Excerpts: 
Chapter 2: How Steroids Work
Anabolic steroids are a group of hormones created to duplicate the beneficial aspects of testosterone. These positive features include muscle growth, improved attitude, tissue repair, increased sex drive, and increased strength. Keep in mind, all substances have a potential negative impact as well, such as oily skin, hair loss, cancer, liver failure, etc. These steroids are further differentiated into primarily anabolic (anabolic being defined as growth promoting) for use in tissue repair, increasing red blood cell count, and muscle growth and recuperation, or defined as primarily androgenic which means their predominate effect is for male sexual development/characteristics.
So, how do steroids work? As mentioned above, they are messengers that signal the cell (any cell they come in contact with, i.e. hair cells, glands, muscle, brain, etc.) to perform an action. When dealing specifically with muscle cells, steroids tell the muscle cells to increase protein synthesis, which allows the muscle to grow faster, recover quicker, etc. It also increases creatine phosphate synthesis, the substrate needed for energy, (i.e. makes you stronger). Steroids increase the storage of glycogen in the muscle cell, which increases the cell’s size by the amount of glycogen and by the accompanying water that comes with it. Steroids help increase nutrient uptake by the cell. This includes vitamins, energy in the form of glucose, and amino acids – the building blocks of protein. As is obvious to anyone who has even considered lifting weights, all the above is important in overall muscle growth.
So – that is how steroids work. Why, once again, is this important? As you get into future chapters, the above paragraph will be repeated, but this time, not in relation to anabolic steroids – next time it will be related to food, food timing, the pre and post workout meals, glycogen supercompensation, etc. I am going to teach you how to mimic anabolic steroids using diet and exercise! You will learn to recover rapidly, increase protein synthesis, increase creatine phosphate synthesis, and increase the storage of glycogen in the muscle cell, which increases the cells size by the amount of glycogen and by the accompanying water that comes with it. You will also learn to increase nutrient uptake by the cell – all without the need for steroids! The information found in here is truly “Better Than Steroids!”
Chapter 9: Eating Plans
From the beginning, this chapter was doomed to be as big as we all hope to get. It was huge! In rereading it, I realized it was also esoteric, to the point of being boring. So much so I slobbered on my keyboard and shorted out the computer. So, I have cut it back to the bare minimum. The majority of the research, technical jargon, and crap have been removed. I am more than happy to discuss any of the research with those of you who may be interested, but for the rest, it covers the basic diet plans with a brief mention of the benefits and potential pitfalls of each. With each sample menu, notice that exact calories or grams are not always obtained. That is OK... even I am not that anal… Water calculations are determined from the equation found in chapter 4.
I will be reviewing, with sample menus, four of my favorite eating plans. They are, in no particular order of importance: The Isocaloric Diet, The Keto Run, The Modified Carb Drop (MCD), and The Zig Zag.
Chapter 10: The Post Workout Meal
Combining the proper nutrients after a vigorous, hard-ass training session is absolutely vital in your quest for lean mass and strength gain. No matter what your goals, be they weight/fat loss, muscle mass, or strength, it is vital that the correct nutrients be supplied to the system and then driven into the muscles. This can be accomplished with what is explained here. Your goals CAN and WILL be realized if proper nutrition, exercise, and supplementation are utilized with the right timing! It is one thing to know HOW to do it. It is another to know WHEN to do it! Food timing, the post-workout meal, and intensity in the gym are the only ways to achieve this. This knowledge and application is truly BETTER THAN STEROIDS!
Chapter 11: The Pre Workout Meal
Muscle damage created during resistance training is beneficial in the sense that it allows for remodeling and growth of the muscle. However, this demolition must be repaired for the remodeling to take effect. By supplementing a high glycemic carbohydrate and a protein with antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, we can reduce free radicals and the damaging inflammation (3).
Let’s review everything the pre workout meal does:
1. Ramps energy stores for an intense workout
2. Decreases the catabolic hormone, cortisol
3. Lessens muscle damage and inflammation
4. Controls free radicals with appropriate anti-oxidants
5. Sets the ground work for quicker recovery following your workout
6. Supplies a fluid source prior to the workout
Chapter 13: What Some Salsa with those Chips?
A prevalent theory in gyms today is that of Progressive Overload Training or P.O.T. (an appropriate acronym as you will soon see…). This theory has as its basis the belief that you need to lift more to get bigger, or progressively overload the muscles to cause them to grow. Without boring you with detail, let me just say, this theory is flawed. If it were true, you would see 400 lb. guys in the gym bench-pressing 3500 lbs! Progressive overload training produces diminishing returns, and can ultimately be career ending due to injury! But our body possesses adaptive ability so it will become accustomed to anything you do. P.O.T.’s basic problem is that it leads to a plateau, rather than improvement.
Continually changing the stress placed on the muscle groups prevents adaptation and forces the body to respond. Utilizing a variety of techniques not only breaks monotony in the gym but allows for periods of growth by alternating tissue breakdown (with overloading, heavy exercises, large resistance) and tissue repair (with rest, lighter activities, and various methods).
There are many different terms used to describe the same activity and this chapter will include a few of the terms or descriptive titles to describe the different modus operandi. This is not an all-inclusive list. There are obviously a number of other techniques and routines not mentioned in this book, including ones utilized by inventive individuals. Ideally, you will take the ones mentioned and modify them to meet your needs and shock the heck out of your muscles.
The techniques are described in paragraph form, including the following information:
Name: What the technique is called (occasionally a few names will be mentioned)
Resistance Level: Is the technique better utilized with heavy, moderate, or light weights.
Rest: Suggested amount of rest during/between/after each technique.
Explanation: How to utilize the technique.
Example: An example of the technique.
