Natural Physiques Newsletter Volume I Issue 6 August 13th, 2004

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Table of Contents

1. In this Issue
2. Quotes
3. Editorial
4. What's New
5. Why Stubborn Calves Won't Grow - and What You Should Do About It
6. Protein Myths
7. Health News
8. I Am A Habit
9. Business Development: Maintaining Honesty and Integrity
10. Closing Thoughts
11. Subscription Information

1. In this Issue

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Welcome to the sixth issue of the monthly Natural Physiques™ Newsletter! I hope you enjoy this issue, and look forward to hearing from my readers. Feel free to contact me with your comments, suggestions, and constructive feedback!

Visit the Natural Physiques™ forums to share your story, seek advice, and offer knowledge to others!

Our quotes this month are about learning and having a mentor or teacher to help guide us. I keep hearing more about health and fitness on the news and in advertisements, so I felt it would be appropriate to focus on fitness from the inside. Read recent articles we've published and check out our featured calculator in the "What's New" section. This month, we are going to focus on a challenging body part to train: the calves. Tom Venuto shares Why Stubborn Calves Don't Grow - And What You Should Do About it . Protein is a very commonly debated topic and I still see people who insist that one type of protein is better than another, or they must take it at a certain time. Bryan Haycock has an incredible (albeit technical) article about Exposing the Myths about Protein. Our monthly Health News covers several late-breaking nutrition and supplementation topics. International motivational speaker John DiLemme, a passionate personal development coach who is dedicated to helping you Find Your Why, shares with us his philosophy about Habits. In Business Development, world-famous business philosopher Jim Rohn discusses the importance of Maintaining Honesty and Integrity.

2. Quotes

If you don't realize there is always someone who knows how to do something better than you, then you don't give proper respect for others' talents. - Hortense Canady

No man is wise enough by himself. - Plautus

I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. - Psalms 119:99

3. Editorial

There certainly seems to be a lot of excitement about health lately. You can't listen to advertisements anymore without hearing it ... people are now offering no-carb sandwiches and reduced-calorie donuts and everything else in between. The statistics are apparently starting to sink in - the fact that the majority of Americans are overweight and a significant percentage are obese. The question is, how will we react? I wrote in a previous issue about responsibility - we must take responsibility for our weight and our health. Are we ready?

One reason why my coaching has been a unique experience for my clients is because I focus on self-empowerment and motivation. While I might be able to get you excited for a day or a week or even a month, what happens when I'm on vacation or simply not coaching you anymore? What then? It is important not to depend on external factors for your motivation. The inspiration must spring from within. So I work very hard to help my clients empower themselves to create inspiration. I do this through a number of methods.

If you've read 10 Fat Mistakes, you know that I believe the first thing to focus on is your reasons for wanting to change. You must dig deep inside and "find your why." This must be a self-motivating reason that is so big - part of a vision so large - that it can help you overcome obstacles. This is not something I invented. If you enjoy reading, grab the autobiography of any successful person you can find. What I mean by successful is not necessarily wealthy or famous, but someone who accomplished a very specific goal they were in pursuit of. Almost every story that you read, you will find that there was some deep-down, motivating reason that drove that person to conquer failure after failure until they finally achieved their ultimate goals.

One reason I include a motivational section in every newsletter is because I know how powerful and important this aspect of physique transformation is. In fact, when I look at the most successful fitness trainers out there, I see a common thread. Tom Venuto, author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, has an inspirational section is his newsletters. Chad Tackett, who designed the popular Global Health and Fitness online coaching package, actually has a "Motivational Fitness Expert" on staff to help out in this regard. Any person I've talked to or coached who has experienced a successful transformation has done so from the inside out.

So how do you take on this task of exercising the inside? I tried to make it easy and straightforward in my book, "Become the Journey: A Transformation Guide." I'm going to share this information with you, straight from the first section of the book. I feel this is very important and wish to help you either kickstart your journey, or to take action if you are still getting ready to get ready to get ready. You see, some people spend all of their time researching and studying and preparing to start, and never actually take the first step. The best way to learn is through experience, so you must get out there and take action in order to grow. You can learn and develop skills while you are out tempering yourself through trials by fire.

Let's step through what I believe are the important steps in order to begin a transformation from the inside. On this Friday the 13th, I have 13 steps for you to take!

1. First, you must reach deep down inside and make that choice - this is covered in detail in Part 1 of "10 Fat Mistakes."
2. Second, you must create your vision. This article focuses on that important step.
3. Third, you must embrace the journey. Sometimes we get trapped in our focus on the destination, and don't realize that for this is become a new lifestyle, we must live in the moment. The best way to predict the future is to create it NOW.
4. Fourth, you must learn to overcome your fear. I write about this in detail here.
5. Fifth, learn How to Set Goals by visiting my article of the same title, and set them. The idea is not just to be a goal-setter, but to become successful as a goal-getter.
6. Sixth, overcome the black and white, I Can, I Can't syndrome. This is when people believe either they are successfully losing fat, or they are aggressively gaining fat. Realize that life is about compromise and it's okay to be human and progress a little at a time.
7. The seventh step is to learn to tap into your network of friends. You will be amazed at how, through the connections within your network, you will find people who can aid you with your transformation. There is an entire chapter devoted to this concept in my book, and you can also learn more from Robert Kiyosaki in his book, Retire Young, Retire Rich.
8. For point number eight, learn what to do when the going gets tough. We all stumble and fall, but the people who are successful pick themselves back up again and keep moving. Expect challenge, but don't look at it as something that you overcome and never encounter again. Instead, embrace the process of overcoming challenge so that you are ready to take on even greater challenges.
9. The ninth step I believe is to understand where you are in the five stages of transformation - I call these physicial, regulatory, self-awareness, intuitive, and creative. I cover these in greater detail in my book. They were inspired by what I learned in Deepak Chopra's book, How to Know God: The Soul's Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries and what I have experienced coaching dozens of clients to good health.
10. The tenth step is to learn how to measure your success. Many people are trapped by the scale or held prisoner by their body fat reading, when in fact there are a number of ways to measure progress. I discuss this at great length in Measure Your Success.
11. With one of the most successful coaching programs available online, Chad Tackett has a stress-reduction specialist on his staff of experts. Stress can be the number one barrier to successfully losing fat and embracing good health. Therefore, my number eleven step is to learn about stress and how to reduce it.
12. Item number twelve is what I call "Great Expectations." There are a few things you must be prepared to face during your journey. For example, you may find that some of your friends and family are not as excited as you are about your new focus on healthy living, and may even try to sabotage your progress. You may also struggle with your own self-image and find it is difficult to become satisfied with where you are at. These are all conditions many people experience during the journey, so knowing what to expect can help you prepare a plan of attack to conquer these obstacles and step into your own power.
13. The final and most important step is to achieve balance. This is so important to me that I wrote an article to other personal trainers entitled Helping Your Clients Achieve Balance (there is a version written for clients in my eBook). This is a step I struggled with for some time. I had traded in my addictions to junk food and alcohol for healthy nutrition and vigorous training. Unfortunately, these were still addictions in my life and it wasn't until my son explained that he didn't ever ask me to play basketball with him because he "knew" I was too busy with my weight training that I realized what had happened. Since then, I have been able to make training a part of my life and not something that controls my life. Balance is essential because this is the life you are living and you have to "live with it." This is why you should find exercise you enjoy and eat foods you love to eat, so that you can let fitness happen rather than struggling to make fitness happen.

There you have it - thirteen steps to focus on fitness from the inside. Those of you who are superstitious might have hoped I would add another step. I really think the fourteenth point is in your hands, however, so I did not include it here. The fourteenth step is you - all of these steps are meaningless unless you take action and choose to make a difference in your own life.

I believe that the recent hype about health and fitness is great - although some companies are only concerned about the marketing angle and turning a profit, there are plenty of companies ready to make a difference and take action to help fight overweight and obesity. While you will find plenty of articles and advertisements about counting calories and training a certain way, I believe the most important steps start on the inside. It is my prayer that today's article will help you find balance in your own life and achieve the level of health and fitness that you deserve by focusing on the most amazing aspect of physique transformation: the power within. You have it inside of you - Bill Phillips once stated that physique transformation is a way that ordinary people can become extraordinary. With my experience, I must agree whole-heartedly. So as we move into Autumn, let's commit to doing something extraordinary!

With wishes for your good health and success,

Jeremy Likness

4. What's New

Our New Look

Visitors to the site and subscribers to the newsletter may have been shocked when the familiar blue block at the heading of the page did not appear. Natural Physiques is growing and it is time for a new logo. We are pleased to unveil the new design, which focuses on the "natural" aspect of physique transformation, with the rising sun symbolic of the transformation that is taking place. There is also a balance between the gold and blue, similar to yin-and-yang, recognizing the balance we must have in our lives when we embrace healthy living. Your feedback about this new logo will be greatly appreciated!

Featured Calculator:

A very common measure of your health is known as the BMI - or Body Mass Index. While this is exactly what is used to determine your eligibility for life insurance in many cases, it is not the most accurate tool. The BMI calculations are based on the general population, of which over half is overweight and nearly one-third are obese. When you lower your body fat and gain muscle mass, you may score high on the BMI - even in one of the "at risk" zones - when in fact you are perfectly healthy. The reason is because the BMI only takes into account total weight. It doesn't factor in your body fat. The Fat-Free Mass Index is another index that probably paints a more accurate picture. While it is not in widespread use, it will create an index based on your lean mass (everything in your body that is not fat) rather than your total weight. It is a great way to understand where your muscular development lies in relation to the general population!

The Donate Buttons

We provide all of the content and tools at Natural Physiques for free. The site was created to empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things with their life and health by having the right information and motivation available. While the site does generate some income through the affiliations we have with our partners, this does not cover the cost for updating the servers, managing the newsletter, and handling the traffic we receive. We have no intention of charging for access to the site. I added the donate buttons so that those of you who feel the site adds value can contribute what you think is fair for the information we provide. Consider it an option to "tip" for service - if you feel you have received value, please share that by supporting our site. There is absolutely no obligation to contribute.

Featured Articles

• I am excited to share a few articles by vegan athlete and coach Mike Mahler, who shares The Power of Kettlebell Training and addresses Getting Big and Strong on a Vegan Diet
• The Blond Bombshell himself - Dave Draper - has given me permission to publish a few of his articles (actually, it was his wife - funny, my wife makes the major decisions here, too!). I'm excited to share his Six Keys to Successful Bodybuilding and some tips on General Nutrition
• I'm always happy to share new Success Stories. Jeremy Belter writes how he was able to successfully bulk and gain some impressive muscle definition, while a member of Tom Venuto's discussion forums who I know as Joshua pours his heart out in a very inspirational letter
• Speaking of inspiration, I once wrote an Open Letter to Those at the Edge on a few forums. Due to popular demand, I have now published it at NaturalPhysiques.com! Increased interest in the DietPower software that I use inspired me to publish a former newsletter article, Get Ripped with Confidence - a DietPower Review to the site
• In our Natural Physiques Forums we continue to have incredible community involvement. There has been discussion over more regular chat sessions at the site; we've been introduced to several new members; our Ask the Trainer forum has featured discussions about adding mass while minimizing fat and functional strength, flexibility, and speed; and we continue to see regular updates to the journals that several members are keeping at the site (including my own!) There has been quite a bit of interest about DietPower in our Weight Loss forums, some discussion of grilling versus steaming vegetables, various threads related to supplementation, and a great discussion of punching bags and training

5. Why Stubborn Calves Don't Grow - And What You Should Do About it (by Tom Venuto)

So you say you've tried everything and your "genetically cursed" calves won't grow? Well my friend, I'm happy to inform you that no, you probably haven't tried "everything" and that yes, your calves will grow - but only if you fire the right ammunition at them (and that means bringing out the heavy artillery). The only way to know how to attack those stubborn, exercise-resistant suckers is to understand the reasons why they aren't growing in the first place. Then, you can you strategically deploy the appropriate techniques to target and overcome each calf-building roadblock one by one.

Reason #1 Why Stubborn calves don't grow: Neglect

The number one reason why stubborn calves won't grow is because you're not giving them the same priority or attention as the rest of your body. Yes - that's right; you probably don't train your calves nearly as hard or as consistently as your "favorite" body parts. In fact, the chances are good that you usually leave your calves for last and you more than occasionally "blow them off" completely.

Be honest: Do you really train your calves as hard as your biceps or your chest? Do you blast those calf raises with as much intensity and effort as your bench presses or barbell curls? Thought so.

What should you do about it? Priority training

It's very tempting to work your strongest body parts the hardest while neglecting the weaker ones. It's enjoyable to train the showy muscles like arms and chest. Working calves is boring and painful. As a result, many people have weak calves out of sheer avoidance and neglect. Getting stubborn calves to grow requires mounting an all out frontal attack on them! You need complete singleness of purpose and a burning desire to build them. Working your calves must become the number one priority of your entire training program.

The best way to prioritize your calf training is to do them first in your routine or on a day completely by themselves. You can also use double split training and designate a separate session just for calves. These methods allow you to train your calves when you fresh, strong and full of energy - mentally and physically.

Reason #2 why stubborn calves don't grow: Lack of Change

The second reason stubborn calves don't grow is because you keep doing the same workout over and over again. Take a look at this routine:

Standing calf raises; 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps
Seated calf raises; 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps.

Does it look familiar? If so, and your calves aren't growing, it's probably because your calves have adapted to that humdrum program a long time ago. You see, the human body likes being in a state of homeostasis and those calves of yours are comfortable just the way they are. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten!

What should you do about it? Variation & Shock Treatment.

The solution to this problem is obvious: Mix up your training! Shock your muscles out of complacency. Throw something at them that they're not expecting and watch the growth begin!

Your muscles will usually adapt to any routine within 3-4 weeks. As soon as you stop seeing increases in strength and muscle size, it's time for a change. If you're not sure what to change, just change anything. A carefully crafted, scientifically developed routine can certainly help maximize results, but almost anything your body isn't used to will stimulate a new growth spurt.

There are many weapons available in your calf-building arsenal. All you need to do is mix and match the various exercises with the different training variables - and bingo! - like a Rubik's cube you have a virtually unlimited number of workout combinations at your fingertips. Here are some of the variables you can play around with:

Basic training variables

1. Number of sets
2. Number of reps
3. Choice of exercises
4. Number of exercises
5. Order of exercises
6. Length of rest periods
7. Amount of resistance
8. Tempo/Time under tension
9. Frequency of training

"Shock Training" (intensification) techniques

1. Supersets, tri-sets, giant sets
2. Descending sets
3. Super Slow negatives
4. Continuous tension
5. Peak contraction/static holds
6. 21's, 1 and 1/2's
7. Forced reps

Without even changing the exercises, here's an example of how you can transform your old, stale program into a result-producing calf blast! (the weights selected are just examples):

Standing Calf Raises
1 set 20 reps (warm up) 300 lbs
2 sets 10-15 reps 700 lbs
2 sets 10-15 reps 500 lbs with 5 second hold in top position
1 drop set:
500 lbs. X 10 reps heels together, toes out rise up over big toe
400 lbs. X 10 reps toes pointing in, heels out rise up over little toe
300 lbs. X 10 reps toes straight ahead, feet 24 inches apart
200 lbs. X 10 reps toes straight ahead, feet together
(40 reps total, no rest between weight changes)

Seated Calf Raise
Set 1: 90 lbs. X 20-25 reps, slow, nonstop, continuous tension (4 second concentric, 4 second eccentric, no pause
Set 2: 135 lbs. X 15 reps, 3 second hold at top, 3 second eccentric, 3 second concentric, then drop weight down to 90 lbs. and do 15-20 more fast reps
Set 3: 180 lbs. X 10-15 reps, with slight cheat (slight "bounce" at bottom)
Set 4: 45 lbs. X as many reps as possible (up to 100)

Reason #3 why stubborn calves don't grow: Genetics.

It would be totally naive to say that genetics don't play a role in calf development. Genetics are definitely a factor. If you have inherited "high" calves - that is, the calf inserts high on the lower leg, leaving a large "gap" between the bottom of the calf muscle and the heel, there's not much you can do about it. But to blame poor calf development entirely on genetics is also naïve. Genetics are not under your control, but plenty of things are - like how hard you train, how consistently you train, how well you plan your workouts and how positive your mental attitude is.

What should you do about it? Positive attitude, training for your body type and high intensity.

First, you need a positive attitude. Making excuses and blaming your genetics for weak calves is a cop-out. Excuses don't get you anywhere in bodybuilding - accepting responsibility and taking action is what makes you a champion. Multi-Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates once said that its not the genetics that separates the guy who makes it to the top and the other guys who don't; "It's the drive, commitment, 100 percent determination, focus and the mind-set to be the very best." The first step to overcoming less than optimal genetics is to accept the cards heredity dealt you and then relentlessly press on with what you have. Your genetics might prevent you from ever having calves like Mr. Olympia, but you must always press forward and strive to be the best you can possibly be. Make a commitment to be better than you used to be, not better than someone else.

Second, don't be tempted to duplicate the calf routine of a "genetic freak." You know; the guy with 22 inch calves who only trains them for a few weeks before contests who has a relative with 21 inch calves who has never even worked out before! (Mike Matarazzo and Chris Dickerson come to mind.) Genetic superiors grow in spite of how they train, not because of it. A few sets of sloppy calf raises thrown in as an afterthought at the end of a workout might be all it takes for the genetically gifted bodybuilder to get incredible growth. That's why copying the genetic freak's training program is a bad idea.

If your genetics really are sub-par, you can't just coast through your calf workouts. You must blitz and blast your calves with all your might. Knock em into the next time zone! Use that list of high intensity techniques, pile those weights on like there's no tomorrow and train to 100% total failure.

Reason #4 why stubborn calves don't grow: Poor blood flow (no pump).

Did you ever notice how veiny advanced bodybuilders are? Vascularity comes mostly from low body fat. However, all bodybuilders are veinier than the average person, body fat notwithstanding. Years of consistent training develops a vascular system that can pump huge quantities of blood into the muscles. While most muscle growth can be attributed to an increase in the size of the muscle fibers, blood flow is also an important factor. A person with poor calf development is often a person who can't get a pump in their calves.

What should you do about it? Maximum pump workouts and higher frequency.

Calves not growing? Try increasing your frequency. Hitting each muscle group once a week is a very popular practice these days and is probably a good idea for large muscles like the quads, back and chest. These bigger muscles require more time to recuperate than small ones. The calves don't need as much recovery time, so they can and should be hit more frequently. When you want to specialize on calves, work your calves heavy and hard at least twice a week. You might even want to experiment with three or four calf workouts a week, alternating heavy and light every other workout. On your heavy days, challenge yourself to use super heavy weights for 8-15 reps and add weight every workout no matter what. On your lighter days, pump them full of blood with "maximum pump" techniques.

How do you get maximum pump? There are many ways: supersets, tri sets, giant sets, decreased rest intervals between sets and high rep sets. High reps can range anywhere from twenty to one hundred! Yes, you read that right - one hundred reps! When you start one hundred rep sets, your body weight will be plenty. The goal is not to break down the muscle tissue, but simply to induce circulation and get the blood in there. As you build up endurance and tolerance for the lactic acid burn, you'll eventually be able to add light weights. Continue with heavy calf days twice a week and try adding three sets of one hundred twice a week (you can even do these at home on the stairs.)

Also, don't forget the role that diet plays in getting monstrous pumps: Keep your carbs up to keep your glycogen levels high. Even if you are on a low carb diet, you should still carb up once every fourth day or you'll have a hard time getting much of a pump. Remember, no glycogen = no pump.

Reason #5 why stubborn calves don't grow: Weak neuromuscular (mind to muscle) connection.

Strength and muscle growth have a strong neural component. Whenever you begin to learn a new skill pattern, (like throwing a ball with your left arm when you are right-handed), the mind to muscle link is "weak." That's why the new movement feels clumsy and awkward. The same thing is true when you do a new exercise. If you've ever watched a beginner try to do a complicated exercise like a lunge or a squat, then you know what I'm talking about - the novice is wobbly and unbalanced. Until this neuromuscular pathway is well developed, the muscle contractions will be weak and muscle growth cannot occur to the maximum degree.

Some bodybuilders, despite having trained their calves for years, have never developed this link properly. Many people just don't "feel " the calf muscles working when they train. It's a mindless, robotic, up-down-up-down motion with no mental or physical concentration - no "squeezing." If you don't improve this mind to muscle connection, your calves will never grow.

What should you do about it? Mental concentration and peak contraction

The first thing you should do about a weak neuromuscular connection is to work on your powers of focus and concentration. Put your mind "into the muscle." Legendary trainer Vince "The Iron Guru" Gironda, knew this secret and taught it to all his pupils at his famous North Hollywood gym.

"Champion bodybuilders definitely possess something unique," said Vince. "They may work out set for set, rep for rep with training partners, sometimes over a period of years. Even eating patterns may be identical, yet the champion advances while the training partner may not. I have noticed that the champion is using something more than the sets and reps his partner is using - and it has nothing to do with genetic superiority. He is using concentration and mental suggestion - a form of self-hypnosis. This is used by all champions whether they know it or not. In the case of bodybuilders it is more important than any steroid drug, any diet plan, any food supplement, or exercise routine ever conceived."

Work on honing your powers of concentration to a fine point. Give exclusive attention to every rep of every set. Focus. Get in the "zone." Block out all distractions. Let people know that when you are training you don't want to be disturbed. Leave the socializing for later. I've worked in health clubs for 14 years and there's one thing I've always noticed: 95% of the members in any gym walk around and chat with their buddies between sets and some of them even chat with their buddies during the set. The Champions - the 5% - never do.

The second thing you should do about a weak neuromuscular connection is to emphasize the contraction in the top position on all your calf exercises. Most beginners lack strength in the top portion of the calves range of motion. As a result, they perform only bouncy, partial movements and they never squeeze hard enough to get a strong contraction. Holding the top position of any calf raise exercise for a five second squeeze on each rep will increase the time under tension, strengthen the neuromuscular connection and work wonders for slow growing calves. This is my absolute favorite technique for bringing up the calves in a very short period of time. Practice squeezing harder and longer at the top of each rep and your calves will "blow up" almost overnight.

Reason #6 why stubborn calves don't grow: Refusing to go beyond the pain barrier.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the pain barrier. The first is "no pain, no gain." Lately this attitude has been criticized and it has been suggested that the second school, "train don't strain," is a healthier way to approach your workouts. If your goal is to achieve a basic level of fitness and health, I'd have to agree. But if you are a serious bodybuilder and you want awesome calves, then you MUST adopt the "no pain no gain" attitude. Just ask any champion in any sport; you have to endure pain if you want to grow and excel. Roger Bannister, the first man to ever run a three-minute mile said, "The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."

What should you do about it? Reframe pain as pleasure and train into the burn.

Training past the pain barrier takes guts. You have to grit your teeth and just keep going. What will help you to push yourself into and beyond the pain zone is to "reframe" what pain means to you. There's an old Navy SEALS saying, "Pain is weakness leaving the body." That's one way champions look at it. Another is to view pain as pleasure. This is a mental technique Arnold Schwarzennegger used to become one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. "The only way to be a champion is by going through these forced reps and the pain," said the former Mr. Olympia. "What helps me is to think of this pain as pleasure. Pain makes me grow. Growing is what I want. Therefore for me, pain is pleasure. And so when I experience pain I'm in heaven. It's great. People suggest that this is masochistic. But they're wrong. I like pain at a particular moment for a particular reason. I don't like needles stuck in my arm. But I do like the pain that is necessary to be a champion."

That's it - those are the six reasons that "stubborn" calves don't grow. Take a serious look at your training program and your mindset and see if any of these calf-building obstacles are short-circuiting your ability to build your calves into cows. Once you've identified which ones are holding your calf gains back, then you can select the appropriate "weapons" and attack the problem at its source. You might not ever develop calves like Chris Dickerson or Mike Matarazzo. But regardless of the genetics Mother Nature gave you, with the right battle plan and a steady, relentless assault, you can always grow and improve.

This article was provided courtesy of Tom Venuto and www.burnthefat.com. Tom is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, personal trainer, gym owner, freelance writer and author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM): Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models.

For more information on how Tom's fat-burning system can help you lose fat quickly and easily... even if you've tried everything and the flab doesn't seem to budge... then click here NOW and find out how to get rid of that excess weight for good: BFFM.

6. Exposing the Myths about Protein (by Bryan Haycock)

Myth #1: High protein intakes will not affect muscle protein synthesis.

Fact: Greater availability of amino acids means more protein synthesis within muscle cells.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

I will concede that experiments have been performed that indicate that a lab animal can survive on a very limited protein intake assuming that fat and carbohydrate intake is adequate. Simply put, the body begins to reduce that amount of amino acid oxidation in order to spare nitrogen containing compounds. Yet can we really apply this kind of example to adult humans trying to build muscle? I think not.

When the body begins getting stingy with amino acids because of low protein intake, non essential functions, such as skeletal muscle protein synthesis, drop to minimal levels. Other functions within the body such as the immune system, which uses glutamine primarily of muscle origin for fuel, also begins to suffer.9 This cripples the body's ability to cope with the stress and tissue damage induced by intense training. Researchers even believe that currently recommended protein intakes may actually predispose people to illness because of the limited reserve of amino acids. Here's what they have to say about current recommendations for protein intake:

"...It seems reasonable to conclude that the lowered rate of whole-body and perhaps muscle protein turnover that appears to occur in healthy adult subjects when intakes of indispensable amino acids approximate the current international figures, would probably diminish the individuals capacity to withstand successfully a major stressful stimulus. Again, for those reasons, we view the significant reduction in the rate of body protein turnover in healthy adults, which permits them to more closely approach or even achieve amino acid balance at currently accepted amino acid requirement intakes, as an accommodation. Thus we further conclude that these international requirement intakes are probably not sufficient to maintain a desirable or adapted state."(Young VR., Marchini JS. Mechanisms and nutritional significance of metabolic responses to altered intakes of protein and amino acids, with reference to nutritional adaptation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1990;51:270-89) Emphasis added.

Research clearly shows that by increasing blood levels of amino acids you increase protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. It has also been shown that you can maintain a positive nitrogen balance for extended periods of time and that nitrogen accretion will tend to continue as long as protein intake is high.10 Clearly if you want to maximize your gains in the gym you've gotta get more protein than the average Joe.

Myth #2: You can only assimilate 30 grams of protein at one sitting.

Fact: The body has the ability to digest and assimilate much more than 30 grams of protein from a single meal.

Speaking of high intakes of protein, people have been perpetuating the myth that you can only assimilate ~30 grams of protein at a time, making protein meals any greater than a 6 oz. chicken breast a waste. This is anything but true. For example, the digestibility of meat (i.e. beef, poultry, pork and fish) is about 97% efficient. If you eat 25 grams of beef, you will absorb into the blood stream 97% of the protein in that piece of meat. If, on the other hand, you eat a 10 oz steak containing about 60 grams of protein, you will again digest and absorb 97% of the protein. If you could only assimilate 30 grams of protein at a time, why would researchers be using in excess of 40 grams of protein to stimulate muscle growth?1

Critics of high protein intakes may try to point out that increased protein intake only leads to increased protein oxidation. This is true, nevertheless, some researchers speculate that this increase in protein oxidation following high protein intakes may initiate something they call the "anabolic drive".13 The anabolic drive is characterized by hyperaminoacidemia, an increase in both protein synthesis and breakdown with an overall positive nitrogen balance. In animals, there is a correspondent increase in anabolic hormones such as IGF-1 and GH. Though this response is difficult to identify in humans, an increase in lean tissue accretion does occur with exaggerated protein intakes.14,15

The take home message is that, if you are going to maximize muscle growth you have to minimize muscle loss, and maximize protein synthesis. Research clearly shows this is accomplished with heavy training, adequate calories, and very importantly high protein consumption. This means that meals containing more than 30 grams of protein will be the norm. Not to worry, all that protein will certainly be used effectively by the body.

Myth #3: Protein must be rapidly digested to build muscle.

Fact: Both rapidly and slowly digested proteins offer significant benefits to athletes.

Recent research has brought up the notion of "fast" and "slow" proteins.11 They are designated as such according to the rate at which they raise blood levels of amino acids after they are consumed. Whey protein for example is considered a fast protein and causes a rapid increase in amino acid levels. Casein on the other hand is considered a slow protein.

Both rapid and slow proteins offer benefits to someone trying to build muscle. Research has shown that proteins that enter the blood stream rapidly significantly increase protein synthesis. Proteins that enter the blood stream slowly have a pronounced effect on protein breakdown, significantly inhibiting it even at low quantities.

By using a combination of proteins that exhibit both fast and slow properties one should be able not only to jump-start protein uptake into muscle cells during a grueling workout, but also ensure that protein synthesis is jump started and that protein break down is kept at a minimum during the hours following their workout. Take the fast protein before training, and a slow protein after for maximum anabolic effect.

In summary, it is a mistake to say that a "fast" protein is better than a "slow" protein. Both types of protein should be used in strategic fashion to alter protein metabolism in favor of net protein deposition (i.e. muscle growth).

Myth #4: A protein must have added peptides of specific molecular weights to effectively build muscle.

Fact: The body¹s digestive tract makes its own variable molecular weight peptides from the whole proteins you eat.

As soon as protein hits the stomach it is attacked by powerful stomach acids. This acid, along with an enzyme called pepsin, serves to change or denature the proteins structure preparing it for further digestion in the small intestine. In the small intestine several other enzymes work to break down the protein into various molecular weight peptides and free amino acids. Each enzyme acts on a specific part of the amino acid chain cleaving it in the appropriate place. Whether you¹ve just eaten a steak, scrambled eggs or a glass of whey protein, the end result of digestion is the same, a full spectrum of molecular weight peptides and a moderate amount of free amino acids perfectly suited for absorption into the body.

The small intestine has special transporters which actively pull peptides across the brush border membrane and into intestinal cells. All the various peptide transporters have yet to be clearly identified. As a result of these transporters, peptides can be actively absorbed faster than free amino acids. Within intestinal cells, peptides are further broken down into individual amino acids by enzymes called protease (prote = protein, ase = to split or cleave). It has been shown that a very small percent of digested peptides can enter the blood stream by squeezing between intestinal cells. Even though some peptides make it into the blood stream intact, they are quickly broken down by proteases on the surface of liver and muscle cells. If by some small chance peptides actually make it all the way into these cells, they are rapidly broken down by proteases within the cell.

So you see, all this talk about adding various molecular weight peptides simply means that they predigested an already easily digestible protein. This simply adds to the expense of manufacturing the protein. The added cost, of course, is passed on to the consumer.

Myth #5: Arguments over whose protein scores highest on various methods of protein assessment will make or break your success in the gym.

Fact: As protein intake increases the influence of protein quality decreases. In other words, high quantity can significantly make up for low quality.

The quantity of protein in the diet may in fact add importance to the scoring assessment of a given protein. In fact, if you only eat 35- 45 grams a protein a day you better make sure you chose the highest quality protein you can find. On the other hand, if you eat quantities of protein common among bodybuilders, say 1.6 - 1.8 grams per kilogram, the large amount of amino acids overcome slight differences in scoring. Once you achieve a certain levels of quality in a protein supplement, increasing it further will not significantly change it¹s effectiveness when consumed in quantities sufficient to pack on muscle.

Here is a quick overview of the various methods used to determine protein quality. Keep in mind that tests used to determine protein quality use the lower threshold of protein requirements. This creates a metabolic environment far different from that seen in a well fed bodybuilder or athlete.

Chemical Scoring
The most obvious way to determine the quality of a given protein is to break it down into it's individual amino acids. This amino acid profile is then compared to a standard profile. Egg protein is the standard that is used in a Chemical Scoring scale for protein quality and has a rating of 100. Take for example a protein that has a limited amount of a specific amino acid. This amount is then com-pared to the amount found in egg protein. If the amount in the test protein is 75% of that found in egg then the test protein gets a rating of 75. From this you would assume that if you could feed a person an amount of this protein that is exactly his requirement, you would see nitrogen excreted in the urine in the amount of 25 percent of the nitrogen fed.

Although it is relatively easy and inexpensive to do a chemical scoring of any protein, it does not always accu-rately predict how well the body can utilize it. So the ad-vantages of chemical scoring in determining the quality of protein are that it is easy and inexpensive. It's drawback is that it cannot tell you anything about the digestibility of the protein. Chemical scoring also involves a procedure that may destroy certain amino acids and this may lead to inaccurate values. It is also insensitive to substances in a given protein that can adversely effect digestibility. To discover this variable the test would have to utilize living animals.

Biological value (BV)
Biological value (BV) scoring does utilize in vivo testing. To determine the actual amount of a given protein that will be used by the body it is necessary to measure not only urinary, but also fecal losses of nitrogen when that protein is fed to human beings. This method is used inter-nationally.

When measuring the BV of a protein source, two nitrogen studies are done. The first study determines how much nitrogen is lost from the body even when no protein is fed. This amount of nitrogen loss is assumed to be inevitable and that the body will naturally lose it regardless of the amount of nitrogen in the diet. In the second study an amount of the protein is fed that is slightly below what is required. As before, the nitrogen losses are then measured, but this time they are compared to the amount of nitrogen consumed. To determine the actual BV of the protein the re-sults are then derived using this formula:

NPU = (N retained / N intake) x 100

This method often involves animal test subjects and is more frequently used. It's draw backs are that if a low NPU is obtained, it is impossible to know if it is because of a poor amino acid profile or low digestibility.

Protein efficiency Ratio (PER)
Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) is the best known procedure for evaluating protein quality and is used in the United States as the basis for regulations regarding food labeling and for the protein RDA. This method involves rats who are fed a measured amount of protein and weighed periodically as they grow. The PER is expressed as:

PER = weight gain (g) / protein intake (g)

The benefits of this method are it's expense and simplicity. It's drawbacks are that it is time consuming; the amino acid needs of rats are not those of humans; and the amino acid needs of growing animals are not those of adult animals (growing animals and humans need more lysine, for example).

The PER is used to qualify statements about daily pro-tein requirement in the United States. You are assumed to eat protein with a PER that is equal to or better than that of the milk protein casein; if the protein's PER is lower, you must eat more of it to meet the RDA. Food labels have to take protein quality into consideration, using the PER of casein as a reference point. If a food has a protein quality equal or better than that of casein, the RDA is 45 grams. If the protein quality is less than casein you need 65 grams for the RDA.

You may be wondering if it makes any difference if you eat your protein from a supplement or from food. Remember that by the time it gets absorbed into the blood stream, all your body knows is how much of each amino acid was present in the food you ate. If you have the money, it is certainly convenient to just drink down a high quality protein supplement. Beyond that, it makes no difference in what form you get your protein from as long as its a complete protein and sufficiently digestible.

Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAA)
As outlined above, protein quality can be measured by the quantity of indispensable amino acids they contain. If a protein contains all the amino acids essential for life, it is called a complete protein and is given a high score. Because some proteins are not as efficiently digested there arose a need to not only test for the amino acid composition of proteins but also for digestibility. This type of testing is called protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAA). It is now a federally accepted standard for determining protein quality for preschool aged children.

Some foods however, contain anti-nutritional factors. These factors sometimes occur naturally like in some beans, or are a result of heating and/or cooking, and inhibit the ability of the body to digest and thus absorb certain amino acids. Research has shown the PDCAA method of scoring protein often over estimates the quality of foods containing anti-nutritional factors.12

The take home message from all this is that arguments about who¹s protein scored highest on this test or that test are really meaningless to the average well fed athlete.

Conclusion

Certainly exposing these myths about protein leaves advertisers with less fodder to bombard you with. Nevertheless, getting rid of these misconceptions will only benefit you the consumer. Knowing the truth about protein will not only save you money but may also open up new opportunities for muscular gains. Knowledge is the key to effective supplementation with protein or any other supplement. Don¹t let your purchasing decisions be controlled by false claims and misleading pseudo science. A wise man once said, ³...know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.² In this case, the truth will give you the freedom to make educated decisions about protein supplementation and the freedom to discern between marketing hype and honest manufacturers offering quality products.

References

1. Tipton K., Ferrando A., Phillips S., Doyle, JR D., Wolfe R. Post exercise net protein synthesis in human muscle from orally administered amino acids. Am. J. Physiol. 276: E628-E634, 1999
2. Bennet, W. M., A. A. Connacher, C. M. Scrimgeour, and M. J. Rennie. The effect of amino-acid infusion on leg protein turnover assessed by L-[15N]phenylalanine and L-[1-13C]leucine exchange. Eur. J. Clin. Invest. 20: 37-46, 1989
3. Castellino, P., L. Luzi, D. C. Simonson, M. Haymond, and R. A. DeFronzo. Effect of insulin and plasma amino acid concentrations on leucine metabolism in man. J. Clin. Invest. 80: 1784-1793, 1987
4. Fryburg, D. A., L. A. Jahn, S. A. Hill, D. M. Oliveras, and E. J. Barrett. Insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I enhance human skeletal muscle protein anabolism during hyperaminoacidemia by different mechanisms. J. Clin. Invest. 96: 1722-1729, 1995
5. McNulty, P. H., L. H. Young, and E. J. Barrett. Response of rat heart and skeletal muscle protein in vivo to insulin and amino acid infusion. Am. J. Physiol. 264 (Endocrinol. Metab. 27): E958-E965, 1993
6. Mosoni, L., M. Houlier, P. P. Mirand, G. Bayle, and J. Grizard. Effect of amino acids alone or with insulin on muscle and liver protein synthesis in adult and old rats. Am. J. Physiol. 264 (Endocrinol. Metab. 27): E614-E620, 1993
7. Newman, E., M. J. Heslin, R. F. Wolf, P. T. W. Pisters, and M. F. Brennan. The effect of systemic hyperinsulinemia with concomitant infusion of amino acids on skeletal muscle protein turnover in the human forearm. Metabolism 43: 70-78, 1994
8. Watt, P. W., M. E. Corbett, and M. J. Rennie. Stimulation of protein synthesis in pig skeletal muscle by infusion of amino acids during constant insulin availability. Am. J. Physiol. 263 (Endocrinol. Metab. 26): E453-E460, 1992
9. Newsholme, A.E., Parry-Billings M. Properties of glutamine release from muscle and its importance for the immune system. JPEN. 14 (4) supplement S63-67
10. Oddoye EA., Margen S. Nitrogen balance studies in humans: long-term effect of high nitrogen intake on nitrogen accretion. J Nutr 109 (3): 363-77
11. Boirie Y, Dangin M, Gachon P, Vasson M-P, Maubois J-L, and Beaufrère B. Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion (amino acid turnover / postprandial protein anabolism / milk protein / stable isotopes) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 94, pp. 14930-14935, December 1997
12. Sarwar G. The Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score method overestimates quality of proteins containing antinutritional factors and of poorly digestible proteins supplemented with limiting amino acids in rats. J. Nutr. 127: 758-764, 1997
13. Millward, D.J. Metabolic demands for amino acids and the human dietary requirement: Millward and Rivers (1988) revisited. J. Nutr. 128: 2563S-2576S, 1998
14. Fern EB, Bielinski RN, Schutz Y. Effects of exaggerated amino acid and protein supply in man. Experientia 1991 Feb 15;47(2):168-72
15. Dragan, GI., Vasiliu A., Georgescu E. Effect of increased supply of protein on elite weight-lifters. In:Milk Protein T.E. Galesloot and B.J. Tinbergen (Eds.). Wageningen The Netherlands: Pudoc, 1985, pp. 99-103

Bryan Haycock, the author and founder of the Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST) method and Hypertrophy-Specific Nutrition (HSN), began lifting weights in 1978. Over the last 23 years he has incorporated his passion for bodybuilding into his education as a physiologist and career as a writer and consultant for the sport supplement industry.

7. Health News

Dietary calcium and milk lower colon cancer risk

Studies in animals have suggested that calcium may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. However, results from human studies have been less conclusive. A new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports an association between milk consumption, total calcium intake and a reduction in the risk of cancers of the colon and rectum. Researchers from Harvard analyzed dietary intake data from 10 large studies involving 534,536 individuals from five countries and found the risk of cancers of the colon and rectum decreased considerably with increasing milk consumption. A higher dietary and total calcium intake also significantly reduced the risk of colorectal cancer. These results were consistent across studies and were significant for both men and women.

Niacin May Protect Against Alzheimer's

Dementia can be caused by severe niacin deficiency. A recent study of 6,158 older adults examined whether variation in dietary intake of niacin was associated with an increase in Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline. After approximately 4 years, the investigators checked a random sample of 815 of the participants, all of whom had been free of Alzheimer's disease at the outset. Compared to those with the highest intake, those consuming the least niacin had experienced greater cognitive decline and were 80% more likely to have developed Alzheimer's disease. These findings suggest that dietary niacin - found in meat, nuts, legumes and dairy products - may slow mental deterioration and ward off Alzheimer's disease.

Omega-3 fatty acid intake associated with lower heart disease risk

Recent findings of a Harvard study indicate that increased consumption of omega- 3 fatty acids in the diet is associated with lower levels of inflammation and endothelial activation. Dysfunction of the endothelium, which is the inner lining of the blood vessel wall, is an early event in the development of atherosclerosis.

Food frequency questionnaires completed in 1986 and 1990 by 727 participants in the Nurses' Health study were evaluated for levels of the omega-3 fatty acids alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Alpha-linolenic acid consumption was found to be inversely associated with several plasma markers of inflammation, while EPA and DHA intake was inversely related to platelet aggregration.

Results of this study indicate that in addition to reducing triglycerides, platelet aggregation and heart arrhythmias, omega-3 fatty acids may also reduce the body's production of hydrogen peroxide, which is involved in the inflammatory process.

The Impact of Vitamins and/or Mineral Supplementation on Blood Pressure in Type 2 Diabetes

A recent study was designed to assess the effect of magnesium and zinc (Mg+Zn), vitamin C+E, and a combination of micronutrients on blood pressure in type 2 diabetic patients. Sixty-nine type 2 diabetic patients were randomly divided into four groups, each group receiving one of the following daily supplements for three months; group M: 200 mg Mg and 30 mg Zn , group V: 200 mg vitamin C and 150 mg vitamin E, group MV: minerals plus vitamins, group P: placebo. Blood pressure was measured at the beginning and at the end of the trial. Results indicate that after three months of supplementation levels of systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure decreased significantly in the minerals plus vitamins (MV) group. There was no significant change in the levels of these blood pressure measurements in the other three groups. The results of the present study indicated that in type 2 diabetic patients a combination of vitamins and minerals, rather than vitamin C and E or Mg and Zn alone, might decrease blood pressure.

Healthy selenium levels are associated with lower plasma homocysteine

Deficient levels of selenium have been implicated in the development of cardiovascular disease, although its mechanism of action has not been fully explored.

A recent study, published this month in the Journal of Nutrition, enlisted 85 men and 117 women to determine the association between selenium and homocysteine levels in humans.

Serum folate and serum selenium levels in this group were inversely related to homocysteine concentrations, with serum selenium having a greater effect than folate. While serum folate's relationship to homocysteine levels is well established, a similar relationship for selenium had not been shown until this study. Traditionally selenium's benefit in heart disease had been assumed to be its antioxidant properties. This study, however, suggests an additional mechanism for selenium in cardiovascular disease prevention. Further studies are needed to confirm the benefit of selenium in lowering homocysteine.

A Note on Pharmaceutical Grade Supplementation

It seems every day a news headline flashes by and demonstrates how powerful antioxidants are for general health. Unfortunately, most people are not well-educated regarding the benefits of multi-vitamins and therefore "settle" for far less than what their body deserves. Research is typically performed in a quality environment where the ingredients tested are high potency: when the research reports a specific amount, you can be certain that is well within the range of what was indicated. Are supplements that you take off a supermarket shelf subject to the same standard of quality? The answer is NO! The supplement industry is only loosely regulated, and many manufacturers choose to avoid quality control processes. Some use their own, proprietary techniques that are not verified by third parties. Often when they embrace what is known as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), they adhere to the "food" standard, which is far less demanding than the "pharmaceutical" standard. You can read more about these standards by visiting Current Good Manufacturing Practics and USP.org.

There is a great guide to multivitamins called the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by Lyle MacWilliams, B.Sc., M.Sc., FP. Lyle is a former Canadian Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for British Columbia. His book not only introduces the importance of antioxidants, but has several chapters explaining how they impact health. It covers the research behind vitamins and minerals. Most importantly, Lyle pulled together a panel of leading nutritionists (all doctors) to find the recommended levels for optimal health. This was called the "Blended Standard" and over 1000 multi-vitamins were compared against the standard. Only 500 made the cut, and of these, only 5 ranked in the 90th percentile or higher! Lyle published the scores for these top 500 in his book.

If your vitamin scored in the top 10%, that is fantastic! Congratulations for taking steps to protect your health - the monthly investment in a pharmaceutical-grade multivitamin is, in my opinion, a true health insurance policy. If your multivitamin is not superior quality, or if you are not currently taking a multi-vitamin, then I encourage you to read this to appreciate the value of the multivitamins that I sell (it took me four years to find a company with this level of quality and integrity), and then contact me or call toll-free 1-888-472-2829 to place your order and get started right away! Your health is precious, and I would not ask you to invest in something so important without offering the opportunity risk-free. Our products adhere to pharmaceutical-grade GMP, come with a potency guarantee that what is on the label is in the bottle, and are backed by a 100% 30-day money-back guarantee.

8. I Am a Habit (by John DiLemme)

H-A-B-I-T... When 95% of people hear this word, a negative thought pops up in their minds. Typically, most people think of a habit being negative. The secret to your future lies in your daily habits so ask yourself right now, "Are my habits today going to help me achieve my WHY in life?" This is a life-empowering question if you truly ask it and listen for the answer.

I received the following excerpt from a very dear friend of mine and felt that it is definitely the best explanation of a habit that I have ever heard:

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me,
and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few
lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men.
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine.
Plus, the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am a HABIT!

One of my daily habits that is the foundation of my life is spending 45-60 minutes each and every morning feeding my body physically by exercising and feeding my mental spirit by reading or listening to a motivational message. This habit warms me up for the day ahead. Everyone washes their physical body and feeds their body every morning, but 95% of people will find an excuse about why they can not find the "TIME" to invest in a habit of feeding their MINDS! This parallels the statistic that 95% of people are dead or dead broke by the age 65. I consider this particular daily habit of mine to be the driving force behind my ability to consistently maintain my intense focus on the journey of success and living a dream life.

Is it easy all the time? Of course not, but when it becomes a habit – you will do it! If you commit today to begin each morning warming yourself up for the day ahead by feeding your mental spirit, your entire life will change in a positive fashion very quickly. It is like driving a race car with the emergency brake on and you try to go ahead, but you can’t move. You stay in the same location with your wheels spinning, burning up, making a lot of noise, but not going anywhere! All it takes is to release the brake and you will fly towards toward your WHY in life!! You need to review what your habits are and ask yourself…“Would I recommend MY habits to someone I truly love and care about?” Your entire future lies in your daily habits—positive or negative. You have the most powerful force right now in your hands, the ability to decide what your habits will begin to be.

Find Your WHY and FLY!!

John Di Lemme

http://www.FindYourWhy.com

Revolutionary - Award-Winning - Earth-Shattering are just a few words that you'll express after you read this book. Jeremy Likness has literally rocked the weight loss industry. This book without question is a must for everyone's personal success library. Simply, Jeremy's material is outstanding. What he shares is such powerful wisdom that we all need to live a healthy fulfilled life. His material is a must for your personal success library. Jeremy, a Huge Thanks for caring enough to lay out the strategies that will result in people realizing dramatic results.

Visit BecomeTheJourney.com to learn more!

John DiLemme
International Motivational Speaker and Success Coach
http://www.johndilemme.com

9. Business Development: Maintaining Honesty and Integrity by Jim Rohn

For a leader, honesty and integrity are absolutely essential to survival. A lot of business people don't realize how closely they're being watched by their subordinates. Remember when you were a kid in grammar school, how you used to sit there staring at your teacher all day? By the end of the school year, you could do a perfect imitation of all your teacher's mannerisms. You were aware of the slightest nuances in your teacher's voice - all the little clues that distinguished levels of meaning, that told you the difference between bluff and "now I mean business".

And you were able to do that after eight or nine months of observation. Suppose you had five or 10 years. Do you think there would have been anything about your teacher you didn't know?

Now fast forward and use that analogy as a manager. Do you think there's anything your people don't know about you right this minute? If you haven't been totally aboveboard and honest with them, do you really think you've gotten away with it? Not too likely. But if you've been led to believe that you've gotten away with it, there might be a good probability that people are afraid of you, and that's a problem in its own right.

But there is another side of this coin. In any organization, people want to believe in their leaders. If you give them reason to trust you, they're not going to go looking for reasons to think otherwise, and they'll be just as perceptive about your positive qualities as they are about the negative ones.

A situation that happened some years ago at a company in the Midwest illustrates this perfectly. The wife of a new employee experienced complications in the delivery of a baby. There was a medical bill of more than $10,000, and the health insurance company didn't want to cover it. The employee hadn't been on the payroll long enough, the pregnancy was a preexisting condition, etc,etc,..

In any case, the employee was desperate. He approached the company CEO and asked him to talk to the insurance people. The CEO agreed, and the next thing the employee knew, the bill was gone and the charges were rescinded. Then he told some colleagues about the way the CEO had so readily used his influence with the insurance company, they just shook their heads and smiled. The CEO had paid the bill out of his own pocket, and everybody knew it, no matter how quietly it had been done.

Now an act of dishonesty can't be hidden either, and it will instantly undermine the authority of a leader. But an act of integrity and kindness like the example above is just as obvious to all concerned. When you're in a leadership position, you have the choice of how you will be seen, but you Will be seen one way or the other, make no mistake about it.

One of the most challenging areas of leadership is your family. Leadership of a family demands even higher standards of honesty and integrity, and the stakes are higher too. You can replace disgruntled employees and start over. You can even get a new job for yourself, if it comes to that. But your family can't be shuffled like a deck of cards. If you haven't noticed, kids are great moral philosophers, especially as they get into adolescence. They're determined to discover and expose any kind of hypocrisy, phoniness, or lack of integrity on the part of authority figures, and if we're parents, that means us. It's frightening how unforgiving kids can be about this, but it really isn't a conscious decision on their part; it's just a necessary phase of growing up.

They're testing everything, especially their parents.

As a person of integrity yourself, you'll find it easy to teach integrity to your kids, and they in turn will find it easy to accept you as a teacher. This is a great opportunity and also a supreme responsibility, because kids simply must be taught to tell the truth: to mean what they say and to say what they mean.

"Praise is one the world's most effective teaching and leadership tools. Criticism and blame, even if deserved, are counter productive unless all other approaches have failed."

Now for the other side of the equation, we all know people who have gotten ahead as a result of dishonest or unethical behavior. When you're a kid, you might naively think that never happens, but when you get older, you realize that it does. Then you think you've really wised up. But that's not the real end of it. When you get older, you see the long-term consequences of dishonest gain, and you realize that in the end it doesn't pay.

"Hope of dishonest gain is the beginning of loss". I don't think that old saying refers to loss of money. I think it actually means loss of self-respect. You can have all the material things in the world, but if you've lost respect for yourself, what do you really have? The only way to ever attain success and enjoy it is to achieve it honestly with pride in what you've done.

This isn't just a sermon, it's very practical advice. Not only can you take it to heart - you can take it to the bank.

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

To order Jim's best selling CD series Cultivating an Unshakable Character (6 CD's) from our Inventory Blowout Product Special, go to http://jr3.jimrohn.com/.

This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to http://www.jimrohn.com/.

Copyright © 2001 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide.

10. Closing Thoughts

It's hard to believe that it has already been six months - half a year - since I began publishing this newsletter. Since then, we have grown in leaps and bounds. I would like to thank you, my reader, for your support of this publication. It is my vision to impact the lives of others, and this is one method I use to empower others with knowledge and inspiration. I look forward to the six months ahead of us and the great changes that can take place in our lives between now and then. We are over halfway through the year. Ask yourself this - have you accomplished what you set out to do this year? What goals did you establish in January, and how is your progress with those goals? We are at the halfway mark - are you halfway to your goals? If not, what can you do these remaining months to get things back on track? Soon the year will be over, and you will be responsible for who you have become and what accomplishments have made this year better than the last. We deserve to experience every year greater than the last, don't you think?

Jeremy Likness

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