I wanted to give you my thoughts on Vince Del Monte’s No Nonsense Program and whether it would right for you.
But first…
Getting big is not complicated. Nor is it rocket science, as I have opined a few occasions. Building muscle will always fundamentally be a function of 3 key factors:
- Good Diet/Proper Nutrition
- Rest/Recovery
- Progressive Resistance Exercises
By the way, I talk about this a little more in my Muscle Building Basics Section – plus have what I think is cool little diagram of those 3 factors that I made myself (so proud – so pathetic) on PowerPoint.
So, those are the 3 universal keys. And by the way, you also have uncontrollable factors like genetics, but as a wise sage once, and continues to say, “it is what it is,” and I’m not going to spend time on things not controllable. It is what it is.
But there is divergent thought.
Almost universally there is agreement that you need rest. Your body builds muscle while you rest. Most recommend 8 hours of snooze time plus a nap – maybe.
In complete contrast, I should note that high powered business folks like Donald Trump think people sleep way, way too much and can get by with 4 to 5 hours of sleep. But these folks are more interested in money and power versus building muscle. What do you want? Hours in the day to get ahead or hours in day to build muscle? It’s all up to you – you know.
There is – though – some disagreement on the how much nutrition and/or exercising has on building muscle.
Some like Rusty Moore, as he advocates in his Visual Impact Muscle Building (which I review here) program, believe that muscle building is function of exercising while diet/nutrition is generally all about fat loss or fat control.
Like I said before, Rusty is about bucking conventional wisdom.
Conventional wisdom says to get big, you eat big. If you’re not getting big, you’re not eating enough. Arnold used to recommend that as did legendary figures like Larry Scott. I remember articles back in the 70′s where Larry Scott would say that nutrition was 80% of bodybuilding.
When I was 15, I sent pictures of myself to Larry Scott for my “personalized” routine. His many page routine that he sent back boiled down to eating more.
Back to Vince Del Monte’s No Nonsense program and why that discussion is relevant…
First, it is a very popular course and it evidently sells very well.
But what I find interesting is that when you boil everything down to its core message…
It is…
To get big, eat big.
I just saved you $77.
Go take your significant other to dinner.
Okay, here’s the thing…
Mr. Del Monte does a great job up prettying up the “eat big” concept and packages it all in a very comprehensive looking program. But, again to quote that sage, “it is what it is.”
By the way, there are a lot of articles here by Vince DelMonte. In the beginning, I thought I needed a lot of articles to get this site going. So, I reprinted a good number of articles – both permissible and copyrighted – and that included his. As I haved learned the hard way, copyright is copyright and I have deleted most of those articles. But I have kept some of Vince’s reprint permissible articles because they have interesting info and viewpoints in them.
And at that time, I also thought his program might be worth promoting. So I bought it to see what all it was all about. This is what I found.
If you want to know what you will get after spending 77 bucks to get his program – well – I saw nothing fundamentally new there.
With Rusty Moore’s Visual Impact, I learned new concepts – I’m 50, you would think; what is there to learn – and I wanted to give his routine a try. Because it got me excited about what it could do. It’s still the core of what this soft, droopy looking 50 year does.
With Vince Del Monte, I learned nothing new. Nothing exciting – like running into an old girlfriend from years gone by. Nice. But… And no desire to give his routine a try.
I learned so much with Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat, it was almost overwhelming – more on him at a later post.
I learned some really interesting things from Jeff Anderson’s Optimum Anabolics and Combat the Fat – though there are some things about how he does his email propagation that really, really, really…really…yes, more really irritates me.
With Vince, I learned nothing new.
Don’t get me wrong…
Near as I can tell, all his info is correct.
Should you decide to spend your 77 bucks and get his program, he provides you with a lenghty 219 page Ebook that covers everything from goal setting, self-motivating to workout programs. He covers supplementation, fat loss, rest, nutrition – pretty much everything that I have here on this site (ME – FREE) but not as pretty, and not as professional looking. His is very professional looking but not free as in $77 not free.
You also get his:
- Advance Max Power Program
- Upside Down Training Program
- Beginner Intermediate Program
- Exercise Subsitution Ebook
He essentially lays out a 52 week program that you must follow. Of course he has dieting and eating program (6 month daily eating plan by calorie levels) to go with his system.
You get access to his member’s only site which will give you additional resources that includes:
- Interactive computer virtual exercise demonstrator
- 4 hour DVD (didn’t watch it, so don’t know what’s on it)
None of that is bad – worth $77 – don’t know. Lot of people have bought it and evidently has had success with it. You can google or bing or yahoo his name or product and see for yourself.
The info I have no problems with per se…
I have problems with…
- His pitch was/is 41 lbs. in 24 weeks, or that he did it and so can you. In his FAQ, he also states that he likes seeing his clients gain 3 to 5 lbs. of lean muscle a month. A MONTH!!! This kind of sensationalist statements makes me want to question everything.
- The key approach is laid out in his 42 page chapter on “Massive Eating.” It’s all about bulking up – getting as big as you can – and then trimming off the fat later. He comments on the virtues of “slowly” adding a little lean muscle a month versus getting massive quickly and cutting back later. This course is the latter.
- His meal plans go from 3,000 calories per day to 6000 calories per day. You will get big. But there’s a line between bulky fat and bulky muscle. This much eating will blur that line pretty darn well.
- After I bought his program, I must have gotten an email almost every other day. He constantly promoted someone else’s muscle building program and/or dieting program – to include his wife. Now all those programs are fine – I have no doubt. But if I just bought his program that is going to get me a whopping 41 lbs. of muscle in 24 weeks, why do I need someone else’s program? And why do I need to get bombarded? Contrast that with Rusty. He spent a few supplmentary Ebooks but nothing else. I like that.
Other than that, who would benefit:
- It’s a common approach, any skinny person will get big with program.
- Beginner with no idea on how to get started
- Not concerned with getting a lean, muscular look ala the Visual Impact approach but just looking to get big in general.
Conclusion
For the cost, you do get a lot of information and resources, but on the flip side, all of it is free out there in the blogosphere – other than his personal expertise, of course. But I’m not sure that this bulk up/cut up approach is the right one. And I don’t think that gaining 40 plus lbs. of lean muscle in 6 months or so is going to happen for most.
I would suggest passing this one by. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing new with it. And nothing worth you spending 77 bucks here.
Even better…
Go read my last post, Arnold Schwarznegger’s Advice, Part II: To Get Big – You Eat Big, and follow that. Same basic idea and it’s FREE!!!!
What do you think?
Have you used?
Do you disagree?
