July 2019 musculardevelopment.com MD 113Practice Vacuums for
Smaller Waist
Do you wear a waist trainer?
I never have, and I’m not even sure
they work unless you go to extremes with
them. The woman who has the smallest
waist in the world wore a corset for 40
years that she made tighter and tighter
until she got the measurement down to 15
inches with the corset, 21 inches without.
Of course, she also did major damage
to her internal organs. I’d rather create
a smaller waist by practicing vacuums,
holding in my lower abs and keeping
everything tight.
Natural Diuretic to Drop Pounds Fast
Chris, sometimes I go a little overboard on pizza or Mexican food, especially when I’m
out with my buddies and we’re drinking, then wake up the next morning bloated like the
Michelin Man. Is there anything I can do or take to get rid of that fluid, so I don’t have to
walk around with a moon face and cankles the next day?
Yes, MHP makes a product called XPEL. It’s the number one all-natural diuretic product
out there for rapid water loss in a situation like you described. Plenty of guys and girls also
use it to dry out and tighten up for a contest, especially if they don’t want to mess around
with dangerous prescription diuretics. I’ve used it myself for photo shoots the day or two
after a contest when I might have celebrated a bit and gained water weight due to the higher
sodium content of those meals compared to my usual diet foods. It works quite well!Getting Lean Without Losing Muscle
What are the best ways to avoid losing muscle while I get lean? What’s the best type of
cardio to keep my mass?
The most important thing is to not do anything drastic from the start of the diet like most
people do. Be gradual and make small changes. You probably don’t even need to reduce any
calories or carbs at the very beginning. Just “clean up” your diet. If you’re eating things like a
burger or pizza every day, swap those out for clean meals. Your body will digest and utilize
that food better, and your energy levels will improve. Usually just that one change will see
you drop a few pounds of water weight even if the calories haven’t changed. From there, you
can start slowly reducing your calories, and I mean an amount like 300 per day for a couple of
weeks before going any lower. You shouldn’t be doing any cardio yet. Then you add in a few
sessions of 20 minutes. Avoid longer sessions like 60 minutes. The less cardio you can get
away with, the better in terms of muscle retention. Finally, you want to avoid high-impact cardio
like running. I usually do the stationary bike because it doesn’t bother my knees, but I read a
study that says high-impact cardio like running burns up lean muscle tissue, while low-impact
cardio like the bike will retain it.