Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha (56 page)

poker play, 40

polyunsaturated fats, 125

pornography, 113–14

pre-workout eating, 61–63

pride vs. arrogance, 30–31

Prime (Phase I): getting started with, 163–66; meal timing and structure, 166–78; metabolic resistance training, 164; nutrition program, 164–66; overview of, 151–54; workouts and training schedules, 179–96

program hopping, 101

protein: BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids), 62–63; calculating daily intake of, 170–71; calories burned by eating, 139; digestion of, 61–62; eating before bedtime, 115; FNDC, 78; guide to eating, 127–32; myth on body's ability to digest, 50–52; Phase II: Adapt, 204–8; Phase III: Surge, 232–35; Phase I: Prime, 170–78; Phase IV: Complete, 249–53

protein bars, 63

protein powders, 58, 128

Pull-Down, 239

Pull-Up, 196, 239

Pull-Up or Lat Pull-Down, 218–19

Push-Up, 190, 195, 219, 240, 256

 

Rack Pull from the Knee, 241, 243, 254, 255

Ratey, John, 18

Rear Delt Fly, 258

Refusing the Call, 45

Reverse Curl, 258

Reverse Lunge, 222, 257

Reynolds, Ryan, 52

Road of Trials, 147–49

Rocky
films, 148, 149

Rollins, Henry, 119

 

saturated fats, 125–27

Seated Cable Row, 242

Seated Calf Raise, 228

Seated Row, 254

selective hypertrophy, 60

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), 114

self-actualization, 31

“The Seven Traits of the Alpha” (Lapham), 27–34

sex drive: hormonal imbalance and stunted, 18–19, 106–7, 111; strategies for improving your, 74–75, 108–16

sex life: how we define ourselves through our, 105–6, 108–9; Phase II: Adapt and improved, 156; psychological benefits of a good, 116–17; the unknown power of, 106–8

Single-Arm Dumbbell Row, 182

Single-Leg Hip Raise, 192

16/8, 166

skin health, 76–77

sleep patterns: health and, 21–23, 76, 106–7; hunger relationship to poor, 77, 95–96; sex drive and, 106–7, 114–15

soy intake, 111–12

Special World, 86, 87, 263

Squats, 236

Standing Dumbbell Overhead Press, 258

stress: cortisol level relationship to, 4, 22, 106–7; reducing, 82–83, 107–8, 116

sugar intake, 113

supplements: The Alpha Guide to Supplements, 58–59; fat loss due to testosterone and GH, 157; GMP labeled, 56–57; myths about, 54, 56, 60

Surge (Phase III): diet during, 157, 231–35; GH and cortisol focus during, 229, 230–31; lactic acid training during, 230–31; overview of, 156–58, 220; workouts during, 236–46

 

termic effect of food, 139

testosterone: conditions that lower your, 4, 23, 106–7, 110, 115; conditions that raise level of, 73, 108, 110–13, 126–27, 139, 198; fat loss due to supplementation of, 157; feeling confidence and, 24–25; psychological and emotional impact of, 25–26; stunted sex drive due to low, 19, 74, 107; why men should care about their, 91–92.
See also
hormones

thyroid (T3 and T4) hormones, 94, 135, 198, 199, 200

tolerance vs. weakness, 32–33

training/workouts: about weight lifting, 110–11, 231; lactic acid training, 83, 230–31; Phase II: Adapt, 155–56, 209–28; Phase III: Surge, 157–58, 236–46; Phase I: Prime, 153, 166–96; Phase IV: Complete, 158, 254–61.
See also
exercises/exercising; muscles

trans fats, 111, 127

Trap Bar Deadlift, 221, 257

Trap Bar Deadlifts from Deficit, 238, 240

truth: here are things you need to know, 65; learning what is misinformation and what is, 43–46; lies, myths, and why men are fat, 46–63; problem of not knowing what you don't know, 46

Twinkie Diet, 100, 138

Two-Arm Kettlebell Swing, 189, 256

 

underdog status, 149

unreal life: hormone optimization for achieving the, 103–4; how to live the, 104; sex and living the, 105–16

 

vacations, 116

vanity vs. conceit, 30

vegetables, 172

vitamin D, 59

Vogler, Christopher, 73

 

Weighted Chin-Up, 260

weight lifting, 110–11, 231

Weight Watchers, 139

Wilder, Van, 65

Wilson, Colin, 85–86, 89, 90

Witter, Gary, 19

workaholic, 33

workouts.
See
training/workouts

The Writer's Journey
(Vogler), 73

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Copyright

This book is written as a source of information only. The information contained in this book should by no means be considered a substitute for the advice of a qualified medical professional, who should always be consulted before beginning any new diet, exercise, or other health program.

Products, pictures, trademarks, and trademark names are used throughout this book to describe and inform the reader about various proprietary products that are owned by third parties. No endorsement of the information contained in this book is given by the owners of such products and trademarks, and no endorsement is implied by the inclusion of products, pictures, or trademarks in this book.

All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book as of the date published. The publisher and the authors disclaim liability for any adverse effects that may occur as a result of applying the methods suggested in this book.

M
AN 2.0
E
NGINEERING THE
A
LPHA
. Copyright © 2013 by John Romaniello and Adam Bornstein. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

HarperCollins website: http://www.harpercollins.com

HarperCollins®,
®, and HarperOne™ are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers.

Illustration of “The Hero's Journey” on page 40 by Copter Labs.

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Romaniello, John.

Man 2.0 engineering the alpha : a real world guide to an unreal life : build more muscle, burn more fat, have more sex / by John Romaniello and Adam Bornstein. — First edition.

pages   cm

ISBN
978–0–06–222087–5

EPUB Edition © FEBRUARY 2013 ISBN 9780062220882

1. Men—Health and hygiene. 2. Physical fitness. 3. Bodybuilding—Training. I. Bornstein, Adam. II. Title.

RA777.8.R64   2013

613'.04234—dc23

2012047835

13   14   15   16   17  
RRD
(
H
)   10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1

 

 

^*
For those few poor souls who don't recognize it, this quote belongs to
Fight Club
's Tyler Durden, a prototypical albeit hyperbolic Alpha who will be discussed later in this book.

 

 

^*
Yeah, we just used
milquetoast
and
obsequious
in the same sentence. In addition to changing your life, this book will make you awesome at Scrabble.

 

 

^*
If you haven't seen
The Usual Suspects
recently, do yourself favor and watch the film. Kevin Spacey tries to go all Alpha in
American Beauty
, but this is probably his best role.

 

 

^*
If you
don't
want the science . . . well, that's weird to us. But we're geeks. Maybe you just want the results. That's fine. Skip to part 3 for the workout and diet plans. Whether you read this entire book from the intro to the afterword or just skip to the parts about sex and training, the result will be a better body, mind, and sex life.

 

 

^*
This phrase was pirated directly from
The Matrix,
in a scene that fittingly mirrors this one: Morpheus is attempting to explain the Matrix to Neo. At that point, Neo does not yet realize either the seriousness of the situation or his potential. For some readers, this could not be more fitting.

 

 

^*
Out of interest, these are the opening words of, and a direct homage to,
The Catcher in the Rye,
a book for which Roman has an unrepentant affection.

 

 

^*
Yeah,
boorish;
like we said, you're going to get really good at Scrabble.

 

 

^*
Other ways to make this point would have included, “You're a
bro,
bro,” and “You're a
dude,
dude.” Please select the one that sits best with your vernacular and self-identification.

 

 

^*
No, seriously: tweet that shit. And while you're at it, use the official hashtag for this book, #alphastatus.

 

 

^*
To be a bit more descriptive and quote Tyler on himself, he says, “All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.”

 

 

^*
Hey, if a fat guy who isn't a trucker can wear a trucker hat, I can wear a shirt one size too small. Focus on the story, okay? —JR

 

 

^*
Man, what is it with farms? If you live on a farm, consider yourself lucky, because you're probably going to go on some life-changing adventure to save the world.

 

 

^*
For you poker players out there, here's how the hand played out. (If you don't play poker or understand poker terminology, this may be lost on you.) We were sitting 5/10 No Limit Hold'em (NL for the truly initiated) at the Aria, which has a $3,000 cap on the buy-in. Adam was in an empty seat at the table but wasn't playing; he'd never seen someone play at those stakes and was just watching. At the start of the hand, I had about $8,200. Trucker Hat had just around $6K and was in middle position, and he made a raise to $120 in a limped pot (at that point, $60). I had J9s in the cutoff and had played a few hands with him; I assumed he was just making a move, so I raised to $380, looking to take down the pot. I was surprised when he called (bringing the pot to $820), so I figured he could have woken up with a hand. In his range, I thought anywhere from a small pocket pair to AJ or something similar (he would have popped it with AK). The flop came Qh, Td, Ad. He led out for $300, which was small for the pot. It seemed like a feeler bet, and at this point, I was putting him on an under pair since I'd seen him check-raise with top pair three times. I thought about raising but decided to just flat call (pot now $1,420) to make a huge bet on the turn. (Yes, I'm crazy like that, and I will bet $2,000 with nothing but air. If you ever play with me, you should call.) I certainly wasn't expecting to hit my gut draw, but I did. Turn comes 8s, as noted above, and I saw him come alive in his chair. At that point, my read told me the only possibilities were a set of eights or something like 9–7, meaning he now had an up-and-down draw. At this point, there were also two spades on the board, so he
could
have had a flush draw, but that was very unlikely, given that I was holding two spades. It was even more unlikely that, if he had spades, he was going to have a higher flush (I couldn't give him credit for Qs, since he would have played a pair of queens differently. And if he had Ks, he was getting all my chips). The set seemed most likely to me. I had the nut straight with a redraw to the jack-high flush. He bet some chips—which, as it turned out, was about $500. I made it $1,100, and he called, bringing the pot to $3,620. The river came 2h, making me the winner. Yay, me. I pushed for my remaining $6,680, bringing the pot to $10,300. He called for his remaining chips, and I scooped a $13K pot.

 

 

^*
Dig in, science nerds, you're going to love this. When you fast, your body has several functions. We're going to cover this through the book in great detail. One of the most awesome of these functions is related to burning fat. When you fast, your liver produces enzymes that transform cholesterol into bile. That bile—as nasty as it sounds—is a good thing because it fires up brown fat, which is a good fat that turns the extra calories in your body into energy that you burn. It's why fasting burns fat.

 

 

^*
I just want it on record that Bornstein wrote that particular pun. My narcissism goes only so far. —JR

 

 

^*
Bret, consider this your official shout-out.

 

 

^*
That's a nice way of saying I was incredibly depressed and had trouble focusing on everything.

 

 

^*
Absolutely one of the best books on Campbell you will find, anywhere. Subtitled
Mythic Structure for Writers,
Vogler's work has been an invaluable resource throughout Roman's career, including the writing of this book.

 

 

^*
A unit of measurement roughly equal to 2.18 metric shit-tons.

 

 

^*
A generally disappointing experience, anyway. —JR.

 

 

^*
The very word
mentor
comes to us from Homer's
The Odyssey,
in which the goddess Athena disguised herself as an old wise man named Mentor, who would aid Odysseus and Telemachus with sage advice.

 

 

^*
If you have no idea what we're talking about, do us a favor and Google “Wilford Brimley diabetes commercial.” While diabetes is not funny, “the beetus” certainly is.

 

 

^*
LOL, “concise.”

 

 

^*
Sorry, Robb Wolf. No offense, bro, but we love pizza.

 

 

^*
A
doughnut ice cream sandwich
is a real thing; essentially, a doughnut is sliced in half lengthwise and two to three scoops of ice cream and a few toppings are placed on the bottom half. The top half is covered with traditional donut frosting and more toppings, then placed on the ice cream. Bam—ice cream all up in your doughnut. They probably serve them at a lot of places across the country, but the one we're familiar with is the cleverly named Holey Cream, located in Hell's Kitchen. If you're ever in NYC on your cheat day, stop in and tell 'em we sent you.

 

 

^*
We admit that while writing this book, we violated this rule. A lot. And it kept us up, which was a good thing for finishing the book but a bad thing for our sleep and our sex lives.

 

 

^*
We stole this from Bruce Lee. Simple and brilliant.

 

 

^*
We could also mention fibrous carbs that you can find in foods like green veggies, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, sprouts, spinach, cauliflower, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini . . . buuuut we won't. For the purposes of this discussion of carbs, we only want to touch on stuff that
counts.
We usually don't recommend counting calories (or carbs for that matter) coming from fibrous carbs. This doesn't mean that these foods don't count. They do. But we've never met anyone who got fat eating too many vegetables. And after coaching literally thousands of people, we've determined that eating more veggies has always been a good thing.

 

 

^*
Minor homage to
Superbad.

 

 

^*
If you really want to understand the truth about how much protein you do (or don't!) need, pick up the book
How Much Protein?
by Brad Pilon.

 

 

^*
This means that in terms of losing fat and gaining muscle, the foods are irrelevant; however, from a health perspective, that isn't necessarily the case. So in the words of Howard Stern's father, “Don't be an idiot, you moron.” Eat your favorite foods, but be sure to eat some veggies every once in a while, mmmkay?

 

 

^*
You may have also heard this recommendation phrased as “3 meals and 3 snacks.”

 

 

^*
Yes, we realize that Mickey was dying during the match. But let's be honest: Rocky wasn't beating Mr. T without some help.

 

 

^*
Yeah, that's right: you're using the same diet we designed for the Terminator.

 

 

^*
Seriously, it pains us to have to explain this, but our editors insist. For those of you whose childhoods were so deprived that you didn't get to play games, the Konami Code is a cheat code that originated in the Konami game
Gradius,
giving the player extra lives and instant power-ups. The code is activated by entering
BA
into the keypad and rose to prominence with the 1987 release of the Konami title
Contra
—during which the code granted the player thirty lives. It has since been used in hundreds of games. Easily the most well-known cheat code in the world, the Konami Code is part of geek culture. Out of interest, punk band the Ataris named a song “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start” after the Konami Code on their 2001 album,
End Is Forever;
ironically, the code never appeared on an Atari game.

 

 

^*
You've no doubt caught on by now that we have a lot of very scientific terms to say very simple things; this is because half of the fitness industry is made up of smart guys trying to prove they're not meatheads, and the other half is meatheads trying to prove they're smart. This is one of the more hilarious things about the fitness industry. Others include fanaticism over diets, and a strange reticence of an entire industry to openly talk about sex despite the fact that all its advertising is based on wanting to look better naked. But we digress.

 

 

^*
Those of you who have played first-person shooter games know what we're talking about here. For those who haven't, this is how it goes: Many games of that kind come with a tutorial chapter in the very beginning of the game; it serves no purpose other than to teach you the controls and familiarize you with the general mechanics of the game. There are no important plot points or development—just learning. This is boring and frustrating—and the opposite of what we want to accomplish with Phase I. Other games (the better ones) take a different approach and simply set up and pace the early part of the game in a way that teaches you the mechanics and allows you to develop your skills within the context of the story. This is what we want to accomplish for Phase I—we want you to build your skill set, certainly, but we want you to make actual progress while you do it. And you will.

 

 

^*
Well, you probably
could
avoid carbs forever, but life wouldn't be as much fun. That means avoiding beer, ice cream, and especially beer-flavored ice cream. Yeah. That's a thing.

 

 

^*
We have to tip our hats to Martin Berkhan. Not only is he the originator of the 16/8 method, but he is also largely responsible for the recent recognition of intermittent fasting as a credible dietary strategy as well as a driving force behind the entire intermittent fasting movement.