The Testosterone Advantage Plan - Hardcover

This research-based program was tested on 16 willing, hefty guys. After nine weeks, they lost an average of 18 pounds, dropped waist inches, gained strength and energy, and improved their sex lives. The book includes before-and-after photos and quotes from the happy campers.

Schuler's man-to-man style is clear, direct, and witty ("one gorilla wearing a stringy tank in July is all it takes to leave a bench soaked in ectoplasm"). The Testosterone Advantage Plan is recommended for men willing to commit to a rigorous lifting program to achieve their ideal physique. --Joan Price

When I started out, I was perfectly willing to follow the rules, recommending low-fat diets, bodybuilding routines, and lots and lots of cardiovascular exercise.

Never mind that none of this was working for me, and that I was getting pudgier as the years went on. By the time I turned 40, I was almost embarrassed to tell people what I did for a living. To look at me, you never would have guessed I knew anything more about fitness and nutrition than anybody else on the street.

About four years ago, I started working closely with Mike Mejia, a trainer in New York who wanted to write articles for Men's Health magazine, where I had just started as fitness editor.

Mike had some amazing ideas about how guys could get in better shape, most of which I wasn't ready for. He followed a diet that was higher in protein and fat and lower in carbohydrates than what we were currently recommending. He did workouts that were different, too -- fewer exercises, slower repetitions. He put more emphasis on lifts that worked the body's biggest muscles, and figured the smaller muscles would take care of themselves.

And he did no cardiovascular exercise at all. Mike believed that long, slow, steady-paced cardio exercise -- the type most people do -- is a bad idea, since it interferes with muscle gains.

It took me a couple of years, but I finally figured out the two keys to what Mike practiced and preached: testosterone and metabolism.

The way Mike lifted -- emphasizing big muscles -- has been shown in studies to raise post-workout testosterone levels higher than other types of strength training. And a diet that's low in fat will lower testosterone levels, in comparison to a diet with moderate levels of fat -- say 30 to 40 percent.

Metabolism increases when you do intense weight workouts, and it stays elevated up to 48 hours after you set down your last dumbbell. It also increases when you add protein to your diet, and a long list of studies demonstrates this.

When you put the two keys together -- maximizing your body's testosterone action, and increasing your metabolism -- you get the formula for losing fat and increasing muscle that is at the heart of The Testosterone Advantage Plan.

The diet program put together by Jeff Volek, R.D., Ph.D., is easy to master. My colleague Adam Campbell put 17 of our coworkers on the program for nine weeks last January, and showed everyone that the program not only works, but works a little better than we'd anticipated. Some guys lost more fat than we'd thought they would, given the fact none of their diets were below 2,000 calories and that they were building muscle simultaneously.

But that's what happens when you give the male body what it needs to function hormonally, metabolically, and mechanically. Our bodies need fat, protein, and muscle-building exercise.

The results you can get from The Testosterone Advantage Plan are proof of that.

Lou Schuler