Shredded in Barcelona in ’07 (left) and 1 year later, back in L.A.

AS A TRAINER IN HOLLYWOOD, not a week passes that I don’t hear about the “latest, greatest” TV show revolving around weight loss. Sure, it makes dramatic television, but what about people who face the opposite challenge—that is:  gaining lean body mass? Enter: Scrawny to Brawny: The Complete Guide to Building Muscle the Natural Way, a book conceived for ectomorphs, or people genetically engineered with this problem.

To put on muscle, you need to do away with the “vanity” exercises such as bicep curls and focus on the basics.

Know Thy Body Type. There are three human body types (or somatotypes).  Ectomorph (just described), endomorph, (a pear-shaped frame), and mesomorph.  The latter is the “classic” gymnast or bodybuilder type, (short muscles and thick, compact frames).  Most of us fall somewhere in the middle.  If you’ve fallen prey to the exercise and muscle magazines in your quest to become more toned and muscular, you’re wasting your money.

Train with basic, multi-joint weight exercises. Forget isolation exercises, such as bicep curls, lateral raises, calf raises. You should be doing squats, deadlifts, pull ups, bench presses, military presses, and dips.   You need to train with the heaviest weights you can safely manage with these exercises.  These exercises train the largest muscles in the body, and therefore have the most growth potential.

Slightly modify those exercises to better suit your body type. Ectomorphs generally have longer bones and this means that they have to move the weights through a greater range of motion than their mesomorph counterparts.  Therefore, it is essential to make some alterations to the traditional exercises named above to “mimic” the ROM experienced by mesomorphs.  On the bench press, ectomorphs should use a close grip (6 inches closer than shoulder width) and should bring the bar down only to about four inches from the sternum. On the squat, you should adopt a much wider stance (6 inches wider than shoulder width on each side) and point the toes slightly out, at 11 and 2 o’clock, respectively.  On the deadlift, you should adopt a closer grip, and keep the bar as close to your body as possible.  “The more vertical the path of the bar, the less strain imposed on the lower back,” say the book’s authors.

Train with intensity, but less often, getting plenty of rest. Rest is often overlooked as a pillar of muscle growth. In a nutshell, if you’re an ectomorph, it’s better to train two days a week, with maximum intensity, and plenty of rest in between, than it is to train 3-5 days a week on a “split” bodybuilding/fitness magazine style routine.

Eat more quality, nutrient-dense calories. Eat, eat, eat!  Sounds easy, but it’s one of the things many people have difficulty with.  It’s important to get several high-calorie, but nutrient dense meals, every day.  You must always, always, always…consume a protein drink after every workout.   While it may be “hard” to eat this many calories the authors suggest that it’s also hard to do a lot of things. But if you really want a bigger, more toned and more muscly body, then you need to give your body the nutrients it needs to grow.

I just finished the book “Skinny Bitch” and am thinking about going organic or vegan. What do you think? —Claire, Torrance

For readers who don’t know, Skinny Bitch is a best-selling diet book in the U.K. and U.S. known for its “in your face” tone (hence the title). Victoria Beckham is widely credited for making the book a hit, as she was photographed with a copy in Los Angeles. The book’s authors, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, advocate a strict vegetarian or vegan diet—free from caffeine, refined sugar, and aspartame—as the key to maintaining one’s weight. They also discuss the horrors of animal cruelty and factory farming. (more…)

I first met Los Angeles PR hunk Howard Bragman while publishing HERO Magazine back in late 1999. We’d meet up at Crazy Fish in Beverly Hills and he’d graciously share his vast business acumen over Asahis and spicy tuna rolls.

Now, Bragman’s advice comes to the masses in his upcoming book: Where’s My Fifteen Minutes? which is due for release the day after Christmas. Drawing upon juicy examples from Frank Sinatra to Monica Lewinsky, Bragman explores how to make the public relations game work for the average Joe. (more…)