In the last 10 years the marathon world record has been broken, the 100m sprint record has fallen, we’ve jumped higher, thrown longer and lifted heavier than ever before.
We’re at the peak of human evolution – we know more about food science, physiology and recovery than ever before and we’re STILL fatter than at any other point in our evolution.
HOW CAN THAT BE?
The reason is relatively simple;
We’re destroying the natural balance of our bodies with crap food, too much stress and inefficient training
But, the answer is slightly more complex, however over the next 1,300 words (about 3 minutes of reading time) you’ll have some answers to take away and implement TODAY.
Strength Training To Shred Up
Stronger people are harder to kill, and more useful in general. They look awesome with their clothes on because the fill them out in the right places (shoulder and arms, not chest and belly) and can strip off at a moments notice without fear or self consciousness.
Building a great strength training plan is simple.
Do a big movement like a squat, follow it up wit two similar movements (like front squats and sumo deadlifts) and finish the workout with one or two more isolated variations (like lunges and leg curls)
Or a bench press followed by dumbbell bench and incline press, with some dumbbell rows and flys.
Or deadlifts, stiff leg deads, bent over rows, pulldowns and reverse flys.
Whatever plan you follow, once it’s progressive and focuses on compounded movements (that’s ones that use lots of muscles at the same time) you’ll see rapid progress.
On a hormal level, you’ll see massive bumps in growth hormone, testosterone and IGF-1 release (all things that will help you lose fat and build muscle) AND you’ll see improvement insulin sensitivity because your body is being forced to tap into stored energy during the workout.
That is literally CRAZY important, because it means in future (like during your sprint sessions) it’ll make it easier for your body to liberate bodyfat for energy!
Quick Cheater Cardio
Look at the finish line of any 5k, 10k or marathon – there’s lots of fat people who manage to get it done.
Of course they’ve put in a tone of work, and fair play to them for that, but it’s instructive.
If yogging (that’s how I want you to say jogging from now on) was the best way to lose weight, then you’d only have to run for longer to be leaner. But we both know that’s not the case.
It CAN work, but it’s not the most effective way for you to go over the next 28 days.
Enter, hill sprints.
..and make sure they’re hill sprints, not on the flat.
(the reason for that by the way is because there’s less impact on your joints and muscles so you recover faster and there’s less risk of injury)
Hill sprints (and sprinting in general) will do 3 things;
- Ramp up your heart rate FAST so you keep burning calories even after you’re finished training
- Increase lactate levels so more growth hormone and testosterone are released (which means faster fat loss)
- And, force your body to use stored muscle glycogen for fuel, which will increase insulin sensitivity which means you can tap into fat stores easier, and when you do eat carbs they’re less likely to be converted to fat
I want you to find a hill 40-60m long (even 20-30m would do) with a relatively shallow incline (if you’re a complete nutter, feel free to run a steeper hill).
Do a good comprehensive warm up, and a few runs up at 50-75% intensity.
Then it’s time to go HAM.
Sprint up as fast as possible, keep running ALL the way to the top, walk back down and be ready to go 45-60s later.
Do that 5-8 times on day 1 (say Tuesday), add a rep on day 2 (say Thursday), and keep trying to gradually bump up the volume over the next 28 days.
By the end of 28 days you’ll have done 8 sprint sessions, and should be up around 13-16 repeats.
Why Toxins Stop You Losing Weight
Your grandmama was more right than she was wrong bro. She was right to distrust packaged food. If it comes in a brightly coloured cardboard box, lives in the freezer or has more than 5 ingredients, some of which you can’t pronounce – it’s probably screwing up your hormonal system.
See those foods are full of toxins and antinutrients. One of the lesser know facts about fat is that your body uses it as a toxin storage site. It’s like a hidden lock up for stolen cars.
They’re still there, they haven’t gone anywhere, and if you open the door a whole pile of crap comes pouring out.
There’s a logical follow on there – when you eliminate the storage site (fat cells), you open the doors and the toxins come pouring back into your blood stream.
So why can it be so hard to lose fat sometimes? Because your body doesn’t want to be put in the dodgy position of having a load of toxins rumbling around in your circulatory system.
It’s one of the reasons why better quality good (ie more natural), detox’n and a high antioxidant diet is so important when trying to lose bodyfat.
Again that sounds complicated and grim, but the solution ain’t too hard;
- eat 3 meals per day
- have 2 healthy snacks per day (like nuts, fruit, a quest bar or a protein shake)
- try to keep your meals limited to white meat for 5 out of the 7 days, with rice/sweet potatoes and green/colourful vegetables
- have 2 days of red meat at the weekend, and for ½ a day on Saturday or Sunday relax a bit and have a bit more food
BONUS: Play The Brain Game
There’s this hormone called cortisol – it’s the “stress” hormone and it’s one of the main reasons why you’re storing fat around your stomach. It’s responsible for the breakdown of muscle tissue and along with its friend insulin, it stops you using stored body fat for energy (ie no matter how hard you try and exercise you won’t lose weight).
So we gotta limit that as much as possible.
But how?
By bookend’n your day wit this simple drill.
First thing in the morning, and last thing at night, name;
- 1 thing you’re grateful in your life (eg someone or something)
- send love to one person (friend, family, co-worker etc)
- name 1 upcoming challenge you’re looking forward to (training, meal prep, a new project in work – whatever)
You’re trying to train your brain to look for the good, rather than the bad.
And if your day is going shit at lunch time – just do it again.
In closing – we can make it as easy or as hard as we want to, but if over the next 28 days you;
- ate 3 meals per day with 2 healthy snacks
- strength trained 3-4x per week
- do 2 12-15 minute sprint sessions per week
- and, bookend’d your day by being grateful for the things you have, and looking forward to tomorrows challenges
…then I guarantee you’d hit next month happier, healthier, more confident and more positive.
Keep an eye out over the coming days on facebook for a complete video series and ebook delving deeper into the depths of these issues and exactly what you need to do to overcome them.