HOW FITNESS MODELS REALLY GET

RIPPED

Use their exact system to burn all your fat in 12 weeks or

less

JOE LOCKE

First Sight Training

 Contents

Copyright
Legal Notices
Preface
Introduction

1. The New Science Of Fat Loss: Learn What Most Guys Don’t Yet Know

2. Structure Your Progress: Success On Your Terms

3. The Fat Burning Formula

4. Master Your Metabolism: Take Delivery Of Your Fat Burning Furnace

5. Hormones: Your Personal Power Zone Awaits

6. Weight Training Programs: Learn The Truth And Select Your Split

7. The Cardio Code - Melt Fat 24/7

8. The Bulking Phase For Maximal Gains: Explosive Growth On Demand

9. Breaking Through: How To Bust Those Plateaus

10. Dialling It In — Your Best Body Ever

Afterword
Also by Joe Locke
I SBN : 978-0-9932651-5-0
Copyright © 2016 by Joe Locke
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author,
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
 Legal Notices

I ’M NOT a doctor or trained health professional so the information

contained in this product is in no way meant to be taken as medical advice.
This is an informational product and not a recommendation or prescription.
The information provided in this book is for educational purposes only.
The reader is invited to learn what physique competitors do to lose their fat
and increase muscle mass. Any recommendations contained in this work are
for a hypothetical subject in perfect health that does not, of course, exist. In
no way is it posited that you, the reader, can safely enact the same
recommendations.
If the reader does wish to use the information provided for themself, it
should be noted that the comprehensive system given in this book could
only be attempted by healthy adults. Before adopting or performing
anything stated in this product, you must consult your physician or GP to
ensure the information provided is appropriate for your individual
circumstances.
This product is for informational purposes only and the author does not
accept any responsibilities for any liabilities or damages, real or perceived,
resulting from the use of this information. This includes the effect of the
reader disseminating or teaching this information to others without the
author’s explicit consent, which is not provided.
By engaging in any of these programs or using any drugs or supplements
named within you agree that you do so at your own risk, and assume all risk
of injury to yourself. You agree to release and discharge the author from
any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of
the author’s negligence.
The reader understands they are using the information contained herein at
their own risk and in no way will the author, publisher, or affiliates be held
responsible for any damages whatsoever. Because of the speed with which
conditions change, the author and publisher reserve the right to update the
information herein whenever they deem appropriate.
 Preface

A RE you tired of seeing that elite group of guys getting bigger and leaner
each and every summer, by seemingly doing the exact same things as you?
It’s time to reveal precisely what they are doing and what they are keeping
to themselves.
Do you know how to naturally ramp up testosterone and growth hormone at
will? You will learn how to master your hormones, calm your mind and get
a great night’s sleep every time.
Are you sidestepping the 5 pitfalls that keep guys looking the same, no
matter what they do in the gym? If you’ve been working hard and want
faster progress, this is for you!
Do you know the causes of bloating and water retention? And do you know
the 3 bulletproof tactics that cover models use to eliminate such problems?
Are you up to date with the latest studies on fat loss and muscle building?
This book cites the latest scientific research that is advancing the fitness
industry ever more rapidly.
Do you know how the fat burning pathways of the body are activated? Do
you know that the third way fat is burned holds the key to getting lean on
autopilot?
Do you know there is a steroid that is legal, safe — it has a recommended
daily allowance! — cheaply sold everywhere, that promotes fat burning,
muscle repair and even resurrects hair follicles and strengthens the hair you
have? You’ve probably heard of this substance that acts as a steroid once in
the body, but I’ll bet you’re not using it correctly!
Do you know how champions hack their brains to create a permanent shift
in their thinking? Put your self-discipline on autopilot and never worry
about motivation or self-sabotage again.
Do you know that the most effective fat burner is also the cheapest? That
new research is only just uncovering the strength of this substance? If you
haven’t been told about it — and I’ll bet you haven’t — then this will be a
major key in unlocking rapid gains.
It’s time to discover all of this and much more…
 Introduction

I WANT to thank and congratulate you for purchasing this book. You now
have the professional’s system for predictably dropping body fat and
building muscle quickly.
This book is for every man who wants to lose fat and build muscle in the
same way that Hollywood actors, professional models and physique
competitors do regularly . Their results are predictable because the system
they follow is scientific.
When was the last time you saw an actor try to get ripped for an upcoming
role and fail?
Okay, so does this mean you need to be in those professions to get the same
results? No. What you need is the exact same roadmap that has been given
to them, the fat loss system (there’s only one).
You need their diet hacks and training secrets. Then, you need to apply this
knowledge. Along the way you will find some surprising benefits to your
health, self-esteem, willpower and confidence.
It’s all broken down in detail — a step-by-step program that will hold no
surprises for the small minority of men with enviable physiques. But for the
guy who’s just starting to move in that direction? Or is almost there but
needs the scientific knowledge to put him over the top?
This will be life changing.
Our society today is more focussed on appearance than ever before. Actors
like Bruce Lee, Stallone, Brad Pitt, and Hugh Jackman have steadily raised
the bar over the years for what is considered to be a jaw-dropping physique.
Putting even those guys to shame are an army of fitness models who have
figured out the key to aesthetic perfection. I know what you might be
thinking — the ‘key’ is a 3-letter acronym…
Well, performance enhancing drugs play a part in many success stories. No
doubt about it. But the truth is that when drugs are used, it’s as an add-on to
the program revealed within this book. An optional extra for guys who want
rapidly added mass, and extremely (and unhealthy) levels of vascularity.
Show most people — especially women — photos of men with differing
levels of body fat percentages, and you’ll see 9 to 12 percent is always
going to be the most appealing.
What you or I consider to be photo-ready ripped (think Men’s Health cover
model) is attainable without so much as a whiff of illegal drugs.
Even fashion models have to be able to burn fat on demand. Models may
not be taking off their shirt quite as much, but leanness vastly improves a
man’s face. When you have a low body fat percentage, your face becomes
chiseled, with defined cheekbones and strong jaw line. Obviously, clothes
look better on you too.
But this is not a book padded out with time-consuming meals, and photos of
exercises for developing every muscle in your body. If those books really
worked? By now, everybody would be ripped. The truth is that no particular
weight training program, or any specific list of foods, can get you lean and
shredded.
What cover models know that most people don’t, is this:
As long as they follow the scientific model for burning fat, they can plug
any exercises and foods in and get the same result. This means that the
foods you eat and the type of training you do largely becomes a matter of
personal preference. Cool, huh?
So before we uncover their system, let’s start learning their terminology and
understand how they look at things.
Fitness models alternate between two timed phases: bulking (putting on
muscle), and cutting (burning their fat). Generally, bulking will involve
adding a small amount of body fat along with a quantity of muscle. Cutting,
on the other hand, sees them lose a small amount of muscle along with the
fat.
This is not about getting overweight every cycle, then having to burn it all
off again. It is a phased approach to getting bigger and leaner, recognizing
that doing this optimally requires slightly different regimes.
This book is about the stuff that’s not covered everywhere. The system that
models use to get cover ready. The system that actors use to become
superheroes and gods onscreen.
It’s the same protocol in every case. It’s what you are about to learn in
detail. It’s closely guarded, in large part, because the very best personal
trainers make a good living from applying this to their clients.
Actors like to discuss how they prepared for a physical role, but you won’t
find them revealing their system in enough detail for you to properly use it
yourself. They are, after all, masters of the misdirect.
But now you’ve got this book, you’re no longer depending on an actor
sharing his secrets. Everything they do is revealed here. I’m not selling
magazines, workout products, or supplements. I want to help you look, feel
and perform your very best.
At several points, I link to scientific studies. Only high quality research
makes it onto these sites, and I’d encourage you to check them monthly to
see what researchers and scientists are newly discovering in our field.
So let’s get started!
Also Popular by Joe Locke
 1

The New Science Of Fat Loss: Learn What Most Guys

Don’t Yet Know

B EFORE WE BREAK down the scientific process of fat loss, it’s useful
to look at why so many people regain body fat after managing to lose some
pounds.
When it comes to dieting , the word’s first syllable sums up most people’s
feelings about the process. Their typical experience is one of hunger,
deprivation, headaches, lethargy and cravings. We all know, though, diets
do work in the beginning. By drastically cutting calories, you will lose
weight quickly. The problem is that this weight isn’t purely fat loss.
By fixating on the scales, a dieter feels they’ve found the answer: keep on
eating fewer calories. Results, however, start to slow and ultimately come to
a standstill. Determined, the dieter tries to get things moving again by
further reducing their caloric intake. The cycle repeats itself until the low
level of calories becomes unsustainable.
At this point, the dieter quits and goes on tilt, binging until their system is
back to normal. Except now, body fat is at a higher percentage than when
the dieter began, due to a loss of muscle tissue.
If the dieter is resolute, they will find a variation on the diet they just tried
and repeat the process. With this behavior, it’s actually possible to diet
yourself fat.
Let’s look at what happened — the dieter’s initial weight loss was not
solely from fat. It was from muscle glycogen (the stored form of carbs) and
water. This is weight ready to be regained once calories are restored. When
the body realized that those calories were not going to be forthcoming, it
downgraded the dieter’s metabolism in order to prevent further energy store
loss. In response, the dieter reduced calories further, so the body continued
to fight to retain fat stores. Concurrently, it tries to give up muscle tissue for
fuel as that is more expensive metabolically.
After hitting this wall, the dieter went off the diet, but instead of ‘reverse
dieting’ to slowly increase metabolism in line with the increased caloric
intake, he began to eat more than he was before. This, combined with a
reduced metabolism, ensured fat stores increased. End result? Reduction in
muscle, increase in fat.
Hardly a fair reward for such determination, eh? But as with everything,
effort has to be canalized by the correct system.

Input >> Process >> Output

No matter the quality of Input, the Process has to be scientifically correct in

order to get the desired Output.
Getting back to basics, let’s consider what fat actually is: energy stored
within adipose tissue. The majority of fat can be found under our skin
(subcutaneous), with some stored in the body cavity (visceral). There is also
a residual amount in our muscles (intramuscular), mainly in slow-twitch
muscle fibres. Understanding fat as stored energy leads us to the importance
of having a negative energy balance in order to lose it.
Your body’s energy balance is the dynamic relationship between the
calories that are taken in through food and drink, and the calories that the
body uses continuously for daily energy requirements. Specifically, we’re
talking about energy lost from the body via heat, cellular activity and
exertion. The nature of this relationship determines whether body weight is
reduced, maintained, or increased.
Fat loss requires the body to be in a negative energy balance for at least
some period during the 24 hour day. For our purposes, negative energy
balance is more easily termed ‘caloric deficit’. This refers to the body
expending more calories than it is taking in. You’ll also hear trainers talk
about maintenance calories, and surplus calories.
When someone is in ‘maintenance’, it means that the number of calories
coming into their body matches the number of calories being expended.
‘Caloric surplus’ means that more calories are being consumed than
expended. Logically, this leads to weight gain, and is in fact the goal during
the bulking phase. Being in a surplus also forms part of the cutting protocol
at periodic intervals.
When we as trainers talk about ‘energy out’, we’re mainly referring to ATP
(Adenosine Triphosphate), the end product of energy metabolism. The body
has two different metabolic pathways that create ATP and understanding
both of them will really help your training.
Anaerobic metabolism occurs in the absence of oxygen, and produces short
bursts of energy for intense exercise e.g. weight training reps, sprinting.
Aerobic metabolism occurs in the presence of oxygen, and powers low-
intensity exercise e.g. walking.
Muscles store carbohydrates as glycogen, which is basically consists of
glucose molecules. When a muscle needs energy it breaks glycogen down
into its constituent glucose molecules and burns them. When we talk about
‘fat burning’ we are talking about the process of lipolysis followed by
oxidation. In simple terms, fat is extracted from the fat cell and transported
to the muscle where it is oxidized (burnt).
Incidentally, adipose tissue is not merely an inert storage unit. It is an
endocrine organ . This means that it can secrete hormones into the
bloodstream. Of most concern to us is its ability to produce estrogen,
helping to increase fat storage. However, as fat stores are reduced, this
becomes less of a concern. If left to run unchecked though, fat can actively
help to create more fat via estrogen and also by reducing sensitivity to
insulin.
What many don’t know is that their obstacle is really the body’s survival
mechanism. As calories are reduced, the body tries to adjust by lowering
the metabolism so that it can live off the new level. If it couldn’t do this, a
person expending 2000 calories a day would slowly starve to death if he
was restricted to 1900 calories intake. The reason this never happens is the
body’s ability to reduce metabolism in line with reduced caloric intake.
The fat loss system is designed to keep a calorific deficit throughout, while
keeping the metabolism as high as possible.
The other factor to be aware of is that a caloric deficit is a moving target.
There are 3500 calories in one pound of body fat. All things being equal, a
caloric deficit of 3500 per week will result in a loss of one pound of body
fat every week. We’ve covered the metabolism slowdown factor, but don’t
forget that as you lose weight, you need fewer calories .
In other words, your initial caloric deficit will disappear once your weight
drops, and so a fat loss plateau is reached where the caloric deficit has gone
and the metabolism is now reduced too.
Knowing how to break through this is a crucial part of getting ripped — it
can’t be done otherwise.
To start, you’ll get the best results, and the most out of your training, by
having an understanding of how fat cells work to store energy in the first
place. This 3-stage simplification is all we need to know:
1/ Food is ingested. It is broken down and glucose enters the bloodstream
from the intestines. Glucose is the prime energy source for cells in the body.
2/ If glucose isn’t needed immediately by cells, it is not, of course, excreted
from the body. Instead, the body uses the hormone insulin to store this
glucose for future use. In order to be stored, glucose must first be converted
into glycogen.
3/ This glycogen is not distributed equally for storage. It is preferentially
stored within muscles… then the liver… then entered into fat cells only
after muscle and liver glycogen levels become adequate. Now, in order for
this glycogen to be stored in the fat cell, the enzyme, LPL — lipoprotein
lipase — is used, having been called up due to the presence of insulin.
For us to burn fat, we have to reverse this process by depleting the glycogen
stores in muscles and in the liver, and force the body to tap into the stored
glycogen from within the fat cells. Thereby bringing it back out from the fat
cells so it can be burned for energy:
1/ We know that fat is stored within adipose tissue in the form of
triglycerides. These are glycerol molecules carrying three fatty acids. In
response to a need for energy, the enzyme, HSL (hormone sensitive lipase)
is used for lipolysis.
2/ Fat cells have receptors that enable them to respond to hormones. A
receptor is a part of the cell’s surface to which drugs or hormones can bind.
A fat cell has a receptor for insulin, glucagon, and also for beta 1-, beta 2-,
and beta 3-adrenergic receptors, along with the inhibitory alpha 2-
adrenoceptors.
Beta receptors are stimulated when breaking down the fat cell, while alpha
receptors work to block this break down from occurring.
Fat burning occurs when catecholamines are released into the blood and
reach fat cell beta receptors. They bind and instruct the fat cell to give up its
contents. Not all fat cells have the same distribution of receptors. This is
why some areas of the body lean up quickly, while others stubbornly hold
onto fat stores. The lower abs in men are usually the last to lose their
covering of fat; they have a greater distribution of alpha 2-adrenoceptors.
Triglyceride cannot leave the cell through the fat cell membrane, so it must
first be broken down. Lipolysis — lipid splitting — is the breaking down of
triglycerides into glycerol and fatty acids by the enzyme HSL (hormone
sensitive lipase).
3/ Now the fatty acids are out of the fat cell, but because fat is not water
soluble, and the blood is a water-based environment, fatty acids are bound
to the protein albumin so that they can be transported via the bloodstream,
using the β-oxidation pathway.
4/ The biocarrier, carnitine, transports the fatty acids into the mitochondria
of the cells requiring energy. The fatty acids are then broken down to
produce ATP. The output of these oxidized acids is CO2 , which is removed
from the body via respiration.
Two critical takeaways from this:
1/ How to increase Hormone Sensitive Lipase. As the name suggests, it is
released under the influence of hormones viz. testosterone, epinephrine,
norepinephrine, glucagon, growth hormone, and cortisol.
2/ We now know that fat burning requires blood flow and access to the fat
cells in question. For this reason, it never hurts to do a quick set of crunches
before any fasted training, and also take supplements such as Yohimbine
HCL (more on this and all types of drugs in Chapter 4). We need good
circulation as we don’t want liberated fatty acids to be reabsorbed into the
local fat cells.

The First Step

We’ve mentioned cutting (burning fat) and bulking (building muscle). Both
protocols improve your physique but require two differing approaches. So
the question presents itself:
Which should you do first? Get cut? Or get bigger?
Ultimately, this is your decision, and the bulking protocol is covered in
Chapter 8. If you’re a teenager, then I don’t recommend going into a caloric
deficit while you are still growing — start with an extended lean bulk of 12
months. But for most guys, I believe you should begin with a cut.
Professionals look amazing because of one common denominator:
Leanness.
It’s possible to look impressive with only a small amount of muscle mass
after a cut. It’s far more difficult to look great with fat over muscle after a
successful bulk. Since we’re interested in aesthetics i.e. the fitness model
look, I believe it’s best to focus on burning off your fat first.
You may have read that muscle burns fat, because muscle tissue is more
metabolically active than fat tissue; ergo the more muscle you have when
you get around to cutting the better. This is true, but it seems that the extent
of this effect has been overrated. In any case, this whole argument could
well be a false dichotomy since it’s certainly possible for a newbie, and
even a seasoned trainer, to gain muscle mass while on a cut. Just not as
much as when in a caloric surplus during the bulking phase.
As you progress with your cut, measuring your fat loss will be
straightforward. We’re going to view progress aesthetically , so the use of
callipers to gauge body fat is not really important. Nevertheless, the fat
burning program requires you to keep track of your weight via daily weigh-
ins before breakfast. If you have a double-digit body fat percentage, a waist
measurement should be taken at the same time. Record both of these in a
journal, but don’t obsess over daily fluctuations. Your weight will fluctuate
according to the food in your stomach, water level, and glycogen level.
What you’re looking for is an overall trend in reducing your weight and
shrinking your waist. Calculating and comparing weekly averages works
best. Don’t forget that a leveling out of your weight does not necessarily
mean you’ve stopped losing fat. You might still be burning it off, but some
of that weight has been replaced with muscle, or you may be suffering from
temporary water retention/bloating. We’ll cover water management in depth
later on, as it’s an overlooked key to permanent success.
Ultimately, the mirror and the camera will provide the best commentary on
how close you are to completing your cut.
 2

Structure Your Progress: Success On Your Terms

I F YOU’RE new to professional fat loss and muscle building, you might
be surprised at the flexibility available when it comes to food and exercise
choices. That said, a consistent, disciplined approach is needed to make the
moving parts work for you. The length of the fat burning phase — your cut
— should depend on your current body fat percentage, and also your target.
12 weeks is the standard duration, with 8 weeks recommended for those at
around 10% body fat.
So what are these moving parts? Three components make a successful cut:
1/ A calorie-monitored diet — Your diet will be set correctly to ensure you
are in a state of negative energy balance, or caloric deficit, for most of the
time. the regime includes various fat-loss agents which are required to
offset the inevitable drop in metabolic rate (explored fully in chapter 4).
2/ A weight training program — Muscle development is required for
aesthetics. It also helps in maintaining your caloric deficit, largely through
the process of muscle repair and EPOC, and the calories expended during
each workout. On a cut, weight training will be done first thing in the
morning, fasted. Pre-breakfast training targets fat stores more readily as
glycogen stores have depleted overnight and have not yet been replenished.
It also makes cardio more effective, and the food taken in throughout the
day will be less likely to reach fat cells since your depleted store of muscle
glycogen will need to be refilled first.
3/ A cardio protocol — This is where you will do most of your active
calorie burning. Glycogen-depleted LISS (low intensity steady state) will
target your fat stores directly. HIIT (high intensity interval training) will
ramp up metabolism and EPOC.
Once you’ve followed the cut to completion (i.e. 12 weeks later), you must
take a break from training and dieting in order to reset your body’s hormone
levels; giving you chance to recover fully. At that point, you can consider
your options:
Monitor your calories to keep your energy balance at maintenance.
You can then enjoy keeping your physique at its new level, and
remain ready to do another cut or go on a lean bulk in the future.
Run another cut to reduce your body fat percentage even further.
Do a lean bulk — the bulking phase is covered fully in Chapter 8.
If you don’t have a weight training program that you’re currently happy
with, Chapter 6 will get that handled — it lays out the various splits used by
pro-level models. At this point, it’s important to realize that there is no
single training program that will maximize muscle gains for everyone.
There are programs designed to produce optimal results, and we’ll get into
detail on them, but you’re free to select what works for you and to switch
things up whenever you want.
When you look at the two phases you’ll be going through — cutting and
bulking — you might wonder whether you should train differently in the
gym while on a cut. The short answer is no. Assuming your current
program is optimized for muscle gains, you need to maintain the stimulus
that got you this far.
On a cut, you will try to maintain or even increase muscle mass throughout,
so maintaining the intensity of your lifts is key. You might want to
compromise on volume (the total number of reps in a workout multiplied by
the weight shifted) but you won’t be lifting lighter. Keeping your strength
means keeping your muscle.
What you will be doing differently is timing your training sessions — on
your cut, fasted training with weights is preferable. While on a lean bulk
you should at least get a good pre-workout supplement in.

Sticking with it
For you to stick to a calorie controlled diet, you are going to have to keep
track of everything you ingest throughout the day. That means using food
labels and literally weighing food so you that you know how many calories
it is. A good digital scale is essential. Since this adds a time overhead to
every meal or snack, you’ll find that having a meal plan will really help you
with consistency:
Once you know how many calories you need, and what type, you can set up
a timetable of similar meals, to be eaten at the same time each day. This will
make a huge difference in being able to hit your macros (see the next
chapter) consistently. If possible, preparing macro-friendly meals in
tupperware the day before will help, too.
Most find it’s usually better to leave the majority of your calorie allowance
to be eaten in the evening. You will find it easier to restrict yourself during
the day, looking forward to a meal later, rather than eating well throughout
the day and then finding yourself hungry in the evening. In fact, if you plan
ahead, and have a structured eating plan, hunger shouldn’t be anything to
worry about.
A typical meal plan will contain 3 - 6 meals for the day, with snacks in
between. Remember, the only dietary limitation you have is on your
calories and macros. This means you have the freedom to structure your
meal timing and frequency to suit your lifestyle. For instance, if you work
shifts, or if you want to do intermittent fasting etc. you can set things up the
exact way you want them — provided you don’t exceed or fall short of your
daily caloric target.

What to Expect
Aim to lose between 0.5 pounds to 2.5 pounds per week from the start of
your cut. Towards the end, fat loss will be much slower, but you will still
aim for a pound a week. What’s crucial to know is how your body will react
in the first few days. You’ll probably find that even using the mirror as a
guide will be difficult for much of the time. Glycogen loss occurs much
more quickly than fat loss. This means you will actually look flabbier as
your muscles flatten out with less glycogen.
Personally, I think that not all of the water that the glycogen was holding in
the muscle is flushed out. So not only will you look flabbier, but some of
the water that was formally in the muscles will temporarily stay beneath the
skin. Ignore this to make progress.
One day a week is designated as refeed day (Chapter 4), and the day or two
after that will give you the true picture of the prior week’s progress. Your
muscles will refill with glycogen and draw water in, pulling fat tighter and
reducing bloating. Then, as the glycogen is depleted on your diet again, the
same appearance issue will recur temporarily. So goes the cycle.
Muscle glycogen depletion is temporary, but once fat cells have given up
their contents, they won’t be refilled in a day or two. So after a refeed, your
muscles will be back to 80-90% fullness, and you’ll be able to see if
progress is satisfactory i.e. less fat, increased definition, lower waist
measurement.
If you’re happy with your progress, you continue the process unchanged for
the following week. i.e. 6 days of dieting and 1 refeed day. However, it you
don’t feel that body fat is coming off, you need to increase your caloric
deficit by either reducing your food intake further or preferably, increasing
LISS cardio.
Keep in mind, too, that weight loss often brings some strength loss, as there
is literally less of you to shift a given weight. That notwithstanding, strive
to keep lifting at the same level for as long as you can.
Now let’s work out your calories and macro ratio.
 3

The Fat Burning Formula

S O HERE’S where the rubber meets the road: you need to get a ballpark
figure for how many calories you should be eating each day. Then you need
to divide that figure up, by allocating a number of those calories to the three
macronutrients — protein, carbs, and fat. Once you start your cut, you will
need to track every calorie that crosses your lips. Myfitnesspal is the most
popular app for this, but many people track everything on paper; test to see
what works best for you.
We’ll start by approximating how many calories you are currently burning
in a day. We call this TDEE or ‘maintenance’; this is the number of calories
you would burn if you basically did nothing and slept the whole 24 hours
through.
STEP ONE: Establish your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)
To begin with, it will be impossible to calculate this figure definitively.
Everybody has a fluctuating metabolism, differing physical attributes,
activity level etc. But we only need a decent estimate to get started:
Two ways exist to get your initial TDEE reading. The first is to take your
body weight in pounds and multiply it by 15 (or by 14 for females).
Alternatively, type ‘TDEE calculator’ into any search engine and you’ll
find lots of quick online calculators to get your reading. Once you have a
ballpark figure, begin your tracking and ensure you eat just this many
calories for 7 - 14 days. No more, no less. If your weight stays the same or
dips slightly then the TDEE is accurate and you can move to the next step.
If, however, you gain weight, then the TDEE figure you’ve got is too high.
Reduce it by ten percent and repeat the test. Online calculators tend to
overestimate TDEE unfortunately.
Once you’ve got a reasonably accurate figure for TDEE, you can move on
to the second step.
STEP TWO: Create your caloric deficit (or surplus)
When bulking, it’s simple — you add 300-400 calories to your TDEE and
adhere to that throughout the process. While cutting, however, there are two
ways to play it. You can either set a 400-500 deficit, and then later in the cut
start doing cardio; or you can simply eat your TDEE and create a deficit via
daily weight training and / or cardio.
Either way, a common mistake to avoid is creating too severe a deficit too
soon. After going to an extreme, metabolism crashes and hormone levels
become unfavorable. Also, you can keep cardio modest to begin with, as
this gives you room to manoeuvre in later weeks.
When fitness models are cutting, a common rule of thumb is to create a
caloric deficit of 400 - 500 below maintenance. So if their TDEE is 2000
calories, they will not eat more than 1500 - 1600 calories in a 24 hour
period.
The other method is to eat calories equal to your TDEE, and create a daily
deficit through cardio and weights. The downside to this is the sheer
amount of cardio needed to accomplish this. Notwithstanding the fact that
many machines in the gym overestimate the calories expended on their
readouts — the time taken to burn 400 - 500 calories everyday can be
unworkable.
For this reason, most competitors will split the difference; relying mostly on
diet for their deficit (80%), with the remaining deficit being met through
cardio performed daily, or every other day. This is personal choice, so you
have to decide which approach you prefer and which suits your lifestyle.
At this point, record your TDEE. This number is the starting point, the
bedrock of your fat loss program. Now that you know your daily calorie
limit, it’s time to calculate the optimal composition of those calories in
order to promote fat burning and muscle retention/growth.
Specifically, you have to break your food down into macronutrients and
figure out how much of each will make up your daily calorie target.
STEP THREE: Determine your macronutrient requirement
Nutritionists classify macronutrients into three types: protein,
carbohydrates, and fat. Some foods have all three, some only have one. And
each of these types has a calorific value:
1g of protein = 4 calories
1g of carbohydrates = 4 calories
1g of fat = 9 calories
Your daily calorie limit can be hit using any ratio of these macronutrients.
For example, 2000 calories can be made up of 222g fat, 125g protein, 125g
carbohydrates.
We start by determining your protein requirement. Your protein needs must
be met to prevent muscle loss. Protein also has a higher thermic effect than
fat or carbs. The thermic effect of a food is the energy needed to digest and
eliminate it. Digesting carbohydrates burns 5 to 15% of the calories
consumed, while protein burns 20 to 30%. Additionally, protein will help
you with satiety. Protein is the most filling of the macronutrients, and will
curb your appetite for a longer period.
No one percentage will work best for everyone, but you should start by
allotting yourself 0.8 - 1g of protein per pound of your current bodyweight.
0.8 if you are cutting; 1 if you are lean bulking.
Record this figure.
Now calculate your carb and fat ratio. This is also open to interpretation.
Some people perform well on lower carbs while others find it impossible.
Let’s put your fat requirement at 0.4g per pound of your current body
weight.
So now that you know how many calories you will consume in protein and
fat, the remainder are left to be allotted as carbohydrates.
Let’s see an example:
A 200lb male with a TDEE of 2500 gives himself a calorie target of 2000.
He starts by determining how much protein in grams he should eat. He
weighs 200 pounds, so 200 x 0.8 means he needs 160g of protein (640
calories).
Next, he determines his fat intake. 200 x 0.4 = 80g fat (720 calories).
Finally, he needs to know how many calories out of his 2000 are left to use
on carbohydrates:
640 + 720 = 1360 calories of protein and fat.
Target calories of 2000 - 1360 = 640
So he is left with 640 calories of carbohydrates. We need this in grams, so
640 divided by 4 gives 160g of carbohydrates.
So our example knows that his macro target for each day is 160g protein,
80g fat, 160g carbs.
Perform this calculation for yourself and derive the same breakdown. You
will now have the amount in grams you need per day of each macronutrient.
IMPORTANT — You’ve seen that your body weight in pounds is used in
calculating both your calorie allowance and the macronutrient ratio of your
calorie allowance. As you lose weight, these calculations have to be redone,
and your diet adjusted to match the new figures.
It’s best to make these adjustments based on a weekly or fortnightly
average, to smooth out fluctuations in water, bloating etc. So on a Sunday,
total your weight readings for the previous week or fortnight, and divide by
either 7 or 14. This result will be the ‘body weight in pounds’ figure used to
generate your new daily calorie allowance and constituent macros.
This is why someone might start a cut on say 2500 calories and get great
results, but by the time they reach their desired body fat percentage 12
weeks later, they are down to eating well below 2000 calories a day. At that
point, a diet break is essential to reset the metabolism and allow the body to
establish a new homeostasis or ‘normal’.

Flexible Dieting
With the exception of trans-fats, no food is restricted. We don’t worry about
GI either. Today’s models and actors use what is called flexible dieting.
This is the concept of ‘If it fits your macros’ (IIFYM). You can basically eat
whatever foods you like, provided they meet the macros and calorie figures
by the end of the day. You will usually see guys on a cut in the evening
figuring out what they need to eat in order to hit their macros without
exceeding their daily caloric intake.
This means ice cream, chocolate etc. are not off limits, within reason. The
problem with this, though, is not taking into account the principles of
healthy eating. Dr. Mark Haub was for a time nicknamed the ‘Twinkie Diet
Doctor’, after losing 20 pounds on a caloric deficit consisting mainly of
snack foods. But this is obviously not good for so many health markers.
Your hormonal profile and metabolism require a healthy intake of vitamins
and minerals. If you create a 500 calorie deficit by eating junk, and your
hormones and metabolism tank, then you won’t be in a 500 calorie deficit
for long. Following on from that, we can note that water management is
going to play a role in building your best body. If your diet is poor, it
encourages water retention; the body tries to store water to handle poisons
that are coming in regularly.
From a muscle-building standpoint, aim to get some protein into your
system every 3-4 hours. This may appear daunting at first, but it becomes
easy after the first week. A couple of weeks in, you will have developed a
repertoire of meals that you enjoy, and you will automatically know how
many calories each is worth.
STEP FOUR: Refine your plan
For reasons we’ll cover in subsequent chapters, one day of your week is
recommended to be set as a ‘refeed’ day, or cheat day. They aren’t quite the
same thing. A refeed day is essentially a doubling of your carb intake, with
the other macros remaining the same. A cheat day is where you just eat and
drink normally without tracking anything.
There are hormonal and psychological reasons for building this mini diet
break in. If you prefer, you can schedule either a refeed or cheat day once a
fortnight, or even once every five days. It all depends on what regime suits
your body best, so we can’t be too prescriptive. Progress is all.
You may have heard about carb cycling; it makes sense, and doesn’t hurt
results. Essentially, carb cycling entails going over your daily calorie
allowance on days when you are lifting heavy. Then on another day, you
would eat fewer calories by the same amount, balancing things out. Carb
cycling can come in useful towards the end of the cut, where you may find
yourself struggling for energy in the gym.
Perhaps for your first cut, this is too stringent, but experienced competitors
may taper their carb intake as the cut progresses. For the first 2-4 weeks,
you would keep your intake the same. Then reduce it by around 10 percent
a week. For the final 4 weeks, you would employ carb cycling on this
reducing amount.
All that said, calorie controlled flexible dieting will only burn all your fat
when you are able to keep your metabolism running normally (or even
higher than normal) — the next chapter provides the missing ingredients
you need to make that happen.
 4

Master Your Metabolism: Take Delivery Of Your Fat

Burning Furnace

W HEN IT COMES to burning body fat, there is one obstacle that you
can’t ignore or work around: your body’s survival mechanism. As soon as
you start running a caloric deficit, your metabolism starts to adjust
downwards to cancel it out. This is why you should schedule a refeed day
where you can reset your metabolism to some degree, and put yourself in an
anabolic state for at least 24 hours.
In addition, something fundamental has to be in place throughout your cut
— supplementation that works. Ingredients that will keep your metabolism
running high — high enough to allow your caloric deficit to remain in place
throughout your cut. After all, the answer can’t be to simply keep cutting
calories or spending longer and longer on the treadmill — this is what
dedicated natural dieters do, and it rarely delivers their goal physique.
When looking at physique competitors and action movie heroes, we can see
that the metabolism standstill is often averted by using a drug like
clenbuterol or winstrol late in the cut, after earlier relying on natural
thermogenics / beta agonists. Not to mention testosterone from steroids,
which ramps up fat burning too. But what I’m going to put forward as a
100% natural approach will ramp up your metabolism without you having
to resort to drugs that always have side effects, usually mild, but sometimes
very serious.
We learned in Chapter 1 that fat cells have two lipolysis pathways that we
need to use; namely beta 1 & 2 receptors, and beta 3 receptors. These areas
on the surface of the fat cell need to be activated or ‘agonized’ in order to
get the fatty acids out and into the bloodstream. Once in the blood, they can
be transported to muscles and burned.
The source of beta 1&2 activation is the pair of catecholamine hormones:
epinephrine and noradrenaline. This means that any substance producing
them will increase lipolysis for someone in a caloric deficit.
Fat is also burnt via a different pathway via brown fat . Research on brown
fat is still in its infancy, but we know that mammals actually possess two
types of fat; white and brown. BAT (brown adipose tissue), not to be
confused with visceral fat, is situated mostly in the neck and collarbone,
with smaller sites in the abdomen, chest and spine. In fact, it appears that
brown and white fat cells can be co-located. This matters to us because
brown fat causes the body to burn energy for heat. Unsurprisingly, cold
conditions stimulate it, but also norepinephrine is believed to have an
influence. Some studies suggest melatonin and thyroid hormone can also
cause brown fat to burn energy.
If we can burn fat via all three receptors and both pathways, then our
metabolism will be prevented from slowing down enough to stop our
progress.
According to some research, ephedrine , and its even more effective
alternative, clenbuterol , are mainly β 2 agonists, but also activate β3
lipolysis. Regardless, these substances are (with good reason) banned in the
US and the UK, so natural alternatives have to be found. Before we get into
details, we should note that all beta 1 & 2 adrenergic agonists increase heart
rate and blood pressure — so if you have high blood pressure you shouldn’t
use them. Or if you’re unsure, you should — as always when you’re
looking at stuff that actually works — get medical advice first.
These four are the most effective natural agonists:
Capaiscin — This is the foundation of a natural fat-loss stack. By itself, it
stimulates all three receptors without delivering as much risk as ephedrine
or clenbuterol. I get my capaiscin from cayenne pepper. To see why I’ve
made it my go-to for fat burning supplementation, I encourage you to read
the text of this study .
Also check out the conclusion in “Clinical evidence supports a role of
capsaicin as an anti-obesity agent.”:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24941669
These studies on BAT activation are also relevant:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27697214
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27174467
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26602570
For cayenne pepper, 500mg appears to be a safe dosage. I vary my intake
but get fat loss effects by using at least 2g, spread throughout the day. If this
is your chosen lipolysis agent, you will have to vary your intake until you
start getting results. And I would be conservative with this — there doesn’t
appear to be a RDA, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find cayenne is neuro-
toxic in large amounts, so definitely don’t go overboard.
A final plus for cayenne pepper is that it boosts testosterone (covered in the
next chapter).
Caffeine — Probably the most well known and study-supported fat loss
agent. Personally, I rely on copious quantities of black coffee rather than a
separate supplement, but a more disciplined approach would to supplement
with 5mg/kg bodyweight. Experiment to see what suits you best, but no
natural metabolic stack is complete without caffeine.
Green Tea Extract — Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the main
antioxidant in green tea, inhibits the breakdown of norephedrine. This
makes it ideal to take alongside cayenne pepper, as it will prolong the
effect. A daily dose of 500mg - 1g is effective. You can also get the benefits
through matcha green tea, which is easy to add to food, or a shake, as well
as its intended use as tea.
For the sake of convenience, you can buy fat burners with caffeine, green
tea extract, cayenne, and other substances like the active component in
black pepper — piperine, all combined, along with other agents that are
largely unproven. But I personally get better results from buying these
products individually off the shelf and combining them myself throughout
the day.
Yohimbine — Yohimbine HCL (Hydrocholic acid) is a drug that works to
stimulate the sympathetic nervous system; increasing heart rate and blood
pressure, and releasing epinephrine and noradrenaline into the blood.
As we know by now, fat cells have 2 receptor types, alpha and beta, which
the catecholamines epinephrine and noradrenaline can use to bind with the
fat cell. Since this binding leads to fat mobilization, any impediment to the
process needs to be removed. And this is where Yohimbine comes in. The
‘impediment’ is in the form of the alpha receptor. There is no lipolysis
effect when a catecholamine binds to an alpha receptor instead of a beta
receptor.
Yohimbine has an affinity for — a tendency to combine with — alpha
receptors. By doing so, it takes these receptors out of the running and
prevents catecholamines from binding with them. This leaves the
catecholamines free to bind with the beta receptors and continue the fat
burning process. Areas of stubborn fat have more alpha receptor sites than
other parts of the body. For us, this is usually the lower abs and back. For
women, the gluteofemoral area is harder to mobilize, while they can see abs
at much high body fat percentages than men.
So because yohimbine blocks these alpha receptors, we can say that, to
some extent, it blocks the fat-loss blockers. It also gives a boost in
peripheral circulation that is useful for fat loss, since areas like the lower
abdomen tend to have relatively poor blood flow.
It’s worth noting that insulin blunts the action of Yohimbine. Thus the best
time to take it is before a fasted workout i.e. first thing in the morning.
While yohimbine has its adherents, it is by no means ubiquitous on the
fitness circuit. We do all know that there are studies to support Yohimbine.
Here , for example, where we can note:
“Percentage of body fat significantly decreased in the yohimbine group
after the supplementation protocol (9.3 +/- 1.1 vs. 7.1 +/- 2.2%; p < 0.05).
Furthermore, fat mass was significantly lower in the yohimbine versus
placebo trial at postsupplementation assessment (7.1 +/- 2.2 vs. 9.2 +/-
1.9%; p < 0.05).”
Also worth reading:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17214405 ;
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17214405 ;
http://www.corpuscompendium.com/2014/01/yohimbine-hcl-fat-loss-
aid.html
The standard dosage required for efficacy is 0.2mg/kg. But keep in mind
that this supplement is not easy to procure in various countries due to bans
stemming from its potential side effects. Namely, high blood pressure and
heart rate. For this reason, you should certainly consult your doctor before
trying yohimbine HCL.
Water — Overlooked and underrated, water (particularly cold water) is the
cheapest fat burner available. The process of water-induced thermogenesis
dovetails with the general need for water in metabolic processes — your
water intake is an area you must focus on. Recommendations for the
average male range between 3-4 liters per day. Be sure not to dip below
that; many physique competitors recommend levels well above this; I use 5
liters / 170 ounces as my benchmark. But I should point out that drinking
too much water can actually be fatal, so definitely don’t try to drink large
amounts in a short space of time.
Based on a kidney filtration limit of 700ml per hour, 600ml is the maximum
I personally drink in an hour. At the other extreme, if you forget about an
hourly intake and become thirsty, then know that dehydration has already
begun. In fact, just one percent dehydration can reduce your strength by up
to ten percent. Mental effects are similar. Muscles are 75% water, after all,
and we should also note that we want to keep the muscle cell volumized
during and after workouts so that it’s easier for amino acids to pass through
the cell membrane.

Metabolic Support
To support your thermogenic stack, and keep your metabolism running at a
good clip, you should consider using:
Whey Protein powder — This product is possibly the most misunderstood
element of the fitness industry. We’ve gone from it being a substitute for
steroids, to nothing more than a convenience food. The prevailing wisdom
classes protein powder as a refined food that has no magical advantage over
the protein found in your regular diet. And this is true — its main advantage
is convenience. Remember, you have a defined daily macro target for
protein intake. A protein supplement can help you hit that target with ease.
You could also argue that increased protein intake does not mean increased
protein synthesis (i.e. muscle growth). As long as you’re hitting your
macros, the source of protein doesn’t matter. But for me, this is underselling
good quality whey protein. While whey protein won’t produce steroidal
gains, it will greatly facilitate muscle gain/retention and lipolysis, in a way
that protein derived from natural foods won’t.
BCAAS — These amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) are of value
mainly when cutting. Leucine especially gives a small anti-catabolic effect.
By getting amino acids into your bloodstream before a fasted weight
training session, you can prevent any muscle cannibalization.
Creatine — A proven energy booster (via increased ATP) and cell
volumizer (via increased water uptake), creatine tends to increase
sarcoplasmic volume. Opinions differ today on whether you still need a
loading phase, and there are different opinions on whether or not creatine
needs to be cycled. My approach is to cycle onto it four weeks before peak
week with a 5-day loading phase of 15-20g daily, and 5g thereafter.
By the way, don’t listen to reports that creatine has no side effects. Hair loss
and liver stress are possible results. If you’re prone to male pattern
baldness, creatine will likely reap your hairline over time via the increase in
DHT. This can be militated against with green tea and Vitamin D usage, but
I would monitor the situation and find your comfort zone. Cheap creatine
monohydrate is readily available, but it’s advisable to get good quality
creatine HCL.
Vitamin D — Generally classified as a steroid hormone, it enhances belly
fat loss and boosts leptin levels to help curb appetite. Muscles have vitamin
D receptors so it may support athletic performance to boot. Aim for 4-5ooo
international units daily. Administer via a spray, sublingually, for best
results.
B-Vitamin Complex — A good energy booster that supports red blood
cells and the process of lipolysis.
Black Pepper — I haven’t found this to be as potent as cayenne, but
research suggests the active component, piperine, is beneficial for fat
burning.
Laxatives — Useful for keeping the system working, but due to the data on
eating disorders, I have to point out that laxatives are NOT a tool for weight
loss. However, in their recommended dosage, they are useful to relieve
occasional constipation; which can be a byproduct of fat loss, and your
following of fat loss protocols.
Glutamine — Glutamine is the most plentiful amino acid within the body.
Serving as a low-insulin producing source of glucose, it is useful in aiding
recovery and reducing sugar cravings. One of many positive studies can be
read here .
Apple Cider Vinegar — Touted as a nutrient partitioner, there are studies
that suggest a few spoons of vinegar before your main meal will help carbs
get shuttled into muscle cells more readily than into fat cells.
Cinnamon — Helps reduce sugar cravings and increases insulin sensitivity.
Easy to add to drinks and foods. Not essential by any means, but in
common use on the fitness circuit.
Ginseng — Adaptogenic herbs are great for reducing appetite, reducing
cortisol levels, and providing energy while on a cut. There is anecdotal
evidence that ginseng reduces body fat levels — and I feel a difference in
that regard, but this is a support player when it comes to thermogenesis.

Conclusion
If you combine cayenne, caffeine, green tea and yohimbe, be sure not to
extend their use beyond your cut. Once your cut is over, cycle off them. It’s
worth noting that we don’t really know all the effects of a daily
consumption of these substances — health benefits are touted, sure, but
perhaps there are as yet unknown side effects. Bottom line, whether it’s
healthy or not, coming off everything lipolysis related is advisable for
maintaining health the year round. The body adapts to all thermogenic
substances so they will gradually lose some efficacy. By using them only
when cutting, you will get maximum bang for your buck.
 5

Hormones: Your Personal Power Zone Awaits

H ORMONES MATTER . Bigly. By naturally boosting your hormonal

profile you will put your progress on, well, steroids. Hormones are
chemicals that your body produces to communicate between internal
systems. All hormones hit peaks and troughs throughout the day. These
chemical messengers are produced by various glands and secreted into the
bloodstream. Even so, this doesn’t mean that every cell responds to every
hormone. As we’ve seen when looking at lipolysis, in order to respond to a
hormone, a cell needs the appropriate receptor.
The hormone levels we need to manipulate are testosterone, estrogen,
growth hormone, insulin, cortisol, and the two lipolytic hormones of
epinephrine and norepinephrine that we’ve already covered. So let’s start
with the foundation of muscle building:
Testosterone
As a natural lifter, maximizing testosterone is of prime importance.
Increases in testosterone will facilitate both your lipolysis and lean muscle
gains. Higher testosterone levels will result in more of your caloric deficit
being met by the burning of fat. When produced within the body
(endogenously), testosterone originates mainly in the testicles, after
hormone precursors have made their way from the hypothalamus to the
pituitary gland, and on down through the spine. Luteinizing hormone
stimulates the leydig cells in the testicles to build testosterone from
cholesterol. From there, it hits the bloodstream and finds one of four
different fates:
Free testosterone remains in the bloodstream; receptors around the body
bind most of the rest; while the enzyme, aromatase converts some
testosterone to estrogen. Clearly, this third possibility needs to be avoided
or at least minimized. And the fourth possibility is the conversion of some
testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) via an enzyme termed 5-a
reductase. DHT is thought to gradually kill off hair follicles by starving
them of nutrients. For this reason, you might want to inhibit DHT
conversion via products like green tea extract/matcha. But here’s the thing:
DHT is much more potent than testosterone, so from a muscle-building
vantage point, we want more of it, not less.
On the topic of green tea, we’ve seen that its benefits are clear — but only
when it comes to fat loss. Unfortunately, there are conflicting studies and
opinions as to whether green tea extract actually helps or hinders
testosterone levels. The general consensus is that green tea reduces DHT,
but does not alter T-levels or estrogen levels appreciably. My experience
tallies with this, yet in the face of conflicting research, it is for the
individual to decide whether to use green tea only on a cut, or during the
bulking phase also. Unless hair loss is an existing condition, I recommend a
compromise: use green tea extract only during your cut. Vitamin D also
strengthens the hair.
Unfortunately for a dieter, a reduction in carbs tends to depress testosterone
levels. This is why it’s important to leverage every food and supplement to
keep T-levels as high as possible. Fortunately, there is another angle of
approach — by lowering your estrogen levels you will also boost
testosterone. So by increasing and combining the following foods in your
diet, you will experience an upswing in testosterone that can be maintained
throughout your bulk, and even while cutting:
Oats; avocados; organic virgin olive oil and coconut oil; pomegranite juice;
whey and other complete protein sources (eggs, cheese, milk, quinoa etc.);
cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower; grass-fed
butter; brazil nuts; almonds; red grapes.
If you’re investing in supplements, these two form a great foundation for
muscle building, and will produce noticeable effects if you happen to be
deficient in either of them:
Zinc — RDA: 11 mg. Again, ZMA products deliver double this level, but
you might want to seek medical advice before regularly exceeding the RDA
with zinc and magnesium. It’s worth noting that zinc in higher levels also
inhibits aromatase.
Magnesium — A mineral required by enzymes and a legitimate
testosterone booster. RDA: 300mg
You’ll encounter many different products sold as testosterone boosters. The
ones containing more exotic ingredients (tribulus etc.) are unlikely to have
any meaningful effect — don’t waste your money on them.
Hormone Replacement Therapy — a valid way to boost testosterone
levels for the over forties, but the same caveats apply as with any
exogenous steroid dosing. Namely, the need to have an aromatase inhibitor
at hand (e.g. aromasin or equivalent) and your PCT (post cycle therapy)
prepared. HRT done under medical supervision will include your doctor’s
advice, tailored to you. But you should be aware that any steroid dosing will
shut down the natural production of that steroid within the body. So while
HRT can really help your results, getting similar effects naturally — using
the right foods and supplements in concert — should always be your first
resort.
Estrogen
Estrogen competes with the same androgen receptors as testosterone.
Therefore, lowering your estrogen level will boost your testosterone.
Estrogenic foods that should be avoided include: beer; soya; pastry;
processed meat; trans fats (partially hydrongenated oils); excessive dairy.
Instead, begin flushing estrogen out of your body by regularly consuming
cruciferous vegetables and beetroot juice. The indole-3-carbinol (I3C)
within cruciferous veggies (cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts etc.) has been
proven to reduce estrogen levels in various studies . Betaine in beetroot
juice aids chelation (flushing of harmful substances), adding to the estrogen
molecule and making it easier to be excreted.
It should be noted that we aren’t trying to eradicate estrogen; we just need it
limited, and I would say at least halved in most Western males.
Growth Hormone
Stored and secreted by the pituitary gland, GH induces the liver to produce
insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). GH induces cellular growth. GH is an
antagonist to insulin: elevation will depress insulin levels.
This is a hormone with a somewhat inflated reputation, no doubt helped by
the name. GH is not an effective mass builder in comparison with
testosterone; nor does it quite possess the fat burning properties of a good
thermogenic. What makes it valuable, though, is the correlation between
GH and testosterone levels — it appears that one supports the other. What
also makes GH valuable is its facilitation of recovery and healing.
Once you reach your late thirties and beyond you will — or already have —
suffer(ed) from a stretching of your recovery time between workouts. What
would previously take a couple of days to bounce back from, becomes the
work of a week. Age-related GH decline has a large role in this, so
postponing or reversing this decline is of prime importance.
Our macro-controlled diet with sufficient protein keeps insulin in check,
thus leaving more room for GH to work. GH is also produced in response to
weight training, especially the heavier lifts during compound movements.
Both HIIT and walking also promote HGH release.
GH and testosterone are primarily produced during the first half of sleep.
This means the period before retiring for the night is ripe for priming the
body’s nocturnal output. You’ll want to get some cholesterol intake from
coconut oil, mixed with casein protein (for slow release) in supplement
form. As always, just how much depends upon your macros and current
training phase.
In addition, I encourage a period of mindfulness or transcendental
meditation before sleep. This will lower cortisol and, once you achieve deep
relaxation, it will release some GH, too. This kind of meditation also
produces melatonin, a powerful sleep aid — again helping your GH and
testosterone producing potential.
Sleep
In fact, good sleep (quality and quantity) is the bedrock of a fat-burning
hormonal profile. Muscle repair and protein synthesis take place while we
rest. Even our motivation levels are renewed — it’s worth remembering that
sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture to reduce the willpower of
prisoners of war. Now, with flexible dieting we’re not relying solely on
willpower, but it makes sense to avoid anything that weakens resolve.
Moreover, a chronic reduction in sleep can spike grehlin levels, causing a
surge in appetite.
Grehlin
The ‘hunger hormone’ is released in response to dieting, as well as
emotional and physical stress. It is an appetite stimulator, and so we want to
keep levels in check. Protein and growth hormone act to suppress grehlin.
Carbohydrates tend to increase grehlin, but by following your macros and
training regularly, this hormone loses its bite.
Leptin
The ‘satiety hormone’ signals the brain that enough food has been eaten.
We want leptin levels to remain stable, but as we lose body fat, leptin
production drops. This has a depressing effect on thyroid hormone,
testosterone, and metabolism overall. The two ways we combat this are
though refeed days and meal frequency. By eating 6 times a day, leptin is
maintained at a reasonable level.
Cortisol
Cortisol is a catabolic hormone secreted by the adrenal glands. Production
rises in response to stress — physical or mental. It also gains ground when
the body experiences prolonged levels of low glucose. Cortisol has also
been linked to belly fat accretion, but is not as detrimental as commonly
held. It can enhance fat storage, yes, but it can also encourage fat
mobilisation. What makes the difference is the type of hormones present
alongside cortisol. Growth hormone and testosterone will lead to cortisol
encouraging lipolysis. This typically happens in the final stages of a good
sleep, where some lipolysis will often take place.
However, cortisol in the presence of insulin will encourage fat storage. In
addition, cortisol inhibits protein synthesis. We know that insulin inhibits
GH release, so the common practice of eating carbs and going to sleep
stressed is to be avoided.
Once again, meditation provides a way influence your hormones positively.
By reducing breathing and heart rate and entering a state of relaxedness,
you will lower cortisol — and this doesn’t just apply to the period before
going to sleep; you should aim to build in periods of deep relaxation
throughout the day. Whether it be stretching, breathing exercises or some
form of meditation, you can keep cortisol at bay at will.
T3 and T4 : T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thryroxine) are hormones
produced by the thyroid that directly affect metabolism. The thyroid is the
small gland located behind and below the Adam’s apple. Ideally, the
thyroid’s output will be around 80% T4 and 20% T3. T3 speeds up the
entire metabolism and therefore energy expenditure, as well as keeping
leptin levels high.
T3 is also converted into T4 via the liver and kidneys. We want this
conversion to take place as it increases, or at least supports, a fully
functioning metabolism. Estrogen can actually impair this conversion; as
can a deficinency in macronutrients such as iodine, zine, and selenium. You
should support your thyroid by eating iodine-rich seaweed in addition to the
vegetables already mentioned.
Insulin — This anabolic hormone regulates the storage of glycogen. Insulin
will be your ally or enemy, depending on your timing. It is secreted by the
beta cells in the pancreas, with the intent of keeping blood glucose levels at
80-100mg/dl. There are only 3 places that insulin can store glycogen —
muscle, liver, and fat cells.
When insulin acts on muscle cells, it stimulates protein synthesis by
directing ribosomes to make more protein. Subsequently, BCAAs get
transported into the muscle cells. In essence, insulin builds muscle. Yet it
also builds fat. Any carbs you consume will prompt an insulin response.
Protein will also cause a small insulin release. Since insulin inhibits lipase,
you can pretty much assume that whenever insulin is present, fat burning is
shut down.
We can get the best from our insulin response by consuming carbs
strategically. That is to say, more carbs and protein after a workout, and no
carbs a couple of hours before sleep. In this way, you kickstart recovery
when it is most needed and ensure that insulin does not interfere with fat
burning overnight. Also, through the use of the macro-controlled diet,
weight training, cardio, and supplements detailed, your insulin sensitivity
will greatly increase, leading to a much reduced chance of any kind of fat
gain.
Now you know how to structure your diet and supplementation, it’s time to
structure your weight training program. Whether you’re on a cut or bulking
up, the following chapter discusses how to schedule your training for
optimal muscle building and fat loss.
 6

Weight Training Programs: Learn The Truth And Select

Your Split

L IKE MANY TOPICS within the fitness industry, the question of which
training program to follow is an ongoing source of debate. In this chapter,
I’ll share the most popular proven programs for gaining muscle. Programs
are talked about in terms of ‘split’ e.g. a 3-day split, an upper/lower split
etc. This refers to the muscle groups worked, and the number of parts a
program is split into. For example, a full-body 3-day split has three different
days of training, during which every muscle will be worked.
You can use the same split whether you are in a cutting or a bulking phase.
One difference, though, will be pre-training nutrition:
On a cut, take some BCAAs and train fasted for at least some of your
workouts. On a bulk, use a standard pre-workout of protein and creatine.
The other differences between cutting and bulking will be your caloric
intake, and the extent to which you employ cardio, if at all. While cutting,
we don’t reduce the weight on the bar unless we have to, and we try to
maintain our strength as far as possible. This is challenging, though, due to
the caloric deficit, and the weight loss — there simply becomes less of you
to shift a specific weight. Cardio is not generally used on a bulk, beyond
maintaining general fitness and health.
The bulking phase dietary protocol is explained in Chapter 8. So let’s get
back to determining your workout split.
First off, we should understand what hypertrophy is and how best to induce
it. Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer. As Wikipedia puts it: ‘The
best approach to specifically achieve muscle growth remains controversial’.
The en vogue wisdom is that to get bigger, you need to get stronger.
Therefore, if you train for an increase in strength over a low-to-medium rep
range, you will automatically increase the size of your muscles. That’s
corroborated in studies like this one:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24714538
However, practically speaking, this concept of progressive overload , whilst
critical, is not the whole story when it comes to muscle growth. Why?
Because over time, you can make real strength gains without seeing a
concomitant increase in muscle mass. Not least because there is a neuronal
or ‘skill’ component to developing strength in a specific movement.
Further, we can all see that a powerlifter’s muscles are not as large or
sculpted as those of a professional bodybuilder. We need to do more than
just train for strength, and inducing just one type of muscle growth. This
fact is proven by fitness professionals the world over — sarcoplasmic
hypertrophy (see below) needs to be trained for also.
This study compares a training-for-hypertrophy protocol against a training-
for-strength regimen: both programs produced similar size gains. But the
study does not consider subjects who incorporate both these styles of
training into their split.
This is how physique competitors train.
Let’s examine further the process of hypertrophy. There are, for our
purposes, two different types of muscle fibre (type I and type II) that grow,
as an adaptive response, when subjected to repeated stimulus. These fibres
are referred to as slow twitch (I) and fast twitch (II). And the optimal
growth stimulus for each cannot be the same. Either the muscle is adapting
because it is trying to cope with a heavy weight more easily the next time,
or it is trying to resist repeated fatigue.
Slow-twitch muscles are not easy to fatigue — if they were, light-load
movements throughout the day would tire you. We don’t get muscle fatigue
from typing a few sentences or turning the pages of a book, or lifting a mug
to our lips. Fast-twitch muscles, on the other hand, are quicker to tire, but
capable of producing much more force. They are also capable of more
growth.
At one time, it was thought that bodybuilders had been genetically gifted
with a higher concentration of fast-twitch muscle fibres. While this is true
for power- and strength-based athletes, it has been shown via muscle
biopsies that bodybuilders have roughly the same distribution of both slow
and fast twitch fibres as the average member of the population. What this
means is that we should train our slow-twitch muscles for growth alongside
their fast-twitch counterparts.
We do this by using periodization — performing workouts with weights and
rep ranges geared to fast-twitch growth, while also matching these workouts
with higher rep ranges and lower loads.
Periodization can be applied in many different ways. For example, one of
the easiest and most effective ways is to have two workouts hitting the same
muscle group in a week — one using a higher load and lower reps; with the
second workout using lower loads and higher reps. This principle is built
into the Push-Pull-Legs split we detail later in the chapter.
Push-Pull-Legs is by no means the only split in town, though. You can
implement dropsets (sarcoplasmic targeting) on a five day split, while
training each muscle group heavily (myofibril targeting) just once per week.
Or you can use an upper/lower split with four workouts per week,
consisting of one heavy workout, and a lighter workout for the upper body.
And two separate workouts with the same applied to the lower body. We’ll
look more closely at these splits soon, but first we should clarify the
difference between sarcoplasmic and myofibril growth.
Training in a higher rep range is important for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy,
where the muscle gets bigger without actually thickening fibres or
producing new cells. This increase in size occurs via an increase in
glycogen storage (and also the number of organelles and cytoplasm within
the muscle cell). When you repeatedly exhaust a muscle’s glycogen through
higher-rep workouts, the body will gradually respond by increasing the
amount of glycogen the muscle can hold, in order to prevent this happening
again.
This not only results in size gains, but also positively impacts your ability to
burn fat. The more glycogen your muscles can hold before fat cells are
filled up, the better. Although, depleting glycogen before a fat-burning
cardio session will take a little longer after your muscles have grown in this
way.
But how do we also induce myofibril hypertrophy, geared towards fast-
twitch muscle fibres? We use the principle of adaptation again, by training
with heavy weights in low-to-medium rep ranges. We know that forcing a
muscle to contract under a heavy load is a stimulus for growth. Fatigue due
to repetition under tension is also a stimulus for hypertrophy.
So to make optimal progress on your split you use the rep range from your
program and choose a weight where you will fail at the lower end of the
range . For example, if an exercise is given as 6-8 reps, you want to be
failing on the sixth rep. Soon you will be able to perform 8 reps with that
weight; at that point, you increase the weight slightly and start again with 6
reps.
Getting stronger is a byproduct of training to failure. It is due to muscle
adaption over time, so that you won’t fail so early in the rep range. Once
have moved through the rep range, you increase the weight and restart the
process. Now you will be failing again at the lower end of the rep range…
and so it goes on. Keep in mind, though, if you train to failure on the first
set, you will probably fail earlier on the second and third sets. But the
overall principle remains.
However, it has to be noted that the issue of whether to actually train to
failure is also contentious. These are my recommendations:
Don’t train to failure with compound exercises. You can still gain strength
while keeping one or two reps in the tank. Failure is defined as the weight
returning to where it started despite your best efforts. This is not practical,
or necessary, with movements like squats, bench press etc. Complete as
many reps as you can without sacrificing form. If you have the energy to
complete another rep, then do so. If it feels like you can’t complete the next
rep, stop at that point.
In a bulking phase, where you are trying to build muscle rather than reduce
body fat, we can see that when it comes to single-joint movements, you can
— and probably should — train to failure on every set. This doesn’t suit
everybody though — you can keep a rep in the tank for the first set, then go
to failure on the final set. Or you can get away with never training to
failure. You have to experiment to see which works best for you, and also to
switch it up regardless in order to keep the muscle guessing.
Mike Mentzer popularized a type of training whereby one super-intense set
to absolute failure is considered optimal for growth. On the flipside, famous
trainers like Bill Pearl have espoused volume and recovery over ever
needing to train to failure.
Even today, we lack a definitive answer due to the differences in individual
physiology; one way might work best for one person, but not another.
Another factor at play is your recovery rate. Some people recover more
quickly than others due to genetics, youth, or gear. You have to experiment
to see what works best for you.
Moreover, when you need to burn fat i.e. on a cut, you might find it easier
to avoid going to failure on any exercise. Obtain the answer by tracking
your lifts and recovery. If you aren’t losing any strength in the gym on your
cut, and your recovery is fine, then there is little reason to avoid taking at
least the final set of accessory movements (e.g. biceps curl) to failure.
Fortunately, the protocols for fat burning are more definitive than the
myriad ways to build muscle.
So now we have to determine which workout split is the best for you.
Everyone has their own body type, and responds in their own way to
growth stimulus. Every single pro does something slightly different.
Whether it be exercise selection, rep range, training principles etc. This fact
doesn’t sell magazines, but it almost doesn’t matter which program you use.
Some programs will be more optimal for you, others less so, but as long as
you follow all the principles of inducing muscular hypertrophy, your
program will bring you gains.
Another determining factor is your time available to spend in the gym, or
training at home. Some splits accommodate fewer gym visits per week,
while others require a greater frequency.
You also have to keep your recovery level in mind. You won’t know how
well you recover during a particular split until you test it. If PPL run twice a
week is too much, then you can run it once a week. Recovery trumps
volume or frequency of training.
Muscle growth occurs mainly during the 72 hour window after training, but
it may take longer for the muscle to recover fully. If DOMS is still present
at your next workout then you cannot work that muscle in the way you need
to.
Similarly, if you find yourself suffering symptoms of fatigue, depression,
reduction in libido, you are very probably overtraining and placing too
much stress on the CNS (central nervous system).
If you already have a weight lifting program that works, and you’re
enjoying it, then it’s recommended you stick with that for your first cut. If
you’re not already following a program, the 3-day split of PPL (push, pull,
legs) is the easiest to implement, and is followed by many of the world’s
most ripped professionals. For this reason, I give the complete program
further below.
In fact, there are 4 types of split commonly in use that meet the goals of
practically every fitness model and bodybuilder. But ahead of the splits
themselves, let’s lay out the common principles that apply to each, and how
you can get the most from them.
Start journaling — your progress depends on keeping an accurate
record of workouts, weights, reps and sets. You can also add notes
on your recovery between workouts. If a muscle group isn’t
recovering fully in time for its next session, you will need to either
extend rest periods, or reduce your volume. None of this is possible
without accurate numbers.
Workouts should not run longer than 45 minutes. 60 minutes tops.
Always make time for a couple of warm-up sets for compound
movements. These sets will also serve as a gauge for where your
failure point will lie, if you’re still finding your way with that
exercise. With practice, you’ll always be able to leave one or two
reps in the tank at your chosen weight.
The length of rest periods between sets is in your hands. With
compound exercises, rest until you are ready for your next set.
Usually this will be a few minutes. For single-joint exercises, you
can superset them if you wish.
Normally, you will perform the compound exercise(s) for the
workout first. The order of subsequent movements will often be set
in your split, but you can give yourself some leeway according to
preference or difficulty. You can even put a single-joint exercise
first, on occasion, in order to maximize progress there. Just know
that your performance in any ensuing compound movements might
be slightly lower as a result of fatiguing individual muscles.
Don’t forget that you can tense the muscle you are using while
performing an exercise e.g. bicep curls. Strive for the mind-muscle
connection: keep form and actually perform the movement with the
muscle you are targeting. If you are training to failure, you can add
in some cheat reps if you want.
When lifting heavy, kick off the concentric movement with a small
jolt and aim for maximal contraction at the end of the lift. When
reversing the weight back down, do so in a controlled fashion. One
second up, two seconds down. You can also lengthen these timings
randomly in order to keep the muscle guessing e.g. two seconds
up, four seconds down.
In workouts where you are training heavy in low rep ranges, you
can still go for some sarcoplasmic growth by incorporating drop
sets: After completing your last set, reduce the weight to a third,
then work right through to failure.
Volume can be adjusted according to your rate of recovery.
Suppose your next workout rolls around and a muscle group hasn’t
recovered in time for it to be used fully. In this case, the next time
you train it, you will reduce the number of sets done by one. On
the other hand, if you were to find that the muscle is not even sore
the following day, then you can either increase the weight used
next time, or bump the sets up by one.
 In splits that have separate workouts for strength (myofibril growth
primarily) and hypertrophy (the label given to workouts targeting
sarcoplasmic growth also), expect some read across. Put simply, as
your strength increases in one workout, you will find in the other
workout that the higher rep ranges become less challenging.
In the cutting phase, we are mostly concerned with burning fat off
the body while maintaining muscle. Ideally, this means some form
of weight training 5-6 days a week. This is training that increases
the metabolism, supports a fat-burning hormonal profile, and burns
at least 150 calories in a session, although that is difficult to
quantify.
Be sure to know exactly what you’ll be doing in the gym before
you leave the house.
You can randomly switch up your grip on the bar to elicit an
adaptive response from your muscles. By narrowing or widening
your regular grip you will shift the emphasis of the exercise. In
single-joint exercises, you can try holding the dumbbells at one end
rather than in the middle.
Heavy lifts bring stabilising muscles into play also, so expect some
accessory fatigue.

WEIGHT TRAINING SPLITS

So now, from full-body splits, through to upper/lower 3-5 day splits, to
push-pull-legs, let’s go ahead and lay out the three most popular and
effective programs in step-by-step detail.

The Full-body Split

As the name suggests, this split entails hitting the entire body — meaning
every muscle group — every time you workout.
As mentioned, you can run this 4 days a week. But it can also be simplified
to 3 workouts per week, on weekdays. We’re looking at 1-2 exercises per
muscle group, with 3-4 sets. Here’s an example, with SUN being Day 1:

Day 1: Rest
 Day 2: Upper A / Lower B
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Upper B / Lower A
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Upper A / Lower B
Day 7: Rest
Day 8: Upper B / Lower A

A = Hypertrophy: lower weight, higher reps

B = Strength: higher weight, lower reps
Lower = Abs, glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves
This means you are always training half the body with heavier weights and
reps of 4-6, and the other half of the body with lower weights and reps 8-12.
Strength exercises should start with a compound lift e.g. bench press, squat
etc. While hypertrophy workouts can focus on single joint, accessory
movements.
You can run the same pattern with 3 workouts a week, simply alternating
between strength and hypertrophy for each half of the body.

Upper-Lower Split
This split has the same content as the previous split, but half the volume.
Each half of the body gets a strength workout and a hypertrophy workout
once per week. For example, with Day 1 as Monday and A as strength and
B as hypertrophy:

Day 1: Upper Body A

Day 2: Lower Body A
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Upper Body B
Day 5: Lower Body B
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
 3-, 4-, or 5-Day Split
The most common split, wherein you will train one muscle group per
session: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Legs, Arms. This can be ordered to your
liking. The split can be scaled down to 3 or 4 days, according to your needs.
It is a split that offers the most flexibility in terms of volume and specificity.
Older lifters who may not want, or need, to train every muscle group twice
a week can get lifelong benefit. While at the same time, a competing
professional can use this split to zero in on any aesthetic weaknesses.
Each workout will target both strength and hypertrophy. You can do this per
exercise by beginning with one heavier set with 4-6 reps, then 2-3 further
sets in a rep range of 8-12. Or you can take the middle path with a moderate
weight for 6-8 reps over 3 sets, followed by a dropset (reduce the weight by
half, or two thirds, then perform the same movement) to failure.
Because the individual workouts are less taxing, this split accommodates
cardio in a cutting phase. Abs can be trained separate to each workout, or
afterwards. For example, when using this split, I prefer to perform LISS
straight after the workout. I like to workout on a Sunday, and perform LISS
immediately after training arms. During the week I perform the other
workouts fasted, and do my cardio in the evening.
When training less than 5 days, muscle groups can be combined (or
omitted) as you see fit. For instance, a 4-day split can shape up like this:

Day 1: Biceps, Triceps

Day 2: Rest or Cardio
Day 3: Chest, forearms
Day 4: Rest or Cardio
Day 5: Deltoids, Lats, traps, rhomboids, lower back
Day 6: Rest or Cardio
Day 7: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves
Day 8: Rest

Push-Pull-Legs
The professional program that I recommend for physique competitors
combines separate workouts for strength and hypertrophy, with exercise
variations to keep routines fresh and optimally effective (a principle backed
up in studies like this ). You will hit each body part twice a week, with 3-5
exercises per muscle group.
The principle at play is the grouping of exercises according to their
movement — pushing or pulling. So ‘pushing muscles’ like deltoids and
triceps will work together in the compound movement that is the foundation
of that push day. Usually this will be a bench press.
The biceps are used when training the lats and back on pull day. Legs get
their own day and are either trained with abs or ab work can be done
independently from the split.
Here, we employ periodization, which in this context refers to the
performing of a rep range for a certain period. Then we switch to a lower or
higher rep range for the subsequent period. Periodization can also refer to
the type of exercises selected for a set period. This P/P/L program applies
both principles in order to produce growth through progressive overload,
shocking, and cellular fatigue.
N.B. If any of the exercises given below are new to you, the best resource
to see video demonstrations is here:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/
This split lasts 12 weeks. After completion, you can move on to the peak
week protocol in Chapter 11, or spend a few weeks on a 5-day split, where
you can work on sculpting and symmetry.
Each week has 2 cycles of P/P/L: so 6 workouts per week, 3 for strength, 3
for hypertrophy.
Sat and Sun are rest days.
A = Strength workout B = Hypertrophy workout
MON: Push A
TUE: Pull A
WED: Legs B
THU: Rest
FRI: Push B
SAT: Pull B
SUN: Legs A
MON: Rest
TUE: Push A
And so on.

PUSH A — Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Bench Press: 3 x 5 - 6
Seated dumbbell shoulder press: 3 x 5 - 6
Incline dumbbell press: 3 x 5 - 6
Tricep pushdown: 3 x 7 - 8
Overhead triceps extension: 3 x 7 - 8
Rear delt flyes: 3 x 7 - 9
Cable chest flyes: 3 x 7 - 9
Bench dips: 3 x 8

PUSH B — Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Overhead press: 2 x 8 - 10
Parallel bar dips: 2 x 8 - 10
Single arm pulldowns, arm turned inwards: 3 x 10 - 12
Lateral side raise (cable): 3 x 12 - 15
Facepulls: 3 x 12 - 15

PULL A — Back, Biceps

Weighted pull ups: 2 x 5 - 6
Straight bar curls: 3 x 5 - 6
Alternating dumbbell curls: 3 x 8 - 10
Hammer curls: 2 x 8 - 10
Dumbbell shrugs: 2 x 6 - 8
 Bentover one arm rows: 3 x 6 - 8
T-bar row: 3 x 5 - 6

PULL B — Back, Biceps

EZ curls: 2 x 12 - 15
Preacher curls: 2 x 10 - 12
Incline dumbbell curls: 2 x 12 - 15
Wide lat pulldowns: 3 x 10 - 12
Crucifix curls: 3 x 10 - 12

LEGS A
Squat: 3 x 5 - 6
Stiff leg deadlifts: 2 x 5 - 6
Walking lunges: 2 x 8 - 10
Hamstring curl: 3 x 5 - 6
Cable crunches: 3 x 12
Plank up: 1 x failure
Woodchoppers: 1 x failure

LEGS B
Leg press: 3 x 12
Calve raises: 3 x 12
Glute bridges: 1 x failure
Weighted decline crunches: 2 x 10 - 12
Hanging knee raises: 3 x 12
Pulley intercostal crunch: 2 x 12 - 15
Standing oblique twists: 1 x failure

These numbers are a great way to get started, but can’t be set in stone.
There is a fine line between too little volume and a state of overtraining —
you need to find the happy medium for your own body and current stage of
progress. If you are easily recovered between corresponding workouts e.g.
PUSH A and PUSH B, then you can increase the number of sets in either
workout. Obversely, if you aren’t recovering between corresponding
workouts, then you can insert an extra rest day, or reduce the number of sets
in the relevant workout.
If you are cutting then you might want to get your cardio done first thing in
the morning, then train later in the day. Alternatively, you can do your
cardio right after you workout if you are performing LISS. More on this in
the next chapter.
 7

The Cardio Code - Melt Fat 24/7

W E’VE SEEN it many times. There is a common approach when people

decide to lose body fat — combining a fad diet with intense cardio. For the
fitness model, however, cardio is merely a precision tool to be employed
increasingly in the latter half of the cutting phase. Indeed, in the bulking
phase, moderate cardio can be used for health reasons, but it plays no part
in the muscle building program.
Let me suggest the same strategy: keep your cardio low impact while
bulking; yet when on a cut, employ it in accord with this chapter’s methods
and principles.
Up front, I can tell you that the method of cardio you use, and the duration
of the cardio session, are matters of personal preference. What we are
concerned with is the amount of calories expended, and where those
calories are coming from. In other words, our only concern is that we want
our cardio to burn fat not muscle. So, to get our energy almost exclusively
from fat cells, we want to exercise in a ‘fasted’ state. To understand why,
let’s do a recap on digestion:
When you eat food, it is digested for nutrients and energy. Your pancreas
then releases insulin into the blood to escort this energy into your cells,
where it can be used or stored. Insulin impairs fat burning, so it makes
sense to perform your cardio when insulin is at its lowest level i.e. upon
waking, before breakfast. Plus, at the start of your day glycogen levels will
be low too, so your fat cells will bear the burden of any energy expenditure.
That said, there is an opposing view that the timing of your cardio makes no
difference. Simply because the same amount of calories will be burned,
whether in a fasted state or a fed state. I don’t subscribe to this. Personally,
I’ve gotten much better results from doing cardio when I’m in a low blood
sugar state — whether that is upon waking in the morning, or right after a
weight training session.
And there are studies explaining why. This research , for example, indicates
that abdominal blood flow is increased in a fasted state. This matters. We
know improving circulation is important for targeting stubborn areas of fat
— if the catecholamines in the blood get better access to those fat cells, we
will see an increase in lipolysis. Additionally, you have an elevated level of
GH when fasted, or after doing a workout — this too will facilitate
lipolysis.
However, it is accepted that even though we are glycogen-depleted, our
cardio will never be 100% fueled by fat. It will use some amino acids along
the way too, as they can be converted into fatty acids in low blood-sugar
conditions. This is problematic because in a fasted state, where would
amino acids be found? In our muscles.
For this reason, it’s advisable to take some BCAAs before fasted cardio.
Admittedly, this sacrificial protein will induce an insulin response, but too
minor of one to mar the fat burning effect of your workout. There are many
studies confirming that taking any of your thermogenics before exertion
will boost your energy and fat burning potential e.g. green tea extract .
So now let’s review the two classifications of cardio, and cover the pros and
cons of each.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

The term ‘HIIT’ is often taken as a synonym for sprinting, but for the sake
of variety you have many alternatives to switch things up: cycling; jogging
on the spot with your knees hitting your palms; mountain climbers;
burpees/half-burpees; stairwork; basically anything that gets you out of
breath quickly.
These days, much is made of EPOC; but this post-exercise ‘afterburn’ effect
is not all that significant. Our weight training sessions will provide the real
afterburn effect when calories are burned in the repairing and augmentation
of muscle cells. The fact is that HIIT sessions are catabolic, so you won’t
find them as commonplace in the regimes of those wanting to lean bulk.
Note too, the adaptive responses to HIIT and weight training can interfere
with each other, as studied here . We should also be aware that while
performing HIIT fasted will certainly target your fat stores, it can cause
muscle loss too.
Advocates for HIIT concede that it does use less fat for energy than LISS,
but since more work can be done in a shorter time, they point out that the
overall calorie burn is greater with HIIT. However, unless HIIT really suits
you, I’m going to recommend that you use it sparingly while trying to build
muscle. In fact, I prefer LISS while cutting too, for reasons given below.

LISS (Low Intensity Steady State)

In essence here, we are mainly talking about walking, but also slow cycling
or mild work on a stairmill. LISS is not the most time efficient way to burn
calories, but it is the least catabolic. Instead of placing more strain on your
central nervous system, you can rejuvenate yourself by walking — and burn
calories at the same time.
No matter your focus, for me, fasted LISS is the way to go. Within that, I
include the performing of LISS immediately after a weight training session.
At that point you are glycogen depleted, with low blood sugar — under
those conditions, steady walking on an incline is proven to burn fat. Aim for
30 minutes minimum, with 400-500 ‘machine calories’ burned.
Walking outside with an app or digital pedometer can be a great option if
you have somewhere suitable. And if you live close to a pool, fasted
swimming could be a option. Relaxed swimming right after a workout
would certainly target fat stores efficiently.
There is an ongoing debate in the fitness world as to which is the most
effective method. But the whole HIIT v LISS thing doesn’t have to be an
either-or — you can intersperse LISS with faster bursts of running or
cycling. Or have one HIIT session a week, with the rest being LISS. Some
professionals like to begin their fat loss program without doing any cardio,
relying instead on the calorific burn of weight training to reinforce their
deficit. The reasoning behind this approach is that cardio is not necessary
for fat burning, only a calorific deficit is. They see cardio as a tool to be
held in reserve and then applied later into the program to break a plateau.
Alternatively, taking a different approach, many trainers do daily cardio as a
matter of course. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer as to when
to apply cardio in your training program. Just remember, you will get more
out of your cardio by supplementing beforehand e.g. Cayenne, BCAAs,
Yohimbine HCL, Green Tea.
There really isn’t anything more to cutting than this. Create a caloric deficit
for 6 days a week, weight train and do cardio fasted, take the right
supplements. In Chapter 9, we’ll look at the ways to go through progress
stalls and plateaus, but now it’s time to learn the techniques of the lean
bulk.
 8

The Bulking Phase For Maximal Gains: Explosive

Growth On Demand

W HILE YOU WERE CUTTING , you became used to measuring and

tracking all aspects of your diet and training. Now, during this dedicated
bulking phase, the recording of your work in the gym becomes even more
essential.
The goal of a lean bulk is to increase muscle mass via the body’s adaptive
responses to the repeated lifting of a given weight. Implementing this type
of progression is impossible without knowing what you did the last time
you trained any muscle with any given exercise. Hence your training
journal becomes indispensable.
For each exercise performed, you must record the weight, reps, and volume.
Alongside, you can add a note of how the movement felt. Over time, you
will be able to see your progression and plot new short-term goals. This is
highly motivating, since meaningful achievements and waypoints can be
reached on your way toward the overall goal. Several apps exist for just this
purpose. Check out FitnessFast and similar options at iTunes.
The amount of muscle you should aim to gain depends on your experience
level, but a half pound of lean muscle a week is a good target. For you to
gain muscle mass consistently, you will need to put yourself in a caloric
surplus. When cutting we accept a small loss of muscle mass; and while
bulking, we accept that we will lose some definition. Inevitably some of
your weight gain will be fat (up to 50%), but by keeping your caloric
surplus modest you can minimize this.
For the first 2 weeks, you can use a 300-500 daily surplus, and simply use
the mirror to judge if you are growing adequately without adding too much
fat. If you are not gaining muscle, then increase your calories — some
trainers like to keep the same macro ratio as when they were cutting, others
like to use the surplus for either protein or carbs, or a combination of both.
Everyone has to tweak this until they find what works best for them. It
makes sense, though, to keep protein at least 1g per gram of bodyweight.
Ideally, your bulking period should be gradual, lasting 12 weeks. If you
prefer, you can run a shorter bulk and increase your caloric surplus but this
will mean more of your weight gain coming from fat.
Between cutting and bulking periods, you should use reverse dieting —
bringing up your calories back to your TDEE. This is normally done by
increasing your carb intake for a week until you are at maintenance. You
can certainly take a week off from all training at this point. Then increase
calories again and start your weight training split for the next 8 - 12 weeks.
Some points to note:
Muscles only grow when you convince them of a need to. The
language they understand is that of progressive overload. There are
only 3 ways to do this: increase the weight, increase the volume,
decrease the rest period between sets. The first two being the most
important.
The mind muscle connection is crucial. Isolate the muscle you are
working by using perfect form — move the muscle, not the weight.
If you are training a set to failure or beyond then cheat reps can
work well with accessory exercises.
Compound movements lead to quicker gains, but it’s a myth that
you can’t reach your aesthetic goals without the three big lifts:
deadlift, squats, bench press. If you have an injury, don’t force it,
train around it with good isolation work.
If you’re scaling right back on cardio, don’t be afraid to add
‘finishing’ exercises to your workouts on occasion. Kettlebell
 swings, sled pushing/pulling, and battle ropes can burn some quick
calories and bring variety to your split.
If you customize one of the splits detailed in Chapter 6, remember
the importance of volume. If muscles can adapt by simply growing
stronger then that is what they will be satisfied with. You need to
convince the muscle that it needs to actually grow in order to
perform the work demanded of it. If you are in a caloric surplus but
not seeing muscle gains, increasing your volume, rather than your
strength, is the first thing to look at.
Post-workout nutrition is more important when building muscle
than when burning fat. Normal procedure consists of: whey protein
isolate with dextrose; creatine if you use it; glutamine for recovery;
caffeine for recovery.
To keep your muscles guessing, you can randomly use rest-pauses
on the final set of one of your movements. For instance, after
completing a bicep curl, rest 10 seconds and pump another 2 or 3
reps. These little tweaks, like a dropset to failure, make it harder
for the muscle to know what’s coming. Especially so when you use
the principles in the L/P/P program given — combining new
movements with routines that alternate between myofibrillar and
sarcoplasmic targeting means your physique will develop from
every angle. Reverse pyramid training can also be incorporated
occasionally. Essentially, this means doing one heavy set, then
lowering the weight and performing one or two lighter sets to
failure with greater reps.
If you are a hardgainer, it’s important to eat every 3 hours, to eat carbs later
in the evening, and also to consume slow-digesting protein (e.g. casein
supplement, cottage cheese) before retiring. Rather than spend money on
weight gainers, you can easily gain weight by snacking throughout the day
on hormone-boosting nuts — brazil, almonds and walnuts.
If your bulk is for 12 weeks, this is a good opportunity to lay off the
thermogenics and allow receptors to upgrade, ready for your next cut.
Along these lines, there are products you can use for the bulking period that
aren’t critical when cutting. Getting a pump when training is important for
increasing mass, as it literally expands the surface area of the cell for water
and amino acids to enter; this gives your recovery a boost while increasing
the potential for gains. Citrulline malate and beta alanine are facilitators in
this regard, and can be used pre-workout. See the best studies here and here
.
So we’ve covered the training splits, hormonal approach, and macro-
controlled diet that will deliver consistent, unbeatable progress in results,
whether you are cutting or building muscle — however, plateaus are a thing
for every physique competitor, so the next chapter details the tools and
tactics to take any brakes off your journey.

.
 9

Breaking Through: How To Bust Those Plateaus

W ITH EXPERIENCE , we learn that fat loss is not linear. Muscle building
itself is more predictable, but pursuing your overall goal of becoming
ripped means potentially coming up against two barriers, depending on
whether you are cutting or bulking: a plateau in fat loss or a plateau in
strength/muscle gain. The one thing not to do is double down and take your
training to unhealthy extremes. In fact, the opposite approach is warranted.
Let’s look at the cutting plateau first.

Fat loss plateau

If you go seven days without losing fat on your cut then that is the
beginning of a stall in progress. The reason for a stall in progress will nearly
always be the loss of your caloric deficit. Double-check your arithmetic for
your current weight and ensure you have lowered your calories in line with
your weight reduction thus far.
Hormonal flatlining is also a likely culprit, so safely increase your water
intake and clear your diet of any junk food. You’ll probably only have a few
weeks of cutting remaining, so now is the time to go all out and be as strict
as you possibly can. Paradoxically, consider increasing the frequency of
refeed days, even up to once every 4 or 5 days. On these days, even junk
food can be brought back onto the menu. This ‘two steps forward, one step
back’ approach can see you making progress right through to peak week.
To recap, a controlled refeed day doubles your carb intake while keeping
other macros the same. A cheat day consists of no real controls in terms of
calories or food choices. Both will kickstart your metabolism and increase
leptin along with the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. At the start of your cut,
and at points along the way, you will likely have some water retention that
masks your progress. A cheat or refeed day is often the catalyst for the
flushing of this excess water. Yoga, meditation etc. that engenders deep
relaxation will also help in this regard.
In the unlikely event that you are still plateaued after this, a diet break is
recommended. For 5 days, perhaps longer if you feel it necessary, cycle off
all fat burning substances, eat to maintenance and don’t train. Then restart
your cut after a cheat day.

Muscle gaining plateaus

If you’re not using the P/P/L split given in Chapter 6, you can still apply the
principles therein. If you hit a strength barrier, take a break from the
exercise where you are stalling, and perform related movements that target
the same muscle group for a couple of weeks. When you come back to the
original movement, you will very likely find that your strength there has
increased. On a macro level, through the rotation of different exercises
every 6 weeks, muscles will be stressed in new ways and ancillary strength
will develop. When you return to the original movement, you will usually
find that you are in fact stronger than when you took a break from it.
Give your grip strength a boost with a quality handgrip, or even just use a
tennis ball. The harder you can grip something, the less the load for other
muscles. So while enhancing your grip to lift heavier won’t build a specific
muscle directly, in practical terms it’s a good idea. Grip-work isn’t going to
do anything drastic to your personal bests, but it is often overlooked in the
quest for strength gains.
Another tactic to trigger your progress is to alter the priority of your
movements. By performing stalled exercises first, you can allow the extra
energy at the head of your workout to push you forward in developing that
body part. Leave your best movements and muscle groups until the end of
the workout.
Isolate and improve on weaknesses by adjusting your lifting cadence i.e.
lengthen the time taken to lower the weight. Looking more closely, we see
that the full range of motion of an exercise can consist of three properties:
concentric (think of con tracting the muscle), eccentric (think of e longating
the muscle), and is ometric (think of freezing like ice). You can use
isometrics to target any weak points in the range of motion. Practice simply
holding and supporting the weight at various sticking points. Do this until
failure. You may need to use a lower weight for this, but such training will
allow you to zero in on the range of motion.
Practice posing in between sets. By flexing aesthetically, you strengthen the
mind-muscle connection and also train your physique to look the way you
want. If done for a prolonged period, this can almost be a light workout in
itself.
A popular concept is that of the de-load week. In essence you allow your
CNS to recover by doing all your scheduled movements, but using 50 - 60
percent of the weights. You can also replace free weight work with cable
work. However, many trainers prefer to simply take a week off. It’s simpler
and achieves the same purpose. It also helps remedy any loss of motivation
i.e. a mental plateau.

Mental Plateaus
Maximize your results with the power of self-belief. Not self-delusion, of
course — you have to make your strength goals realistic and incremental;
but believing that you can do a little more, lift a little heavier, is often the
difference between hitting your training goals and staying in a slump.
The mind-muscle connection is something you hear about whenever the
inner game of training comes up. Neural drive and EMG activation increase
when the lifter is focussed on what they want to achieve. Try using mental
imagery while training, in the vein of Schwarzenegger’s famous technique
of imagining his biceps to be mountains. For heavier lifts, experiment with
where you place your focus — test how you lift when you focus on the
movement and the weight. Then see if the other way suits you better:
focusing solely on the muscle you are training. Play around with a
combination of the two and see which most benefits your performance.
Possibly the most common plateau is that of losing motivation sporadically.
Again, we can look at how Arnold and other champions have conquered
this through the use of visualization. You should have an image of what you
are trying to achieve and how that will feel, and the knowledge that
everything you do in the gym is taking you closer to that ideal. This is how
you will consistently enjoy every workout — every rep in fact.
All that said, not everyone has a specific goal or physique in mind for
themselves. I’d say that’s the minority, but for anyone who isn’t quite there
yet, and may have logistical issues to boot, I’d consider a stripped down
introductory version of the professional plan:
Walk 100 calories off each day with a pedometer; Replace your main meal
with something filling but with less calories; Start supplementing with
whey protein; Hit the gym three times a week and train whichever you
muscles you feel like. After 3 months, reassess yourself and start the full
program from the beginning with a professional 12 week cut.
 10

Dialling It In — Your Best Body Ever

T HE HOME STRETCH . Typically, you will time your cut to end at the
point when you need to be in your best possible physical condition. Taking
it further, you will usually know the day upon which you need to hit your
best body ever. The week prior to this day is known as ‘peak week’. Body
fat is as low as you are going to get on this run out, and your goal in this
final 7 days before gracing the stage/camera/beach is twofold: Flush out
subcutaneous water AND make your muscles temporarily bigger than
normal, even with a pump, via the process of supercompensation. This is
defined as the reaction to a severe glycogen depletion, followed by an
influx of carbs. In response to this influx, the muscle cells absorb more
glycogen than they could usually hold, giving you that full, dry, taut
appearance.
This is part of the survival mechanism. Until the body knows that the carb
shortage is over, it will absorb and hold as much as it can. This gives you a
temporary window where muscle cells can double in volume. Hence the
phrase ‘carbing up’ before a contest.
Remember that each glycogen gram locks in around 4 grams of water along
with it, so when you combine this effect with water management, this water
will not be coming in from outside — subcutaneous water will be used,
helping you to come in ‘dry’.
The whole process needs good timing, or you’ll find that your peak
physique is reached either too early, or a day too late. A surprisingly
common mistake, even among seasoned competitors, is that of changing
food choices on the day of the contest or shoot. For example, you might
receive a tip that the best way to carb up is with ice cream; and it might be
— for the other guy — but perhaps you don’t normally eat ice cream and so
your body reacts with minor bloating. It might be well-meaning, but don’t
pay heed to other competitor’s food tips — just use the same foods that you
have been consuming throughout your cut.
As always, none of this should be attempted without medical consent. So
let’s break the process down, starting 7 days prior to your event.

Peak Week
Throughout this week, keep a journal on everything you do and how you
are looking day to day. These records will be helpful when planning future
peak weeks. You’re shooting for precision; this will only come with
practice and experience. So if this is your first attempt at peak form, it’s
worth remembering that it is better to come in at just under your full
glycogen replenishment, rather than overdo it and come in puffy.
It’s also worth noting that some competitors start to taper their carbs down
from week 8 onwards. Following this method, you would reduce your carb
intake by 5% each week until peak week. In that case, you would cut carbs
each day of peak week (see below) by a third, not by half. Only experience
can tell you whether this works for your body type or not. I would
recommend trying this on your second cut — use the methodology below
for your first peak week.
There is no cardio to be performed during this week and weight training
sessions will be done differently. It is advisable to keep your
supplementation going, especially creatine HCL. So far, you’ve probably
dropped body fat on your cut without worrying about dairy, gluten, bread,
or artificial sweeteners. But even if you don’t have an intolerance to any of
these, you should still cut them for three days prior to your peak day.
Generally, oats and yams are relied upon as the best carb source.
If you have light skin then make sure you’re getting tanned or have this in
hand. If you’re working towards a photo shoot then even a home spray-on
tan will work. Or use a tanning booth the day before you will be seen.
To help you hit your daily water intake, I recommend getting three one-
gallon containers to fill up in advance the night before. This makes it easy
to spread your intake throughout the following day and to see at a glance
how much is left to drink to meet your target.
Taking peak day as Day Zero, let’s detail the schedule:
T-minus 6 :
Perform your final leg workout.
Drop your current carb intake by a half. Make up half of this
caloric deficit with protein.
Imbibe 2 gallons (8 litres) of water. This will begin the process of
lulling the body into a water-flushing state throughout the week. At
1 day out, you will abruptly drop your water intake down to the
minimum.
Start your diuretics — add a few drops of lemon juice to some of
your water. Start taking vitamin C: 4 - 8g. Start drinking dandelion
tea.
From this point, start taking 5g of Glutamine to help combat the
low energy from your carb depletion.
T-minus 5 :
Perform a glycogen-depleting upper-body circuit workout — 12 -
15 reps per movement, high energy, low weights.
Halve your carbs again. Again, make up half of this deficit with an
increase in protein.
2 gallons of water
Continue diuretics as above
T-minus 4 :
Repeat yesterday’s workout.
Halve your carbs again. So if you had started with 200g carbs as
part of your cutting diet, you will now be down to just 25g per day.
 This new reduction in food has to be compensated for with the use
of vegetables as your carb source, and can be fully compensated
for with protein. Using raw vegetables will be more filling, but
beware of slowed digestion and possible constipation. Your water
intake will help, and you can take mint or a digestive enzyme to
help food break down properly.
Water and diuretics as above
T-minus 3 :
Repeat yesterday’s workout.
Continue your water intake. Swap out the dandelion tea for a
dandelion extract diuretic supplement, don’t exceed their
recommended dose. A common one in use is Ripped Freak
Diuretic.
Finally, you begin carbing up. You want to consume 2-3 times your
daily carb allowance from your cut (i.e. not 2-3 times what you ate
yesterday). One school of thought recommends eating only fruit
throughout the morning, as technically this will first replenish liver
glycogen, leaving the remaining day’s carbs to hit the muscles. For
some cover models this might make a difference, but these are just
nuances that you can test, or ignore, and enter any findings in your
journal for future reference. Today you want to use high G.I. carb
sources: baked potatoes, almonds, raisins etc. Spread your intake
evenly throughout the day. The main vegetable to consume over
the coming days is asparagus, to aid your diuretic state.
The correct level of salt intake is open to debate. Some competitors
cut it the week before, some do it now, and still others contend that
salt is useful and should not be restricted. You will have to test this
to see how your body reacts; for your first cut, avoiding it from this
day onwards is a good default move.
T-minus 2 :
No training apart from a stretching/roll out session
Maintain yesterday’s intake but rely on slower G.I. carbs like oats
Maintain water intake and diuretic supplementation
T-minus 1 :
 No training. Do some posing practice either now or in the evening.
Assess how you look — are you filling out or still looking a little
flat? Depending on how much leeway you have, continue with
yesterday’s level of carbs, or reduce them by a third.
Take in a gallon of water in the first half of the day, but afterwards
imbibe as little as you are comfortable with. Since your body is in
water-flushing mode, it will take a while to wake up to the fact that
no more water is coming in — before this happens, you will be
flushing water from the body without replacing it. Some
competitors stifle their water intake a day earlier than this, so you
will have to experiment to see which works best for your body. I
will add, though, that dehydrating yourself is obviously dangerous,
and you should not be doing any of this without medical
supervision.
If necessary, make time to get your tan.
Now, having reached the night before, you can take a hot bath with
epsom salts to really get the subcutaneous water out. In future
preps, try repeating this the morning of the event, too, to see if it
boosts your appearance even further.
Take 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable glycerine to help draw out
water. If you are allergic to palm or coconut oil then avoid this
product. Also, beware of potential side effects like headaches and
fluctuating heart rate — don’t overdo it.
T-minus 0 :
Begin the day with a stretching/roll out sesssion
Your first meal should be tailored to your condition. If your
muscles look less defined than you need, just take in a protein
breakfast, no carbs. Otherwise, have a small portion of carbs with
protein supplement e.g. oats and fruit.
Take you dandelion supplement and another tablespoon of
vegetable glycerine
Water intake should remain sparing — just sip moderately until the
contest/shoot.
If you are looking flat right before the event/shoot then snack on
some high G.I. food such as chocolate bars, peanut butter, toast,
jam, protein bars.
Do a light body weight session of press ups, pull ups, crunches.
One set each, not to failure, just enough to get a small pump. The
purpose of this is to help circulation and so assist the glycogen
replenishment. Don’t pump up the legs.
For photos, you want a blank background with bright overhead
lighting. Don’t forget to oil up with baby oil, or spray on cooking
oil. Angle yourself towards the camera to make your upper body
appear both larger and slimmer.
Master The Game
 Afterword

T HANKS FOR STUDYING THE PROGRAM . I’ve personally applied

the system and got the physique I wanted. This despite falling off the diet
wagon several times along the way. What matters more than anything is
consistency, and not letting the occasional slip snowball into abandoning
your principles.
The cutting-and-bulking system works. All you have to do is work the
system. Study any professional with a lean muscular physique and you’ll
see the same system at play.
And best of all, it’s not going to be superseded by some new model or
paradigm next year. This is how the human body burns fat and builds
muscle. This is knowledge, and a toolset for your entire life.
If you could spare a moment to post a quick review on Amazon, it would be
very much appreciated.
And lastly, remember to enjoy your progress as much as you enjoy the
result!
Wishing you all the best in your training,
Joe
Got the body? Get the Girl!
 Also by Joe Locke

D aygame Dating : Master The Fastest Game In Town