—> Get in the Gym
—> Get stronger every session
—> Set proper calorie requirements for your specific goal
—>Hit your protein and calorie requirements 95% of the time
—> Track your progress, adjust your course as needed
—> Watch the muscle pile on and the body fat melt off
—> Enjoy a higher status life
Success lies in the the ruthless execution of the basics
I remember almost getting kicked out of the bar like it was yesterday. My friends and I were sitting around the fire pit at the bar (yes this was a kick ass bar) rambling on about…well I don’t remember.
Slightly intoxicated, I look over to my left and spotted a bouncer. From the head up, he was absolutely jacked; bulging veins, tight abs and massive forearms.
However my eyes glazed downward (not there!) and behold…nothing. Literally, he had the legs of a long distance middle school track athlete.
Unfortunately, I blurted it out a little too loudly to my buddies. Mean looks were then followed by somewhat aggressive conversation. In the end, though, nothing really happened. We parted ways: me, with my killer physique; and him (hopefully), inspired enough to get to the gym and train some legs.
And that was the first time I begin to truly take notice of what I know call Skinny Leg Syndrome or, SLS. In the simplest terms, SLS is having disproportionately small lower body mass, relative to a well-developed upper body. While this is sometimes genetic, it’s nearly always the result of improper lower body training; and, very often, NO lower body training at all.
SLS originated from the fallacy that to have that hollywood look, big legs are out and big chests are in. While I somewhat agree with that statement, it certainly has its flaws.
First of all, the hollywood look is essentially the Vitruvian Man. The Vitruvian man for those that don’t know, is the drawing of the perfectly symmetrical man through the use of mathematics. (You can thank Da Vinci for that one!)
Now the ultimate male (or female ) body doesn’t have skinny legs and a big upper body. They have proportionate muscle, spread out over there entire body. This provides them with health, power and good looks.
So then why, in the 21st Century has leg training essentially gone to shit?
Well there are a few reasons but let’s start with the obvious…
Look, no matter how much legs you train, there is no scientifically possible way to end up with what I like to call, Horse legs. That requires thousands and thousands of dollars worth of drugs.
So start fucking training legs!
This lie refuses to die. And if you have fallen prey, do not condemn yourself because I was in your shoes for half a decade.
In 1960 a few studies showed that deep squatting stretched knee ligaments too far increasing the risk of injury. And the uprising against the squat began.
Today is 2016. It’s time to get your facts straight.
Researchers from Duke University concluded after analyzing more than 2 decades of published literature that the squat “ does not compromise knee stability and can enhance stability if performed correctly”
The NSCA (The National Strength and Conditioning Association) had this to say about squatting…
“Squats when performed correctly and with appropriate supervision are not only safe bit may be a significant deterrent to knee injuries”
So yes, as long as you are using proper form, the squat does not put you at risk for injury. Ironically it actually helps deter it.
Frankly, unless you are in the 0.01% genetic realm of endomorph than this is a pointless argument. Simply put, if your legs are too big for your suit pants, you are most likely carrying too much fat. So go get your diet in check, get down to 10% body fat and build the body of a badass. Then we can talk.
The Badass Body is proportionate, powerful and perfect. It encompasses a delicate balance of aesthetics as well as athletics. It means looking good and performing better.
So don’t compromise your health and your body by avoiding training legs. Get in the gym, use the workout below (with proper form!) and execute. And help get rid of SLS once and for all!
ROUTINE
Rest 2 min between sets and 3 min between exercises
Front (weighted) alternating lunge – 3 sets x 4-6 reps
Dumbbell or Barbell Stiff leg dead lifts 3 sets x 4-6 reps
Box jumps 3 sets x 10 reps
Side Note: Taken from thinkeatlift.com. Radu is a badass and everyone should be following him.
Stealing and flattery aside, if you want a body that turns heads and performs like a superhero, focusing on certain areas of fitness offer you more bang for your back.
Many popular TV shows, such as the biggest loser, put an emphasis on exercising to lose weight; while everyone else is trying to sell you supplements.
Let’s just be honest for a second: If everything worked no one would be fat. Obviously thats not the case. With the adult and child obesity rate at a staggering %30+ in North America, something needs to change.
Rake a look at the nifty chart above.
As you can see, supplements, food choices meal timing and the meal amounts fall very low on the importance level of building head turning, sex emulating body.
Energy balance is number 1 for a reason. The law of thermodynamics states that to lose weight you must burn more energy than you consume. Pretty simple. Now whether you burn those calories by eating less Cadbury mini eggs per day or you take the 17 flights of stairs up to your office doesn’t really make a difference.
As promoted on the biggest loser as well as every major media outlet on the talent people are taught to try an “out exercise” a bad diet. As phenomenal as exercise is for your health, it simply isn’t effective enough on its own to be the tipping point for engineering “that” body.
Flash back to our mini egg conundrum for one second. I think we can all agree that not eating the 15 mini eggs, is far easier and time friendly, then taking those 17 flights of stairs – and funny enough it actually burns more calories! Even though many people believe the stairs workout would win this caloric battle.
In one 2010 University of Ottawa study, people guessed that they’d burned three to four times as many calories as they actually had during a workout; they also overshot when asked to consume the equivalent in food afterward.
“In general, people do overestimate the calories burned during exercise and underestimate the calories in food,” says Muth.
Pareto was a cool dude. He was also really smart. He created a business law which states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your effort.
Fortunately for us, when it comes to your dream body, this is most certainly true.
As a person with a life, you are busy. Fuck, thats probably an understatement. You probably are so busy that you feel like punching a hole in the wall when your internet is slow (It has to go to fucking space and back…relax).
At your peak you are probably exercising 1-2 hours a day. Probably less. However you have the opportunity to be eating or focusing on eating for around 16-18 hours. So doesn’t it makes sense to be focused on nutrition since you have 16 hours to play with that will affect your body?
Physical activity should not be ignored in the battle against obesity, and it should certainly be promoted because of its many other health benefits. BUT, expectations regarding exercise need to be tempered, and more emphasis needs to be placed on encouraging people to make better food choices (the type and the amount).
The old saying holds true “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet,”
Find a weight-loss (or maintenance) plan that you can sustain long-term—and that doesn’t require you to go for a run every time you eat ice cream. Yes it is possible to eat dessert every day while enjoy 6 pack abs with religiously tracking every single calorie that enters your body.
Calculate your calorie deficit, practice intermittent fasting and consider exercise not only as a muscle sculptor but also as a as a buffer for those spontaneous mini egg indulgences.
And above all else, be consistent. Pick a plan or coach and stick with it for at least 90 days. Any less and you’ll be jumping from program to program, diet to diet or coach to coach, former spinning your wheels and never achieving your goals.
There are 5 components to a successful fitness transformation.
1. Diet
2. Training
3. Coaching
4. The mental Game
5. Supplementation
Your diet, or how closely you adhere to it will determine 80% of your success on your transformation. Let’s get one thing straight though, its not about eating clean all the time. Seriously. You can have a mini desert every night if you want. You just have to make it work.
Know your macros, track them every day and make room for desert if thats your thing. Diet should be about freedom. If it’s too restrictive, you will fall off, give up or worst of all, have a successful transformation but then put back all the fat after you are done.
Your new diet must become your lifestyle. After your done your transformation you will just be able to eat more without gaining weight. Obsessively tracking becomes estimating. And life becomes awesome.
In a fat loss transformation, the goal would be to maintain strength and muscle, while dramatically losing fat. to do this you must be lifting heavy. 85% or more of your one rep max is fine. 2-3 sets of 3-4 reps is perfect. More is not better when restricting calories and going for fat loss.
Too much exercise can lead to a host of problems. Don’t get me wrong, I love the gym. However more is not always better; especially when in a severe caloric deficit.
Weight training 4 days a week is more than enough to preserve muscle and strength assuming proper workouts are followed. The other 3 days will be dedicated to walking, stretching and carving those gorgeous abs.
The third most overlooked principle here is having a coach. The power of a coach or mentor is unparalleled. Needless to say coaches have been where you have and gotten (hopefully) where you want to go. Take our advice, avoid all the mistakes on your journey and get there quickly, effectively and preferably still alive.
Maybe 5% of your results, supplementation is important, but means nothing if you don’t have your diet and training in check. Here are some potent supplements too help you get rid of stubborn fat…
Yohimbine: Yohimbine is a chemical extracted from a species of African plant,Yohimbe. Research shows that yohimbine blocks the activity of alpha receptors. This enables your body to reduce fat stores faster, and it’s particularly useful as you get leaner and are battling with stubborn fat holdouts.
HMB: β-Hydroxy β-Methylbutyrate (HMB) is a substance formed when your body metabolizes the amino acid leucine, which is an amino acid that directly stimulates protein synthesis. There is one benefit of HMB that’s well established, however: it’s an extremely effective anti-catabolic agent. That is, it’s very good at preventing muscle breakdown, which means you will recover faster from your workouts and experience less muscle soreness. It also has no effect whatsoever on insulin levels, which means it can’t break your fasted state.
Ephedrine: also known as ma huang, is a popular dietary supplement in the United States and has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine. Ephedrine and Caffeine work together to suppress appetite, increase heart rate, increase body temperature, and block the process of converting carbohydrates to fat (lipogenesis). It is however a precursor to amphetamines. Therefore use with caution. Or don’t use at all (my recommendation).
Caffeine: America’s drug of choice, Caffeine is a useful pre-workout stimulant that can increase muscle endurance and strength. Clinically effective dosages vary between 3 and 6 mg per kg of bodyweight. Furthermore it can increase mental alertness, blunt appetite and burn body fat.
Nicotine: this one molecule could easily be called…The World’s Most Hated Substance. Now before you run off, this has nothing to do with smoking, chewing tobacco, or creating any addictive habits. Nicotine affects fat cells in a very unique way. It’s literally like a master skeleton key to fat cells that forces them to begin dumping fat. It’s so effective that no matter how much of a plateau you’ve had—or even if you’ve been using other fat burners—it will still work! More information can be found here
Regardless, without proper supervision, it can be dangerous. For the majority of the population, there is no need to use it. But I figured I would put it on this list so that as a grown, hopefully mature adult, you can make an informed decision.
But like I said, supplements are a small part of the game. Diet and training come first. But there is another which is just as important…
The final component and arguably the most important is getting you read in check. Mainly your self image. If you have a fat self image you will not be able to shake that fat off for good. The whole point is to rewire your brain so that you see yourself as a healthy, fit person already and not some lazy bum on a diet. Behave like a healthy fit person would behave.
Behaviours are the most important trait to success. Fake it until you make it is cool, but id rather you adopt the behaviours of a successful person or fit person so that they become habits and ultimately the new you.
Focusing on the habits to fundamentally change who you are at the core; so that you become the kind of person who walks around naturally with 6 pack abs, pecs of steel and a Badass Body.
Many fitness professionals seem to think certain aspects of fitness have more value and provide more results than others; thus a ranking system has emerged. Certainly eating a proper diet is more important than taking the right supplements, however all the puzzle pieces fit together to form a masterpiece.
Therefore, make sure EVERYTHING is in check. From diet to supplementation. If you are 100% on with everything, you will succeed. Period.
Getting a strong midsection is all about getting to a low body fat percentage. In most cases, that usually means getting below 11%.
Everyone is born with abs. But after years of a lack of exercise and poor eating habits, sitting, they might now be hiding under a layer of fat. Fortunately for us there are only 2 simple steps involved to getting a strong core.
You do this by eating less calories then you burn. Get your diet in check first because it provides 80% of the results.
1. Calculate your maintenance calories. Your current bodyweight x 14.5
2. Calculate your deficit. Goal bodyweight x 12 or x 11 if you want to be aggressive.
3. Now that you have your calories, set your macronutrient ratios accordingly.
35% Protein, 35% Carbs , 30% Fat
4. Stay consistent to the course. It took you years to pack on that spare tire. Its not gonna magically disappear in a month.
5. Track everything that you eat. I mean everything. Be obsessive for the first month. That splash of milk in your coffee? Yes track that. That innocent finger dip into the Nutella jar when no one is looking? Definitely log that one.
Now the second part is to actually develop the core and train them so that when you do reveal them, they will look like they’ve been photoshopped on.
Deal? Good.
Follow this abs routine 3 days a week. You may perform this after your usual strength training session or on its own.
Perform 1 set of each exercise subsequently with little to no rest in between sets. Rest 1 Minute between circuits. Perform the this circuit 3 times.
Plank 1-3 Min.
(Weighted) Hanging leg raises 12-15 reps.
Side to Side knee ups. 12-15 reps.
That’s it.
You don’t need to confuse your muscles (last time I checked, your muscles lacked cognitive ability) or do tons of ab work. Simply put your head down, train your abs 3 days a week, hit your calories and macronutrients consistently.
Consistency is key. Nothing fails like success. Don’t cheat because you’ve been good. Cheat, because you’ve achieved your goal.
Everyone is born with abs, its now time to strip away the years of belly fat built up and reveal the hard work to the world.
It’s time for it to die. It’s time to introduce you to the healthy diet hoax
The healthy diet hoax is the idea that there is one healthy and diet, and that it must be followed so that you can achieve your fitness goals.
The only road to six pack abs is a ruthlessly healthy diet?
I call bullshit.
First of all who the fuck gets to decide what is healthy?
They designed the food pyramid so that they were able to sell more grains because it was :
A) more profitable due to taxes
B) We had a surplus of excess grain, corn and wheat
Not because it was healthy. Not because it was the right thing to do. Just simply, they had supply and needed to create demand.
The paleo movement is strong. So strong that it is very seductive. Yet people need to understand 3 things. First of all the paleo diet disobeys the fundamental laws of thermodynamics. Second that in the Palaeolithic era, people sometimes ate each other. and third, our ancestors ate to survive, not to perform or look good naked.
Far too many doctors I know personally, and I have a feeling you do as well are overweight and do not have their health in check. Furthermore many doctors are not trained for the disciplines of nutrition, human performance and fitness.
Alas this is the answer? Unfortunately the good, well educated of the bunch are far and few between. While many of these folks have there hearts in the right place, they simply don’t have the right knowledge or drive to give the proper advice. Furthermore like many doctors, I also know many personal trainers and even nutritionists that are overweight and unhealthy. It’s the blind leading the blind.
Well there are 5 components.
1. It obeys the laws of thermodynamics – Calories in, Calories out is the name of the game. Eat more than you burn and you will gain weight. Eat less then you burn and you will lose weight.
2. It is balanced – The Atkins diet, the zone diet, The pH diet, Low fat, low carb – many fads have come and gone, yet one stands true to this day. The Balanced diet. That means proper ratios of protein, fat and carbohydrate to support proper training, hormone regulation and health.
3. It works with your body – some people have allergies. Others have intolerances. Others have nothing. Learn your body. There is no perfect diet for anyone.
4. It is aligned with your fitness goals – Do you want to gain weight or lose it? Build muscle? Maintain your body? Kick fat loss into overdrive? Whatever your fitness goal, you must tailor your diet to that goal.
5. It includes your favourite foods – A diet without ice cream is bound to fail. Now obviously thats not true. The point is that your diet must consist of your favourite “cheatyyy” foods. They provide satiety, calmness to the constant psychological warfare associated with dieting and they are good for your tongue.
Again don’t fall for the healthy diet hoax. It is a fallacy that refuses to die.
This doesn’t mean however you can go and eat like shit, as long as it fits your macros… Eating healthy foods have a variety of life enhancing benefits.
However eating too much healthy food will still make you fat. Balance your diet. Enjoy some dessert. Hit your daily macros and calories and watch the pounds fall off and the muscle pile on.
It is by far my favorite meal of the day. It also happens to be the culprit behind 46.34% of my meals which consist of: Buttermilk pancakes drenched in cinnamon maple syrup, over easy omega-3 enriched eggs, crispy peameal bacon and spicy breakfast potatoes.
As for the timing of the meal, I think it is pointless. I mean sure, if I walk into a buffet at 8am filled with copious amounts of pastry’s, piles of bacon and a never ending stream of brown focus liquid (coffee), I might just indulge.
That being said, 98% of the time I recommend skipping breakfast.
I can already hear the comments…
“Skip breakfast? Are you crazy?”
“ Your metabolism will crash”
“Your body will use all of it muscle for fuel”
“You’ll go into starvation mode”…
Look, most of these statements are simply NOT TRUE. In fact, science has proven them false.
Your body requires a certain amount of energy to maintain its weight each day. The amount depends on activity level for the day, age, genetics and muscle mass to name a few. This energy is measured in calories; maybe you’ve heard of those things.
To lose weight you must consume less calories then you expend on a daily basis. To gain weight you must consume more than you burn. To maintain your weight your daily caloric intake must match your daily energy expenditure.
And that’s it. Really. Sure some tactics make it easier, but as long as you are eating less calories than you burn; you will lose weight. If you add some solid strength training during this phase, you will lose primarily fat.
Yes it doesn’t matter if you eat 1 meal a day, 5 or 12. It doesn’t matter if you breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, linner or at 2am. All that matters is your calories consumed and your total daily energy expenditure.
I’m not sure where this myth came from. Regardless it really needs to die.
When you wake up your metabolism isn’t slow. It’s not like over night, your body suddenly decided “hey, were gonna slow your metabolism to a snails crawl so that you stop burning calories.” Is it slower then say after working out, maybe. However maybe a few percentage points at most. (1) (2)
Furthermore when you wake up and skip breakfast your body dumps catecholamines (adrenaline) into the blood stream to preserve muscle and mobilize fat for fuel. Once you break the fast (breakfast), that process stops.
So yes, your body automatically jumpstarts its own metabolism. No Eggo waffles needed.
Starvation mode, is essentially the myth that your body sill start to burn its muscle for fuel when you don’t eat every 3 hours or God forbid, first thing in the morning.
This is simply not a reality. Sure starvation mode exists. However it is only after 72 hours of food abstinence that starvation mode occurs. Yes, 3 whole days are needed without food before your body decides to eat its own biceps for food. (3)
Until that time, of the most part, your body will rely upon your body fat to burn for fuel. Yes, skipping breakfast puts your fat burning power into overdrive. Speaking of the super powers of breakfast absence….
Yes there are some awesome super powers that come with the elimination of breakfast. The 4th super power is my favourite.
When you skip breakfast, your body dumps catecholamines (adrenaline) into your blood stream. (1) This allows for clean, laser focused energy. No post meal brain fog. Just pure awesomeness. Try it out an let me know.
Remember when you played sports or music or anything else and you were totally in the moment? Laser focused and letting time fly while you knock out hour after hour of practice and playing.
Now, imagine having that on command, every single morning. Skip breakfast and you’ll be able to enter God-like productivity mode on-demand.
When you skip breakfast, you are withholding energy from your body. Now to survive, your body needs to get it from somewhere. Now assuming you haven’t been on a 3 day fast; you will pull from fat stores. (3) Yes your body will preferably burn your love handles, waist and hip fat before your glorious muscle. Talk about effortless 6 pack abs.
This has been my favourite super power. Before skipping breakfast I was a slave to my body. I would wake up, usually late, then go to the kitchen and stumble around for some food. Sometimes anything will do. Out of milk? Well juice and cereal it is (not the best tasting concoction).
The problem is I would waste so much time to eat and then still be hungry 2-3 hours later. So I said fuck it and stopped eating breakfast. Now I’m never late. I get to eat massive lunches and dinners ( I have to fit the same amount of calories into 2 meals, instead of 3) and ironically I’m actually never hungry in the mornings anymore.
By pushing your first meal later into the day you force your body to burn fat for fuel, you elevate growth hormone and you increase insulin sensitivity in the muscles.
This creates the perfect storm for building muscle and burning fat.
As long as you limit the daily fast to 16-20 hours there will be minimal to no muscle catabolism during the fast.
If you wish to perform fasted strength training before your first meal then I strongly recommend taking 10 grams of BCAA before training or even better this supplement by legion athletics.
Footnotes
1. Green MW, Elliman NA, Rogers, PJ. Lack of effect of short-term fasting on cognitive function. Journal of Psychiatric Research 1995; 29(3), 245-253.
2. Leiberman HR, Caruso CM, Niro PJ, Adam GE, Kellogg MD, Nindl B, Kramer FM. A double- blind, placebo-controlled test of 2 d of calorie deprivation: effects on cognition, activity, sleep, and interstitial glucose concentrations. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2008;88:667–76.
3. Gjedsted J, Gormsen L, Buhl M, Norrelund H, Schmitz, Keiding S, Tonnesen E, Moller N. Forearm and leg amino acids metabolism in the basal state and during combined insulin and amino acid stimulation after a 3- day fast. Acta Physiologica. 2009; (6): 1-9.
