A few of my friends on facebook have posted a question like this: “How can I get an action hero body?”
Now, Hollywood action stars have a few advantages: they all have a personal trainer, they can get someone to cook healthy meals for them, and they have lighting technicians making sure they always look their best.
But you can totally steal their workout and do it on your own.
Have you seen “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” on TV? I’ve caught a few episodes – pretty cool.
And the stars definitely have that “action hero” look:
Here’s a video of the Spartacus stars working out:
(Don’t copy their kettlebell form! Everything else is all good )
The Spartacus workout above was written by Rachel Cosgrove, owner of Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, CA.
Here’s the complete program:
60 seconds work / 15 seconds rest
1. Goblet Squat
2. Mountain Climber
3. One Arm Dumbbell Swing
4. T-Pushup
5. Jump Lunges
6. Dumbbell Bent Over Row
7. Dumbbell Side Lunge and Touch
8. Dumbbell Renegade Row
9. Dumbbell Lunge with Rotation
10. Dumbbell Push Press
Total Time: 12:30.
Rest 2 minutes and repeat.
Total Work Time: 27 minutes!
After trying one of my bootcamp workouts, you’ll know that a circuit like this are no joke.
By working every muscle in your body, you not only strengthen and shape, you get a whole body cardiovascular workout… at the same time!
If your idea of “cardio” is running on a treadmill or playing on an elliptical machine, you’ll find that a workout like this is really fun, really intense, and more effective at building an Action Hero Body than anything else.
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but instead will interest his patients in the care of the human fram, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison
Paleo eating and primal living are Big Topics in the health and fitness world. What does it mean to “go Primal”?
Basically, it means eating the foods your body way designed to eat and living the way your body was designed to live, with the purpose of fitness and health in general, and often weight loss in particular.
Heading up the Primal movement is a cool guy named Mark Sisson:
Primal (for the sake of brevity I’m going to drop the /paleo today ) living allows your genes to express themselves in certain ways. What do I mean?
Simple example: I have a tattoo on my forearm. Think of that as a certain gene. Maybe the gene for Type 2 Diabetes.
Whether I wear long sleeves or not determines if my tattoo will show, that the gene will be expressed.
In this example my sleeves represent my lifestyle. If I exercise, eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and meats, and stay away from booze, grains, and sugars, the diabetes gene won’t have a chance to be expressed. It’s like wearing long sleeves.
If I skip the gym and eat whatever I want, it’s like rolling up my sleeves and letting the diabetes gene be expressed – my lifestyle determined I would get diabetes.
The gene was there the whole time, what determines if the gene goes into action or not is your lifestyle.
As Mark says: You Have To Fit Your Genes To Fit Into Your Genes.
To have the kind of lifestyle that allows your “skinny genes” and healthy genes to be used, you can follow simple Primal guidelines. Here are Mark’s 10 Primal Laws…
1. Eat Lots Of Plants And Animals
I believe nutrition is the single biggest thing you can do to lose weight and get awesome health. And the two biggest things you can do to improve your nutrition are to eat more vegetables and to eat more animal protein.
You should aim to have some complete protein in every meal, as well as a bunch of veggies.
2. Avoid Poisonous Things
This one is a doozy! No one goes around drinking drain cleaner, but we put things into our bodies that are almost as bad.
Even if you’re just interested in weight loss and don’t give a damn about your health, poison foods will still completely reverse your progress.
See, if you’re eating foods that your body has to fight (ex: grains), it won’t be able to absorb the good nutrients from your meats and vegetables PLUS it won’t let you lose any fat.
You know how an infected cut swells up? The swelling helps fight all the funk from the infection.
As soon as you ditch grains, soy, sugar, and alcohol, all the bloating in your body starts going away. Why the bloat?
Basically, your body was swelling to help it fight off foreign invaders.
Getting rid of poison foods will make sure all the effort you put into diet and exercise won’t go to waste.
3. Move Frequently At A Slow Pace
Another tricky one. Back in paleolithic days, humans had to walk all over the place.
We didn’t run, we WALKED. If we ran around and burned all our energy, we’d be screwed if we didn’t find food right away.
Almost no one goes for leisurely walks or hikes any more. We have to turn it into an exercise challenge. Whoever has the highest heart rate wins.
Walking does all sorts of good things for your body. Yes, it burns some calories, but that’s not why to do it.
Walking gets you outside, walking is relaxing, walking through the forest can actually help fight cancer, walking just plain feels good.
My advice: Go for a walk outside a few times a week, on the weekends get up in the hills and go for a fun hike with family and friends.
4. Lift Heavy Things
“Lifting heavy things” doesn’t mean hitting the weight room 3 hours a day to try and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Part of Primal living was moving rocks, climbing trees, dragging dead deer, lunging down to pick berries, pulling a travois, and all sorts of other full-body movements.
Dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, sandbags, tires, and my favorite – your won bodyweight – are all things you can use for resistance training.
5. Sprint Once In A While
Sprinting doesn’t mean lacing on some old New Balance Joggers and heading down to the track, it just refers to moving very fast (for your level).
Interval Training on a bike, treadmill, or rowing machine works great.
So does rocking out a fast set or bodyweight exercises.
So does jumping rope.
Moving quickly is very Primal – imagine a bear was chasing you and if you didn’t make it to a tree you’d die. No one moves with that kind of intensity any more.
6. Get Adequate Sleep
Getting enough sleep is a HUGE piece of the weight loss equation.
If you don’t sleep your body will start craving simple sugars, completely screwing up your eating plan.
No rest means you won’t recover from your workouts, instead of building a healthy body you’ll just be digging yourself into a hole.
No sleep means you won’t be able to bring any energy to your workouts. It SUCKS trying to do fast bike sprints when you didn’t sleep the night before. You go so slowly you wonder why you’re even doing them at all.
Some simple things you can do to sleep better are: no TV or computer an hour before bed (the light from the monitor interferes with sleep hormones), no booze or caffeine in the evening, get exercise during the day, get sunshine as early as possible, and eat lots of meat and veggies.
7. Play
So many people drop the ball on this one.
No one ever goes out and has fun anymore.
I love going to the beach and tossing a football around with friends, wrestling with my cousins’ kids, climbing trees, shooting hoops with my dad, and just enjoying life and movement.
The biggest mistake I see people making with play is this: They play to get in shape, they don’t get in shape to play.
Weekend Warriors go out and play flag football without building up their leg strength, shoulder health, and agility, and they get hurt.
Go out and play to have fun, as you get in better shape you’ll be able to totally dominate more intense games.
8. Get Adequate Sunlight
Did you know getting more sunshine will reduce cholesterol levels? It’s true! Your body uses cholesterol as part of the vitamin D making process. It’s one reason why your cholesterol levels test higher in the winter than in the summer.
Vitamin D prevents a lot of diseases and is essential for healthy teeth, bones, nails, eyesight, and the absorption of other vitamins and minerals.
Going out and getting burned is a Bad Idea. 20 or 30 minutes of sunshine a day (maybe during your walk!) will help you keep your vitamin D tank topped off.
(Oh yeah, smaller daily doses of sun have been shown to actually PREVENT skin cancer!).
9. Avoid Stupid Mistakes
“Hey! I’m going to make my New Year’s Resolution to run a marathon! Tomorrow I’ll go out and see how far I can run!” <- Stupid Mistake
“Exercise sucks! I’d rather be fat!” <- Stupid Mistake
“But I don’t liiiiiiiiiiike vegetables!” <- Stupid Mistake
“I worked out so I deserve this treat!” <- Stupid Mistake
Back in paleo days, stupid mistakes could kill you fast. “I’m going to poke that tiger with a stick!” <- Stupid Mistake
Stupid mistakes can still kill you fast (“Screw the seatbelt!”), but most of the stupid mistakes we make are smaller ones: Skipping breakfast, ditching workouts, going to bed without brushing your teeth.
As a guy who makes more stupid mistakes than anyone else (“Watch me jump off that roof!”), I can tell you that the fewer dumb mistakes you make, the better your life is going to be.
10. Use Your Brain
Our Primal ancestors had to learn or die. They had to observe what was going on around them and constantly solve problems.
Most of what we do now isn’t life or death, and we don’t have to track down our own meat anymore, but I’m always amazed at how people let themselves stagnate.
They never try anything new. They never learn anything new. I have no idea why.
It’s been shown that doing sudoku or word puzzles can help prevent dementia (I play games on Luminosity.com when my brain is feeling sluggish).
I figure that you can get even more bang for your mental buck by doing “body sudoku” – exercise puzzles that challenge your brain to learn something new while kicking your health and fat loss into overdrive.
An example would be the Spiral Squat – something totally out of the box for 99.9% of gym-goers, yet a great exercise and mental stimulant:
Just remember Rule Nine: Avoid Stupid Mistakes when you’re learning new exercises. If you can’t get off the toilet without straining, don’t try a rock-bottom twisting squat, ok?
Conclusion
To put these Ten Primal Laws into your daily routine, here’s a painless method: Pick one Law a week and get on it. Or even one Law every 2 weeks.
Make each one a habit before you add the next.
Pretty soon you’ll be wearing your Skinny Genes :p
1. Weight loss success is NOT measured by the pound
Just weighing yourself can be very misleading. Especially for those that are undertaking a resistance training program. What may happen is that you may lose a pound of fat while building a pound of muscle and in the end you’ve lost an inch but not a pound. Don’t you think you’d rather fit your jeans better than to have a certain number show up on the scale? Taking body measurements or judging your progress by how your clothing fits is a more accurate measure of progress than weight alone.
2. You may have an unrealistic body image.
You may be surprised to know that photos in any and every magazine are digitally enhanced. So much so that the average person, even someone very fit, may not measure up by comparison. If you’re too focused on the images presented by the media, you’ll have unrealistic body image and expectations and you’ll always be disappointed in your physique. Setting realistic expectations and accepting your physique is not only important for your physical well being, but also your emotional well being and self esteem. You have to make the best of what nature has given you.
3. Do not buy ‘diet’ food
There’s always a catch with diet food. If the food is advertised as ‘low fat’, then there’s likely more sugar added. Or if the food is ‘low sugar’, then be careful as its likely loaded with more fat. Your best bet for healthy eating is to buy whole foods: grains, fruits and veggies that are processed as little as possible. The ingredient list shouldn’t be full of words you can’t pronounce or a chemistry lesson. If you can’t pronounce the item on the list, you probably shouldn’t be eating it on a regular basis. This includes protein bars. These can be used as a supplement on occasion, but shouldn’t a staple in your diet. Sometimes a protein bar is little more than a glorified chocolate bar.
4. Remember to eat often
When you don’t eat at regular intervals, your body makes efforts to ‘store’ food instead of using it for energy. As a result, you don’t feel energized and your body will be more inclined to store fat. By eating 5-6 meals daily, you’ll keep the metabolism stoked and you’ll feel more energized.
5. Resistance training is a MUST and cardio isn’t the ‘be all end all’ of fitness
You need to maintain and build lean muscle mass in order to keep the metabolism going. Muscle is metabolically active and burns calories even when you’re sleeping. Body weight training is enough to maintain and build muscle. Cardiovascular training is an important fitness component, but isn’t the answer to weight loss. The combination of resistance training and cardiovascular training is more effective for weight loss than cardio alone.
6. Make every calorie count rather than counting calories
If you follow the rule that what ever goes into your mouth has to pack a nutritional punch, then you’ll be far better off than counting and reducing calories that aren’t as nutritionally dense. A balanced diet rich in protein, fiber, fruits, veggies and whole grains will ensure that you have the energy you need and will help reduce cravings. Cutting out junk food, particularly sugar will make a huge difference in your appetite and cravings.
7. Water, water and more water
Did you hear drink more water? You heard correctly. Often you may be dehydrated and not hungry. Get in the habit of having a water bottle that you sip on where ever you go. You’ll be surprised at how much more energized you feel and how your system will run much more smoothly when you are fully hydrated.
8. Make one change to start
Set small attainable goals. Don’t try to quit smoking, go on a diet and start exercising in one day. Give yourself time to develop a habit and then slowly incorporate new ones. Set yourself up for success and not failure. By doing too much too soon, you’re more likely to throw in the towel and give up all efforts to improve your health.
9. and 10. Weight loss is a life long process
This is so important I’ve numbered this point nine and ten! Keep in mind that you have the opportunity to improve your health every day, every meal. Some days will be better than others, some meals better than others. The key to lasting health is to remember that if you fall off the wagon nutritionally, make sure that you get right back on as soon as possible. Don’t beat yourself up about it; just get back on track quickly to minimize the ‘damage’.
Now, if you’ve read this far, I know that you’re really motivated and you should do yourself a favor and save yourself some money in the process.
It’s pretty sad but most people who try to lose weight fail (or else they lose a little then totally stall out)
Here are some of the biggest reasons why…
1. Waiting for everything to be “just right” before they start. Things are never going to be “just right.” Make the decision and get after it!
2. Don’t have clear and defined written goals. Just saying you want to lose weight isn’t enough. Be specific. Example: I am going to fit into a size 6 by March 1st.
3. They fall into the “More Is Better” mindset and spend hours a day in the gym. Just get in, get it done, and get out.
4. Not improving health. The better your body is working, the better results you’ll get from your diet and exercise program.
5. Too much focus on trying to impress other people in the gym and too little focus on doing what you need for results. Doing planks and lunges might not be as sexy as hanging out on a padded chrome machine by the water fountain, but they will get you results!
6. Not having fun during workouts.
7. Not bringing any energy to their workouts
8. Trying to out-train a crappy diet. (Beast in the gym, wimp in the kitchen)
9. Not cutting out fake healthy foods. Lean Cuisines, energy bars, whole grain bread, soy shakes, and the like will all keep your middle soft.
10. Skipping workouts.
11. Thinking about food as a calories in, calories out model. 100 Calories of cake is much worse for you than 100 Calories of broccoli.
12. Over-educating and under-doing. I know a guy with more than 300 cookbooks who still eats out 3 times a day.
13. Doing the same things that other people do
14. Having a crappy lifestyle. Get some sleep, get some fresh air, get rid of stress.
15. They hang out with negative people.
16. They don’t get expert advice.
17. Workout and diet A.D.D. – always doing something different, never giving anything a chance to work.
18. Not getting enough recovery. SLEEP. Massages. Chiropractic. Time with friends.
19. Having unrealistic expectations. If it took you 20 years to put on, it’s not going away next week. (I can get fat off your frame crazy fast though, just not overnight!)
20. Focusing on calories burned instead of raising metabolism. (More about metabolism here: Components Of Metabolism)
21. Working out alone instead of with an awesome partner or a group.
22. Joining a cheap gym filled with losers who aren’t there to accomplish anything. Go someplace that gets it DONE
23. Trying to change too much, too fast and totally burning out.
24. Not changing enough things and never making progress.
25. Not following any eating plan. A properly designed meal plan will make you lose fat so fast you’ll wonder why you ever thought it would be hard
26. Not making fitness, health, and fat loss a priority. One hour a day for YOU and your health. Every other aspect of your life will get better with just 60 minutes a day of positive action.
27. Whining. Don’t have a pity party; hardly anyone comes and no one brings presents. Whatever body you have is a result of your choices and actions. That means YOU can change it – and whining about anything you CAN change is very not cool.
28. Thinking that magic pills, ugly shoes, or expensive bracelets will miraculously cause you to lose weight.
29. Not investing in yourself. Get some gym clothes you actually want to wear. Go to a seminar. Get yourself good food.
30. Quitting at their first weight loss plateau. Pauses happen, give your body a chance to catch up to what your mind is doing.
I could go on and on, but this was just a short list that popped up in my mind
Lose fat, get buff, jump higher, lower blood pressure… It doesn’t matter what your health and fitness goal is – you want some more lean muscle!
Back in July I wrote about the Four Components Of Metabolism. It turns out that up to 75% of the calories you burn every day are a result of your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR).
And the best way to raise your RMR – and therefore burn more calories – is to add some lean, toned muscle to your bod.
I was part of a study to measure resting metabolic rate. I had to sleep in a lab and have my oxygen consumption measured while I was sleeping, then we extrapolated how many Calories I’d burn in a day of inactivity – not even eating.
At the time I was a lean, hard 260 pounds. Guess what my RMR was?
Just about 4000 Calories.
That means if I had stayed in bed all day and slept I would have burned off more than a pound of fat’s worth of Calories!
And it was mainly a function of the lean muscle I had (and my guts and heart and stuff were the rest).
The standard number bandied about by exercise scientists is that every pound of muscle you have burns about 50 Calories a day.
So if you switch out ten pounds of fat for ten pounds of muscle, you would weigh exactly the same but burn an extra 500 Calories in a day!
(With the type of metabolic acceleration training I’ve figured out since then, I can now activate the muscle even better so it burns more calories, but that’s another story )
For most people, that means the number one reason you want more lean muscle is to speed up fat loss.
Basically, you can eat more and lose fat at the same rate OR you can eat the same amount and lose fat faster!
Another reason you want some lean, toned muscle is that it makes maintaining your ideal body much MUCH easier.
If you go on a starvation diet or become an aerobics junkie, you’ll lose weight.
The problem with both those methods is that you’ll lose a lot of muscle along with a bit of fat.
That means you will have a much slower metabolism after you’ve lost the weight, which means the pounds will come right back on if you ever slack off the aerobics or eat above the starvation level.
And almost all of the pounds you put back on will be PURE FAT as a result of your slow metabolism.
Here’s where the “yo-yo weight loss” starts. You can lose 30 pounds and slow down your metabolism.
It stays slow and you gain the weight back. Now you have a slow metabolism and you attack the weight with an even stricter diet and more aerobics. You lose the weight and more muscle and slow the metabolism down more.
Yo-yo up, yo-yo down. The more times you yo-yo, the more damage you do to your metabolism and pretty soon it just acts like me at a lame party: “This sucks, I’m out.” Metabolism is out the door, along with your health and vitality.
When you lose fat and put on some toned muscle, you can actually RAISE your metabolism at your new lighter weight, which makes keeping your dream body so easy it’s almost automatic.
Which would you rather do: lose and gain 30 pounds every year for the rest of your life and do irreparable damage to your body? Or lose the weight once and then not have to worry about gaining it back again?
Thin is one thing:
Hot is another:
While thin and flabby is better than big and flabby, I can confidently state that we all want to be hot beyond just being a stick figure with fat and skin over our frames.
If the three reasons above aren’t enough to convince you that lean muscle is TOTALLY AWESOME, here are 3 more:
More muscle is correlated with greater longevity.
Seriously, it’s a double-whammy. Look better AND live longer. Sweet deal!
Your longevity is probably affected by how well hot your metabolism is running. If your cells are turning over faster (high metabolism), bad funky stuff isn’t going to fester as long before it gets attacked by your bod. And when you do get sick, you have the reserves to heal faster.
If you’ve got lean muscle on your frame (instead of fat), you have a place to store any excess sugars that might be bouncing around in your bloodstream.
And we all know what excess sugar in the blood is called… DIABETES!
See, your muscles can store sugar in a form called glycogen and if you have more muscle, you can store more sugar. If there’s no place to store it then the sugar bangs around in your bloodstream wreaking havoc until it can be turned into fat.
But your insulin can work its sugar-stowing magic IF there’s a place to store it. And muscle is a very convenient place.
So:
more muscle => greater insulin sensitivity => less chance of diabetes
Lastly, and certainly not least, muscle is what moves your body.
When you have more muscle you are more athletic and can do cool things.
At the very least, having support for your frame and the ability to move means you can totally enjoy life.
One of my clients came to me to get off his blood pressure medication. We got that handled in about a month with some well-designed workouts and nutritional changes.
He came in one Monday freakin’ BEAMING with a giant smile and told me about his weekend.
Long story short, this guy loved to landscape and garden in his yard. But for the last few years he couldn’t do much and then he was crippled up for a few days afterward.
He’d built a pond and a wishing well on Friday afternoon. He said, “I thought it would take all weekend and that I’d be sore as hell afterward, but it was no problem!”
The ability to do and enjoy the things you love most, all because of a little more firmness on your frame!
So even if your goal is just “to lose fat” you should do it in a way that builds and maintains lean muscle.
You’ll look better, perform better, be healthier, and just plain FEEL better if you do!
Talk soon,
~ Luke
PS – If you liked this article, please leave a comment! Nothing gets me more fired up to write “meaty” posts like this one than feedback from the totally awesome people who visit my blog. Thank you so much!
When I walked up into the weight room someone’s Dad was in there “working out.”
He gave me a sheepish look when I told him the upstairs of the gym is reserved for private clients. But since he’d already started I said to go ahead and finish.
After a quick warm-up I hit this circuit 6 times: Kettlebell snatch x6 each arm, ValSlide Reverse Lunge x 10 each leg, and Weighted Chin Ups x 5, repeat with no rest.
Then a quick sip of water and my second circuit was 3 rounds of: ValSlide Double Reach-Out x 10, Handstand Push Up x 3, and Bodyweight Row x 12.
It took me about 25 minutes.
In that same 25 minutes this guy did 5 sets of Dumbbell Curls. Seriously.
Unfortunately, spending more time in the gym than you need to is super-common, and I think that’s why people whine that they have no time to work out.
Now, today I’m going to drop 2 studies showing that not only will high-intensity circuits get you out of the weight room faster, they’ll also give you BETTER results.
(Of course, you could spend the same hour in the gym training with this style and get more done in those 60 minutes than the standard gym-goer does in 2 weeks of screwing around. I think that’s freaking cool!)
This is the first study:
Kelleher et al. The Metabolic Costs of Reciprocal Supersets vs. Traditional Resistance Exercise in Young Recreationally Active Adults. JSCR 2010 Mar 17.
Kelleher et al examined the difference between traditional “straight set” resistance training to “reciprocal superset” training.
Here’s two quick definitions for you:
STRAIGHT SET: Standard resistance training protocol – One set of presses, rest. Set of presses, rest. Repeat until all sets are done.
RECIPROCAL SUPERSET: Pairing opposite movements – Set of presses, quick rest, set of rows, quick rest. Not only do you actually get the same amount of rest between presses, you get twice as much work done in the same time. And thanks to a principle called “reciprocal innervation” you will actually be able to handle more weight in the paired exercises.
The researchers above concluded: “Reciprocal supersets produced greater exercise kJ.min, blood lactate, and EPOC than did [traditional straight sets]. Incorporating this method of resistance exercise may benefit exercisers attempting to increase energy expenditure and have a fixed exercise volume with limited exercise time available.”
In plain speak: You will raise your metabolism and make greater changes in your body IN LESS TIME with reciprocal supersets than with straight sets.
INSIDE LUKE’S HEAD: How can I create reciprocal supersets in all of my workouts?
The second study:
Paoli et al. Effects of three distinct protocols of fitness training on body composition, strength and blood lactate. JSMPF. 2010 Mar;50(1):43-51
Paoli et al compared 3 different training methods: cardio-only, low-intensity circuit, and high-intensity circuit.
Out of the 3 groups, the high-intensity circuit group lost the most weight, lost the most fat, lost the most off their waist measurement, raised their metabolism the most, and gained the most strength.
Here’s an excerpt from their conclusion: “The results obtained favored the conclusion that high-intensity exercise combined with endurance training in the circuit training technique is more effective than endurance training alone or low intensity circuit training in improving body composition, blood lactate, moreover high intensity circuit training results in significantly greater strength increase compared to traditional circuit training”
So… high-intensity circuits kick ass compared to low-intensity circuits and totally blow traditional cardio out of the water.
INSIDE LUKE’S HEAD (con’t from above): How can I put reciprocal supersets into high-intensity circuits?
When the chips are all on the table and changing your body really counts, forget traditional weight training and endurance-style cardio – use high intensity resistance training circuits instead.
Putting It All Together
Resistance training includes bodyweight exercises. Build your workouts around bodyweight and loaded exercises either paired or put into circuits, combine them with interval training, and clean up your diet and you’ll have a totally slamming body in wayyy less time.
I design all of the circuits for my personal training and bootcamp members – all you have to do is show up and push hard. If you’re not in bootcamp (why not?) start tweaking your workouts with these two ideas and you’ll finally start to see some results from your time in the gym!
That’s enough time to lose a pound of fat or two. But I want to give you a few cool “tricks” to help you look even leaner.
My Halloween Costume Was: “God’s Gift To Women”
By getting rid of any bloating and with a few simple exercises to lock in your posture, you can look five to ten pounds lighter in just 6 days..
Look Leaner Tip Number One: Grub On The Broccoli
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a huge broccoli fan. I’d rather eat spinach and bell peppers for my veggies.
The thing is, when it comes to cutting down nothing beats broccoli.
Here’s the prescription for the week (hey, it’s only 6 days!): 6 cups of broccoli a day.
Yep, 6 cups.
Have 2 cups each with breakfast, and dinner. Have a cup with all 6 meals. Whatever. Just get in 6 cups a day.
You can bake it, grill it, steam it, or chop it up in your scrambled eggs. Just get it in.
For extra points add in about ten spears of asparagus, too
Look Leaner Tip Number Two: Dunk It
Tea time!
Green tea is a natural diuretic (it will help your bod get rid of excess fluids). So is Dandelion tea.
Peppermint tea is a natural peristaltic (it will help your gut get rid of solid waste).
The Halloween prescription (minimum): 6 cups of green tea, 3 cups of peppermint tea.
And for bonus points add in a few mugs of dandelion tea.
Now, I like to hit all of my green tea before lunch, since it does have some caffeine, and my peppermint tea before bed, but get it in however you have to.
Look Leaner Tip Number Three: Go Caveman!
Some of our modern foods cause inflammation, bloating, and swelling – if you cut these foods out, guess what?
You’ll have less inflammation, bloating, and swelling
So for the next 6 days, eat all “paleo” foods: Meats, nuts, veggies, and berries.
Halloween prescription: For the next 6 days, cut out all dairy, grains, sugars, artificial sweeteners, and alcohol.
It’s amazing how fast you lean out when you eliminate these foods.
Look Leaner Tip Number Four: RAMROD!
A really cool trick I use when I’m teaching seminars about fitness is the “lose an inch off your waist in 60 seconds” method.
Basically, I bring up an audience member and wrap a measuring tape around their waist.
Then I have them stand up straight, with “shoulder blades in the pockets” and flatten out their pelvis. Then… as they make each adjustment, the tape moves in!
It’s usually possible to cut an inch off of their waist measurement without any sucking in.
So, the Halloween prescription for posture is… 100 band pull aparts, 3 sets of 60 seconds each leg hip flexor stretch, and 3 sets of 60 second planks.
Here’s each of those exercises:
100 Band Pull Aparts
3x60sec each leg Hip Flexor Stretch
3x60sec Plank
Look Leaner Tip Number Five: Chug Chug Chug!
Most people don’t drink enough water.
I usually recommend drinking AT A MINIMUM (and not counting workout water) half your bodyweight in ounces of water.
So if you weigh 200 pounds, it’s a minimum of 100 ounces of water a day.
When you don’t drink enough water, your body holds on to every drop.
This stored up water looks just the same as fat under your skin.
Drinking more water tells your body that your water supply is abundant and to go ahead and flush out that stored fluid.
The net result is that you look leaner (you also get rid of toxins, feel better, raise your metabolism, etc).
The Halloween prescription is… Minimum of an ounce of water per pound of bodyweight. For a gold star you can go up to an ounce and a half. (When I’m helping models get ready for a shoot, they sometimes hit 3 gallons a day. That’s a lot of time in the bathroom!)
Example: 150 pounds – 150 to 225 ounces of water a day.
And here’s the bugger: You don’t get to count your green, peppermint, and dandelion tea in the total.
Wrap Up
I know it sounds extreme. That’s because it is!
But you know, most of the fittest people I know live like this all the time. They drink tea, fix their posture, cut out the crap, and drink enough water to float the Mayflower.
Just think of it as six days. In less than 144 hours you’ll be chowing down on candy corn and mars bars – looking totally awesome!
And If you’re reading this right now, and you’re at that point in your life where you’ve turned an age that’s getting you down… or you’ve just seen a picture where you don’t look like you anymore… or something else has you feeling like you’re never going to be able to “get your groove back” when it comes to fitness, then LISTEN UP.
It does NOT have to be that way.
I honestly believe that you can lose weight and change your body DRAMATICALLY if you CHOOSE to do it… and you LEARN HOW to do it.
Stop sitting there wishing for things to change and hoping that your extra weight will just go aways and MAKE IT HAPPEN for yourself.
I’ve spent a lot of time now figuring out the things you need to do to increase your success with weight loss… and I honestly believe that anyone can do it, IF they TAKE ACTION: Click this link to get the best deal on bootcamp ever!Luke’s Birthday Celebration
“Cellulite” is one of the most feared words for any woman to hear. Cellulite is a specific type of fat that has found its home on the buttocks and upper thighs of millions of females. Unfortunately for the women who have it, cellulite is considered to be the most unsightly forms of body fat. Its appearance can best be described as resembling lumpy, cottage cheese.
But the worst thing about cellulite is that once it finds its way to your body, it is extremely difficult to get rid of. Even though it is essentially just body fat, it does not get burned with normal fat burning methods. Instead, staring in the face of a sound diet and exercise routine, it defiantly hangs on for dear life, refusing to give your butt and thighs the tight, smooth appearance you are working so hard to achieve.
There are many different theories about what causes cellulite. Some experts believe that estrogen may play a role in its formation. This would explain why women get cellulite much more commonly than men do. Others believe that toxins in the body affect the fat cells and cause cellulite to develop. Still others just attribute it to the simple fact that you are carrying too much body fat in the affected area.
In an attempt to get a definitive answer on the “real” cause of this problem, I recently interviewed a prominent plastic surgeon about his take on the topic. I respect his opinion since he has performed hundreds of liposuction procedures on women who suffer from this very problem.
He strongly believes that the appearance of cellulite is caused by a problem with the flexibility of the connective tissue. In other words, he believes that if your connective tissue flexibility is compromised, your fat cells can bulge upwards to the surface of the skin, giving the area the unattractive cottage cheese look.
Since there is such a wide variety of opinion on this topic, it is clear that the true cause of cellulite is not fully understood by the scientific community. Maybe one of the above theories is accurate. Perhaps it’s a combination of all of them.
The good news is that whatever the precise cause may be, I have developed a multi-faceted approach that will literally blowtorch the cellulite right off your butt and thighs! My system addresses all of the potential causes of this cosmetic hardship. Here it is in a simple, step-by-step format.
1. Improve the integrity of your connective tissue. This is best accomplished by eating foods that are rich in bioflavonoids and vitamin C. Some foods that are particularly loaded with these nutrients are: citrus fruits, cherries, peppers, all types of berries, oranges, grapefruits and green leafy vegetables.
2. Flush toxins out of your body. The easiest way to begin this process is to drink plenty of pure water. Be sure to drink at least half of your bodyweight in ounces everyday.
3. Minimize your bodies exposure to toxins. Being exposed to some level of environmental toxins are unavoidable. But there are many toxins that can be avoided without any trouble. This would include cigarette smoke (first or second hand), excessive alcohol consumption, unnecessary medications, etc.
4. Keep estrogen levels in check. This can be accomplished by eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables daily. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage contain a substance named indole-3-carbinol (I3C). This substance has been shown to have a positive effect on estrogen metabolism. In addition, these vegetables also assist in detoxifying the body.
5. Lose excess body fat. Although cellulite has some unique characteristics, it is still body fat. So if you were to lose body fat correctly, you would minimize or totally lose that cottage cheese appearance.
Let’s start by addressing your diet. You should use a diet that doesn’t allow your insulin levels to get chronically high. Chronically high insulin levels prevent cellulite from being burned, thus making your fat loss efforts futile. To keep insulin levels in the optimal range, you should eliminate sugar, dairy and processed foods from your diet. Now let’s address the exercise protocol.
To any woman who has tried, it’s no secret that traditional aerobic exercise does nothing to reduce cellulite. In a desperate attempt to lose cellulite, most people perform daily aerobic workouts. I’ve actually known aerobic instructors who teach 6-8 hours of aerobic classes each day and still have stubborn cellulite. This is obviously not an effective approach.
Instead, you should perform high-intensity sprint training. Sprinting works the hamstrings (back of the legs) and glutes effectively while elevating your metabolism significantly.
Combine this with resistance exercises that target the affected area while simultaneously stimulating lean muscle, and you have a potent exercise program that will enable you to lose cellulite quickly. Some of my favorite resistance exercises for losing cellulite are: Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts, KB Swings, and Band Good Mornings.
Cellulite doesn’t have to be a permanent part of your body. Start this plan today and lose your cellulite for life!
About The Author
John Alvino is a world renowned fitness expert who is known for his ability to help people lose body fat incredibly fast. He is the creator of the “How To Get Ripped Abs” program, which provides you with the blueprint for getting a great set of six pack abs and a lean body without having to endure long boring workouts, crash diets or expensive supplements. Learn how to get rid of that stubborn fat TODAY by visiting www.howtogetrippedabs.com
“Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a pauper.” This maxim can be attributed to nutrition writer Adelle Davis, and since her passing in 1974, the advice to eat less at night to help with fat loss has lived on and continued to circulate in many different incarnations. This includes suggestions such as:
“Don’t eat a lot before bedtime”
“Don’t eat midnight snacks”
“Don’t eat anything after 7pm”
“Don’t eat any carbs at night”
“Don’t eat any carbs after 3 pm”
and so on…
I too believe that eating lightly at night is usually very solid advice for people seeking increased fat loss, especially for people who are inactive at night. However, some fitness experts today, when they hear “eat less at night,” start screaming, “Diet Voodoo!”…
Opinions on this subject are definitely mixed. Many highly respected experts strongly recommend eating less at night to improve fat loss, while others suggest that it’s only “calories in vs calories out” over 24 hours that matters.
The critics say that it’s ridiculous to cut off food intake at a certain hour or to presume that “carbs turn to fat” at night as if there were some kind of nocturnal carbohydrate gremlins waiting to shuttle calories into fat cells when the moon is full. They suggest that if you eat less in the morning and eat more at night, it all “balances itself out at the end of the day.”
Of course, food does not turn to fat just because it’s eaten after a certain “cutoff hour” and carbs do not necessarily turn to fat at night either (although there are hypotheses about low evening insulin sensitivity having some significance). What we do know for certain is that the law of energy balance is with us at all hours of the day – and that bears some deeper consideration when you realize that we expend the least energy when we are sleeping and many people spend the entire evening watching TV.
I had the privilege of interviewing sports nutritionist and dietitian Dan Benardot, PhD, and he gave us a very interesting perspective on this.
Dr. Benardot said that thinking in terms of 24 hour energy balance may be a seriously flawed and outdated concept. He says that the old model of energy balance looks at calories in versus calories out in 24 hour units. However, what really happens is that your body allocates energy minute by minute and hour by hour as your body’s needs dictate, not at some specified 24 hour end point.
I first heard this concept suggested by Dr. Fred Hatfield about 15 years ago. Hatfield explained how and why you should be thinking ahead to the next three hours and adjusting your energy intake accordingly.
Although it’s not really a new idea, Dr. Benardot has recently taken this concept to a much higher level of refinement and he calls the new paradigm, “Within Day Energy Balance.”
The Within Day Energy balance approach not only backs up the practice of eating small meals approximately every three hours, AND the practice of “nutrient timing” (which is why post workout nutrition is such a popular topic today, and rightly so)… it also suggests that we should adjust our energy intake according to our activity.
Let’s make the assumption most people come home from work, then plop on the couch in front of the TV all night. Let’s also assume that the majority of people go to bed late in the evening, usually around 10 pm, 11 pm or midnight. Therefore, nighttime is the period during which the least energy is being expended.
If this is true, then it’s logical to suggest that one should not eat huge amounts of calories at night, especially right before bed because that would provide excess fuel at a time when it is not needed. The result is increased likelihood of fat storage.
From the within day energy balance perspective, the advice to eat less at night makes complete sense. Of course it also suggests that if you train at night, then you should eat more at night to support that activity beforehand and to support recovery afterwards.
Those stuck on a 24 hour model of energy expenditure would say timing of energy intake doesn’t matter as long as the total calories for the day are in a deficit. But who ever decided that the body operates on a 24-hour “DAY”?
Try this test (or not!): Eat a 2500 calorie per day diet, with nothing for breakfast, nothing before or after your morning workout, 500 calories for lunch, 750 calories for dinner and 1250 calories before bedtime.
Now compare that to the SAME 2500 calorie diet with 6 small meals of approximately 420 calories per meal and then tweak those meal sizes a bit so that you eat a little more before and after your workout and a little less later at night.
Both are 2500 calories per day. According to “24 hour energy balance” thinking, both diets will produce the same results in performance, health and body composition. But will they?
Does your body really do a calculation at midnight and add up the day’s totals like a business man when he closes out the register at night? It’s a lot more logical that energy is stored in real time and energy is burned in real time, rather than accounted for at the end of each 24 hour period.
24 hour energy balance is just one way to academically sort calories so you can understand it and count it in convenient units of time. This has its uses, as in calculating a daily calorie intake level for menu planning purposes.
Ok, but enough about calories, what about the individual macronutrients? Some people don’t simply suggest eating fewer calories at night, they suggest you take your calorie cut specifically from CARBS rather than from all macronutrients evenly across the board. Is there anything to it?
Well, there’s more than one theory. The most commonly quoted theory has to do with insulin.
The late bodybuilding guru Dan Duchaine was once asked by a competitor,
“I want to get cut up for an upcoming contest. Should I eat at night? I heard I shouldn’t eat carbs after six pm.”
Duchaine answered:
“It’s true that insulin sensitivity is lowest at night. Let’s discuss what is happening in your body that makes it dislike carbs at night. Cortisol, a catabolic hormone, is highest at night. When cortisol is elevated, your muscle cell insulin sensitivity is lowered…”
More recently, David Barr wrote a tip on “lower carbs at night” for T-Muscle Magazine. He said:
“Even when bulking, you don’t want to start scarfing down Pop Tarts before you go to bed. Our muscle insulin sensitivity decreases as the day wears on, meaning that we’re more likely to generate a large insulin response from ingesting carbs. Stated differently, we’re more predisposed to adding fat mass by eating carbs at night because our body doesn’t handle the hormone insulin as well as it does earlier in the day.”
Mind you, Barr is a not a “voodoo” guy; he is a respected scientist who also happens to be well known as a “dogma destroyer” and “myth buster”… and Duchaine, although he had a shady past and some run-ins with the law, was nevertheless highly respected by nearly all in the bodybuilding world for his ahead-of-his-time nutrition wisdom.
As a result of advice like this, word got out in the bodybuilding and fitness community that you should eat fewer carbs at night. Real world results and the “test of time” have suggested that this is an effective strategy. I also don’t know a single nutrition or training expert who doesn’t agree that insulin management and improvement of insulin sensitivity aren’t effective approaches in the management of body fat.
However, it’s only fair to point out that not all scientists agree that cutting carbs at night will have any real world impact on fat loss, outside of any additional calorie deficit created by it. Dr. Benardot, for example, doesn’t think there’s much to it. He says that exercisers and athletes in particular, usually have excellent glycemic control, so the ratio of macronutrients should not be as much of an issue as the total energy balance in relation to energy needs at a particular time and the meal frequency (eating every 3 hours).
Regardless of which side of the “carbs at night” debate you lean towards, if you consider the within day energy balance principle, it makes perfect sense not to eat large, calorie-dense meals late at night before bedtime.
Keep in mind of course, that cutting back on your calories and/or carbs at night makes the most sense in the context of a fat loss program, especially if fat loss has been slow. It’s quite possible that I might give the exact opposite advice to the skinny “ectomorph” who is having a hard time gaining muscular body weight.
Also consider that this doesn’t necessarily mean eating nothing at night; it may simply mean eating smaller meals or emphasizing lean protein and green veggies (or a small protein shake) at night.
Many programs suggest a specific time when you should eat your last meal of the day. However, I’d suggest avoiding an absolute cut off time, such as “no food or no carbs after 6 pm, etc,” because people go to bed at different times, and maintenance of steady blood sugar and an optimal hormonal balance even at night are also important goals.
A more personalized suggestion is to cut off food intake 3 hours before bedtime, if practical and possible. For example, if you eat dinner at 6 pm, but don’t go to bed until 12 midnight, then a small 9 pm meal or a snack makes sense, but keep it light, preferably lean protein, and don’t raid the refrigerator at 11:55!
An important rule to remember in all cases, is that whatever is working, keep doing more of it. If you eat your largest meal before bed and lose fat anyway, I would never tell you to change that. Results are what counts. On the other hand, if you’re stuck at a fat loss plateau, this is a technique I’d suggest you give a try.
Night time eating is likely to remain a subject of debate – especially the part about whether carbs should be targeted for removal in evening meals.
However, perhaps even those who are skeptical can consider, that if cutting out carbs at night is effective for fat loss, it may be for the simple reason that it forces you to eat less automatically.
In other words, setting a rule to eat fewer calories or to eat fewer carbs at night may be a very effective way to keep your daily calories in check and to match intake to activity, whereas people who are allowed to eat ad libitum at night when they’re home, glued to the couch and watching TV, etc., may tend to overeat when food is readily available, but the energy is not needed in large amounts.
Me personally? Unless I’m weight training at night, I have always reduced calories and carbs at night when “cutting” for bodybuilding competition. It’s worked so well for me that I devoted a whole section to it in my program, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle and I call the techniques “calorie tapering” and “carb tapering.” For more information on how I use these methods to help me reach single digit body fat, you can visit: www.BurnTheFat.com
Tom Venuto is the author of the #1 best seller, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the World’s Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models. Tom is a lifetime natural bodybuilder and fat loss expert who achieved an astonishing 3.7% body fat level without drugs or supplements. Discover how to increase your metabolism and burn stubborn body fat, find out which foods burn fat and which foods turn to fat, plus get a free fat loss report and mini course by visiting Tom’s site at: www.BurnTheFat.com
Today I want to share some cool strategies to raise you metabolism WITHOUT changing what you eat or exercising.
Sound crazy? Good. I like crazy people.
When it comes to making changes, it’s always easier to ADD something in than to TAKE something out.
For instance, it’s easier to add in two interval training workouts a week than it is to cut out your favorite food.
The first way to raise your metabolism is to EAT MORE OFTEN.
Studies have shown that eating six times a day will make you lose more fat than eating twice a day – even if you eat the same calories!
Another study showed you will lose more total and abdominal fat eating 6 times a day instead of only 3.
So instead of a big lunch and a big dinner, break your meals down and have a smaller breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus 3 healthy snacks. (Need snack ideas? Check this out: 19 Primal Snacks)
So, eat more often.
The second way to raise your metabolism without diet or exercise is to EAT BY THE CLOCK.
Your body will burn more calories on a consistent schedule than it will when you eat randomly – even if you’re eating smaller meals.
To really get the benefit, eat about ever 2-3 hours, and stick with it.
A study showed that when you eat frequently and then BREAK that pattern, you will start gaining fat. Look at the clock, don’t listen to your stomach.
So, eat smaller meals and eat them on schedule.
The third way to raise your metabolism without diet and exercise is to EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST.
A study comparing 3 groups’ breakfast plans (no breakfast, occasional breakfast, and breakfast daily) showed that eating breakfast daily will lower your body fat levels.
Not eating breakfast makes you FOUR TIMES as likely to become obese!
Another study compared two groups: one ate a 300 Calorie breakfast daily and the other ate a 600 Calorie breakfast daily. (Daily calories remained the same – the only difference was that the 2nd group had more of their calories at breakfast than spread out over the day)
After 8 months the 300 Calorie breakfast club had lost an average of 10 pounds. Not bad for no exercise and not really being on a diet!
But here’s the kicker: the 600 Calorie breakfast club lost an average of 39 POUNDS!!! That’s almost four times as much weight gone, just from eating a good breakfast.
What’s the plan so far?
Eat more often
Eat by the clock
Eat a big breakfast
There’s nothing too hard here, is there? Hell, I’m telling you to EAT, not to cut out calories or grab a kettlebell.
(If I was giving a seminar, this is the point I’d start talking about cutting out carbs, plus increasing proteins and good fats. But since I promised to not talk about diet or exercise, I won’t even mention it. But if you really want to have a killer metabolism you’ll want to cut out sugars, grains, alcohols, etc. Last thing I’ll say about it )
All right, the next thing to do is DRINK MORE WATERALL DAY.
A study showed that increasing the amount of water you drink will lower body fat, regardless of diet and exercise.
Lots of people bring in their nutrition journals and they had 2 cups of coffee for breakfast, another in the morning, a diet coke at lunch, nothing in the afternoon, and a glass of wine with dinner. No wonder they feel like poopy.
Studies have shown metabolic increases after drinking 500ml of water. The amount of increase varies with the study, but it is between 20 and 30%.
Drinking a half liter of water will raise your metabolism at least 20%? Do it! And do it every hour.
Still isn’t too bad, is it? Eat more often, eat by the clock, eat a big breakfast, and drink lots of water and you’ll raise your metabolism? Sweet deal!
Next thing to do is DRINK WATER BEFORE EVERY MEAL.
One study compared a group drinking 16 ounces water before each meal with a group that didn’t drink water before each meal.
The water group lost 44% more weight over the course of the 12 week study!
I thought that maybe the water made people feel fuller so they didn’t eat as much, but the study made both groups eat the same calories.
Why does drinking water before each meal make you lose more weight?
I don’t know.
We can spend a lot of time trying to figure out WHY or we can go ahead and lose some fat.
If you’re keeping score at home, here’s our non-diet, non-exercise metabolism-raising plan so far:
Eat more often
Eat according to the clock
Eat a bigger breakfast
Drink lots of water
Drink water before every meal
(In a speech right here is where I’d talk about pre- and post-workout nutrition, then the problems with aerobics. But you’re off the hook for today!)
Now, your next step is to go ahead and TAKE FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS.
Researchers compared 2 groups who ate EXACTLY the same thing, with the exception of 6 grams of fish oil daily. It was so exact that they took 6 grams of unsaturated fat out of the fish oil group’s food so that the calories were dead-on even in both groups.
After 3 weeks the fish oil group had much great fat oxidation (burning) and had lost 2 pounds of fat.
That’s 2 pounds of fat WITHOUT dieting or exercising!!
Another study showed that adding fish oil to your diet will reduce your body fat INDEPENDENT of exercise.
How much to take? I usually recommend starting with 1 gram per 15 pounds of bodyweight, and not going below 10 grams per day.
If you haven’t been taking any fish oil lately, start ramping it up by taking one or two with each larger meal.
Fish burps? No problem. Two simple fixes: Either freeze the capsules or else get higher quality supplements.
Now, check the box score: Eat more often, eat on a schedule, eat a bigger breakfast, drink more water, drink water before each meal, take a bunch of fish oil.
Nothing so far is too hard, is it?
The last thing we are adding to our metabolism-booster list is EAT ALMONDS.
A study compared 2 groups (sound familiar yet?): group one ate 84 grams of almonds a day and the other got to choose a carb source. Everything else in their diets was the same.
After 24 weeks, the almond group lost 62% MORE weight, lost 50% MORE off their waists, and lost 56% MORE fat.
Hmm, lighter, smaller, and leaner, just from eating almonds instead of carbs? Cool.
Here is your action plan to raise your metabolism:
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, one of the most highlighted books on my shelves.
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