I learned a valuable lesson during my early years as a trainer: changing a person's eating habits is the most difficult of all obstacles that a trainer faces.
It's true. I mean, it's really true. Since I'm not interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology, I realize that I'm not going to be very effective at changing some people's eating habits. I can talk 'til I'm blue in the face, but I can't control what a person does outside of the gym. So that leaves me with the training portion of a client's life: something I can control.
I'm primarily known for my performance and muscle-building programs, but the majority of people who contact me also want fat loss. During my initial consultation, I tell them that if they want to lose fat they have two choices:
They almost always choose option "A." Big surprise, right?
Nevertheless, my mama didn't raise a cat's-paw. Whenever I feel like they're not following my nutritional plan, I mandate that they undertake the following program. If they don't agree, they're out.
My success depends on how my clients perform and look, and I take that very seriously. (For all you trainers out there, you must be steadfast with your principles. Your future depends on it!)
It's been said that you can't out-train a poor diet. I like this advice. No, scratch that, I love this advice because you can't go wrong if you always remember it.
However, it's not entirely true. Thousands of people out-train a poor diet every day: they're called professional basketball players. In fact, you could throw many professional tennis and soccer players into this mix too.
I've spent considerable time with basketball players at the collegiate and professional levels. One thing that always amazes me is how shitty their eating plans are when you consider their leanness. Whenever I consult with basketball players over lunch, I'm mesmerized by the amount of starchy-carb and fat-laden foods they pack away. It's a paradoxical situation. How can this be?
Simple, they expend a huge amount of calories each day during the season. A typical day for an in-season collegiate or professional basketball player involves at least two hours of continuous activity on the court. What do you think would happen to your body fat levels if you were forced to play full-court basketball for two hours every day?
Before I go any further, I want to say that a healthy eating plan is of paramount importance. The following info isn't your free ticket to eat like a teenager whose parents own a chain of pizza joints. However, sometimes we just don't want to think about our diets. Whether it's due to work, family, or school stressors, there are times when people don't want to worry about macronutrient ratios and esoteric food combinations.
After interacting with thousands of trainees, my intuitions are that it's easier to get a person to stick to a sound training program compared to a sound eating plan. Maybe I'm wrong, but motivated people such as the T-Nation crowd don't need to be coerced into going to the gym. However, even the most diligent trainees, on one occasion or another, tend to fall off the nutritional tracks when the train of life loses its steam.
But fret no more; I've got a program that'll burn fat, even if your nutritional program isn't ideal!
This article isn't intended to focus on your diet; however, 60% of your meals must follow sound nutritional guidelines such as those recommended by Drs. Lowery and Berardi.
I've found that most trainees who follow exercise regimens are pretty good at eating a decent meal at least half the time. Nevertheless, half the time isn't good enough; you must consume a healthy meal at least 60% of the time.
So if you eat five meals per day, you're consuming 35 meals each week. Of those 35 meals, 21 must be healthy and balanced. If all of your meals are bad, it's time for you to take a hard look at your priorities in life.
The other 40% can consist of meals that aren't quite up to nutritional par – average, if you will. However, a dozen Krispy Kremes isn't a viable option. What I'm referring to as "average" nutritional meals are meals that aren't perfectly balanced in carbs, protein, and fat. A cheeseburger without fries is a good example of an average meal, or a few slices of thin crust pizza, or a chicken burrito with guacamole. You get the idea.
Anyone can benefit from this program! Those who don't follow a perfect diet will lose fat, and those who do follow sound nutritional guidelines will lose even more fat! Nevertheless, your current body fat will determine how well you respond to this program.
This program is specifically intended for males who have more than 12% body fat, and for females who have more than 20% body fat. These numbers represent the majority of the fitness-training community. Sure, there are extremely lean and very obese individuals, but in either case, their eating plan must be the primary focus.
Think of the typical bell-curve distribution. That big portion in the center of the curve represents males with more than 12% and females with more than 20% body fat.
So if you're a male with more than 12% body fat or a female with more than 20% body fat, the following program will drop your body fat 1-2% per month. These recommendations are by no means unrealistic; I've done it with clients so many times that I've lost count.
However, you must be diligent with this training plan. Come hell or high water, you must do these workouts exactly as I prescribe. I'm letting you slack on your diet, but if you also slack on your training plan, you'll get nowhere.
First and foremost, this fat-loss plan is possible because of the exercises I select. There will be no single-joint exercises and no seated exercises whatsoever. Every single exercise on this program is very challenging. I'm giving you fair warning.
Overall, you'll be using big, compound movements that recruit hundreds of muscles at a time. In addition, you'll be using a myriad of heart-pumping drills that'll boost growth-hormone and burn fat.
Oh yeah, and you can't sit down at any point during the sessions! In other words, the metabolic cost of each session will be very high. Without a huge metabolic demand during the workout, you'll never lose fat without changing your diet.
Here are the best supplements for optimizing your results on this program:
Now, what you've been waiting for! Are you excited? Well, don't get too excited. Even though it might seem counterintuitive, I've found that "eager beavers" are usually setting themselves up for failure.
It happens at the beginning of every year. People say, "I'm going to start exercising for an hour every day. I'm going to hire a trainer and I'm going to eat right. I'm excited!" By February, they've usually quit.
Here's how your thought process should go:
"I'll likely encounter many obstacles that'll keep me from succeeding on this program. Nevertheless, I will be diligent."
This program must be a part of your daily life. You don't ever skip out on brushing your teeth, do you? Well, your training program should be just as important, maybe more important! After all, your body and health depend on it. You can get your teeth fixed much easier than you can fix a damaged cardiovascular system! Okay, enough with the shrink talk.
Here's the good news: you don't need to spend 3-4 hours in the gym to lose fat without dieting. Here's the program!
Off!
Repeat the cycle
I'm expecting somewhat of a backlash for writing this program. I say this because I'm sure there will be talk that accuses me of undermining the value of a healthy eating plan. That's simply not true.
What I'm saying is this: if you aren't extremely lean, this program will get you leaner without dieting. However, if you're a male with say, 8% body fat, you can't get to 6% without putting some serious effort into your nutritional plan.
As paradoxical as it might seem, my primary motivation for writing this program is to encourage people to follow the nutritional advice posted on T-Nation. That's because it's often best to tackle one issue at a time. It's very easy to overwhelm people when you throw a couple dozen different training and nutritional principles at them.
My goal is to get people leaner, which will, in turn, motivate them to stay leaner. The only way to stay lean and healthy is to follow sound nutritional guidelines. And, of course, an effective exercise plan is part of the equation.
This program is, without a doubt, the most challenging routine I've ever written. You'll be constantly sore during the first few weeks – suck it up and train through it. If you want to out-train a poor diet, you can do it, but it takes a lot of work and dedication.
Now, it's time for you to hit the gym!
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