Summer's coming, and it's time to lose body fat, get in shape and look good. Here's a plan that can help you do just that.
Diet
Unless you have a lot of fat to lose, I'm not going to suggest a huge change in eating habits (such as a big calorie drop). I am going to suggest you eat clean, and follow a high protein (lean meats, poultry, fish and low fat dairy products), moderate carb (rice, oatmeal, potatoes, whole grains, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and any other veggies you like) and low fat diet (limit fat intake to what's naturally occurring in the foods you eat and a small amount of almonds or similar nut 3 times a week).
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You're looking at a 50-40-10 plan. Eat most of your carbs in the morning and afternoon, eat fibrous carbs - like salads, at night.
Always mix your carbs with protein, don't forget to have a post workout drink of fast carbs and protein and don't forget to start your day with a small protein shake (before you do anything). Your last meal of the day should also be a small protein shake to help prevent muscle breakdown while you sleep. Eat 5-6 times a day, but remember to eat sensible portions, eat until you are almost full.
If you want this to work, there can be no pigging out, no junk food binges. If you have a lot of fat to lose, I suggest a reduction of calories along with the tips given above.
I would reduce calories by 250 a day the first week, monitor your results after two weeks, then reduce another 250 per day if need be. But this type of thing must be reasonable, you don't want to reduce so low you're starving, you do want to increase your activity levels to limit calorie reduction. I would not go below 12 calories per pound of bodyweight, and I would work down to this in 250 calorie increments.
Supplements
Supplements Should Include:
Definitely keep a food log and a workout log, monitor everything you eat, break it down into calorie, protein, carb and fat proportions and total it at the end of the day.
Training
This information allows you to make adjustments as needed if your proportions are not within that 50-40-10 range. In your workout log, record your cardio workouts as well as your weight workouts. For cardio, I recommend recording time spent doing the exercise, speed, and calories burned.
You will want your cardio, depending on your metabolism, to go 30-45 minutes 4-5 times a week in the morning on an empty stomach. If that's not possible, do it before eating your big evening meal. I suggest a slower speed, for example, if you're on a treadmill, average between 2.8 and 3.3 mph.
Depending on your recovery ability, you may want to reduce your leg work - I find when I do heavy leg work properly, I'm to sore to do a lot of cardio.
Your Split Routine Should Look Like This:
Day 1 - Legs, back biceps, abs
Day 2 - Off
Day 3 - Chest, delts, triceps, abs
Day 4 - Off
Day 5 - Repeat
You'll be doing the 8 sets of 8 reps approach, one exercise per body part, limit rest between sets to 20 seconds or less. I would suggest basic exercises. You may have to limit leg work, as I said above, depending of course on your recovery ability. I would include calf work and I would up the reps to at least 15. Here's a sample routine:
Sample Routines
Day 1
Legs
Squats - 2 warm-up sets, 3 working sets of 8 reps UNLESS you can handle 8 sets of 8 reps - these are heavy sets - and still hit the cardio with no problems.
Stiff Legged Deadlifts - 1 warm up set, 8 sets of 8 reps. If you are limiting leg work, I would limit this or skip it altogether.
Calf Raises - 8 sets of 15 reps
Back
Bent Over Barbell Rows - 1 warm up set, 8 sets of 8 reps
Biceps
EZ Curls - 8 sets of 8 reps
Click here for a printable log of Day 1.
Day 3
Click here for a printable log of Day 3.
Remember, do abs after every work out, I would suggest higher reps, say, 20 - 25 reps.
Use heavy weights on all your exercises, the 8 reps should be near impossible to complete.
This workout is designed to burn a lot of calories and help you burn body fat. Doing basic exercises will allow you to maintain muscle mass as well as burn more calories than isolation movements. So you can see, between the cardio and the weight lifting, you will be burning a lot of calories and promoting a lot of fat loss. The sheer amount of work involved is one reason I'm not suggesting huge calorie drops (unless you have a lot to lose).
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Even though this routine advocates one exercise per body part for 8 sets, you can adjust it to include two exercises per body part as long as the pace and set/rep scheme doesn't change. You should alleviate boredom in both routines by switching up the exercises. Here's an example routine with two exercises per body part:
Day 1
Legs
Squats - 2 warm-up sets, 4 working sets of 8 reps
Leg Extensions - 4 sets of 8 reps
Stiff Legged Deadlifts - 1 warm up set, 4 sets of 8 reps.
Leg Curls - 4 sets of 8 reps
Calf Raises - 8 sets of 15 reps, or 4 sets of standing and 4 sets of seated calf raises
Back
Bent Rows - 1 warm up set, 4 sets of 8 reps
Lat Pulldowns - 4 sets of 8 reps
Biceps
EZ Curls - 4 sets of 8 reps
Incline Dumbbell Curls - 4 sets of 8 reps
Click here for a printable log of Day 1.
Day 3
Click here for a printable log of Day 3.
Remember, even though this routine sounds basic and somewhat easy, you are supposed to be moving at a fast pace - going as low as 10 - 15 seconds rest between sets. It's as much a aerobic workout as anything.
Conclusion
You'll want to measure and weigh yourself at the start of this, and do so every week. You'll have to make adjustments if you are not losing fat: more cardio, and/or less calories. Any adjustments you make should be gradual - drop calories and increase cardio in increments, 250 calories a day as suggested above and 10 more minutes of cardio per session. This will be necessary if you have an extremely slow metabolism. Follow these tips and watch it take off the fat like a blowtorch.
Thanks,
sb5660@alltel.net
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