Alio's Kick Ass Program

Okay, so after seeing that maybe some people would actually like to try this, here is my effort to help you all get into some decent shape.

Some ground rules first though.

1) Please don't laugh off the program unless you try it. Please don't start throwing out negative rhetoric to discourage people who honestly want to try this. If you don't want to do it, just leave the thread. No harm, no foul.

2) If you are going to try this, you have to dedicate yourself. There is no "magic pill."

3) Leave me the first 6 posts to write what I need to before you start responding. At least that way, the information is easily accessible to those who are looking for it.

4) Some of the information I'm sharing with you cost me money, and all of it cost me time to gather. While I did it for my own benefit, I'm sharing it with you all for free. Don't give me hell for it. Also, I'm going to make a request, totally unsolicited. If you like the results you get, send something to Petro for TGG. Click on the PayPal logo and send him a few bucks. It won't kill you. At the very least, click some of the banner ads. He provides the site to us for free, the least we can do is give something back once in a while. (I hope he doesn't mind that little plug. Like I said, that's unsolicited, so don't blame him for me saying it.)

5) ALWAYS HAVE YOUR DOCTOR CLEAR YOU BEFORE STARTING ANY EXERCISE/WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM. Here's the thing: I just don't want to be responsible for one of you having a freaking heart attack. If you undergo this program, you do so at your own risk. Neither myself, any fellow TGGer, nor any member of the site's staff or ownership, etc. is responsible for you or your health. Use your brain when working out. If you have to stop, do so. Don't screw yourself long-term for short term gains. Keep in mind, I am NOT a fitness professional. I am going on my experience, as well as all of the research I've done over the past few months. I have no education in this stuff, other than what I've learned and put into practice. And some of this is still developing theory, so it's not exact science either. Just keep all of this in mind.

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Okay, let's get into this.

First of all, forget most of what you know/have heard about dieting and exercise. Most of it is wrong.

STFU Alio, you don't know shit, right?

Does anyone truly believe the Atkins diet is a good idea? How about this, when you starve your body of carbohydrates, it begins to eat muscle. That's not your goal is it? If it is, it shouldn't be.

I'll bet you think a traditional cardio workout is what you need to do to get a "beach body" right? Wrong. In fact, traditional cardio will actually prevent you from getting a beach body. (Which isn't entirely true, but I'll explain.)

Well, I'll bet at this point you're thinking I'm going to prescribe a full vegetable diet and a ridiculous amount of exercise, right?

Nope.

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So what is the Alio Kick Ass plan?

First of all, you're going to eat almost anything you normally do. (Nice, right?) You're going to eat smarter though.

1) You're going to eliminate soda from your diet. Yes, you are. Soda is probably the #1 worst thing you can put into your body right now. You probably think it's the sugar that's the problem, right? It's not (well, this form of sugar is a problem, but it's not the worst thing about soda.) The "evil ingredient" in soda, and many other products on the shelves today, is HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup.) That shit is one of the worst things you can put in your body. Eliminate it from EVERYWHERE you can!

2) Start reading the labels on the food you consume. Avoid HFCS like the PLAGUE! It is terrible for your body. Also, cut down on processed foods. "White" foods are crap for your body, and you should start learning to get away from them most of the time. White bread, white sugar, it's processed crap, and it's doing your body far more harm than just increasing your waistline. I'm sure diabetes is not on your list of "Things to do before I die."

A note about belly fat. It's worse than poor looking. It's outright dangerous for you. Studies have consistently shown that belly fat is a precursor of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. There are two types of belly fat. Subcutaneous fat is the top level crap. It sits right under your skin, and is the ugly crap you see in the mirror. Visceral fat is the true enemy though. It sits beneath even the muscle, and wraps around your internal organs. This stuff is DEADLY. It's literally choking your organs. Sadly, many people don't even realize what this stuff is. It feels hard, and people often mistake it for hidden muscle under the subcutaneous fat. It's not. You MUST make it your mission to get rid of this stuff. It will kill you. If it sounds like I'm trying to scare you, it's because I AM. You MUST get rid of this stuff. Your long-term health is directly dependent upon it.

3) Stop using margarine. It is a disgusting lab-produced chemical that is basically just poison with flavor. As much as butter gets "bad press" it's actually not bad for you in sane quantities. Dairy is not your enemy (unless of course you're lactose intolerant, but that's another story altogether.)

4) Speaking of sane quantities, reduce the amount of food you intake at each meal. How do you do that? Easy, eat more times during the day. Small snacks of things like nuts are perfect throughout the day. They'll fill you up quickly, and you won't be nearly as hungry when it comes time for a regular meal.

Another tip which is actually interesting is to eat the OPPOSITE food you're craving. If you're craving something sweet, have a salty snack. It's a wierd trick, and it actually works. Also, eat fiber-based snacks. Nuts and granola are good. Apples are actually a great snack. Bananas are good too.

5) Drink water. Don't give me that BS that you don't like the taste. I didn't like it when I started drinking it either. You'll acquire the taste. Start off with 2 of those bottles you can get in the store (.5L) per day. Work your up to a gallon a day. You'll soon be drinking it more than you even realize. And you can't drink too much water.

6) Avoid "sugar substitutes." All that Splenda and Sweet n Low crap is just that, crap. It's is all produced within a lab, using solvents normally associated with GASOLINE. Feel sick yet? I did when I first read that.

7) Chew gum. Yeah, I know, no matter what gum you choose, it breaks rule 2 or 6. Shit happens. There are loopholes everywhere in this plan, so you're going to have to just bear with me. Chewing gum serves 2 purposes:
a) It isn't a meal, so it doesn't provide many calories. However, the act of chewing it actually fools your brain into thinking you're eating, so you aren't as hungry.
b) It's BURNING CALORIES. This is what you want to strive for. Burn all the damned calories you can, whenever, and wherever you can. The whole key to weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume each day. While it may not seem like a big deal, chewing gum burns calories. Hell, so does breathing, typing, blinking, and billions of other movements you make in a day. Burn, burn burn.

I chew sugarless gum. Not because of the sugar calories, but because sugared gum hurts my teeth. I leave it up to you to choose your own brand.

8) Get more FIBER. Again, I don't want to hear you pissing and moaning. Get more fiber in your diet. It is critical to your success, as well as your long-term health. Don't whine, just do it.

9) Cut the fried foods out as much as you possibly can. I still eat fried food, but much more sparingly. The reason is the vegetable oils used to fry the foods. If you fry at home, use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and you're good to go. Replace ANY use of vegetable oils with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or at least some form of olive oil if you can't afford the Extra Virgin stuff. (Extra Virigin is not a brand, it refers to the amount of refining done.) Olive oil is fantastic for your body.

10) Stop using bottled salad dressing. It's got that crap vegetable oil in it. That crap clogs your veins. You remember all that stuff about "good and bad cholesterol?" Well, vegetable oil is BAD cholesterol. Vegetable oil is on the same level as HFCS. You need to avoid both whenever you possibly can.

11) Opt for the BURGER at McDonalds, rather than the "Crispy Chicken" if you're going to eat there anyway. It's not fried in that heart-attack inducing "oil" crap, so it's actually more health conscious. (This is NOT an endorsement for fast food in ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. If you can AT ALL avoid the crap, DO SO. It WILL KILL YOU.) And if you're going to eat fast food, SKIP THE DAMN FRIES. Again, not because it's potato, but because it's fried in CRAP. (I just read the other day that the FDA is now investigating the fast food industry AGAIN, for their replacement material for Trans Fat, which was EXTREMELY DEADLY. The crap they're using now could actually be WORSE for you than Trans Fat. The studies are still in the preliminary stages, but why bother to risk it? You're trying to get healthy, right?)

12) Speaking of Trans Fat, avoid ALL PRODUCTS that claim to be "0g Trans Fat" or "Trans Fat Free." If they're mentioning trans fat on the label, it means there is STILL TRANS FAT IN IT. The FDA requires the amount be kept at a certain standard level (which I can't recall at the moment) to put that on their label. But if there is ANY trans fat contained, it MUST mention it. If it does, there's enough in there to KILL YOU SLOWLY. I had no idea just how bad trans fat was, but it literally will kill you. (I have to look for the article I read about it. When I find it, I'll post it up. Trust me, you won't be very happy.)

13) Stop worrying about counting carbs, or cutting down on protein, or whatever stupid fad diet they're pushing these days. Also, on that same note, stop worrying about pills that promise you will lose weight. Here's the thing: ALL OF THESE METHODS DO WORK.

What? Alio, didn't you just say DON'T do it? Now you're saying they work?

Yup.

They work just fine, for what they are designed for. To lose ridiculous amounts of weight in as short a period as possible. In short, they detroy your body inside, and the worst part is, once you go back to a "normal" life, you're going to blow back up, probably heavier than before. And in the end, you won't have lost much fat, but you will have lost muscle, and that's the exact opposite of what you want.

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Your body is constructed in a certain manner. I know I've already heard that "just because it works for one person, doesn't mean it will work for everyone."

Well, I think that's bull.

Now, I'm about to piss off some creationists, so you're going to have to just bear with me.

Think about this. Mankind, as "proven" by science is a couple hundred thousand years old. Even if we chose to only believe what we've been taught by religion, man has still been around for at least a few thousand years.

Evolution matters.

For the past, say, century and a half, man has had a much easier time acquiring food. Long before the introduction of McDonalds, and before the inventions of modern farming equipment, man had to "work" for his meals.

For the past few centuries, humans have been raising food on farms. That's hard work, but it's not "exercise" like you would do in a gym. Previous to farming, humans were hunters. Is it any wonder that images of Native Americans, and heiroglyphics on the walls in Egypt show slim, and muscular people, and NEVER fatasses? Why?

Because they hunted their food.

What is hunting? It's a full day of lying in wait for prey, and pouncing on it when the opportunity arises. There's no cardio there, with the possible exception of having to chase it once in a while. But again, this isn't traditional cardio.

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So WTF are you saying Alio? Go hunting? On a diet of multi-grain bread and water?

Not at all. I just want you to start thinking about all the bullshit you've been fed over the years.

So what do I suggest you do? Simple, start treating your body the way it was built to be treated. Better yet, treat it the way it EVOLVED to be treated. (See, the creationists are going to freak out now.)

Mankind spent many, MANY tens of thousands of years hunting his food. Regardless of any creation theories, we know this to be factual, from a scientific standpoint. It will take at least a hundred thousand years of steadily dying of heart disease from McDonalds before the human body evolves to digest it. I doubt you have the patience to wait that long. (Perhaps this is a better subject for the reincarnation thread :wink

So how do we do this? Well, the first thing, like I've said, is eat FIBER. Man ate berries and leaves early in his existence. Fruits and vegetables are critical to your long-term health, and that's the mindset you need to get into. A healthy lifestyle of proper nutrition, and exercise. They are not mutually exclusive.

Eat more protein. Everyone knows to eat more "white" meat than red. Do it. Eat chicken. Eat pork. And eat steak. Have a hamburger off the grill (but shy away from the hot dogs. It's just processed "parts.") Grilled food is good for you, and right now, with the warm weather, there is no excuse to not fire up the grill and cook up some burgers, or some chicken, pork chops, or a nice steak.

Don't be afraid of eating some fat. There's nothing wrong with it. Man has been eating the fat off of animals for thousands of years. You'll digest it. Just don't be ridiculous. (At the same time, EVERYTHING you eat should be in moderation, so this should not be a shocker.)

Eat CARBS. Your body NEEDS THEM. I can't believe this Atkins crap has been allowed to run as long as it has. Cutting carbs will allow you to lose weight fairly quickly, however, it will be because your body is digesting ITSELF. WTF?!?! Thanks, but I'll have the linguini. (Actually, pasta is VERY good for you. It will give you the carbs your body needs, plus is a source of fiber. Fellow Italians REJOICE!)

Stop eating processed products. I've already said it, but it bears repeating. "White" foods are no good for you. They're empty calories. You want to consume calories you can burn off, so why add unnecessary ones? (I admit, I still "cheat" and have sugar in my morning coffee, and a VERY occasional slice of cake. When I say VERY, I mean I've had exactly three slices of cake in this calendar year.)

Eat breakfast. I know, I know, you don't have the time. Well, neither do I. That's why I have a stash of granola bars in my desk drawer at work. Have one in the morning. Get that FIBER. If you have the time in the morning, have a bowl of oatmeal. (Personally, I'd rather stick with the granola bar, but that's me.)

CONSUME LESS. This is CRITICAL. I know, you're still hungry after the first serving, but that's because you've trained your stomach to "be" hungry. You've got to reduce how much you eat at each sitting, otherwise, this whole thing is worthless. As I've said, eat smaller snacks throughout the day.

You can have alcohol! Yes, you really can. Here's the thing though; you have to be smart about it. If you're doing your exercise every day, you can enjoy your life. If you aren't, then just give up altogether. If you're not going to commit to a simple exercise plan, then you aren't serious enough for it to matter anyway.

So as far as alcohol, what can you drink? First off, when you're out, drink hard liquor (without the soda mixed in, mix in sweet liquors instead. Or use club soda. Remember, the key in soda isn't the sugar, per se, as much as the HFCS,) or wine, or light beers. Of course, don't drink anything in excess. Getting a nice buzz is one thing, but if you're getting plastered, you're poisoning your body, and you're also setting yourself up for a "late-night snack" which is BAD.

Don't eat late (within an hour of bedtime, or longer for more than a light snack.) Not unless you feel like exercising first, which I don't advise right before bed. (You'll take forever to get to sleep, and good sleeping habits is something you're going to need to learn to have.)

Me personally, I've only had a few beers this year, and no hard liquor. I drink a glass of wine EVERY night with dinner though. The reason is two-fold. 1) I'm not drinking soda, so the flavor of wine with my food is all but necessary at dinner. It's my favorite meal, so I want to enjoy with something other than water. 2) The flavinoids are GREAT for your body.

Plus, wine helps my body relax, since I usually do a workout right before dinner. (It will make you VERY hungry, so you're going to want to schedule your exercise for before meals, trust me. But we'll get into that later.) If you choose to drink wine with dinner, don't get crazy. One glass is enough. Two once in while, maybe more if it's a special occasion. Otherwise, you're ruining the health benefits, and that doesn't make much sense.

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I mentioned sleep. Proper rest is important. I'll admit it, I have somewhat poor sleeping habits, but I've been making an effort to get better. There is enough quality research to prove that 7 to 8 hours is important for overall health. I know, it's hard to get 8 hours a night. We're all busy. But you have to try. (And trust me, after some of the soreness, you're going to want sleep.)

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I also mentioned working out before meals. I actually work out twice a day. Once in the morning before I shower for work (and I eat my granola bar once I'm at work, at which point my stomach is growling, but there's a lot of advice against this. It works for me, so I do it.) I also work out again right before, or if time doesn't allow for that, immediately after eating dinner.

Working out will immediately boost your metabolism. I've read a lot of advice that you should drink a post-workout smoothie. I don't. The reason being, immediately after your workout, your metabolism is boosted, so you're going to have that "hunger" in your belly, but also your glycemic response is at it's highest post-workout. This is supposedly a good time to indulge your "sweet tooth." If you want to have a nice smoothie, blend up some bananas, apples, orange juice, yogurt, whatever. Have that nice sweet drink. I can't really give you much advice on smoothies since I don't bother with them. I think I might have some recipies so I'll have to look. If anyone has any, feel free to post them up.

I just go directly to my dinner after my night workout. At that point, I'm freaking hungry anyway, so it works out for me. (Plus, my glass of wine satisfies that sweet craving at dinner, and my granola bar is yogurt coated in the morning, so that works there.)

There is some advice out there to avoid working out before you eat. Supposedly this consumes muscle, but I don't think that's the case. The one thing I do when I'm really hungry before dinner, and I go to work out, is to drink a glass of V8. I get the one with the blue label (Extra Antioxidants,) and I throw some hot sauce in it. I find that it helps me out, since the V8 is working inside my stomach while I'm working, and the hot sauce helps me work up a sweat faster. That's just something I do, and nothing required on your part.

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You need to commit to this program and be prepared to do it for the rest of your life. Yes, it sounds daunting, and it can be, except that you'll be extending your lifespan. It's always easy to say you don't have enough time to work out, but when you run out of time, it doesn't really matter what else you had to do anymore, does it?

There is one fundamental truth, that regardless of anything else, is absolutely true: there is no "magic pill." No pill, or fab diet, or powder you can buy in GNC is going to give you washboard abs and have you walking around with your chest puffed out. You could start pumping steroids, but do you really want to do that? I don't know about you, but I like my penis.

Again, all of these magic answers carry one common problem. When you stop, you're in worse shape than you were to begin with. Your body will be digesting its own muscle, so what good is it? The most important thing about this plan is to build muscle mass. Muscle is hungry. It needs much more nourishment than fat does. The more muscle you build, the more your body is going to become a fat-burning furnace. This is exactly what you want. (And the best part, once your body is burning more fuel every day, you'll be able to eat even more without any sense of guilt. It's working for me, and it will work for you.)

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So, we've talked about the things you need to eat, and how to eat them. We've talked about the nasty crap out there, both in your food, and on the shelves of the stores purporting to help you out. We've discussed getting proper rest, and the effect of different alcohols. We've touched on the best times to work out. So you're ready to go now, right? Oh wait, we forgot the best part! The actual EXERCISE.

Cardio

I've mentioned elsewhere that traditional cardio is worthless. Well, that's not ENTIRELY true. Here's the thing with traditional cardio. It's good for burning away calories, but it doesn't promote muscle growth, and that's what we're trying to get to. We want that furnace firing hot every day, and traditional cardio doesn't give you that. It'll burn off calories, sure, but only while you're actually doing it.

What do I mean by "traditional cardio" is probably what you're asking right about now. Well, it's simple. Jogging, running the treadmill, hitting the stationary bike, or the eliptical. Those are all traditional cardio. You get your heart rate up, and you burn. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, if all you want is to be thin. Just hit the cardio hard every day, and you'll be thin as a rail. But that's not what you really want, is it?

I'll just take the liberty of assuming you're like me, and you want the kind of body that you can show off on the beach. We all want women to look at us and think "Damn, he's hot." It's vain, but screw it. Can you really deny that it's exactly what you want? I sure as hell won't.

The most common thing I've seen in reference to traditional cardio is this: look at track stars. The long distance runners are all emaciated. They have very little good looking muscle, if any. Now look at the sprinters. They look like tanks. The question is why?

Well, let's look back at the whole evolution thing. The human body has been conditioned over many millenia to do quick work. Quick strikes are all the hunt is about. What we want to do is replicate what the body is used to.

Now don't be mistaken, we're going to get our cardiovascular work in. The whole key to cardio is getting your heart rate up, and we're going to do that, we're just not going to do it the traditional way.

I have to put a disclaimer in here. For the first few months of my diet and exercise plan, I was riding the stationary bike every day for a half hour. I was riding my ass off, doing 12 kilometers (~7.5 miles) per day. So I did a lot of traditional cardio before switching to my current program. I lost a lot of weight doing that, but I wasn't building anything but some leg mass.

Now, I'm doing the current program, and I'm no longer "losing" weight, but I am converting my former fat weight into nice looking muscle. Plus, I am back to eating pretty much normally again. I HAVE to eat a lot now, since my body is burning so hot, it's constantly hungry.

I'm not going to tell you that you can't do traditional cardio. If you want to do it for a while, in combination with this program, go ahead. However, I'm going to give you some alternatives that, from my research, and some limited practice have shown me to be more effective.

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So how does this work?

First off, you probably want to know what equipment you need. The easy answer is: not much. Honestly, most of the time, I don't use any at all. However, I suggest you get a set of dumbells. They're not very expensive. I bought a 40lbs set of Everlast ones at Modells for about 40-50 bucks (I can't recall the exact amount right now.) It comes with 2 bars, 2x5lb and 2x2.5lb weights. I also purchased a set of pushup bars at Target cheap. I did buy a chinup bar as well, but I'm still not strong enough to use it. No biggie, I'll get there.

So what are the exercises, right? I know, I've written a lot, I warned you all I would.

The short answer is: it depends. You normally hear that you shouldn't work the same muscle groups every day. That's only true if you're not getting enough rest. I'm still not even getting enough rest, and I still work all my muscles every day. Your muscles will be more tired if you aren't getting enough rest. I can only do so much "real work" right now, before my body gets tired. If I were getting enough rest, this would be no big deal. I am still MUCH stronger today than I was 6 months ago though, and that's half of what I want. I'm more concerned with how I look than how strong I am. I'm vain, I admit it.

The first thing you HAVE TO DO is warm up. Don't take shortcuts. Spend 5 minutes getting your muscles prepared for work. Flex them, all of them. Every muscle you can flex, do it.

Shake your body.

Swing your arms by keeping your feet planted, and twisting back and forth at the hip. Your arms should swing on their own.

Roll your shoulders. Basically, standing straight up, with your arms straight down, pull your shoulders up then in front of you, down, and to the back. All of this in one fluid motion. (For those of us who work on computers, this is a great reliever of the tension that builds during the day from typing.)

Start working on touching your toes. You're not going to do it yet, but get started on getting there. Feel the stretching in your hammies.

Bend a leg at the knee so that your heel comes up to your ass. Grab your ankle with the same side's hand, and pull. You'll feel the muscles in your front thigh stretch.

Reach for the sky. Stretch your whole body and try to touch the ceiling.

I know, this stuff sounds goofy, but you're in your living room. Who's going to laugh? That's the great thing about this workout. You're standing in front of the tv, just getting your body in shape with no one around. You can make a total ass out of yourself, and there's no one there to be embarassed in front of.

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Now that you're warm, get ready, because you're about to hate me.

Your choice of exercises is really up to you. I'll go over what a typical workout is for me, and you can decide what to do for you.

The part that's going to have you hating me, and you'll understand why you don't need traditional cardio, is the pace. Now the original format of this system is to do as many reps as you can in the span of 20 seconds, and then follow that with 10 seconds of rest, then move to the next set. The way I do it is to just decide on a number of reps for each set as I do them, with no rest in between.

You're going to work for a measly 10 minutes.

What?!?! Alio, you're an idiot. How the hell am I supposed to get a full workout into 10 minutes?

Like I said, you're not getting ANY rest. This is where the cardio comes from.

I'll give you this morning's workout as an example.

10 Squats (widely accepted as the best exercise. With your arms folded across your chest, bend your knees and bring your ass down until you're "sitting" in the air. Push back up. Be careful while first starting out. You probably won't get to a full sitting position. That's fine. Just concentrate on getting down as far as you can, without falling backward. The entire exercise, both up and down, your abs should be held tight. You have to work to keep them tight, but you should not bend at the back at all during this exercise.)

10 Pushups (on my knees. Trust me, use your knees. If you aren't already in shape, this will make them far easier to get through, and you're going to be doing more than enough. You want to get in the work, not exhaust yourself needlessly.)

10 Crunches (where I bring my knees up to my elbows, then straighten out my legs away from myself. Don't let them touch the floor. Your abs should constantly be supporting the weight of your legs unless your knees are touching your elbows. This is one of the few effective lower abs exercises.)

20 Bicycle Crunches (I have no idea what these are actually called, but my wife introduced me to them. They work your love handles. Lying on your back, bring your legs up so that it looks like you're sitting in a chair. Now come up with your elbows bracing the back of your head, just like regular crunches. Twist your uper body so that your left elbow moves towards your right knee, while bringing your right knee toward the left elbow. At the same time, your left leg should be kicking away from you. Do the same with the other side of your body.

10x2 Lunges. (Put your left foot out in front of you. Bring your right foot back. Keep your back as straight up and down as you can, and tighten your abs like the squats. Bring your body forward putting all of your weight on your left leg, while bending your knee. Use your leg to push yourself back up. Do ten, then switch legs for another set of 10.)

10x2 Obliques work. (Another exercise I don't know the name of. This one is rather simple. Stand straight up, feet slightly apart. Put your right hand behind your head, drop your left hand straight down to the side. Bend your upper body so that your right elbow comes up and is pointing at the ceiling. Then use your obliques (love handles) on your right side to "pull" your torso back up straight. Repeat the entire set, then switch sides of the body.)

20 Jumping jacks. (This is the closest to cardio as you're coming with this.)

That's the end of the first cycle. Now without any rest time move into the next cycle. (and you should not have rested at any point yet either. You should be starting to feel your body heat up, and your heart should be beating a bit.)

The key is variety in number. This is fooling your body into believing you are doing actual labor, rather than exercising. That's what the body was built for. Periods of intense activity, none of which is the same from moment to moment. I change the order of exercises too, just to assure that there is no risk of my body falling into a routine.

8 Pushups
8x2 Lunges
8 Crunches
8 Bicycle Crunches
8 Squats
8x2 Obliques
20 Jumping Jacks

I got through my third cycle in the 10 minutes this morning, your initial results may vary.

6 Lunges
6 Bicycle Crunches
6 Pushups
6 Squats
20 Jumping Jacks
6x2 Obliques (I ended with those because they are easy.)

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Just as I stressed doing your warmups, you have to cool down too. Shake it up again. Stretch out those muscles again. Flex a bit. Just get your muscles to keep from tightening up. If you take 3-5 minutes on each round of stretching, you should spend a total of about 12-15 minutes total on this workout. Yes, not even a half hour! Sounds easy right? Try it. Then tell me it's easy. :wink:

Your heart should be pumping pretty well from this. And your body is going to be sore tomorrow. You're going to have to deal with that for a while. After a couple weeks, you won't feel it like that anymore. You'll get that "good soreness." That's a great feeling, since it feels a lot more like you just don't want to stop. I love that feeling!

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Now that series was my morning run. I'm always mixing up the number of reps. I know Jtuds had asked about changing the exercises you do every 6 weeks or so. The answer is: not necessarily. Usually professsionals advise you to change up your routine so it doesn't become stale and boring to you. Boredom is the ENEMY. You MUST keep enthusiastic! If it takes a radical change of pace to do that, then do it. Just keep working!

The other reason is so that your muscles don't get into habits. I don't recall the exact term for it, but basically if you do the same exact routine, day in and day out, meaning, same exercises, in the same order, for the same number of reps and sets, your muscles will just "get used to it" and stop growing. It's basically the same sort of thing as walking the same distance every day, at the same pace. Your body will just grow accustomed to it, and it won't "need" to get stronger to compensate.

That's the point. You want to keep pushing your body. Every time you push your body, your muscles get stronger. Again, we go back to "man as hunter." The only way for the hunter's body to stay in shape to continue to conduct effective hunts was to stay strong.

That's why my workouts vary each time I perform them. Some days I skip one of the exercises. Some days I'll add something. I'll always change the order I do them in, and I always vary the number of reps per set.

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So that was my morning. It's only 10-15 minutes tops out of my day. For me, that's become "not much." When I first started my routine, I was dedicating 45 minutes a day to working out. I'd push the half hour on the bike, then I'd do some light weight work for the last 15 minutes. When I say light, I mean I was basically stretching with 5lbs in my hand.

I've already discussed not bothering with traditional cardio. I stand by that. As King Koopa said, and it's something I had already written here, since it's something that I've seen a lot in my research, you want to be a sprinter, not a marathoner. Look at long distance athletes: bikers, marathoners, etc. Except for swimmers, they are emaciated. Do you really want to go to the beach, take off your shirt, and show off your rib cage to the ladies? I doubt it. Don't worry, me either.

On the other hand, do you want to look like an Olympic sprinter, with muscles bulging? If you answered, "Hell Yes!" then you don't want to spend that half hour on the bike every day. Does that mean you shouldn't do any sort of running, or riding a bike, or whatever? No, it doesn't. Do you have to do any? I say no, and I back that up with a lot of my research of successful programs.

However, if you really want to, here's a few great options you can use:

1) If you want to run, sprint. Do 50 or 100 yard dashes. No long distance. I know I've seen guys say to do things like run uphill, then downhill, for the interval work. I say you don't necessarily need to. Can you? Of course. There's nothing wrong with it, per se. But you don't have to. Run 50 yards as hard as you can. Stop, rest for 30 seconds, then do it again. Do 5-10 of them, and your heart will be beating out of your chest. There's your cardio, and you're right back in front of your home already. Not even 10 minutes. Not bad at all, huh?

2) Play handball or raquetball (sp?) The stop and go motion is exactly what you want to be doing. Just make sure you stay hydrated.

3) If you have access to a stationary bike, ride it HARDCORE for 45 seconds. Then rest for 45 seconds. Repeat this 5-10 times. When I say hit it hardcore, ride it as hard as you can. I'm actually going to be introducing this into my evening work soon, since I think it's a great idea. (With the warm weather though, I'm debating doing the sprints for the next few months instead, then doing this in the colder weather.)

4) Mountain bike. This is probably the hardest option for most people. Firstly, there's the expense of the bike. Secondly, you have to have somewhere where you can do the actual work. The key is for it to be a tough ride. Hills, and such followed by periods of just gliding down hills is along the same lines with the "quick burst" methodology.

5) Swim. But you have to do it like the running. OR, change up the stroke. Do a freestyle for a lap, then a butterfly, then a backstroke. Swimming is a great exercise, as it uses so many muscle groups at the same time, but it's hard to get access to an adequate pool for most people.

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So now I'll talk about what I do in the evening. Since I do bodyweight exercises in the morning (because of time constraints,) I take the extra few minutes in the evening to do weight work. Nothing complicated. As I said, I only have dumbells. Here's my workout tonight:

10x2 curls. Sitting in a chair, while holding my abs tight (very key here, hold those abs TIGHT.) Start with the dumbell on the floor. Get a solid grip on the bar, and curl it fully. On the way down, rest your elbow on the inside of the thigh, and let the weight down. Don't let your elbow lock straight. Keep it slightly bent at the maximum low point. Bring it back up to your shoulder, and repeat for the set. At the end of the ten, put the weight back on the floor. Switch to the other arm. When complete, put the weight back on the floor.

10x2 presses. (I don't know what these are called either.) Without resting, switch back to your original arm, get a good grip on the bar, and quickly bring it up (remember your ABS,) until your arm is straight up over your head. Now bring your upper arm down while bending your elbow. At the low point, your elbow should be straight out to the side, with your hand pointed up at the ceiling. Push the weight back up until your arm is straight, and repeat for the set. When the set is done, put the weight on the floor, and switch arms. At the end, the weight ends on the floor again.

8x2 curls. Same as the first group. Do it exactly the same, weight on the floor, all the way up, into the set.

8x2 presses. Same as above.

(The current weight I'm using for the dumbell is 20lbs for the above exercises.. I started with just the bar in the beginning. Just do as much as you can. The last rep in the set should be difficult to do, but not impossible, every time.)

10 squats. This time, you're doing it with the weight. I don't start with the weight on the floor for this. I just spread my legs into a V, and dangle the weight, using one hand to grip the bar, and the other hand griping that hand. Again, and I can't stress this enough, keep those abs tight!

10x2 lunges. Same as the bodyweight ones, but hold the dumbell in the hand on the inside. so if your front foot is your left, you'll have the weight in your right hand.

Go back to the first four sets in reverse order now.

8x2 presses.
8x2 curls.
10x2 presses.
10x2 curls.

Now repeat the squats and lunges.

8 squats.
8x2 lunges.

10x2 Obliques. You'll have your right hand behind your head, and holding the dumbell with your left. Do the ten, then switch sides.

Obviously, you should be warming up and cooling down here, just as you should before and after any exercise work. If you don't you risk injury, which will take you right out of your program, and that's as bad a thing as can happen at this point.

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Remember, each day, you want to change the number of reps, and the order you do them in. Also, feel free to substitute other exercises. The biggest key is DON'T REST. OR, you can do the timing method (20 seconds, as many reps as possible, then 10 seconds of rest.) I don't do the timing method. It's your choice really.

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I'm planning on starting to add some supersets to my workouts soon. Basically, these are just combination exercises. One I'm really interested in doing, but I'll need to invest in a barbell set, is squat presses. You start with the bar on the floor, bring yourself down into a squat, pull the bar straight up, come up out of the squat, and press the bar up and over your head. Come back down into the squat, while bringing the bar down to your chest, then repeat. Supersets are not recommended until you've been working out for a while.

Don't go crazy and hurt yourself. Get your body working first. Don't try to mimic my actual workouts. You WILL be in pain the next day. You're going to want to be in minimal pain because you're going to do the same thing again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and so on. I know, I know, you've always heard that you shouldn't work the same muscle groups every day. The reason you shouldn't is because they need proper rest to heal properly. When you exert your muscles, the fibers tear. With rest, those fibers heal, and become stronger. With REST. Remember what I said about getting sleep, that's the key. Get your body the proper rest, and your muscles will heal just fine. Don't forget our primitive hunter. He was out every day hunting. There was no worrying about the muscle groups. But keep in mind, once the sun went down, and the fire burned down, it was DARK. He went to sleep. (Well, maybe he got some of that "best" cardio first, but still.)

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Well, there you have it. So get to work. I want to see you guys busting your asses. This is hard work, but it's barely a half hour of your day, and it's not even a straight half hour. This program leaves zero room for excuses. Yes, you're going to feel sore for at least the first few days, but you'll live. After a while though, it's going to lead to "good soreness," which feels good.

 

You know, I believe I remember that about olive oil. Thanks for the call out. I don't want to go making people sick.

No problem putting in the time. As long as people use it. I'll sacrifice the stamina for the tone, since I'm not trying to run a marathon. :wink:

 

I don't chew a lot of gum, but thanks for that call out too. I'm not perfect, and it's good that guys are catching things I may not have been spot on about.

My preferred method of getting around tweener hunger is eating some nuts. Just a small handful is enough to tide me over for a couple hours.

 

Remember, you don't need a gym to take advantage of this. Hell, you can do the bodyweight exercises in the living room while watching the game. And if you have even light dumbells, you can do those in front of the tv while you're not doing anything as well.