This issue contains the following sections:

1. Endomorph Traininig Tips
2. The Importance of Water

Hello,

Welcome to the 6^th Gigantic Newsletter. In this issue, I am going to cover endomorph training techniques. If you are not an endomorph, you can skip ahead to the second part of the newsletter, and read about water.

Endomorphs have a generally larger body structure. It may seem that no matter how hard they try, they just can't attain an idea weight and bodyfat %. They may start to starve themselves eating very little, and not getting the nutrition they need. As you know, this is not the right thing to do. Here are some guidelines to follow.

1. Eat normally or slightly less. 1500 to 2500 calories is a good area. Don't go less or you will have difficulty getting enough nutrients.
2. Get your heart pumping. I don’t want to sound like Richard Simmons, and trust me, I don’t wear those daisy dukes, but cardio is important to losing weight. If you want to lose weight, the key is not to eat less, but to exercise more. You will want to do lots of aerobic exercises. While there are ways to lift aerobically, such as circuit training, weightlifting is usually not aerobic. Try to get 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic activity 5 times a week. More is better.
3. Lift less weight for more reps. Try to use a weight on all your sets that will allow you to do 15 reps. This will help tone your muscles. Generally, endos don't have much trouble building muscle, but it is difficult to tone. Avoid lower numbers of reps, at least when you are cutting.
4. Drink lots of water. Water as you may read later in the newsletter, helps filter impurities out of your system, and gives you more energy for your workouts. You should drink 1-2 gallons a day.
5. Take your vitamins. The same applies for endos as ectos. Vitamins are inexpensive, and are important when you lift. Vitamins C and E should do it. Take about 1000mg of vitamin C and 800iu of Vitamin E every day. They help get rid of free radicals, which have been known to cause cancer, and degrade health in general. Don't eat or drink anything with caffeine in it for an hour before and after you take vitamin C, or it will be counteracted.
6. Set goals! Have a clear plan of where you want to be at with your weight training, and how you want to look. Don't try to lift without a plan. If you go into your training blind you will get nowhere. Have an idea of what you want to accomplish on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis, not just for lifting, but for your life.
7. Focus. Don't get distracted while you are lifting. Don't pay too much attention to the clowns who go to the gym for social hour. There is no need to be rude, but they shouldn't get you off track either. Your time in the gym should be spent lifting. Concentrate on what you are going to do on the next set. Imagine doing the exercise in your head.
8. Stay away from most of the supplements out there. If you are really an endo, you don't need supplements to improve. Whey protein is the only beneficial supplement. Things like andro and creatine are designed to help you gain weight. There is no benefit to taking these if you are trying to lose weight.

Nutrition:

Here are the guidelines for endomorph nutrition. Use a 30/50/20 carbs/protein/fat diet. It is important not to take in lots of carbs in order to decrease the amount of easily burnable calories. Carbohydrates are burned first and fastest. In order to burn the fat, you have to reduce the amount of carbs you eat. An easy way to do this is to avoid bread. Keep fat down, but not too low. Some vitamins like E for example are fat soluble, and need fat to be used. A typical day might look like this:

Breakfast- Any combination of the following: Egg white omelet, bacon, small bowl of cereal, orange juice, skim or 1% milk.

Midmorning snack- something like: piece of fruit, or vegetable like carrots, protein shake, juice

Lunch- any combination: cold cut sandwich, chicken soup, salad, or chicken, fish

Afternoon snack: fruit, vegetables,

Dinner: (should be smaller than breakfast)- Steak, potatoes, salad, pasta, chicken

Workout:

Your workout should include the major lifts done in 4 sets of about 15 reps. This will help tone the muscle giving them more definition. It is not going to help you get bigger, so don't do it if you want more mass.

If you have read any amount of my writing, you may be well aware of the fact that I want everybody to drink plenty of water. I always suggest at least 1 gallon each day. I am not the only one either. There are several reliable sources that say the same thing. The reason is that water is one of the most important things in your diet. It is great because it has no calories. You can drink as much as you want, and you will not get fat from it. So really, you have nothing to lose by increasing your intake of water. These are the reasons water is sooooo important.

1. It cleanses your system. You need it to help reduce the buildup of harmful impurities in your system. Your liver and kidneys filter your blood and remove waste and bacteria among other things. When you urinate, and notice it is brightly colored, you know that you are not getting enough water. A better gauge than one gallon a day is the clarity of your urine. You want it to be crystal clear.
2. It makes up most of your muscle mass. A majority of your muscle mass is composed of water. If you want the largest possible muscles, drink plenty of water.
3. It helps to distribute nutrients. It is proven that when you drink carbonated beverages, the carbonation bonds with the blood cells, and subtracts from the available surface area for carrying needed things like oxygen. The same is true with smoking and other things. Drinking water gets rid of these things, and helps create more surface area for oxygen.

Well, that about wraps it up for this issue. If you have been to the site, you have noticed that we've moved, and there'll be none of the Geocities banners, or those popup ads when I goof up their banner code. I also believe it is somewhat faster than before. Come see for yourself. (http://www.megsinet.net/~frank416/) I also added a routines section. If you have a routine that you used that you like, send it to me, and I'll add it with any comments you have. And finally, I started a webring. If you have a fitness website that you would like to add to the ring, go to www.megsinet.net/~frank416/ring.html, and fill out the form. If you have any suggestions such as the exercise of the week, a good lifting book to add, or a CD to add to the music page, let me know. I get a lot of email, and sometimes I can't reply to all of it, but I always read it all.

Stay pumped,

John