat every three hours, and drive yourself somewhat crazy. Or you can simplify the process and relax a bit, still knowing you’re bound to drop fat. Sound good? Enter: INTERMITTENT FASTING.

A Simpler Approach To Effective Fat Loss

You may have heard of intermittent fasting (IF) because as of late, it’s become a fairly popular weight loss technique and for good reason. Fitness expert Brad Pilon is probably the most innovative when it comes to the subject. Check out his blog for more info on the matter than you’re likely to read all at once, but it will lay out the science and logistics behind IF to a far better degree than I could relate. He is the go-to guy for IF! His eBook is one of the best purchases I have ever made. It’s not your typical eBook – this information could be what takes you to the next level of fitness!

Intermittent fasting is exactly what it sounds like: sporadic periods of no food. For our purposes, we are not talking about lengthy fasts either. I recommend going anywhere from 14-24 hours, and a maximum of 36 hours, but 36 is pushing the limits and not necessary. However, you can choose to do so without encountering the negative benefits. Anything beyond the 36 hour mark and you begin to risk the things you’re probably worried that a 6 hour fast will create.

On that note, what about all the fitness sites that are telling us that we have to eat every 2-3 hours? Their claim is that by skipping meals or waiting too long between meals, your body will go into starvation mode and your metabolism will come to a screeching halt. This, my friends, is simply not true, and IF is not unhealthy. Far from it. The 6 small meals a day approach is currently very popular amongst the fitness community. But where did this all start? Is there actually a solid foundation backing this theory, or is it just word of mouth and then the general consensus assumes it to be true? Fitness Blackbook has a short post with some good points that question the veracity of this theory.

This isn’t to say that it’s a bad approach to weight loss. It can work, but remember, the bottom line is that whether you eat one meal or ten meals a day, if a calorie deficit is not created, you will not lose weight. Personally, I can put down food! No really, I can eat like a horse. So eating six meals a day could easily add up to a very large number in the calorie department. If your daily caloric goal is 1800, six meals a day would be 300 calories a meal. So this method requires a great deal of portion control and discipline. Sometimes, you just want to eat with somewhat reckless abandon, so to speak. IF makes this possible, while still creating a calorie deficit.

If Muscle Gain Is Your Goal, I Recommend The More Meals A Day Approach

If you need to pack on mass, and some of you do, getting doses of protein many times a day is an effective way to go. This is from personal experience as well as factual information. I will gain muscular size faster when I eat 5-6 times a day with protein at every feeding.

But if you’re happy with your size and are aiming for fat loss, both methods will work, and I have truly experienced the quickest fat loss and lowest body fat levels when performing some sort of IF.

Methods Of Intermittent Fasting

Eat Stop Eat

Brad Pilon’s tried and true method of fasting allows you to “Stop Dieting and Start Living.” Depending on your goals, the main principle is to do 1 or 2 24-hour fasts per week. It may sound like Hell, but it’s actually easy once your body adapts. Say you eat dinner at 7pm on Thursday – you would then fast until 7pm on Friday. Water, tea, and coffee (black) are allowed. After the fast is over, you resume your normal eating habits as if the fast never happened. You do not go to the McDonald’s drive-thru and order 10 things from the dollar menu, unless you want to ruin your hard work. Detoxification is an added bonus to this, but the main goal is creating a caloric deficit over time. Think about it. Hypothetically, say you normally eat 2000 calories a day, every day. That adds up to 14000 calories per week. If you fast 2 days, that would reduce your caloric total by 4000, which is over a pound of fat, and more weight on the scale (a pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories). So in a week, you’ve leaned down over a pound of fat by simply eating normally 5 days of the week, and fasting the other 2. No need to worry about creating a deficit every day, just maintain discipline for two days. Even one day of fasting using this approach will compound into good results over time.

Eating Window

Not the official name, but it makes sense to me. I used this approach last summer and got down to sub 5% body fat. It’s my favorite way method of IF. Basically, you will eat between certain hours, and not eat during other hours. For me last year, I would eat my first meal at 1pm, so breakfast was 2 cups of black coffee and that’s it. Coffee actually suppresses my appetite and obviously the caffeine helps in regards to having energy. So making it to 1pm was no sweat. In fact, I would perform a morning workout around 10am, fasted, and without food after for a few hours. And no, I did not lose muscle. I will touch up on this in a moment. I would eat meals between 1pm and around 11pm. That’s 9 hours where eating is an option, and 14 where it’s not. I did not monitor calories while on this style of eating, I simply ate healthy Paleo food until full, and ate again when hungry, inside the parameters of the diet. Honestly, I’ve never dropped body fat so quickly and easily as when using this method.

Working Out While Fasting?

So am I mentioned above, while on the 14 hour a day fast approach, I would incorporate a morning workout into the fast. Was I a slug in the gym? No – in fact, I had more energy than when fed, and had some of my best workouts while fasted. The body will use it’s “fight or flight” internal tactic to signal the body to heighten the senses and become focused like a laser. It’s crazy, but it really does happen. My strength in lifts increased, and my best CrossFit times were achieved when in a fasted state. One day I remember thinking, “Wow, if I am this pumped while fasted, imagine what some pre-workout carbs will do!” I ate a big bowl of oatmeal, went to the gym, and had an absolutely horrendous workout! My body was so used to working hard fasted, that it basically rejected the food as far as energy levels were concerned.

Will you lose muscle by not eating protein right after your workout? No. Again, my strength improved and I dropped body fat like no one’s business. My measurements stayed around the same, save my waist, which trimmed down to 29″, lower on some days. I had the V-Shaped torso to a greater degree than ever, and most of all I felt great! I want to tell you about these personal experiences so you can put your mind at ease when these concerns come about in your head. I worried the same things, but soon discovered the beauty of IF.

Drawbacks Of Intermittent Fasting

Honestly, I am yet to be displeased with anything about IF. I don’t think it’s the best way to go if you’re after big muscle gains, but that’s usually not of my concerns. If I do feel like adding some muscle, I will fall out of IF and use the “more meals a day” approach. But for fat loss, I think IF is the way to go, in terms of effectiveness and simplicity. Is it for you? I’m not sure. Try it out and see if it’s something you can incorporate into your fitness goals. Chances are, it’ll take some time getting used to, as all new things are, but after a couple weeks pass, your body should be primed and accept the concept of IF, whichever method of it you choose, with open arms.

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Best Chest Building Exercises

15-10-2009 by admin



As any gym-goer can testify to, a shapely well-defined chest is no easy feat to accomplish. If it were, there would be Superman look-a-likes strutting their stuff all over town. I’m about to send some shocking news your way: “You can no longer rely upon the Bench Press.” Truth be told, this is a highly over-hyped movement that over time developed an undeserving title of “King of Upper-Body Exercises.” I actually avoid this exercise, with purpose. Of course, people love to ask you what your “max” is on Bench. Sorry bud, but you’d better stop dwelling on that number, because if you want to start building up an impressive set of pecs, your bench pressing days are going to be much subsided.

Here’s the thing: a number of factors go into building a great chest. It’s crucial that you work it out strategically to achieve the best possible look. Muscle building is like sculpting ice, and it needs to be chiseled in certain areas more than others, or you’re going to wind up looking like a muscular version of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Trust me, you don’t want this to happen, as delicious as his rolls may be.

Sorry to bring down the Flat Bench, but there are just some exercises that should be avoided. Flat and decline type exercises are usually the culprits here. Reason being, there exercises will develop an unbalanced shape as well as undesirable proportions.

So for starters, how about we take a look at what creates an impressive chest:

What you want:

* Enough lean muscle to ensure a visually appealing athletic look
* Square-like shape, created using incline exercises
* Dense, angular muscle
* Proportioned when compared to the rest of your body
* “Even-pecs” (even muscle built upon the entire chest)
* Developing the often underrated upper-chest
* The “middle line” creating separation between the left and right pecs
* Distinction from your lower torso region

What you don’t want:

* Emphasis placed on the mid to lower part of the chest. This is where the ugly man-boob look comes from.

If you’ve been neglecting your upper-chest, you’ve been missing out on developing the squarish angular shape that looks awesome. To fix this imbalance, make incline exercises your primary exercises. Lay off on the other stuff until you’ve evened things out.

Compound exercises are king when it comes to building lean muscle tissue. A compound exercise simply uses a number of muscles at one time. An isolation exercise focuses on one muscle at a time. Yes, isolation movements are important, but compound exercises will create more growth. Compound movements will lay your body’s muscular foundation – Isolation exercises will sculpt in all the details afterward.

(If you aren’t “feeling it” in your chest when exercising, your form is probably improper – even the smallest tweak can change the “primary mover” or muscle being used)

Okay, on with it now right? In my book, these are the best exercises for building up and sculpting great pectorals:

Gironda Barbell Press
This is a great exercise to lead off your routine with. At first, this looks like a regular bench press, but there’s a small change that makes a big difference. You will bring the bar down toward your neck/chin, not to the chest. This forces your entire chest to work, and takes the load off your shoulder muscles and arms. You probably won’t be able to use as much weight as when performing the flat bench, but even with a lower weight, it will stimulate much more chest growth than before. The Gironda Press hits upper, mid and lower chest all at the same time. It’s arguably the best exercise for overall chest growth. Sweet! A word of warning: This is a bit stressful on the shoulder joints, so be careful if you have shoulder problems. The muscle used is still primarily chest, however.

Dip/Weighted Dip
Bodyweight exercises are in a word: Awesome. By no means is the dip excluded from that list. It’s my second favorite bodyweight exercise, only falling behind the ever-amazing pull-up. Correct mechanics are very important to keep focus on the chest and not shift to the triceps You want to lean forward and look at the floor while doing the movement. You can hold a weight between your feet or legs if desired.

Incline Dumbbell Press
Awesome with a barbell, but superior with dumbbells in my opinion. Don’t incline the bench too high, or your shoulders take on the majority of the work load. A 60 degree angle is a good starting point. For best results, bring the dumbbells up toward the center and lightly touch them together. Squeeze, and lower with control.

Dumbbell Squeeze Press
You will likely not have heard of this one, but you’re going to get a pair of dumbbells and a slightly inclined bench. Press the dumbbells into each other in the center and force them together throughout the lift. This creates the hardest contraction possible, and is an awesome inner and upper chest exercise.

Decline Pushup
This one’s pretty common, but very effective at hitting the upper and inner chest. A bench or a Swiss ball both work for this one. Simply assume the position and maintain proper pushup technique.

Choose Rep Ranges Based Upon Goal

If muscle gain is your goal, aim for the 8 to 12 range, lifting to failure. If going for increased strength and density, go for 3 to 7 reps, and never go til failure, always stop one or two reps before.

Because you may already be strong enough to do over 12 reps for dips and pushups, you can choose to add weight, or just leave them as is. You will still benefit from higher rep ranges when doing bodyweight exercises.

Sample Chest Workout Routine

1. Gironda Neck Press – 3 sets
2. Incline DB Press – 3 sets
3. DB Squeeze Press – 3 sets
4. Dip/Weighted Dip – 3 sets
5. Decline Pushup – 3 sets

A quick reminder here: 80% of what your body looks like is going to be based on your diet If your nutrition plan is no good, you’re going to be wasting a lot of time and effort. You simply can’t out exercise a bad diet.

As for the workout, give it a whirl. I am confident you’ll be pleased with the results!

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