Hard-Core Training

I know the pun is overused.

Anyway, lets talk about training the core. What is the core? Literally speaking, it is the midsection of the body. It includes a huge variety of muscles such as the Abs, the obliques, the lumbar spine, the transverse abdominis, the internal obliques, the serratus, the hip flexor muscles and various hip stabilizers that function with the glutes. Each of these muscles carry out a separate function.

The present day obsession with the "Six Pack" makes me sick. It takes away from the true meaning of mid section training- ultimate functional power. Only if you have engaged in hard manual labor or are a wrestler or a boxer will you understand the true value of the mid section. I myself was a boxer and I can tell you this, the true source of striking power is the twisting force of the hips and torso. This force is generated and transmitted by the midsection. No fighter was ever a hard puncher without a powerful gut. Ask any fighter and they will tell you that the 3 greatest movements that improves their punching power are Deadlifts (or a similar movement like Kettlebell Swings), leg raises or sit ups and punching a Heavy Bag (Twisting torque). Medicine ball work has been a part of combat training for decades. Real fighting power has less to do with your legs or arms and more to do with your lumbar and core muscles.

So basically the core has the following functions-
1. Stabilizing (and to a degree) flexing the Spine
2. Holding and Defending the Organs.
3. Rotating the spine and torso.
4. Bending into and Straightening the spine from a sideways position.
5. Rounding  and Arching the Lower Back.
6. Flexing at the Hips.

Before you embark on a core specialization routine, you must ask yourself if you really need to. Chances are, if you are doing a lot of compound exercises, you are already working the core hard enough. Unless you are a fighter, you probably do not have that much use for the kind of core power we are talking about.

If you decide you need additional core training, you can utilize the following basic exercises.
1. Bridges- I am Assuming you are already performing this exercise as a part of your routine, or some variant, like deadlifts. Even if you are deadlifting, it would probably be better for you to take up some bridging. I discuss this in detail in my previous post on bridges.
2. Leg raises- This movement works the hip flexors and the external obliques and the abs very hard. The Abs have to fire to stabilize and partially flex the spine, while resisting changing leverages as the legs are being lifted. If you pause at the top, like you are supposed to, the abs are fried. The hip flexors work very hard and perform the actual movement of lifting and lowering the legs. many people believe that the hip flexors must be isolated out of most movements. Anyone who as trained seriously will tell you that strong hip flexors are essential for most movements. The real problem is a lack of hip flexor flexibility and a weakness in the glutes and the abs, both of which are taken care of by Bridges, squats and Leg raises. Besides if that was the logic, we should all stop bench pressing right? (Pec and upper back flexibility and strength imbalance).
The transverse abdominis has to also work very hard to hold in the gut.
3. (Optional) Planks- This isometric hold is not essential, if you are already doing a lot of compound exercises. But a lot of people are interesting in just training their cores, to prevent injuries or to get back from pregnancies. I still advice them to at least take up squatting (bodyweight squatting at least- See the post on Squats), but if they don't want to, this exercise becomes important to train the Transverse and the abs as stabilizers.

Almost everyone will be using the above three exercises (Or a variant or substitute) in their training programs. What most people don't do right is selecting the appropriate training protocols, which we shall get into later. Also most people do not do the next motion (do them only if you really need specialized core training).

4. Train Twisting power- My favorite for this is the Russian twist. Set up an incline board upto its highest incline (about 45 degrees). Now Anchor your feet and get into sit up position. Now go just halfway up, such that your torso (hips and above) is parallel to the ground. Hold a weight with both hands right in front of your sternum with the arms straight such that your arms are perpendicular to your body and the ground. I like to use plates as the are easy to hold. Now, keeping your body parallel to the ground, rotate your torso to the left, such that you are looking to the left and your chest is now facing the left, while the arms are now parallel to the ground, such that the weight is at the same level as your head. Pause for one count and return to the starting position. Repeat in the other side. Keep your arms straight at all times.
This exercise will fry your entire core, but will kill your internal obliques. In my opinion, they are a must for any fighter or thrower. It builds real twisting power, and can easily be made progressive, by just adding weight.

The real key to mid section power is correct programming. Too many people train the midsection with high repetitions and low weight, saying that the ads are an endurance muscle. First off all, you are not only training the abs, but the hip flexors, lower back, obliques and transverse as well. The truth is you need only one endurance movement (or rather a Plank hold) to train the conditioning aspect of the abdominal muscles. As for all of the other functions, you have to train heavy and hard just like any other muscle group.

I personally prefer training hard exercises like Russian twists and bridges and leg raises in a separate workout. Start with Russian Twists for 4 sets of 6-12 reps. Then super-set leg raises with bridges for 4 sets for 5-12 reps. Finish with one plank until failure. This workout should be done twice a week- no more. If you already have a strong mid section even 1 workout a week will suffice to increase your strength.

Another option, if you have a weak core as such, is to spend 4-6 months specializing on your core. All other movements can be reduced to a once a week program, and you can increase your abdominal training to 3 times a week. These exercises don't put much pressure on the spine, and as such are easy to recover from, even if you train them really heavy.

The bridges progression has been given in a previous post. Leg raise can be made harder (and easier) by extending the knees. In a perfect leg raise, you will hang from a pull up bar with your arms straight and shoulders locked and lift your straight legs- knees locked, until the heels of your feet are higher than your hips. Hold for a second before lowering the legs. No swinging.

I will do a post on the leg raise progression soon.

If all you want to do is strengthen your core and be healthy as such, I would recommend the core workout I prescribed, twice a week, with one workout a week for just bodyweight squats (see my post on squats) and one workout for working up the pull up progression (see my post on pull ups) and push ups. You may also undertake some cross training in the form of running or skipping, though keep it under 30 mins a session. Also practice the twist hold progression (in my post on flexibility training), and the toe touch stretch every workout.

good luck and develop the kid of mid section on this classic figure.

Routine For Beginners

A couple of my friends were working out with me a few days ago, and I needed to write a program for them, so I wrote them this letter.

Hi Guys!

I have just been doing a lot of thinking about programs for beginners and I though it may be useful if I shared the routine I have developed, along with my reasoning, on paper.

So the routine I have thought of is essentially a full body routine based around Squats, Overhead presses and Pull Ups. Secondary exercises shall be push ups and bent-over rows. We shall also follow the fundamental stretching exercises- bridges, toe touches and twist holds. 

First of all let me address the reasons why I have picked these exercises. 

The squat is the fundamental builder of strength. It exercises the thighs, the lower back, the spine, the calves and the upper back to a degree. Plus being a movement in which the entire body moves (i.e closed chain movement), the carry over of strength gained through squatting happens in almost every activity. 

The main variation we will be using is the front squat. (We used back squats in the last session). Basically after observing your squatting technique you guys have 3 problems- lack of hip flexibility, which prevents you from going deep, an unstable core (mid section) and lack of spinal strength. All these problems will be corrected by front squats, plus it also paves the way for the development of a solid back squat. 

We will also be practicing the Olympic back squat for one set every workout, to hone the technique, plus to get some high reps done. You can't do that with front squats. 

Overhead presses build powerful shoulders and when done properly strength all the scapula stabilizers, the traps, the rib-cage muscles, and the triceps and pecs. It opens up the entire shoulder girdle and strengthens the rotator cuff muscles when done properly. 90% of all shoulder problems among athletes nowadays come from starting hard and heavy with the bench press, having improper posture, weak external rotators and a lack of overhead flexibility. Intelligently used, overhead pressing can avoid most of these problems and reverse many of them. 

The overhead presses we will perform will be done with the feet together, knees, hips and abs locked, chest out and with a shoulder width grip pressing directly overhead in a natural fashion. That means no excessive splaying out of the elbows. Full lockout will be reached and held. No swaying or bending of the spine. Absolute stability. 

We will not clean and press the weight as we were last time. We will un-rack it from the incline rack and press directly. Learning how to clean the weight to the shoulder properly is too technical right now. 

Pull ups are an absolute must to both balance out the pressing work you are doing and to properly develop the upper body. The volume of pull ups we will do will at least be equal to the amount of pressing we are doing. 

Push ups and bent over rows work the upper body from angles that are not hit by overhead presses and pull ups. They will however be used as a high rep set at the end of your upper body work, in order to provide a pump to the muscles there were just properly trained using the basic exercises. 

The stretches are essential in order to eventually improve squatting technique. 

We will use the most basic system of programming, which will use all the components of a good strength and muscle training program. 

Remember, without hard contractions (for a beginner that means heavy weight), strength will not increase and muscles will not grow. At the same time, without several repetitions, micro-trauma to the muscles won't happen and overcompensation won't occur. Thus we need to train HARD (many reps) and train HEAVY. However such training will deplete your system and exhaust you. Therefore, we will limit the number of heavy reps (anything over 80% of the max you can lift) to 20 per exercise per session. We will also limit the total number of reps to 40 per body part (i.e push ups + overhead work, and Pull ups + rows). At the same time, we will exercise only 2 times a week using full body routines. This is because this builds your endocrine system and elicits a very powerful muscle building response. On these 2 days, you will play no other sport. This way you will prevent burnout. Plus every 5th week, one workout off, and the other will be light. 

The workouts will be as follows. Let us say we exercise Wednesdays and Sundays. 

Wed and Sun Workouts-

Warm up with jumping jacks/ Skipping for 5 mins. 

Lets assume max Overhead press is 40 Kgs, max chin ups in a row are 6, max row is 45kgs and Front Squat 40kgs. 

1. 4 reps Overhead press with a weight you could use for 8 reps, say 30 Kgs. 

2. 2 reps of Chin ups. 

Repeat 1 and 2. 

This stage will warm up the body and perfect technique.

3. 2 Reps Overhead press with a weight you could press 4 times, say 35 Kgs. 

4. 1 min Break (Atleast)

5. 3 Chin Ups (Half of Max).

6. 1 min Break (atleast)

Repeat 3, 4, 5, 6, for a total of six times. 

This stage will build strength and muscle. 

The secret is to concentrate on all the muscles and the joints and to cultivate perfect technique. Cherish every rep. 

7. Using a variation of push ups which you can perform in perfect technique for 30 reps, perform as many as you need to in order to get a good, but not excessive pump. (if max is 30, do 25). 

8. Using a  weight you could row 20 times when fresh, say 32 Kgs, Row until your upper back and lats are fully pumped. Row to the chest. 

The purpose of these 2 steps is to simply enhance recovery and teach you how to connect to your muscles. 

9. Front squat a weight you could front squat for 6-7 reps, 3 times, say 30 Kgs. Take a min break and repeat. 

10. Front squat a weight you could squat for 4 reps, for 2 reps, say 35Kgs. Take a 2 min break. 

Repeat 10 for a total of five times. 

11. Load the bar to a really heavy weight, say 50kgs. Unrack in in the back squat style, hold for 5 seconds and re-rack it. Don't squat. This builds tendon and bone strength. 

Repeat 11 for a total of 3 times.

12. Olympic Back Squat a much reduced weight, say 25 Kgs, for 20 reps in one set. 

Take a 5 min break. 

13. Get into the appropriate bridge hold and hold the stretch for 30 seconds. 

14. Same with twist hold.

15. Touch your toes 3 times.

Repeat 12, 13, 14 a total of three times. 

16. Do the cuban press with a light weight (say bar only) for 6-8 reps, twice. This will prevent and cure shoulder and postural problems. 

Go home and relax.

You must eat at least 25gs of protein within 45 mins of the last exercise. Milk, meat and eggs are preferred sources. Ideally the largest meal of you day must be within 3 hours of exercise. Also, be sure not be be excessively hungry before exercise. An empty stomach is good, but don't starve. 

As for the rest of you diet-

1. Lots of fruits and vegetables.

2. Eat at-least 70gs of protein a day. Its actually not that high once you do the math. 

3. Eat when you are hungry, until you are pleasantly satiated. 

4. Try to eat 3 good meals a day, plus a couple of healthy snacks- vegetables/fruits with tea. 

5. Drank a LOT of water. 

6. Limit the junk and processed food you eat. 

7. Go nuts on milk, curd and paneer. 

8. Again, lots of fruits and vegetables. 

Read up on the exercises before Sunday. 

The system I have given is a variant of the classic Doug Hepburn routine. Its also similar to the systems Reg Park, Paul Anderson, Arthur Saxon, Herman Groener, Arthur Saxon and pretty much every known successful strength and physique athlete has used as a basic routine. 

The objective is to increase the weights on all exercises by something, every 2 weeks. 

Last thing, there is no abdominal exercise included, because your abs will be waaay to overworked anyway with Chin Ups, Push Ups, Overhead Presses and Front Squats. Until all these movements become stable and powerful, there is no point doing additional stabilizer/abs work.  

I realize that the system I have given is very different from the ones usually given to beginners today, but trust me it is the only one that works. There is no substitute for hard and heavy training on the Basics. You can always cut and finish your physique later. But without the basics, there is no point. However, the "basics" are hard, and therefore are avoided by most. True intense training has more to do with concentration and the levels of weights you use, than actual volume of work done. And that kind of work requires you to be utterly focused and dedicated. So most people train with high reps, waaay too often, to convince themselves that they are working hard. That is an idiots way of thinking. 

Remember, all Marathon runners are lean and fat (that is, Soft lean). All sprinters are muscular and powerful and look half their age. What does this tell you about the human body?

Also hard muscle also burns fat, because it has a higher metabolic cost i.e it makes the body burn more calories, just by being around. So quality muscle will keep you lean and strong. And quality muscle can only be gotten by hard and Heavy training, with the basics, with plenty of rest and a cool head and concentration. 

I am going to quote a couple of programs to show you what I am driving at-

Reg Park's Three Phase 5x5 Program

Phase One

45-degree back extension 3x10 

Back squat 5x5 

Bench press 5x5 

Deadlift 5x5

Rest 3-5 minutes between the last 3 sets of each exercise.

Train three days per week for three months.

As Park explained it, 5x5 includes two progressively heavier warm-up sets and three sets at the same weight. He suggested increasing weights at approximately the same interval, for example:

Back squat: first set 135x5, second set 185x5, followed by three sets of 225x5.

When you can complete the last 3x5 at a given weight, increase the weight on all five sets 5-10 pounds. Also, he was strongly against training to failure, saying that it encouraged a negative mindset when attempting other heavy, near-maximal lifts.

Who was Reg Park? The greatest bodybuilder of the pre steroid era. He was insanely strong AND big. He weighed a 100kgs and was the second man ever to bench press over 225kgs and squat 250kgs.

Do 3 warm ups sets with an easy weight for 6 reps each.

Do 8 sets of 2 with a weight you could use for a triple. 

Do one set of 10 to pump the muscle. 

Move on to the next exercise. 

Exercise twice a week.

Do Rows, Squats, Deadlifts, Bench and Military presses and weighted chins. 

This routine was by Doug Hepburn. He was the world's strongest man for a decade and is still probably the greatest overhead presser who ever lived. 

Perform 1 set of Bent Presses. 

Perform 1 set of 3 overhead presses.

Perform 1 set of four of Deadlifts. 

Repeat the entire workout one more time.

Take 3 days rest.

This was the system used by Arthur Saxon, the man whose one arm lifting records are unbroken to this day, and it has been a hundred and twenty years. He was once challenged by Eugene Sandow (Once Strongest Man of The World), to lift his infamous 275 pound barbell (over 130 Kgs), with one arm overhead. He claimed only he himself could lift it. Saxon lifted it 17 times with his left hand, and then held it overhead with his right hand, while he proceeded to drink 20 mugs of beer with his left. I am not suggesting you do that, but he was one strong guy. 

Finally a quote from the great Arnold Schwarzenegger to end this long letter-

" I think the reason some bodybuilders

use delicate exercises, which I call chicken exercises, is that

they don't feel confident with the basic movements or with

themselves. The bench press seems so simple, they think they

should do something more complicated. But you can't use as

much weight when you make the exercise difficult, so it takes

away from the meaning of heavy training.

I liked the idea of really pressing a lot of weight.

Besides the ego satisfaction

I got from working with heavy weights, it gave my body

more mass, which I still felt I needed. It was an idea I couldn't

get out of my head. I was doing heavy squats, heavy bench

presses, and this provided some of the foundation work of my

body, which has always made me appear strong. Certain bodybuilders

lack that look. They have good bodies but they don't

appear powerful. The reason is inadequate foundation training.

Good early training shows up in the muscles around the spine.

There is really no exercise for those muscles; their development

is just an indication that you have put in some heavy ground

work, heavy squats and heavy dead lifts, a lot of lifting and row

ing. I had done these exercises from the start. I developed strong

basic muscles which gave me the powerful look people wanted

to see.

Reg Park had been a powerlifter; he had done squats with 600

pounds, bench presses with 500 pounds, and dead lifts of over

700 pounds. I saw no reason why I shouldn't continue in the

same groove. I won the German championships in heavy-weight

powerlifting before I stopped. My body weight was up to 250

and I convinced myself that it was time to chisel down, to start

getting more quality in my body."

Ultimate Fat Loss

I get asked by a lot of guys at work and otherwise, how to lose weight. This question generally comes from people who are not really that badly off (18 – 22% Body fat), but are far from athletic. I thought it might be simpler if I just wrote a blog post about it.

People at this level of fitness generally do not need the various carb cycling diets that fitness professionals nowadays tend to recommend. The problem with these diets is that you can never really follow them if you have a hectic life. And I work in a place where most people have a 60 hour week all the time, and in India you spend at least 14-15 hours a week just travelling. Plus if you really were to begin following a carb cycling diet, it would cost you a fair penny. You need supplements, BCAA pills, lots of protein- all of which are really expensive here.

A lot fat can be lost, simply by identifying the reasons you are fat in the first place. You must understand that just like all other tissues, fat also serves a purpose in the body. Remove the reasons for its existence, and the fat will go away.

I am going to list the various purposes of fat in the human body, and you can judge for yourself, why you are carrying excess fat.

1.       Blood Sugar Levels are too High and your Body is Insulin Insensitive-

This is a semi diabetic condition, where the body is unable to fill the muscles with glucose, and this glucose hangs around in the blood stream and is stored as fat. This happens because the muscles either won’t accept the glucose (Insulin Insensitivity), or there simply is not enough muscle to accept the sugar/glucose.

The simple solution to this is to increase the Insulin sensitivity of the body by exercise and preventing frequent changes in blood sugar levels. This can be done by either keeping a constant intake of sugar, or by eliminating sugar altogether. The Frequency of change is more important than the degree of change in sugar levels, as frequent fluctuations can desensitize the insulin receptors of the body, because of which the muscles to refuse the sugar.

Also, insulin insensitivity and blood sugar levels drop when you have greater muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the easier it will be for you to keep the weight off. The problem is, most people simply do not have enough muscle to keep off fat for a long period of time.

Many people out there, especially women, worry about gaining too muscle. To be honest, that is like worrying that by studying a lot, you may become too smart. The fact of the matter is, every guy or girl who is phenomenally muscular has put in years of hard work and labour into it, and you are not going to look like that unless you really work hard towards that specific objective.

Most guys and girls can easily gain 20-25 pounds of pure muscle, without worrying about looking too muscular. And those 20 pounds will keep off 50 pounds of fat for your entire lifetime and will give you health benefits beyond counting. So stop worrying about it.

Lastly, most woman, unless they are genetic anomalies or are on steroids, simply do not have that much testosterone in them to end up like that, and thus it is twice as hard for them to become overly muscular.

2.       Your Body is Full of Toxins

This is the biggest reason for excess fat nowadays in my opinion. Fat essentially acts like a sponge and sucks up and stores all the toxins in the body, to prevent the toxins from entering the blood stream. This is why a lot of people fall ill when they lose weight, because the toxins that were in the fat get released into the blood stream.  Then when you start eating again, all the fat comes back, simply because it is needed to store all the toxins in your blood.

The best way to detoxify the body is to simply cut out all toxic food from your diet for some time. Then after 3-4 weeks of this approach, going on water fasts followed with large but healthy meals (to prevent losing fat too fast, thus avoiding excess blood toxicity) in order to burn some amount of fat, and to get rid of the chunk of the toxins in the body, is best. This practice will have to be repeated occasionally to prevent re-toxification.  You must remember that detoxification (and Fat Loss) is catabolic and catabolism needs to happen if you want to remain healthy, so don’t fall into the bodybuilding trap of never allowing catabolism to happen.

3.       The amount of calories you are eating is more than the amount you are using.

This is the most commonly cited reason, though it’s actually not the most common. This is also relatively easy to solve, by simply increasing your activity levels and cutting down your food intake.

A lot of professionals feel that a direct fat loss approach like the one cited above will stop burning fat in the long term, because the body’s defense mechanism will kick in and prevent you from burning fat, and will burn muscle instead.

First of all, if you are performing intense (i.e Heavy) exercise, you give the body a pretty strong stimulus to save muscle.

Secondly, we will not resort to excessive calorie depletion in the first place. We will never create a deficit of more than 20% of your calorific requirements.

Thirdly if you follow this system, these are very few reasons for the body to preserve fat (high insulin sensitivity, large muscle mass, toxin free body). The whole fat preservation over muscle thing does not really kick in. The body simply increases the glucose reserves in the muscles, and learns how to stretch them.

All right, so lets get on with it! I call this the gradual but permanent fat-loss approach.

I am not great with names.

Stage 1- Basic Detox!

Very simply, cut out all packaged foods from your diet, cut out all processed items, no simple carbs, no  sugar frosted goodies, no fried snacks and no wheat.

You will eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. All you meals will begin and end around them. You will try to eat foods as low on the food chain as possible. This means you will prefer fish over chicken, chicken over pig, pig over beef. . . you get the picture. Steaming and boiling is your preferred method of cooking.

No baked goods.

You will drink plenty- and I mean plenty, of clean water. You can have a lot of green tea as well, if you wish.

However, you WILL NOT CUT DOWN THE CALORIE INTAKE. If standard calorie charts say you need 2000 calories, you will eat 2000 calories, maybe a little more. You are not trying to deprive your body of nutrition and calories. You are simply trying to reduce the toxins in your body.

You may eat and meet your daily requirements in how many ever meals you wish- 1, 3, 10. It does not matter at this stage.

You will do this for 4 weeks.

Most people will notice significant fat loss by the end of this phase itself.

Stage 2- Complete Detox!

Now things will get a little serious. We are trying to kill 2 birds with one stone. We will both detox the body and increase insulin sensitivity. Insulin sensitivity rises when the muscles are drained of glucose, and the body experiences acute hunger.

Detoxification happens when the body goes through large amounts of catabolism.

During this phase, you will eat one multivitamin very morning, drink lots and lots of water and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables- fresh or boiled, but not eat anything else during the day. Then at around 6 or 7 p.m- before dark but not more than 4 hours before bedtime (not less than 2), you will eat one mega meal, where you will eat almost whatever you want and however you want, with the following restrictions-

1.       You will begin the meal with a large quantity of vegetables.

2.       You will then eat proteins.

3.       Only then will you eat your carbs.

4.       Stop when you feel pleasantly satiated. You will be surprised how much you will have to eat before you feel happy.

5.       No baked goods, no candies, no fried snacks, no processed sugar.

If you follow these simple roles and eat at the correct time, you will not feel the negative fat storing effects of eating a big dinner and will be able to safely overeat. At the same time your body will be hugely detoxified and you will posses much more energy (after the first 2 weeks) and you will be healthier in general.

I am not going to get into the insulin mechanics of this meal, and why there won’t be a significant sugar spike. Just trust me, and if you really want to know, drop a line with your email id in the comments box below, and I will drop you a lengthy document that I have written, as to why this may be the best way to eat.

You will do this for 4 weeks.

By the end of this phase, most people would have lost all the fat they wanted to lose in the first place. Even if you have, resist the temptation to rush back to your old way of living, and finish what you have started, by following the nest stage to its conclusion. Otherwise all your efforts will be in vain and you will lose all that you have gained (pun intended).

Stage 3- Gradual Fat-loss and Heavy Muscle Building

If you are a power lifter, bodybuilder, weightlifter or a strongman you are going to love this- the previous phase would have primed your body for crazy muscle gains and fat loss. This happens due to a complicated physiological phenomenon called the negative feedback loop.

It works like this, you know how guys who get out of a diet gain weight fast? Well, it works for muscle growth too. If your body has been starved for a long time and has gone through a lot of catabolism, when you start feeding it and exercising properly, the gains will be phenomenal. For once in your life, you will be able to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

If you are a guy who has been stuck at a certain level of size and strength for a long time, you will be more than compensated for whatever muscle you may have lost during the first 2 stages. In this stage, you will lose fat and gain much more muscle than you lost. It will be like the days you started training. You will break through all your old barriers and reach new levels of strength and muscle size. Again, to understand this better, drop me a line in the comment section.

For beginners, it’s a double party. Beginners in any case can build muscle and lose weight fast. When they have gone through stage 2, it will be like they are on steroids.

You can choose one of 2 diets-

1.       Continue with the stage 2 diet with 2 additions- you will have a heavy source of protein at 2 (like a protein shake) and a liquid protein meal half an hour before your workout. You will also have a lot more fruits during the day. Some people like this because it allows them to stuff themselves.

2.       Eat 3 meals a day, with 2 snacks- one brunch and an evening snack. Each meal will be the same as the main meal in stage 2, except you won’t eat anywhere near as much. The snacks will be fruits and protein. Once a week you will do a day fast like in stage 2.

In both, you must eat exactly your daily recommended intake of calories (no less, not too much more) and you must eat 1.5g of protein a day for every Kg of lean body mass you have. You can calculate all these variables by going to any one of the online Body fat Calculators. You muscle building efforts will ensure you will be losing fat despite not creating a calorie deficit.

You will follow any one of the 2 or 3 full body workouts a week exercise programs I have mentioned in this blog. Or you could use the following 2 workouts a week template-

Workout 1-

Jog/Skip 5 mins to warm up

2 sets of 5 light squats- barbell back squats with a shoulder width stance, going deep (or a part of the pistol squat progression, if you don't want to train with weights)

6 sets of 2 with a weight approximately equal to 85% of your max (or a similarly hard pistol squat variation)

3 sets of 3 of quarter squats with a weight 110% of your normal deep squat max.

1 set of 12 of full- ass to calves squats with a weight which is 75% of your max. Pause at the bottom always.

2 sets of 6 of Deadlifts with 80% of your max Deadlift. (Replace with bridges for bodyweight exercises)

3 sets of 4 of bench presses with 85% of your max bench. (Replace with push ups if using bodyweight)

2 sets until technical failure (technique is collapsing) of overhand shoulder width pull ups.

Any other exercises you may wish to add.

Workout 2-

Jog/Skip 5 mins to warm up

2 sets of 5 light deadlifts (or a part of the bridge progression).

6 sets of 2 with a weight approximately equal to 85% of your max (or a similarly hard bridging variation)

3 sets of 3 of deadlift lockouts off the blocks with a weight 110% of your normal deadlift max.

1 set of 12 of deadlifts with 75% of your max. Pause at the bottom always.

5 sets until technical failure of pull ups.

2 sets of 6 of back squats with 80% of your max. (Replace with pistol Squats for bodyweight exercises)

2 sets until technical failure (technique is collapsing) of bench presses with 80% of your max.

Any other exercises you may wish to add.

Follow this or any other full body routine you like. Train heavy and train hard. And don’t be worried about over training or cycling your workouts, as your body has been primed for this. Just be certain to not cross more than 15 heavy reps with any exercise (anything over 84% of Max) a workout, and don’t unnecessarily add too many light sets and lockouts.

Do not cross more than 3 full body workouts a week.

On all the other days you will do something- long distance running, interval sprints, swim, cycle, throw a discus, box, do skipping, whatever.

Stay in this phase for 12 weeks.

Then take a week off completely and see what you want to do next.

By this time you should have gained 15-18 pounds of muscle and lost a lot of fat- FOR GOOD!

Just be sincere to the program.