I have something to confess to you. I'm a cheater. That's right, as I sit here and write this blog I am spooning creamy and delicious Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream into my mouth.  The reason it tastes so good, besides the fact that it contains too many grams of carbs and fat, is that I have been following a fairly strict diet all week. But tonight is my reward. It's cheat night! Not only did I have orange chicken and chicken chow fun for dinner, now I'm enjoying my well-deserved dessert. I'm all about dedication. I train 6-7 days per week and follow a well-planned diet. After all, growing lean muscle is a full-time job. You need to have your day planned to supply yourself the nutrients you need when you need them. And even though I enjoy training and eating a clean diet, I find it's important to let loose every once in a while and really enjoy myself. And I choose to do that on Saturday nights. Something else I like to do on Saurday nights is answer your questions. Let's get to it.

Hi Joel: Yes, it is possible to gain muscle mass without strength. This is due to the fact that a lot of gains in muscle strength are due to the ability of the nerves that direct the muscles to contract to work faster and more synchronously. This can happen without an increase in muscle size. On the other side, muscle growth occurs due to the metabolic changes that occur within muscle, which leads to a higher increase in anabolic hormones and growth factors. The best way to do this is through training with higher reps (8-15) and low rest periods between sets, which is not the best way to increase muscle strength. That's not to say that increasing muscle strength does not lead to increases in muscle growth. And I suggest that you should consider taking a period of at least 4 weeks to focus on increasing your muscle strength. This can help you to use heavier weight for the same reps or get more reps with the same weight, which can lead to increased muscle growth. Does that help?

Hi Jason: Nice to hear that the M&F Raw! videos have been inspiring. Yes, alcohol can aid fat gain. It also can blunt muscle growth by decreasing testosterone. Plus it messes up your sleep, causing you to release less growth hormone.

Hey Rick: If you do cardio immediately after weight training, which I'm assuming you do based on your question, you should wait till immediately after the cardio is over to consume your protein and fast carbs. This is especially true for the carbs, which would blunt fat-burning during the cardio workout.

Hi Adam: I am so sorry that your original question went unanswered. That certainly was never my intention. It must have fallen through the cracks. It does sometimes get tough keeping up with writing articles for the magazines, doing videos for the website and trying to reach out to as many readers as possible. My sincerest apologies for dropping the ball on your question. Thank you for giving me a second chance to help you out. And thank you for the kind words. I will definitely be keeping up the Raw! videos and everything else. At 6' and 150 lbs, you must be fairly lean. And I'll assume you're fairly young and have a fairly fast metabolism. If I am right, then I would suggest you bump up your carbs to 300 g on the workout days. That's 2 grams per pound of body weight, and that's on the low side for gaining mass. Just cut back slightly on the fats (even though they're healthy) those days to keep calories around 3000.

Hey Will: Yes, the article I was referring to, Shock Training is in the October 2009 issue (on newsstands now). The timer I use is the Gym Boss. I believe the website is www.gymboss.com. Yes, these workouts are perfect for a 17-year-old...as long as you've been training consistently, which it appears you have been. If not, then you need something with fewer total sets per muscle group. Let me know if that's the case and I'll point you in the right direction.

Hi Assaf: A hello to all the M&F fans in Israel! I am happy to hear that M&F Raw! has fans in Israel. It is very rewarding to know that those videos are helping people all over the world. And most off all, I am very glad to hear that the Raw! videos have inspired you to learn even more and that they helped you take it to the next level. As far as isolation exercises go - they are very important for building muscle. That's because they force the target muscle to do the majority of the work, which stimulates more of the muscle fibers in that muscle. You will never be able to build a well-balanced physique without the use of isolation exercises. And just as you said, they've worked well for you! For the diet, I would suggest you get a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and a moderate amount of carbs (just over 1 gram per pound). Take a look at the Showtime Diet I created, which is on the M&F website. For you, just stick with the week 1 diet plan. And let me know how that works for you.

Hello Ismael: Great work getting your body weight down to 265 from 315 pounds! Keep up the great work!!! Prohormones are technically illegal these days. But at your age, your own testosterone levels will be enough to put on ample muscle mass. Just be sure that you are training at least two muscle groups per workout to help to boost your testosterone levels even higher after workouts. Also consider taking 2-3 grams of carnitine with your pre- and postworkout shakes. It will help to raise the level of testosterone receptors in your muscles, which will help your natural testosterone do its job, which is to grow muscle, better.

Hey Jonathan: I'm glad to know that you and your friend have a strong passion for working out and building muscle...and that you are watching the Raw! videos to learn how to work out better and build more muscle. The videos don't really go together to create a single workout. They are tips to incorporate into many different workouts. That's because the best way to work out is to frequently change your workouts. As far as my workouts...they too change very frequently. The best way to follow my workouts is to read M&F magazine. Each workout I create and put in the pages of M&F is a workout that I have followed. If you pick up the current issue on newsstands (October 2009), you can find one of my current favorite workouts in the Shock Training article I wrote. Let me know if you have any questions on it.

Hi Ryan: Than you for your longtime support of M&F and thanks for the kind words! As far as cardio first thing in the morning goes...a better time is actually immediately after your weight workouts. Research shows that when you do cardio right after weights, it enhances fat-burning. One reason for this may be due to the boost in growth hormone you get after the weight workout. Growth hormone not only boosts muscle growth, but also the release of fat from your fat cells. If you don't have time after weights, then just do it any time of day that best fits your schedule. As far as your homemade fat burner of caffeine, green tea extract and cayenne pepper extract - that is one of my favorites. As far as your macros go - was that a typo on cardio/abs day for protein? I'll assume you also eat 150 g protein on that day, as you should. So keep it up, you are definitely on the right track.

Hi Rhett: Glad you are enjoying the Raw! videos and that you especially found the Showtime HIIT one helpful. No, your body won't get immune to L-arginine after a couple of weeks. However, I do like to take a break off of most supps every once in a while. But that's so that you get that strong boost you notice when you first start taking a new supplement. Yes, arginine, HMB and creatine are very safe for a 16-year-old.

Hey Ben: Thank you...I am glad to hear that you think that M&F Raw! is continuing to get better and better. It is constantly evolving and I hope that it keeps getting better and better for years to come. Spotting on dumbbell presses is tricky. If you go by the wrists, it tends to not feel that natural and disrupts your normal pressing movement. Spotting by the elbows tends to be the most natural for the feel of the press. However, if you are really fatigued you may drop the dumbbells since the weight is not being directly supported by the spotter, as when you spot on the barbell bench press. However, the point of spotting isn't to really to allow you to take it to that point where you are so fatigued that you can't handle the dumbbells. The spotter should be providing just a small enough assistance that you are still doing most of the work. So I believe that spotting by the elbows is the best technique.