Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha

employed to increase work capacity, enhance strength and endurance, and above all, increase your testosterone. Testosterone is the main focus because it’s what will allow you to build more muscle and lose fat, but also because it’s the underlying problem that is restricting most men. Research shows that testosterone levels of the average man have dropped 30 percent during the past twenty years. It’s time to change that. And using density training that emphasizes certain multi-muscle exercises (think: squats and deadlifts) is exactly the antidote for your lagging T levels.
    Sex and Life
    As your body changes, you’ll also notice huge changes to your sex life. The increase in calories and carbs helps, but the hormonal surge of testosterone and GH (which exacerbates the effects of testosterone) will be responsible for your adolescent-like desire and drive.
    Phase II is also where you’ll experience the greatest increase in confidence. This is partially due to the undeniable and visible improvements in your physique and performance, and also to the more optimized hormonal environment. Not only are testosterone and GH now improved, but insulin will also be working in your favor instead of just being set to baseline levels of effectiveness.
    As a result, you’ll notice sometime around the middle of Phase II that you’re thinking a bit differently. Brain function will increase, and you will actually get smarter. You probably won’t notice this, but what you will notice is increased concentration and a general sense of focus, which will improve your productivity and effectiveness. You might also be faster to speak up and start to feel better in your relationship. Hell, maybe you’ll just wear a tighter T-shirt. The point is that your entire worldview will begin to shift as a result of the increased confidence, and you’ll have moved one step closer to realizing your potential and creating a happier, more satisfying universe.

    PHASE III: SURGE
    Breaking the Mold: The New Rules of Building Muscle
    Any person who has ever been instructed about lifting weights understands that the process of building muscle must occur with some fat gain. In the bodybuilding world, this was known as a bulking phase. And it was a theory that actually seemed pretty sound: in order to build significant muscle, you need to eat more calories. It’s true that those calories will help you become bigger, but inevitably some will spill over and turn into fat too.
    As you know, we’re not really fans of belly fat—or any body fat, for that matter. The only fat we like is that which comes on our steak. We just like adding muscle and eliminating fat. The key to making that happen is GH, which we’ll trigger with some high-rep, high-intensity weight training. That’s the big focus in Phase III—creating a surge in GH that helps you stay lean while adding size, and optimizing testosterone in a way that makes strength and muscle gains possible without adding fat.
    The Diet
    While lactic acid training and a boost in GH are certainly powerful, those alone wouldn’t enable you to build muscle and stay lean at the same time. In order to accomplish this goal, we’re going to strategically increase how much you eat on training days. That is, Phase III is the only stage where on every workout day you’re eating significantly more than your maintenance level of calories. You’ll lift hard and heavy, and then eat hard and heavy. These calories will be utilized toward growth. At the same time, on your non-exercise days you’ll be eating significantly fewer calories.
    This alternating-calorie approach has been shown by University of Virginia scientists to help maintain weight while gaining muscle and has been the secret to our success with all of our clients. That’s because during the course of the week, your calories will still be at or below maintenance level. As we mentioned in Adapt, you’ll be establishing your maintenance level of calories at the start of each phase, and Surge will be no different. But while in Surge, your overfeeding on your training days will help you build strength and muscle without fat.
    The Training
    Depending on how you view it, the Surge phase could either be the most fun part of the entire program or could intimidate you to the point of excitement. Every man needs to be able to rise to a challenge, and in order to promote more GH, you’ll be pushing your body to the limit.
    Each workout will utilize a total-body