-Follow This Program at Your Own Risk-
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- This program contains general information about health and fitness. It is not intended as an alternative to the advice of your doctor. You must not rely on the information in this program as an alternative to health advice from your doctor or any licensed health care professional.
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- You should never delay seeking medical attention, disregard health or fitness advice, or commence or discontinue any physician-prescribed treatment or health plan because of information in this program.
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- The information in this program should be understood “as is." A Shot of Adrenaline and Todd Kuslikis make no representations or warranties in relation to the health and fitness information in this program.
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- If you have any specific concerns about any health matter, you should consult your doctor or a licensed health care professional immediately.
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- By participating in the Bodyweight Overload program you agree to not hold AShotofAdrenaline.net or Todd Kuslikis responsible for any injury, health or other medical problem that may arise.
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*If you participate in the Bodyweight Overload program, you do so at your own risk.
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Disclaimer
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Copyright Bodyweight Overload 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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No part of this ebook or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-along materials.
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Commercial use and distribution of the contents of the ebook is not allowed without express and prior written consent of the author.
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Table of Contents
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Hi, My Name is Todd..."...........................................................................8" Why I Created This Program..."............................................................16" What’s Wrong with the Other Systems? !.........................................................17! Is this Program for You? Reality Check...!........................................................19!
How to Get the Most Out of this Program...".......................................21" Program Overview...!..........................................................................................21! Three Core Principles Applied in a Unique Way to Give You Results:!.........21!
How The Program Is Structured: ".......................................................22" Introduction: Why Is It Called Bodyweight Overload?!...................................22! Maximizing Exertion !.........................................................................................22! Bodyweight Overload Diet Program: Restriction = Results!.........................23! Bodyweight Overload Meal Plans!....................................................................23! Getting Started Quick Tips!................................................................................23!
Six-Week Bodyweight Overload Training Overview".........................32" Three Key Principles of this System:!...............................................................32!
Bodyweight Overload Workout Plan: "................................................35" Weeks 1-3: Hypertrophy!....................................................................................35! Weeks 4-6: Strength!...........................................................................................35!
Bodyweight Overload Workout Split:".................................................36" Bodyweight Overload Full Workout Details:".....................................38" Six-Week Bodyweight Overload Diet Plan".........................................41"
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Refrigerator Guide!.............................................................................................42! Phase 1: Bodyweight Overload Diet Program!.................................................43! Bodyweight Overload Nutritional Principles:!..................................................44! Principle 1: If they didn’t Eat it 200 Years ago, Neither Should You!.............44! Principle 2: Keep Your Blood Sugar Levels Even!...........................................44! Principle 3: Restrict Calorically Dense Foods That Are Bad!.........................44! Principle 4: Eat the Colors of the Rainbow in Abundance!.............................45! Phase 2: Super Charging Your Fat Loss to Really Show Your Muscles!.......46!
Advanced Strategies to Help You Get Ripped & Carve Your Abs: ".48" List of Good Sources of Proteins:!....................................................................50! List of Good Sources of Fats:!...........................................................................51!
Bodyweight Overload Full Exercise List:"..........................................56" Chest/Back Exercises:!......................................................................................56! Shoulders/Bis/Tris Exercises:!..........................................................................62! Leg Exercises:!....................................................................................................69!
Final Thoughts…"..................................................................................74"
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Bodyweight Overload Introduction
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“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” -Napoleon Hill" "
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In order for anyone to become truly successful, you have to develop the "never quit" attitude. Consider the story of Soichiro Honda who, despite being turned down by Toyota for his new piston ring design in 1938, did not give up. He pawned his wife's jewelry instead and won a contract. Needing a factory with no building materials, he invented a new form of concrete, and despite losing his factory twice, once to war and once to an earthquake, he never quit. Today Honda employs over 100,000 in Japan and the US, all because of one man's commitment to his goals. Soichiro simply never considered giving up.
Have you faced adversity in your life? Of course, we all have. The reason I started this manual with the story about Honda is because you will face tremendous challenges during the Bodyweight Overload program. You will have cravings for foods you are not allowed to eat. You will sweat profusely from intense bodyweight workouts. People around you may even call you crazy for starting it. Remember, nothing worth having is ever easy. Determination, commitment and hard work are all essential ingredients of success. Think about how a diamond forms. Over the course of tens of thousands of years, an ugly, dirty mineral – coal – worth about $15 per thousand pounds, is transformed into a beautiful, expensive diamond. If you had a thousand pounds of diamonds, what would it be worth? The lowest-quality diamond, industrial diamonds, would give us a value of $6.8 million. Jewelry-grade diamonds would be worth into the billions. How does coal turn into diamonds? In short, with heat and... pressure. Pressure is what causes an increase in value. Pressure is the ingredient that we will be using to transform your body. Maybe you are 30 pounds heavier than you want to be. Or, perhaps you wish you had the muscular physique of a celebrity model. (To this day, I’m still infatuated with Brad Pitt in the movie “Troy.” Yup, male crush all the way!)
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Some people (although you are not one of them) think that life is better when they can just float down the river of life and enjoy whatever comes their way. They don’t realize that seeking a life of ease and avoiding pressure only makes things that were easy to do, more difficult. For example, I once had a client who weighed about 450 lbs. He gained the weight over the course of a few decades and now stays in his house all day except to buy groceries. Simple tasks like taking a walk around the block became physically and mentally challenging. When trying to motivate himself to do simple tasks he would think to himself, “I don’t really want to do it. It can wait for tomorrow. It’s not going to be the end
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of the world if it doesn’t happen today.” Well guess what? Tomorrow never came. He continues to gain weight, has Type II Diabetes, frequently complains of numbness in his limbs, and has missed out on much of what life has to offer. This is really sad to me.
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What makes me happy, though, is the fact that some people choose a different route. Some people dig their feet into the river soil and begin to feel the pressure of the current. They have difficulty balancing at first, but they try anyway. Their muscles flex as the river pushes against them. Then, they move one foot. Then, another. Before they know it, they are making it up the river.
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You are this person. You have invested in a program that will provide you the plan to getting your dream body. All the information needed to transform your body is here. Dig your heels in deep, my friend. See the river before you and find within yourself the desire to move beyond the pain, beyond the struggle, beyond the pressure. Realize that over time a unique, beautiful, invaluable diamond will form.
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Hi, My Name is Todd...
Boy, did I get ahead of myself. You may be wondering, “Who the heck is Todd, anyway?” Before we move forward on this journey, let me introduce myself... eh em... Hi! My name is Todd and I have always been skinny.
That’s me.
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I hated eating and would frequently complain to my mom about stomach pains. I later found out that I was allergic to dairy and gluten. My most painful moments were after eating a bowl of Raisin Bran cereal. Ten minutes after eating; I would be curled up on the floor holding my stomach and in deep pain.
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But, I kept eating it. Maybe its the Lithuanian in me. My mom didn’t know that I was allergic and food allergies were not as common then as they are now. Some days would be worse than others. I think this is what made me a picky eater. I got to the point where eating wasn’t worth the risk of the pain I would feel after the fact. I often did not eat anything at dinner. My dad’s favorite story of me, as
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a kid is when we had a huge Thanksgiving dinner. There was a smorgasbord of options and my plate was completely bare; it didn’t even have to be washed.
My habits didn’t change much even as I entered high school.
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I ran track three out of the four years. My friend Tony was a bodybuilder and was huge. When he wore t-shirts they looked like they were sprayed on. You could see muscles on top of muscles. I knew that he spent a lot of time in the weight room so I tried the same. I would go to the local YMCA and pound the weights. I developed a little bit of muscle but nothing that people even noticed when I had my shirt on. I remember one time after track practice I took my shirt off and my friend Larry was like, “Dang! You’re ripped! I had no idea.”
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Hmmm.... although I appreciated the compliment, I didn’t want to be the “skinny guy that had abs.” I wanted to be the guy-with-mass AND abs that people would notice even with a shirt on. Body we ight O verload 9
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Yet, I always had such a fast metabolism that I couldn’t gain weight even when I wanted to. I tried weight gainers and protein powders, nothing worked. I even felt worse or more tired once taking these products rather than healthier, fitter, and more energized like they claimed.
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I resigned myself to the fact of being skinny...at least for a little while.
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Summer 2010 I had the classic skinny and untoned look even though I was always working out. I can’t believe how boney I look especially here.
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Principle #1: Failing Forward is the Only Way to Succeed"
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Fast forward to my college years. My first major business endeavor was a massive failure. I started a company called, WorkIN Gym while in nursing school. The idea of the company was to connect people who wanted to work out in the comfort of their own homes with other people in their homes through live streaming video. We would then help them do their workouts by streaming live celebrity trainers that would lead them through Yoga, Pilates, Spin Classes, etc. You could see your trainer and your friend but still stay in the comfort of your own home. Great idea, huh? I thought so too. So, instead of doing my nursing homework, I spent my time creating business and marketing plans, pitching potential investors and talking about WorkIN Gym with whomever would listen.
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Only one year away from getting my Bachelors in Nursing, I dropped out with the intent to build my business full time. Three years later, I was out of money, out of a degree, with a dead end business and a mountain of debt. FAILURE 1.
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After a long reality check, I decided to quit and help manage the brands of two of NBC’s Biggest Losers (I had become friends with them through WorkIN Gym). Initially, it was great, but after six months, I realized I wouldn’t be able to sustain myself financially. FAILURE 2.
In the course of a short time, I tried my hand at a real estate listing business, a resume-building business, an online marketing firm, and a startup multi-level marketing business.
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However, each failure brought insight. Thankfully, I held on to this insight which gave birth to my first success...A Shot of Adrenaline. You are reading this because you have found this program, most likely through my website AShotofAdrenaline.net. We currently have up to about 1,500 unique visitors per day, have a 12,000-person subscriber list, and we’re generating revenue. Success 1!
! My Fitness Failures and What I Learned from Them... !
Guess what? My failures weren’t just business related. The last ten years I have consumed and contemplated dozens of fitness books and techniques desperately looking for the method that would grant me my ideal body. Every diet, every supplement and every workout plan failed to produce the end result
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I envisioned. Even the gym began being a pathway of failure as the heavy lifting was taking a toll on my body, especially my shoulder. My love for fitness was too great, there was no way I could just walk away. For me, bodyweight exercises was not only a solution but it became a calling. Success 2!
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You see, I have always been infatuated with the Youtube sensation Hannibal for King. I actually have a picture of him on my wall. I knew that he did calisthenics only exercises and that there had to be a missing link in my strategy.
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I decided to pour myself into learning what it took to gain size. I consulted with top bodybuilders on how they got big. They all pretty much shared the same thing... eat more.
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“Todd, if you want to get bigger you have to eat a surplus of Calories. That’s the ONLY way its going to happen. You have to get enough protein, carbs and fats as well as Calories. Of course, getting enough rest and working out is important but the area where most people fail is nutrition.”
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It’s like a light bulb went off in my head. For most of my life, I had been skinny and a very picky eater. My older brother, Tom on the other hand, was a beast. He was almost 2 years older than me and 6’5’’.
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A family picture of my brother Tom and me. The difference in our size is clear.
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Tom ate everything including the kitchen sink. He also played varsity basketball at the college level. His nickname was The Ogre because he was super strong in the post and could push people around like rag dolls.
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My brother, Tom, in college with my dad.
I always thought it was genetics. Tom was meant to be big and Todd was meant to be skinny. Yet as I compare us now I can tell that although he’s taller than I am, I’m “bigger” for my size.
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After learning that building mass had everything to do with eating... I felt reborn. I felt excitement and control over my size. I realized that I could choose a destiny that I wanted.
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A picture of me in the summer of 2013 posing for Ashotofadrenaline.net.
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The Bodyweight Overload program is the culmination of everything that I have learned, packaged in a simple-to-understand method of building muscle, fast. There is no B.S. contained in this program. Realize that you will not be able to do this program perfectly. That is ok. Fail forward. With each candy bar you eat or each missed exercise day, create a resolve to do better next time. The only way you can fail is if you quit.
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Principles are More Important than Accomplishments...
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You will probably realize that I didn’t start off with a list of my accomplishments. I don’t believe that accomplishments are important, rather it’s the principles you learn from those accomplishments. Principles change who you are. Accomplishments merely add a plaque to your wall or badge to your sleeve. At quick glance, here are the principles I have learned from some of the accomplishments in my life:
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Accomplishment: Certification in Nutrition, Personal Training, Herbal Medicine & Massage Therapy Principle Learned: Health is a prized gem that you must cultivate over time. It is not something to be taken for granted.
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Accomplishment: Obtaining my Masters in Public Administration Principle Learned: I learned to persevere even if you don’t fully understand why you are doing it. Always finish what you start.
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Accomplishment: Founding a successful Internet business Principle Learned: The greatest education you can have is the one of hard knocks. I learned more about determination and business through trial and error than from any course and book I have ever read.
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Accomplishment: Getting married to the love of my life Principle Learned: “Man was not meant to be alone.” I have learned what it means to be loved and to love someone more than I could ever love myself.
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Accomplishment: Hearing the heartbeat of my first child Principle Learned: As I write this, we are two months away from giving birth to our first child. A while back, I heard my daughter’s heart beat for the first time. It brought me to tears. I learned that this life is more than just an opportunity to achieve my own dreams. It is an opportunity to take care of and bless others.!
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Why I Created This Program...
“There are three million comedians out of work and you are trying to be one of them?” This is the question my dad would jokingly ask me after I cracked a wise comment whenever we were working together on a project. It could easily be applied to the fitness industry. Search the internet or go to the local bookstore and you’ll find countless diet and fitness programs to suit you, whether you are short, tall, fat, skinny or anything in between. Why create another one? Good question.
In the above introduction, I used the analogy of walking upstream against a current. This depiction gives you an image for how the next six weeks will be. However, it doesn’t help you adopt the mindset needed to push through the difficulty. One of the biggest problems with other programs is that all they do is provide you with a roadmap to follow. They think that it is enough to guarantee success. Some have taken a second step and built a community of like-minded individuals to help support you during the program. This is fantastic. Though – is it enough?
Health clubs capitalize on the fact that community and providing the right environment is NOT enough. In fact, 70 percent of all gym members don’t use their membership on a regular basis. The facility actually over-sells memberships because they know that most people will not use them. Now, I am not on a mission to destroy the gym industry. I am simply pointing out a fact that there is a missing element that I will be addressing in this program. What is this essential component?
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Sylvester Stallone frequently shares about his past desire to be in movies and the hundreds of agents he approached before getting his first role. After literally thousands of rejections, he wrote his own movie script. He was offered a large sum of money for the movie, but would not sell it until he was allowed to star in it. Perseverance paid off; the movie company wanted the movie script badly enough that they finally acquiesced and Rocky went on to be a major success.
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My wife and I just recently started a garden. We planted everything from cucumbers and tomatoes to kale and peppers. We planted the garden on the side of our house where there is rocky and sandy soil. Although we knew it wasn’t the ideal location, we didn’t have any other location so we tried it anyway. We tilled the ground, followed the directions on the seed packets and planted them. A couple of months later we had some good-looking plants and
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even saw the start of what would be our future harvest. We were excited. About this time, my friend brought over a self-watering container. (This is a system where you stack two buckets on top of each other, put water in the bottom bucket and “wick” the water from the bottom into the soil in the top bucket.) With this method you don’t need to water it as much because the soil naturally stays moist. We planted cucumbers and chamomile in these containers. About a month later, our cucumber plants in the self-watering containers had quickly outgrown the ones in the sandy, rocky soil by at least two times. They were larger, greener and were already producing cucumbers bigger than the ones that had been planted two months earlier. And the chamomile we planted was flowing over the sides of the bucket. We couldn’t stop it from growing even if we had tried! The cucumbers and chamomile in the self-watering containers had the right conditions to thrive: great soil, plenty of water and sunlight. The plants in the rocky, sandy soil were getting less water because the soil didn’t hold it, and fewer nutrients because there was little life in the soil.
I believe that adopting the right mindset is the key to success. The plan that I will lay out is one piece, but the bigger piece of the puzzle is what goes on between your ears. If your motivation doesn’t stay high, it doesn’t matter if Arnold himself created a workout plan for you. You are not going to do it. Your mind dictates action whether it is positive or negative. What you believe about yourself before you even begin this program will largely impact your results which is why I have some unique added components in this program that you don’t typically see in other programs. You’ll see what I mean shortly.
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What’s Wrong with the Other Systems? " ! ! There is nothing inherently wrong with the other systems. In fact, this program is a combination of the most successful programs. However, we live in a changing economy and the solutions that worked a while ago don’t necessarily work well today.
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Problem #1: Fitness Equipment
Have you ever purchased a piece of fitness equipment? Can you tell me where it is now? Let me take a guess.... basement? How about garage? I can tell you where it’s not. It’s more than likely, not in the same room where you work out. Your piece of equipment has the same fate as the majority of the others out there. Let me tell you something: the human body is the only piece of equipment you need. And holy moly you didn’t even need to purchase it on a late-night infomercial. The body is designed to move on several different planes in order to work all the synergistic muscles along with the primary ones. Body we ight O verload 17
When you work out using bodyweight exercises you also target the muscles from unique angles. Fitness equipment can’t do this. When you work out with a machine or piece of equipment you will inevitably reach a plateau, because the muscle will adapt to that plane of movement. When you continuously change up the angle, your body never has a chance to fully adapt, so your workouts are more effective.
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There is nothing inherently wrong with free weights. In fact, I will occasionally dust off my old weights and get my veins to pop out so far a blind nurse could find them. Bodyweight exercise enthusiasts often have an “Us vs. Them” mentality when it comes to exercising with weights. I am not one of these people. If you are working toward becoming a bodybuilder, then you must use weights in your routines. The problem that I have with weights is that they are not convenient and there is a greater chance of injury. If you are someone who frequently travels or likes to work out “on the fly,” having an arsenal of bodyweight exercises is much more convenient than dumbbells. Also, many people lack proper form when exercising with weights, so they end up getting injured. For example, I frequently used to lift weights at my local YMCA. After doing thousands of bench presses over a few years my left shoulder became injured. I often would push through the pain. What a fool! To this day, if I start regularly working out with weights my shoulder will act up. If I stick with bodyweight exercises, my shoulder gets really strong and it never bothers me.
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As mentioned before, 70 percent of gym memberships go unused. This is not necessarily the fault of the gym, though with such a staggering statistic you have to wonder about the cause. Could it be convenience? How about lack of privacy? Maybe it’s lack of motivation? Regardless of the issue, the gyms aren’t solving the problem for most people.
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Problem #4: Complexity
This is my biggest problem with other systems. Things have become so complex. They ask you to count calories or eat only at certain times of the day. The list goes on. Why have things become so complex? One of the greatest logicians who lived was named William Ockham. You may know his popular theory called “Ockham’s Razor.” Basically, it states that when choosing between competing theories, choose the simplest. The Bodyweight Overload
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workout system and diet plan is quite possibly the simplest and most effective program out there. !
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Is this Program for You? Reality Check... “You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind.” - Unknown!
The Bodyweight Overload program is designed for people who are ready to change. They are sick of the status quo and have tried numerous approaches to transforming their body. In the pages that follow and accompanying guides, I will share with you a powerful method of getting shredded quickly. It is simple to follow, low in cost and requires less time than most other approaches. You may be thinking, “Oh great! This is going to be easy!” I’m sorry, but it will not.
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This program is challenging. It is not for everyone. Only those who are truly ready to change will be able to fight against the current and make it up the stream.
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You will have to say “No” to things more often than not. Temptation will exist around every corner and you will need to resist.
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Many diet plans say you can eat whatever you want, if you just keep it in moderation. Others say you can eat pizza and donuts at certain times of the day or on specific days in the week. This is not one of those diets.
You will be restricting unhealthy foods 99% of the time and often feel deprived of the things that give you comfort. You will think to yourself, “Life is about enjoyment; why am I putting myself through this?” If you get past the first week or so your body will begin to transform internally. Your energy levels will shoot through the roof, your skin will clear up, your muscles will become stronger and tauter and your outlook on life will improve drastically.
An optimal diet is like premium fuel for your body. If you owned a Ferrari, would you choose to put low-grade fuel in it?
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While still studying Nursing at Western Michigan University, we had a guest speaker that changed my life.
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My classmates and I were all gathered in our lab classroom waiting for a guest speaker. The professor didn’t prepare us by telling who this person was, but simply said that our minds would be opened and barriers would be broken. Body we ight O verload 19
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Before long, a man named Matt drove into the classroom in a motorized wheelchair. It was easy to see that Matt was a quadriplegic. (This means that he was paralyzed from the neck down.) After situating himself, he began to tell us his story about being in an accident several years earlier that severed his spinal cord, making it impossible to move his body below his neck. After going through the stages of grief he resigned himself to his current condition and decided to get on with his life. Many people would have accepted that they couldn’t do as much as they used to do. Yet, in Matt’s case, something unique happened. Matt’s outlook on life totally shifted. He started to see opportunities he had never noticed before. Even though his physical capability decreased, his mental capacity increased... in amazing ways.
In a non-assuming, humble way Matt told us about some of the things he had accomplished. The first was becoming a prolific painter. His caregiver unveiled several paintings that he had created. My jaw dropped. These paintings could easily have been mistaken as photographs. The detail was exquisite. Matt said that when he painted he held the paint brush in his mouth. I was blown away. He also shared that he was working on his third Master’s degree. I was currently struggling with my studies at the Bachelor’s level, so this very much impressed me. However, the third accomplishment was especially inspiring. He told the class that he regularly hunted wild game in Africa. I had to clean my ears to make sure I heard him correctly. Hunted wild game in Africa?!
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Yep. He had a special motorized wheelchair that allowed him to connect a highpowered crossbow to it. He controlled the wheel chair and the crossbow with his mouth and had brought down gazelle, wild hogs and many other types of large game.
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He left us with a statement that echoed in my mind for years. He said, “I consider the accident a blessing. It wasn’t until after the accident that I truly started living.”
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I share this story with you because I believe that the only limitations we have in this life are the ones we create ourselves. “We can make a hell of heaven and a heaven of hell.” If you bought this program, but don’t believe you will be able to change, then this program is not for you. It starts with belief. It’s ok to be afraid. It’s ok to not know how. But it’s not ok to not believe. In the words of the late Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Do you believe in yourself?
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How to Get the Most Out of this Program...
In this program, you will be making radical changes to your diet and exercise practices. Although it will be fairly easy to understand what to do... applying it may be difficult. I recommend that you take a morning or afternoon and read through the entire program. It will take you a few hours. After reading it, reflect on whether you want to try it. The program is designed to bring massive change in your body composition and do it quickly, though it also requires massive changes in your habits.
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Program Overview...
If you are one of those people who gets excited about a new system, buys it and then doesn’t follow through on the recommendations, please stop here.
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Return this program and I’ll give you a full refund. I have designed the program for people who are serious about making a change in their life. This program is for someone who wants to change, but doesn’t know the right steps and is having difficulty finding the motivation to do it. If this is you, then continue on. I applaud you for taking the right steps and am looking forward to working with you.
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Three Core Principles Applied in a Unique Way to Give You Results:
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I have broken down the program into three core elements: restriction, exertion, and motivation. These are the keys to your success and the goal is to incorporate each of them into your life. The system will not work unless you have all three. This is not the same old “eat right and exercise” mantra that personal trainers have been blabbering for decades. I have exercised and consumed a whole foods diet for years and still didn’t achieve the body I desired. There are some very specifics ways of applying these principles that will bring you results. I’ll get more depth on “how to” later in the program, but for now, remember that the key that unlocks the golden gate to the body of your dreams is R.E.M. (Restriction, Exertion and Motivation).
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How The Program Is Structured:
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Introduction: Why Is It Called Bodyweight Overload?"
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The first part of the program (what you are reading) is designed to lay out the structural outline of the program. The reason it is called Bodyweight Overload is because it uses only bodyweight exercises, but uses principles of muscle overload to bring faster gains. By following this system, you will be blown away by how much your body will transform. If you follow it for a second month, you will see even more dramatic results. The goal of the program is bring you results quickly, so you stay motivated and continue on with the plan.
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The Bodyweight Overload workout plan will lay out the exact exercises and techniques you need to implement in order to build muscle without using weights. I have assimilated the most effective techniques used by top professional bodybuilders and applied them to bodyweight exercises.
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Bodyweight Overload Diet Program: Restriction = Results
The godfather of fitness (and my personal hero) Jack Lalanne once said, “Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen.” Although I probably would have flipped them so that nutrition was king, they both are critically important. The Bodyweight Overload Diet Program is a unique approach in that it follows the principle of Restriction. By restriction I don’t mean eating less. I mean not eating certain foods. I will lay out exactly what foods to eat and which foods to exclude. One of the greatest nutritionists that have ever lived, Dr. Fred Bisci, states, “We believe that health is defined not just by what you put in your body, but what you keep out.” We will be keeping out several harmful foods, including refined sugars, processed foods, and chemical additives, all of which can destroy your body.
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Remember that “Restriction” is one of the keys to success. The further you move away from restriction, the further you move away from your goals. However, I accept the fact that we are human and need to occasionally cheat in order to stay sane, so I’ll show you how and when to cheat without causing detriment to your success.
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Bodyweight Overload Meal Plans
When I was single, I pretty much lived off of fried sweet potatoes and onions. I would get a big pan out and put a healthy dose of extra virgin olive oil in it. Then I would cut up three or four sweet potatoes and two or three large onions and throw them in. I would often eat this for lunch and dinner.
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Now that I am married, I realized that the reason I did this was because (a.) I was lazy when it came to food, but more importantly (b.) I didn’t have the knowledge of how to cook healthy recipes that tasted good. This accompanying guide will give you many recipes that follow the Bodyweight Overload program. It also includes a handy spice guide so that your boring, bland dishes can come alive with flavor.
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Getting Started Quick Tips “You must know for which harbor you are headed if you are to catch the right wind to take you there.” -Seneca
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! ! Before we move into the actual program, I thought it would be important to cover some quick tips. Below you will find five tips to help you succeed in the program.!
! ! Quick Tip 1: Set Smart Goals !
In 1979, a study was conducted where interviewers asked new graduates from Harvard’s MBA program:
“Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Here were the results: * 84% of the graduates didn’t have any specific goals. * 13% of the graduates said they had goals, but they were not committed on paper. * 3% had goals that were clearly defined and had plans to accomplish them. Ten years later, the interviewers went back to the graduates (who were now in their careers) and found this: * The 13% of the graduates who had goals that were not committed on paper were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84% who didn’t have goals at all. * Yet, here is the kicker!: The 3% who had goals that were clearly defined and written down were earning TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS THE OTHER 97% PUT TOGETHER. In fitness we must set clear, defined goals as well. Each goal must include five elements. These are defined as S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. GOALS: Each goal you create should be: Specific – Get as absolutely clear as possible. Measurable – You must be able to track and measure the goal. Don’t be vague like, “I want to be able to run a long distance.” Say, “On April 4th, 2012, I will be able to run 10 miles without stopping.”
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Attainable – This goes back to your value statement, “I believe…” If you don’t actually believe it, you will not be able to achieve it. Realistic - You must be “willing and able” to work toward this goal. Saying I will compete in the Hawaii Ironman in a couple months, while you are finishing up your Master’s degree, would probably not be wise. Timely – You should ground your goal within the framework of time. “Someday” doesn’t work with setting goals. You must decide the deadline for when you will have completed your goal.
! ! Quick Tip 2: Take a Before Picture !
My wife recently told me a great story about the supermodel Heidi Klum. She is well known to have the ability to get in amazing shape after having a child. Here is one of her secrets. After having her baby she takes a before picture. She then places it in a location that she will be able to see every day. The picture reminds her that her current body is not the one she wants, so she is more motivated to stick to her diet and exercise regiment. Every few weeks she places an updated picture next to the previous one. Smart lady, not only does this remind her of where she came from but it also motivates her to keep going that her actions = results. If she didn’t have the pictures, it would be more difficult to stay motivated.
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We don’t look into the mirror all the time, so we often give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. The before picture is a great reality check that will show you how you look, whether you like it or not.
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Bonus Tip from NBC’s Biggest Loser Pete Thomas..."
As I mentioned above, I used to be friends with two of NBC’s Biggest Losers. One of them was Pete Thomas, the at-home winner of season two. He once told me that one of the greatest methods of motivating oneself was to take a before picture and tell someone to put it online if you didn’t achieve your goal.
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Wow, talk about using potential embarrassment as a motivator! And you know what? It ALMOST always works.
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WHY? Because we ALL care how we LOOK and how we are PERCEIVED. We can be overweight but still untag ourselves from a picture on facebook because it Body we ight O verload 25
makes us look too fat. Or maybe we avoid certain clothing because it doesn’t hide our protruding gut and sunken chest. This is our pride and ego acting as a self-preservation mechanism. No one wants to be perceived as inadequate, overweight or unattractive.
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So, the fact that thousands of people would be looking at you creates a psychological shift in your head. With no clothes to cover, elongate, squeeze or mass our true bodies we work towards change. Pride and ego serve as strong forces of motivation and leaves you with no choice but to succeed towards your goal.
! Get ready to practice your “cheese.” ! ! Quick Tip 3: Create a “Work Hard Board”
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A “Work Hard Board” is a document that is filled with quotes that inspire you to work hard. You cannot achieve anything of real value without hard work. You can stay motivated to continue, even though your task is not fun, by having a “Work Hard Board.” Below are some of the quotes I have on my board...
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“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.” - Proverbs 13:4 “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” Proverbs 6:6-11
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“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goals: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” - Louis Pasteur
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“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.” - Richard David Bach (writer)
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“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” - Calvin Coolidge
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“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.” - Thomas Edison
! “He that would have the fruit must climb the tree.” - Dr. Thomas Fuller !
I also have stories that inspire me that I have written done to keep going when I feel like giving up. These are just a few of my favorites.
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Despite the challenges: “When life hands you a challenge and you think you are not up to it, consider the story of Teddy Roosevelt who was shot in the chest as he stood to give a campaign speech in 1912. Despite the wound, he would not go to the hospital. He stated, "I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose!" He went on to speak for 90 minutes in front of 10,000 people before going to the hospital. He carried the bullet in his chest for the rest of his life.”
! Overcoming Obstacles: Team Hoyt, a father and son team, have now completed 60 marathons together. Rick is severely disabled and has been since birth. Dick has never considered for a moment giving up on his son and carries him or wheels him through iron man triathlons. They are an amazing team who truly inspire thousands, both handicapped and non-handicapped, to overcome any obstacle that life hands out.
! Changing Your Destiny: Michael Oher, now one of the Baltimore Raven's top linebackers, spent the vast majority of his youth from age seven to high school in abject poverty. A family friend saw the true potential in this charming young man and offered him a home and the opportunity to attend a private school. With their support he convinced the school to give him the chance to succeed. His hard work and
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dedication paid off. From rags to riches, he is now a multimillionaire with a very bright future.
! Quick Tip 4: Create a Vision Board !
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! ! A vision board is a visual depiction of what your future life will be. As they say, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18). I have several areas of my life depicted in the vision map above, and have pasted all the images into a PowerPoint document. I then “screen captured” the image and pasted it as the background of my computer. I now see it all day and it helps remind myself where I want my future to head.
You can create a vision board for any area of your life, including: spiritual, physical, financial, business, family... whatever! Have fun with this. Be a dreamer. Remember that what one man can do, another can do also.
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Quick Tip 5: Create Your Motivational Playlist
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Music is a powerful motivator. It has the ability to get us pumped and helps us work hard, especially when our excitement and determination begin to fade. Use iTunes or YouTube and create your own playlist so that you can keep your adrenaline levels high when you are working out.
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Never Give Up"
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A farmer rescued a tiny eagle chick by raising it with his chickens. All its life, the eagle thought and acted like a chicken. The farmer's neighbor tried several times to teach the eagle that he was, in fact, an eagle and not a chicken. Finally, the neighbor took the eagle out into the wild in the early morning and set it free with the rising sun. As the sun rose, the eagle's true nature took over as he soared on the currents in the golden sunrise. The neighbor never gave up and the eagle finally realized his true nature."
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One Last Chance To Turn Back
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Below, I will describe the exact steps you need to take in order to pack on muscle and lose body fat, while using only body weight exercises. But first, I want to cover two incredibly important components that you need to possess in order for this plan to work. Here they are... 1. The Belief that YOU can do it - You may be thinking in your head, "Sure, Todd can get a great body... and I've seen many others do it, but I have NEVER been even close. I've always had a beer belly... or I’ve always been super skinny. I don't think I could ever lose my tummy or build major muscle." I have a question for you. Have you ever seen an amazing before and after picture of someone? Personally, I have caught myself on occasion just staring at someone's transformation. I think, "Wow, that is amazing." Well, do you know why it is so inspiring? You may think that it is because their transformation was so drastic. Nope. Well, how about the fact that it gives testament to the effectiveness of the plan they used? Nada. The REAL reason a before and after picture is so powerful is because it plants a seed of belief that YOU could do it too. A barrier in your mind starts to crack and you think, "Yeah, if they can do it... why can't I?" Let me tell you something, my friend. You CAN...and you WILL, but you have to believe it first.
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Belief is the cornerstone of this program. If you don't fully belief that you can achieve the result, then you won't. At some point you will quit. You need to visualize the end goal. Find a picture of someone whom you admire, print it off and post it in your bathroom mirror or wherever else you will see it daily. This will be a positive affirmation that you can achieve that ideal body style. Your subconscious mind will begin to associate you with that person and help instill the habits for it to happen. They say that you are a combination of the five people you spend most of your time with. So, surround yourself with pictures of people that you want to look like. All of the greatest bodybuilders on earth used this technique to drive them harder and longer. Use this technique for yourself as you strive to reach your goals. 2. The Willingness to Work Change. Is. Hard. Period. There is no way of getting around it. Shielding your eyes from the box of donuts as a coworker brings them into the break room... getting up an extra 45 minutes before work to exercise... choosing a large chicken salad over the lasagna with prosciutto is NOT easy. However, it’s worth it. It takes hard work to achieve anything of value. I recently read this story out of my favorite devotional, called "Streams in the Desert" by L.B. Cowman...
! "Around the turn of the twentieth century, a bar of steel was worth about $5. Yet when forged into horseshoes, it was worth $10; when made into needles, its value was $350; when used to make small pocketknife blades, its worth was $32,000; when made into springs for watches, its value increased to $250,000. What a pounding the steel bar had to endure to be worth this much! But the more it was shaped, hammered, put through fire, beaten, pounded, and polished, the greater its value."
! The story shows that the more work you put into something, the greater the value and better results you will see. The plan I have laid out below will work... if you follow it. You will feel like you are being re-shaped by the foods that you eat. Your mind will be hammered with thoughts that you just want to give into the temptation to eat the Snickers bar. You will feel beaten and pounded, but realize that this is part of the process of gaining value... of carving out an amazing body.
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The time to decide is now. Are you really ready to make the sacrifices necessary to get a ripped, built body? If you are not, that is ok. Just be sure to return this program and STOP wasting your money and time. If you are not going to settle for your current body, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. “In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result.” - James Allen
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Six-Week Bodyweight Overload Training Overview
Traditional belief holds that you must use weights in order to develop muscle and get bigger. Most people believe that bodyweight exercises are good, but they are just used to keep you lean. My goal, and if you are reading this it’s yours too, is to prove them wrong. It’s not the weight that stimulates muscle growth, but the amount of stress placed upon the muscle. The muscle doesn’t know if the force exerted upon it is because of a weight you are holding or its own bodyweight.
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Three Key Principles of this System:
! 1. Progressive Overload !
Progressive Overload means that you continually put greater demands on your body over time to stimulate growth. Traditional bodybuilding uses a three-week cycle of 8-12 reps, then a three-week cycle of 6-8 reps, and finally an active rest period of one week to let the body recuperate. After you go through this cycle, you begin it all over again with higher weight. Over time, your body will get stronger and larger. If you keep following this same training cycle over the years you will develop a jaw-dropping physique. I will show you how to do this without weights.
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You need to totally fatigue your muscles through (a) multiple sets of the same exercise targeting the same muscle group, and (b) low reps in order to cause growth. Most people whip out a bunch of pushups and call it good. Then they say, “Dang, I’m not getting bigger. Bodyweight exercises stink. Maybe I should just get a gym membership.” Well, the reason they are not getting bigger is because they are not going through enough sets to cause muscle growth. Ask any professional bodybuilder how many sets they do for their large muscle groups and they will say at LEAST five to six. We will be doing eight sets for many of our exercises.
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Another aspect of building size is increasing the number of exercises. This puts an extra amount of stress on the muscle. In this Six-Week Bodyweight Overload program, you will be increasing the number of exercises that you do each week in addition to increasing the total volume.
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! 3. Angular Training !
Ok, you really have to pay attention to this one because it is key AND THE ONLY WAY THIS SYSTEM WILL WORK. Each exercise must be targeted directly on a specific muscle. By the end of this program, you will be a master of positioning your body to put it at a disadvantage in order to make it do more work.
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Here’s an example of how to do Angular Training for the chest muscle group. Start off in the push up position. Then bring your left hand out to the left side as far as you can. Your left elbow will almost be locked. You will look like an archer about to shoot an arrow to the left. Shift your body weight so that your right arm is taking most of your weight. Then, do your pushups. Keep playing with your weight distribution throughout the exercise so that the right chest muscle fatigues completely at the prescribed number of reps. If you find that you can do more pushups (in this “archer position”), then shift even more of your weight to the right side to make it harder. If you find that you can’t even do a few, shift your weight more to the left “supporting” side to make it easier. You will find your sweet spot of bodyweight distribution and learn how to fatigue the muscle within the prescribed rep range. For the first three weeks it will be 8-12. For the second three weeks it will be 6-8. Your goal is to totally fatigue (meaning you collapse to the ground) between these ranges. Mark how many you did on your workout sheet.
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IMPORTANT: Always go to FULL fatigue. This is the only way your muscle will grow. There is a reason the “no pain, no gain” adage has lived so long. Angular Training is the ONLY way to put the same amount of stress on the muscle group as traditional dumbbell and barbell exercises. And this is the ONLY way you will grow the size of your muscles... called hypertrophy. Becoming a master of bodyweight exercises is not just about learning 100 different exercises. It’s about positioning your body in such a way that stimulates growth. Angular Training is how you do that.
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Have you ever wondered why animals, such as chimpanzees, have seven times the strength of our top Olympic wrestlers? Do they train in the gym? Nope. They do, however, put their body in many different positions and force strength gains from the moment they are born. We are doing the same thing. Angular Training is the secret to building size without weights. When you perform an exercise, find the proper angle in order to fatigue the muscle at the given number of reps. I’ll explain more specifically how to do this for each exercise in the description section.
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What You’ll Need for this System:
1. Pull-Up Bar We will be doing a lot of chin-ups and pull-ups. If you don’t have a chin-up bar, I highly recommend getting one. They are essential to developing large biceps and back muscles. If you absolutely don’t have the money to get one, or you don’t have the right doorways in your house, than find a tree branch or playground that has a horizontal bar you can hang from and do your pull-ups.
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2. Weight Gloves High quality weight gloves are not essential to the program, though I recommend getting some. As mentioned above, we will spend a lot of time on the bar. Unless you want your hands looking like they were run through a meat grinder, get some good weight gloves to protect them. Over time, you will also develop callouses, which will help protect your hands, too.
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3. Interval Timer You will need an interval timer to make sure you are resting for the prescribed times. I use a GymBoss Interval Timer because they are inexpensive and easy to use. I found mine for about $5.00 on Amazon. There are also online interval timers that work just as well. Here’s a link to a good one. The problem is that you have to keep your computer by you while you work out. But, if you’re on a budget, this is a good solution.
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Bodyweight Overload Workout Plan:
! Weeks 1-3: Hypertrophy" !
The first three weeks are when we will create hypertrophy (meaning muscle growth). Your primary goal for each set is to totally fatigue your muscle within the 8-12 rep range. If you are fatiguing before that mark, then adjust your weight distribution more to your supporting arm or leg so you can get more reps. If you are fatiguing after that, then adjust your body position so more of your target muscle is taking the weight and fatigues faster. The 8-12 rep range is the scientifically proven rep range that causes hypertrophy.
! Weeks 4-6: Strength" !
The second part of the workout plan is extremely important as well. When you consistently work out within the 6-8 rep range, research has shown that human growth hormone is released. You need these hormones in order to build size.
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For each of the sets in weeks 4-6 you will be adjusting your body position to make sure you totally fatigue within the 6-8 rep range.
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We will use Angular Training to our advantage here. Here’s the push-up example again. Start off in the normal push-up position. Then, bring your left arm way out to the side. Shift your body weight so that about 90% of your weight is solely on your right side. Use your left hand only for stability. As you lower yourself down and raise yourself up, you will be keeping 90% of the weight on that side. If you notice that you can get more than 6-8 reps, then shift even more of your weight onto that side. Keep adjusting the weight ratio so that you fatigue at the 6-8 rep range, just like you did during the first three weeks for hypertrophy.
! If I am trying to get bigger, why don’t I just stay in the 8-12 rep range? !
That’s a great question. The reason is because the body adapts very quickly to workouts that are the same. We need to adjust reps, exercises, volume, etc. during our workout plans. Jack Lalanne, the “Godfather of Fitness,” said that he changed his workout routine every 30 days. When you do fewer reps it causes an increased amount of stress on your nervous system. This forces the pituitary gland to release more growth hormone, which causes muscle adaptation. Three weeks is a sufficient amount of time to force your body to adapt without leading to over-training.
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*Important: This is the six-week test group, but if you decide to continue on with plan you will want to take at least one week off in active recovery every six weeks. Active recovery does NOT mean working out with weights, doing bodyweight exercises, etc. It means light jogging, light calisthenics, swimming, biking, etc.
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Bodyweight Overload Workout Split:
The workout split follows a traditional bodybuilder’s split: Monday: Chest/Back Tuesday: Shoulders/Arms Wednesday: Legs Thursday: Chest/Back Friday: Shoulders/Arms Saturday: Legs
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Warm-up: Upper Body Warm-up: 100 jumping jacks and 25 push-ups Lower Body Warm-up: 100 jumping jacks and 25 Hindu squats
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A Quick Note about Training Abs: You will not be doing any direct abdominal workouts in the Six-Week Bodyweight Overload program. You will be using your abs as stabilizer muscles for almost every exercise every day, so you don’t need to target them specifically. Also, as you will learn below, getting your abs to pop out has everything to do with having low body fat percentage. I will teach you how to do it.
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Compound Supersets: Compound Supersets are a great way to increase the intensity of a workout. “Compound” means that you pair one exercise with another exercise that works an opposing body part. For example, the push-up can be paired with the pullup. The push-up works mostly the chest muscle group and the pull-up works mostly the back muscle group.
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Superset simply means that you do two or more exercises in a row without stopping. Here we combine compound (two exercises for opposing body parts) with supersets (not resting in between) to increase the difficulty of the workout. Consequently, this also decreases the amount of time that you will need to spend working out. You can get a great workout in half the time!
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Throughout this plan, you will have several compound supersets to do each day. I describe the amount of rest you can take after you do each set. For example, on Day 1 of Week 1 you will do Push-Up/Pull-Up Compound Supersets for eight total sets. Here’s how you will do it.
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1. Do 8-12 reps of push-ups (Remember to modify your weight distribution to fatigue within the 8-12 rep range and make sure to get both sides – right and left). After you are done with both sides... 2. Do 8-12 pull-ups (Remember to modify your weight distribution here, too. Let one arm take most of the weight while you support your body with your other arm). After you are done with both sides, rest the prescribed amount of time. If you can’t do 8-12 pull-ups, put your feet on a chair to help you with the movement. 3. Repeat until you have done eight full sets
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After you have completed the full compound superset, move on to the next exercise. This may be another compound superset, or it may not. If it is not, do the number of sets for the exercise and rest the prescribed amount of time between each set.
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What if I Can’t do 8-12 Reps of a Certain Exercise? Some of the exercises are difficult. You may not be able to do the full number of reps. That is ok. Do the best you can. You will still get stronger even though you can’t make it to the 8-12 rep range. Once you can make it, begin to angle your training and distribute your weight unevenly so you fatigue within that range.
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Importance of Modification: If you can’t do even one rep of some of the harder exercises you can always modify them to make them easier. Here are some common ways of modifying an exercise to make it easier.
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1. Go to your knees Many of the exercises that have you pushing away from the ground can be made easier if you drop your knees to the ground.
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2. Incorporate a chair Pull-up and chin-up exercises can be made easier by putting your feet on a chair. Position the chair away from you to make it harder. Position the chair close to you to make it easier. Make sure to adjust the amount of weight you put on your feet to fatigue at the prescribed rep range.
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Bodyweight Overload Full Workout Details:
Weeks 1- 3 - Hypertrophic Phase: Always shoot for fatiguing in the 8-12 rep range. This is really important for growing the muscle. And remember to track your reps on the workout sheets.
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Week 1: Day 1 & 4 - Monday/Thursday: Chest and Back Compound Superset: Push Ups - No rest, 8 sets Pull Ups - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Day 2 & 5 - Tuesday/Friday: Shoulders/Bis/Tris Handstand Push Ups - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Compound Superset: Chin Ups - No rest, 8 sets Half Plank Tiger Bends - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Day 3 & 6 - Wednesday/Saturday: Legs Compound Superset: Pistol Squat - No rest, 8 sets Leaning Tower - No rest, 8 sets
! Shrimp Squat - 60 sec rest, 8 sets ! !
Week 2: Day 1 & 4 - Monday/Thursday: Chest and Back Compound Superset: Push Ups - No rest, 8 sets Pull Ups - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Compound Superset: Chest Dips - No rest, 4 sets No Arm Push Up - 60 sec rest, 4 sets
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Day 2 & 5 - Tuesday/Friday: Shoulders/Bis/Tris Handstand Push Ups - 60 sec rest, 8 sets Crucifix Push Ups - 60 sec rest, 4 sets
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Compound Superset: Chin Ups - No rest, 8 sets Half Plank Tiger Bends - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Compound Superset: Diamond Kiss Push Up - No rest, 4 sets Close Grip Pull Ups - 60 sec rest, 4 sets
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Day 3 & 6 - Wednesday/Saturday: Legs Compound Superset: Pistol Squat - No rest, 8 sets Leaning Tower - No rest, 8 sets
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Single Leg Bear Squat - 60 sec rest, 4 sets Shrimp Squat - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Week 3: Day 1 & 4 - Monday/Thursday: Chest and Back Compound Superset: Push Ups - No rest, 8 sets Pull Ups - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Compound Superset: Chest Dips - No rest, 4 sets No Arm Push Up - 60 sec rest, 4 sets
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Compound Superset: Planche Push Ups - No rest, 4 sets Elbow Push Ups - 60 sec rest, 4 sets
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Day 2 & 5 - Tuesday/Friday: Shoulders/Bis/Tris Handstand Push Ups - 60 sec rest, 8 sets Crucifix Push Ups - 60 sec rest, 4 sets Decline Hand Stand Push Up - 60 sec rest, 4 sets
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Compound Superset: Chin Ups - No rest, 8 sets Half Plank Tiger Bends - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Compound Superset: Diamond Kiss Push Up - No rest, 4 sets Close Grip Pull Ups - 60 sec rest, 4 sets Body we ight O verload 39
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Compound Superset: Close Grip Push Up - No rest, 4 sets Mountain Climber Push Up - 60 sec rest, 4 sets
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Day 3 & 6 - Wednesday/Saturday: Legs Compound Superset: Pistol Squat - No rest, 8 sets Leaning Tower - No rest, 8 sets
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Single Leg Bear Squat - 60 sec rest, 4 sets Shrimp Squat - 60 sec rest, 4 sets Single Leg Plyometric Jumps - 60 sec rest, 8 sets
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Weeks 4 - 6: Strength Phase - Always shoot for fatiguing within the 6 - 8 rep range. In this phase, the goal is to totally tear muscle tissue and release growth hormone due to the tremendous amount of stress on the muscle.
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Weeks 4 -6 progress exactly as the above weeks except you will be striving for different total number of reps and have 90 seconds of recovery between compound sets and individual exercise sets. You will need this extra amount of rest because you will be decreasing the total reps and fatiguing faster.
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During this phase, you especially need to focus on angles otherwise you’ll be doing too many reps before you reach fatigue. When doing an exercise, for example, the push up, shift your weight even more on the arm that is doing the work in order to fatigue within the 6-8 rep range. I know I have repeated this several times but I CAN’T overemphasize the importance of Angular Training.
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Six-Week Bodyweight Overload Diet Plan
This food guide will help you build muscle and lose body fat at the same time. There are two phases to this plan. The first is used if you do not have a good diet to begin with. I will describe what a good diet is. It will help you get down to between 11-15% body fat. If you are already at the 11-15% body fat and struggling to get extra ripped (for men they need to be around 7%) then I will show you Phase 2. It’s a combination of carb-cycling techniques and metabolism-boosting techniques.
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If you already have high body fat, don’t worry about Phase 2. Just focus on getting your nutrition right and eating properly.
! If you already have good nutrition (as shown in Phase 1) go straight to Phase 2. ! If you are skinny and looking to gain muscle mass, follow Phase 1 and take note of particular parts where I talk about total caloric and protein intake.
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Refrigerator Guide Allowed Foods
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Quantity: as shown! Frequency: eat 5-6 small meals per day! Every Meal: 40% Carb/ 30% Protein/ 30% Fat
Forbidden Foods If you must eat one of these foods, do so one time on only one day of the week. No gorging!
Fruits (Do not exceed 1-2 servings/day): ! All fruits except ripe bananas and pineapple! -Category: Carbs!
Most White Foods" Artificial sweeteners! Candy! Flour ! Protein (0.5-0.8g protein per lb body weight for fat loss, Milk products! 0.8g-1g protein for muscle building)" White potatoes ! Organic: Eggs, Chicken, Turkey, Fish, Tofu, Tempeh or White rice! Legumes (Cycle these. Don’t eat the same thing all the Sugar! time.)! White bread! -Category: Protein! Pasta!
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Grains (Always eat in combination with quality protein and fat)" Steel-cut oats, brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, wild rice! -Category: Carbs!
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Most Beige Foods" Breads (even gluten-free)! Cereals (even organic)! Chips (even baked)! Cookies! Deep-fried foods! Legumes (Eat abundantly)" French fries! All beans; lentils, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, Pizza! etc. (Have high protein and complex carbohydrate content.)! Tortillas (any kind)! -Category: Protein/Carbs! Processed Fruits/Fruit Flavors/Juices" Vegetables (Eat abundantly, eat least 5 servings/day)" Tropical fruits, fruit purees, any non-allowed fruit! All vegetables - eat abundantly and try to get a variety of Fruit (or vegetable) juice! colors. ! Jams! -Category: Carbs/Protein! Jell-O! Soft drinks, even ones including real juice Nuts (For weight loss limit to 1/4 cup daily; For muscle building eat 1/2 - 1 cup daily)" -All nuts/seeds! -Try for raw and unsalted! -Category: Fat!
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Oils/Fat (Ideal 4-5 servings/day)" Coconut milk (from can), oil (olive, peanut, flax, grapeseed, coconut, safflower), avocado, olives, ! -Category: Fat!
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-Avoid canola, vegetable and corn oils because these are processed oils. ! -Cook only with coconut and peanut oil because these oils don’t break down as quickly!
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Spices/Herbs:" Use to your liking to make dishes taste better. Only use Celtic or Pacific sea salt
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Phase 1: Bodyweight Overload Diet Program
Phase 1 of the Bodyweight Overload Diet Program has two main components: Allowed Foods and Forbidden Foods. Many programs go into full detail about exact calories you need to consume for your body type or specific times of the day that you need to consume them. I think this is unnecessary and counterproductive for most people because it creates confusion. And confusion leads to lack of adherence to the plan, which destroys results.
My goal is to lay out your optimal diet plan that is simple to follow and brings results fast. This is the exact plan that I have followed and has been proven by many others to bring results.
At A Glance:
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For muscle building/fat loss consume 5-6 small meals a day. The meals should be a combination of 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, 30% fat. Choose foods from the “Allowed List.” If you must eat something that is unhealthy, limit it to only one time on one day each week. For example, limit all junk food to Saturday evenings when you have movie night with your family. This one time of gorging on junk will not hinder your fat loss/muscle building results and it will keep you sane. ;)
! How Much Should I Eat? !
You need to know how many calories you should be consuming for your goals: fat loss or muscle building (or both). Here’s a free tool that you can use: http:// scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
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Find out your number. I want to emphasize that you DON’T need to count calories. It is too difficult for the average person to do so and will result in lack of adherence to the program. If you have a Type A personality and would like to track it, you will get better results. But I don’t think it is necessary. When you eat something, glance at the nutritional label and get a basic idea of how many calories it is. Then stick to your 5-6 small meals per day (based on how many calories you need) and you’ll watch the fat decrease from your body and – if you are following the strength plan above – watch your muscles grow. If you are not gaining size and following the diet perfectly, eat more. If you are still not gaining size than keep increasing your total amounts (not types of food) that you eat at each sitting until you see the scale climb and your clothes fit tighter.
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Bodyweight Overload Nutritional Principles:
Principle 1: If they didn’t Eat it 200 Years ago, Neither Should You
You need to give your body only whole foods in order to reach your ideal body shape. What type of fuel are you putting in your body? It was made to thrive on whole foods. The more you cook, process, preserve and break down the whole food, the fewer benefits there are.
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Principle 2: Keep Your Blood Sugar Levels Even
The glycemic index is a tool that helps us understand the rate of speed that food is broken down and how much our blood sugar levels rise after consuming it. When blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas secretes insulin, which removes the sugar from the bloodstream. It first tries to store the sugar in the liver and muscles. However, if the liver and muscles are full, then the body stores it as fat. In our battle to reach a ripped, sexy body... this is our enemy.
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Principle 3: Restrict Calorically Dense Foods That Are Bad
You need to stay away from calorically dense foods if you want to lose belly fat and build strength. Bad calorically dense foods include chips, breads, cookies, etc. Think of it this way... whenever you take a food and process it, you are stripping the natural water content and fiber away from it. This means you can pack more of that same food into a smaller area. The heat and processing harms nutrients, so the food has less nutritional value, but it maintains the same number of calories (remember your high school science class, “energy is neither created nor destroyed,” yet nutrients can easily be destroyed because heat denatures the properties and makes it more difficult or impossible for the body to use). That’s why eating a McDonald’s burger and fries makes you feel sluggish afterward. Your body receives very little nutrients, but a ton of calories. Use the “Refrigerator Guide” above and stay away from the “Forbidden Foods.” Many of them are calorically dense and all of them are not conducive to achieving the body you desire.
! ! *For Those Trying To Gain Muscle... !
You might be thinking to yourself, “Hey, that’s great for the person who needs to lose weight, but I’m trying to build muscle.” I have a simple methodology
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that I will share with you below. In short, you need to eat more calorically dense foods, but of the right kind.
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The acceptable calorically dense foods need to have a high fiber and high water content in order to keep your blood sugar levels even and avoid making your body store excess fat. This allows you to get enough calories to build mass without “bulking up.” Many of the foods in the “Protein,” “Grains,” and “Legumes” section are perfect for you to consume. They won’t spike the blood sugar (make sure to eat your grains with protein and fat) but are more calorically dense than vegetables and fruit. Nuts are also calorically dense and are an important tool for gaining muscle. Keep your macronutrient ratios at 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat. Eat the right number of calories per meal (you figured this out using the calorie calculator above) and consume five to six meals per day. If you are following this protocol and incorporating the workout principles above you WILL gain mass, guaranteed.
! ! *For Those Trying to Gain Muscle AND Lose Fat... !
For those trying to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, the same rules apply except the emphasis is going to be on (a) consuming fewer total calories, and (b) getting enough protein. Keep your total meal count at five to six and stay within your caloric requirement to lost fat, but be sure that you are getting about 0.8 grams of protein per lb. of body weight. If you need to supplement with a protein powder to meet these requirements, do so. I recommend Sun Warrior. They are by far the highest quality on the market. Most protein powders on the market are crap. The junk they put in them should be banned.
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Principle 4: Eat the Colors of the Rainbow in Abundance
This is the final principle we will follow on your path to building muscle and losing fat. Nutrients are key. If you are eating the same boring foods over and over again, you are probably deficient in a particular nutrient. Your body needs these nutrients to thrive.
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Is My Plate Colorful? What’s so great about color? Everything! When you see an abundance of color in a whole food, think of it as having an abundance of nutrients. One of the biggest reasons people are so obese is because they do not eat colorful foods. They choose foods that are devoid of color and nutrients, but high in calories. They consume them and it adds to their waistline, but they don’t get any of the benefit from the nutrients. So, they feel the need to continue to eat because
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their body is searching for the missing nutrients. Your body needs many different types of vitamins and minerals to survive. However, the problem is that most of the processed foods you will find in grocery stores are devoid of these nutrients.
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IMPORTANT: Last Thoughts on Phase 1: There is a lot more to cover, but this will get you started. In short, this is what you should remember:
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1.Eat only from the Allowed Foods List 2.Balance your five to six small meals per day with 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fats 3.Eat lots of different colors 4.Consume adequate protein (0.6-1g per lb. body weight)
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Phase 2: Super Charging Your Fat Loss to Really Show Your Muscles
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Ok, so you have gotten down to 11-15% body fat and no matter how healthy you eat, you still can’t get shredded. There are two main components that you will need to follow: 1.Carb-cycling 2.Metabolism Boosting
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Carb-cycling is a very common practice that bodybuilders use to shred fat before a competition. Here’s how to do it: consume low carbohydrates (30% carbs, 45% protein, 25% fat) for three days. This will make your body rely on fat stores for fuel and decrease your total body fat percentage. Research has shown that it takes three days before your metabolism starts to readjust and slow down. It will go into “fat conserving” mode and try to save it from being burned off. On the fourth day, consume a higher amount of carbs (50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat), and you’ll boost your metabolism back up. It’s a way of cycling your carb intake to trick your metabolism into staying high and continuously burning fat.
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Use this technique only as a way of dropping your body fat really low. It is not an ideal permanent nutrition plan. It’s simply a method of supercharging fat loss.
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To find out your exact caloric and macronutrient needs for carb cycling, click here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/advanced-fat-loss-carb-cycling/
! ! Helpful Tips for Carb-cycling: ! 1.Managing Cravings & Hunger !
On your low-carb days you will not be eating any unhealthy carbs. Everything needs to come from vegetables, grains, legumes and a very limited amount of fruit. This means that you will feel cravings, especially by the third day. The fact of the matter is that if you want to reach your goal badly enough, then you have to fight these cravings. If you cheat even once during this advanced technique, you will lose the effects. Remember your goal. Think about your ideal body and stay strict. If you absolutely NEED to cheat and have a candy bar or bag of chips, do so ONLY on your high-carb days and do it either right before a workout or immediately afterwards. If you eat it before the workout, your body will use those carbs for fuel during the workout. If you choose to eat it after the workout, your glycogen (sugar) levels in your muscles will be depleted so the sugar from the candy bar will partly be stored in the muscle. Please don’t think I am condoning eating candy bars. I am not. This is only a last resort to keep you from going insane on the diet. It’s called “strategic cheating.” It works only if you follow it at those exact times and in that way.
! 2.Eat Only High-fiber Carbs !
You must eat ONLY carb sources with high fiber content. See the Allowed Foods above. Donuts, pastries, bread products (even whole grain), etc. are all out. They are processed and have lost their fiber and water content. Don’t consume them if you want to get ripped.
! 3.Eat Healthy Fats !
This is so important as well. Consume high quality fats. See the Allowed Foods above.
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Advanced Strategies to Help You Get Ripped & Carve Your Abs:
Four Essential Steps to Getting Ripped... In some of the below sections I will be repeating key aspects of the fat loss plan above. If you have read through all of the above information, use it as a refresher. If you have skipped straight to this section, make sure to pay close attention. Before we begin, let's set some realistic expectations. If you are significantly overweight (body fat over 32%), then it will take longer to see your muscles and abs. You must realize that losing weight too quickly is not good because it is more than likely just water weight. Losing fat is what you want to do. And you want to lose it by making lifestyle changes that you can realistically maintain. I could easily show you how to get a six pack by telling you to go on a juice fast for the next 60 days and work out for five hours a day. But it’s just not realistic. Lifestyle changes that YOU can manage... that also bring results... is what we are focusing on here. So, if you've been looking for the "secret" to shedding body fat and getting abs... you've found it! For men, you really need to get below 10-11% before your abs start to show. If you can get to 7-8%, then they really start to pop out. For women, getting below 16-19% should be the goal. Below is a general guideline that you can follow to help you establish your goals.
WOMEN: Competition Shape ("ripped"): 8-12% Very Lean (excellent): < 15% Lean (good): 16-20% Satisfactory (fair): 21-25% Improvement needed (poor): 26-30% Major improvement needed (Very poor): 31-40%+
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MEN: Competition Shape ("ripped"): 3-6% Very Lean (excellent): < 9% Lean (good): 10-14% Satisfactory (fair): 15-19% Improvement needed (poor): 20-25% Major improvement needed (Very poor): 26-30%+ If you don't know how to measure your body fat, that is ok. You can do one of two things, or both. The first option is to take your before picture. Not many people like to do this, but it is the most effective way to get a visual representation of where you are starting from. You won't know your body fat from it, but I highly recommend doing it anyway so you know where you came from. I really only recommend two ways of measuring body fat. All the others are either too expensive for the average person or inaccurate.
! Two Tools for Measuring Body Fat: 1. Skin Fold Caliper: There are some very inexpensive skin fold calipers on Amazon.com. They run about $5 and will help provide you with the necessary baseline numbers to keep track of. Skin fold calipers measure the thickness of your fat in specific areas of your body. Unless you are skilled at performing these measurements they won't be very accurate. It takes some time to learn how to measure your body fat. If you follow the Bodyweight Overload plan, your body fat will drop and you'll look leaner and sexier without ever having to know your own body fat percentage. It is simply an extra tool to see your progress. 2. BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis) Body Fat Scale Personally, I prefer the BIA Body Fat Scale. You can get a good one from Amazon.com for less than $100. It is simple to use and fairly accurate if you use it at the same time of day and under the same conditions. This machine uses a bio-electrical signal and sends it through your body. It will then measure Body we ight O verload 49
your weight, body fat percentage, bone density (good for diagnosing osteoporosis), metabolic age and several other items. It is super cool because you can track this information and watch the numbers fluctuate based on how you are living your life. I use a Tanita brand because they are high quality and inexpensive.
Step 1: Keep Your Blood Sugar Levels Low (Yes, all of the Time) Method 1: Eat carbohydrates with a high water and fiber content As mentioned above, eating foods like candy bars, donuts and chips are not part of the Bodyweight Overload Diet Plan. They have little (if any) fiber and very little water content. When you eat foods with high fiber content and lots of water it decreases the spike of insulin because they take longer to digest. You should be looking for food sources that have at least two grams of fiber per 10 grams of carbohydrates. This will keep your sugar levels from spiking. Method 2: Balance Carbohydrates with Healthy Fats and Lean Protein Every meal should contain a balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. When you include lean protein such as free range chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, etc. and healthy fats such as avocado, oils (olive, safflower, coconut, hemp seed) into your meal plan you will naturally reduce the spike in blood sugar. The foods help to slow down the spike and keep your sugar levels even. When planning your meals, if you know you are going to have a carbohydrate that may spike your blood sugar, choose one of the following from both the protein source and the fat source to help balance your meal:
! List of Good Sources of Proteins: Chicken Breast - 8 grams of protein per ounce Lean Beef - 7 grams of protein per ounce Fish/Seafood - 6 grams of protein per ounce Eggs - 6 grams of protein per ounce Beans - 7 to 10 grams of protein per 1/2 cup cooked Protein Powder - anywhere from 15 to 25 grams of protein per serving
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List of Good Sources of Fats: Extra virgin olive oil - 14 grams per serving Sesame oil - 4.5 grams per serving Avocados - 21.4 grams per serving Olives - 3 grams per serving Nuts - wide range Fish - 14 grams per serving average
! Step 2: Avoid Processed Foods at all Costs! This is a killer for most people, especially Americans. We are inundated with advertisements that persuade us to try the new burger or sandwich. The image on the screen looks good. It tastes great going down. Then it wreaks havoc on our system... and yes, will add inches to your waist, guaranteed. Why is processed food so bad, anyway? There are a ton of reasons why you should stay away from processed food. Here are seven: 1. They are devoid of nutrients. Typically, when you process something you heat up the food first to prepare it. Then you add preservatives to make it last longer. When you eat a food that is processed you don't get very many nutrients. 2. They are high in calories. As mentioned above, processed foods are typically higher in calories than whole foods. You can eat more food faster because the food is dense and packed with calories. Whole foods that aren't processed are typically lighter. You can eat more of them but get fewer calories. 3. They have little fiber and water content. Remember step number one? Keep your blood sugar levels low. If you eat processed foods with lower fiber and water content, your body will absorb the food more rapidly and your blood sugar levels will increase faster. This leads to storage of the sugar as... fat. 4. They have no enzymatic value. Enzymes are needed to digest food. Your body secretes several of them starting with the salivary glands in the mouth. As you chew, these enzymes are released and start to break down food. Once the Body we ight O verload 51
food gets down to the stomach, your body is already releasing lipase, protease and amylase (more enzymes) to break down fats, protein and carbohydrates. Whole foods have naturally occurring enzymes that help break down food. If you eat processed foods, these enzymes are non-existent. 5. They are loaded with other ingredients. Processed foods have tons of chemically created ingredients that destroy our body. People who eat a lot of processed foods put strain on their liver. Your liver is the organ that clears your body of harmful substances. If your liver can't keep up, then the body will store these substances in the fat cells. Think of them as storage units where much of the old junk goes that you don't want to deal with. Kind of like your actual storage unit, right? If you keep piling it up, then the unit gets fuller and fuller. Avoid these Processed Ingredients at all Costs (Full Table Here): 1. Artificial Colors - Can cause allergic reactions, fatigue, asthma, skin rashes, and headaches. 2. Artificial Flavorings - Can cause allergic reactions, dermatitis, eczema, asthma and affect enzymes and thyroid function. 3. Artificial Sweeteners - Can negatively affect metabolism, and has been linked to cancer, dizziness, hallucinations and migraines. 4. Benzoate Preservatives - Affects estrogen levels, and has been linked to tumors. 5. Brominated Vegetable Oil - Increases bad cholesterol and damages the liver, testicles, thyroid, heart and kidneys. 6. High Fructose Corn Syrup - Predispose the human body to turn fructose into fat, isn't easily metabolized by the liver and increases risk of Type II diabetes. 7. MSG - Cause headaches, dizziness, edema, changes in breathing and heart rate and burning sensations. 8. Olestra - Inhibits absorption of nutrients, linked to GI problems such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, and cramps. 9. Shortening, Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated Oils - Raise bad cholesterol, which could lead to heart disease. READ, READ, READ your food labels, my friends! If you can't pronounce the ingredient, don't eat it. It is chemically manufactured and not healthy for you. If your great grandpa couldn’t eat it, neither should you
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Step 3: Control Your Metabolism... Yes You Can! "I just have a slow metabolism."... BULL %#@*! How many times have you heard the above statement? I have heard it too many times to count. Most people think that they are born with a slow or fast metabolism. Everyone knows the skinny girl who eats like a horse and doesn't gain a pound. Well, she was just born with a fast metabolism... WRONG! You CAN Control Your Metabolism Speed... Metabolism is the amount of energy (in calories) that your body burns to maintain itself. This includes: eating, sleeping, walking, cleaning out your Springer Spaniels' ears (This always disgusted me as a kid.), etc. There are several things that control it. Here are some tricks that you can immediately use to boost your metabolism. 1. Pump it, Baby: Research shows that people who are more muscular have higher metabolisms. Although you don't need to go out and buy a gym membership today, start working out. Bodyweight strength training, resistance bands, dumbbell weights, and many other forms all work well to increase muscle and metabolism. In this program you will be using bodyweight musclebuilding techniques. 2. I'll Race ya ‘Round the Block: Increasing your heart rate for at least 20-30 minutes three times per week has also been correlated with an increase in metabolism. Although, don't feel like you need to go out and run a marathon. Brisk walking or jogging is one of the best ways to get your heart rate up. Heck, even playing with Fido will do the trick! 3. Don't Follow the Sumo: Yep, believe it or not, when you eat food you increase your metabolism. I bet you didn't know this fact... Sumo wrestlers use food to their advantage to gain weight. Throughout the day they don’t eat anything. Then, just before they go to bed, they gorge on upwards of 5,000 calories. Since their body had no food during the day, their metabolism slowed down. Then at night, they gorge and let their body store food as fatty tissue. This strategy works for them because they are trying to gain fat so they can throw their weight around and win competitions. You are trying to do the opposite, so apply the opposite strategy. Don't be like a sumo. Graze during the day. Eat five to six small meals.
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4. Drink Like a Fish: Studies have shown that water intake is also known to increase metabolism. If you are even slightly dehydrated, your metabolism will slow down. Make sure to drink at least 8 -10 8oz glasses a day. As a general rule, drink half your body weight in ounces. Also, drink only filtered water because the filter will dramatically decrease the total dissolved solids (TDS). This includes metals that can harm your body. Your water should contain close to zero parts per million. Most tap water contains around 128 pp/m. 5. Spice up Your Meals: Spices such as cayenne pepper, chili pepper, etc. are great additions to your meals because they have been known to increase metabolism. The effect is temporary, but if you regularly eat spicy foods, it will contribute to an increase in metabolism. 6. Sink Your Teeth into that Flesh: I'm not advocating vegetarians to become meat eaters here. What I mean is that you need to consume enough protein. Protein has the highest thermic effect when compared to fats and carbohydrates. That's why you should eat lean protein with every meal. For all you vegetarians out there I highly recommend getting much of your protein from legumes and other plant-based sources. See the Food Chart at the end of this manual. 7. Consume Caffeine: I am not a coffee drinker. I like herbal teas and have never gotten into the habit of drinking coffee. However, coffee contains caffeine and caffeine increases your metabolism. The major problem with coffee is that it contains other ingredients that harm your body. That's why I recommend green, black and oolong teas, which are all comparable to coffee in their amounts of caffeine.
! How do I Know if I Have a Slow Metabolism? First of all, if you are overweight, don't blame it on a slow metabolism. It has everything to do with your lifestyle choices. Being overweight and having a slow metabolism are not mutually exclusive, though it is good to know the symptoms of a slow metabolism. Here are some of them: 1. Fatigue 2. Feeling cold 3. Dry skin 4. Constipation
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5. Slow pulse 6. Low blood pressure However, these symptoms could be due to any number of other medical conditions and not solely caused by a slow metabolism.
Step 4: Eat at a Caloric Deficit, but Occasionally Overfeed I do not recommend counting calories. It sucks. Trust me, I have tried keeping a food journal and track the calories of each food I ate. It was cumbersome and frustrating. After about a few days, I gave up. I don't recommend you try it, either. However, as mentioned in Phase 1 of the program, you must have a general idea of how much you are eating and how much you need to eat in order to lose weight or gain muscle. One great technique for losing body fat is to cycle your caloric intake. This technique is similar to carb-cycling, though the ratio is six days caloric deficit and one day overfeeding. On the low-calorie days, consume about 500 calories fewer than what you need to maintain your weight. One the seventh day, consume 500-1000 calories more than your maintenance amount. This will dramatically boost your metabolism and help you burn fat.
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Bodyweight Overload Full Exercise List:
Here is a list of exercises that you will be performing in the program. It includes both pictures and descriptions. In the accompanying video library you can see me perform the exercise so you gan gain a greater understanding of how to do it. Remember that the most important aspect is to fatigue within the 6-8 rep range for muscle strength or 8-12 rep range for muscle growth.
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Push Up (Modified w/ body weight distribution)
This is the classic exercise that most people know. Start off with your hands on the ground about shoulder width. Bring your legs out behind you so that your knees are straight. With your back straight bring your body down until your nose touches the ground. Push back up until your arms are straight.
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How to make it harder? The goal of the Bodyweight Overload program is to fatigue within the 6-8 rep range or the 8-12 rep range. So if you are doing 30-40 push ups without breaking a sweat you are not exercising for muscular growth but muscular endurance. In order to make the push up harder, you have to target one side of
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the body before you target the other side. Use the technique of body weight distribution in order to do this. Shift your weight to one side until your exercising side takes 70-80% of your weight. Use the other arm as a support. Do your push ups and continue to adjust your weight distribution until you fatigue within the prescribed rep range.
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How to make it easier? The best way to make this exercise easier is to place your knees on the ground? By putting your knees on the ground you take much of the weight off of your upper body and put it into your lower body. If this is still too difficult position your body so you are facing a couch. Put your knees on the ground and your hands on the couch then do the normal push up. As you get stronger you’ll be able to transition to the normal push up and eventually be able to adjust your weight so you target only one side.
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Pull Up
The pull up is the master exercise for developing strength in the back and biceps. Position your body so you are facing a pull up bar. Grip the bar with an outward facing grip (palms facing away from you). Hang from the bar and pull yourself up. When you are pulling yourself up think about pinching your shoulder blades together and tucking your elbows in tight by your sides. This way you will be emphasizing more of the back muscles instead of just the biceps.
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If you need to make the pull up more difficult to fatigue in the prescribed rep range adjust your weight to one side. Use the opposite arm just for support and use primarily your main arm. Make sure to switch sides.
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How to make it easier? A chair is a great tool to make the pull up easier. Place a chair underneath you and put your feet on it. Use your legs to help push yourself up along with your arms. To make it more difficult slide the chair away from you. This will place more weight on your arms instead of your legs. Over time you’ll be able to pull the chair away and do a standard pull up.
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Chest Dips
If you don’t have the luxury of going to a gym the best way to do dips is between two chairs. Make sure that the chairs are heavy duty so you don’t break them and injure yourself. Another important consideration when doing chest dips is that often times your hands will start to hurt before your chest and triceps fatigue. In order to prevent this you can wrap a wash cloth or towel around the top of the chair and grip it. This will make the grip more comfortable.
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How to make it more difficult? One way that you can make this exercise more difficult is by shifting your weight to one side or the other. If you choose to do this make sure that you have a towel underneath your hands so you don’t tear them up.
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How to make it easier?
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If you can’t do a full chest dip don’t fret you can make it easier by keeping your feet on the ground. Place your feet 6 inches or so behind you and use them as a support. You can also pick one foot off of the ground to make it a bit more difficult. As you get stronger you’ll be able to pick both feet off the ground and do the full chest dip.
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No Arm Push Up
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This exercise strengthens the middle portion of your back muscles. Drop down to a normal plank position with your weight resting on your feet and your forearms. Lower yourself down until your chest almost touches the ground. Push yourself back up. You’ll be focusing on using the middle part of your back to perform the movement.
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How to make it more difficult? In order to make this exercise more difficult shift your weight over to one side. You can even take one arm off of the ground to make the exercise even more challenging. It is critically important to remember that the movement comes from your middle back and not from your shoulder.
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Planche Push Up
Get in the normal push up position. Turn your fingers around so they are pointing toward the wall your legs are pointing to. Then bring your hands back about 3-4 inches. This will place the stress more in the upper part of the chest. Lower yourself down like a normal push up.
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How to make it more difficult? There are two main methods for making this exercise more challenging. The first method is to shift your weight forward. Walk your body forward using your toes so that more of your weight is over your shoulders. This puts a huge emphasis on your shoulders and upper chest. The other way of making it more difficult is to shift your weight over to one side. Make sure to repeat on the other side as well.
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How to make it easier? The best way of making this exercise easier is by putting your knees on the ground. This will still give you the benefit of training the front part of your shoulder and upper chest but help you to fatigue within the prescribed rep ranges.
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Elbow Jumps
Get in the same posture as the No Arm Push Ups. When you are settled into the position explode up into the air using your back muscles. This is meant to be a tremendous explosive movement and strengthen your middle and upper back. Its a plyometric movement which means that it strengthens Type II muscle fibers (used for strength).
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How to make it more difficult? One way you can make this exercise more difficult is by blasting up higher into the air. Remember that this is used as an explosive movement so the higher you get off the ground the more you’ll be working. With this exercise you don’t need to focus on rep ranges. Just try to fatigue all the way. We use this exercise as a way of blasting the muscle to the breaking point.
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How to make it easier? Putting your knees on the ground is the best way. Make sure to still perform the movement properly. It is meant to be an explosive movement so keep everything else the same except for having your knees on the ground.
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Shoulders/Bis/Tris Exercises:
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Handstand Push Ups
Handstand Push Ups will help you develop tremendous shoulder strength and size. It is very challenging and is an advanced movement. Place a foam pad, pillow or anything soft next to a wall. Put your head on the pad and swing your legs up against the wall. Push off of the ground until your arms are straight. Repeat.
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How to make it more difficult? Handstand Push Ups are already very difficult. However, if you are super handstand king and want to make the exercise more challenging I recommend shifting your weight while you are in the handstand. You can either shift your weight to one side and then perform the push up or get a large book and put your hand on the book in the handstand in order to angle your body toward the lower arm. This will put more weight on that arm.
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How to make it easier? The Pikes Push Up is a great transition exercise if you can’t do the full Handstand Push Up. Start off in a Downward Dog position. Lower your upper body until your head touches the ground. Raise yourself back up.
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Crucifix Push Up
The Crucifix Push Up will blast the outer portion of your chest muscle along with the back of your shoulder. Its a great exercise for giving you a nice line of definition along the outer portion of your chest. Start off in a normal push up position. Bring your hands out wide with your fingers pointed outward as if you were being crucified. Lower your body down until your nose touches the ground. Raise yourself back up.
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How to make it more difficult? If you need to make the exercise more difficult simply bring your hands out wider. You can also shift your body weight over to one side to make the exercise more difficult as well.
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How to make it easier? You can make this exercise easier by bringing your hands in closer to your body. You can also lower your knees to the ground which will take some of the weight off of your upper body.
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Decline Hand Stand Push Up
This exercise is a great way to build strength and size in the upper part of your chest muscle. It is also a critical transition exercise to help you get close to performing a Handstand Push Up. Place your feet on the wall or the back of a chair. While keeping your back straight, lower your body down to the ground. Raise your body back up.
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How to make it more difficult? This exercise can be made more difficult by increasing the angle of your body. By raising your legs up higher you increase the amount of weight that is focused on your upper chest and shoulders. You can also make this exercise more difficult by shifting your weight into one arm.
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How to make it easier? You can make this exercise easier simply by lowering your feet. Find a chair that is smaller and place your feet on it. You can also perform the Pikes Push Up as explained in the Handstand Push Up description above to make this exercise easier.
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Half Plank Tiger Bends
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This is one of my favorite exercises to strength the triceps muscle. Start off in a normal push up position. Lower yourself down to the ground by hinging at your elbows. Use your triceps muscle to come back up. It is very important to remember that you must keep your elbows tucked in close to your body when doing this exercise.
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How to make it more difficult? There are a couple of different methods you can utilize to make this exercise more difficult. The first method is to bring your hands in closer to your body. This adjustment puts your triceps at a disadvantage and makes it much more challenging to press back up. The other method is to shift your weight into one arm using weight distribution. You can use both of these techniques to push yourself to the point of full failure.
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How to make it easier? The best way is to bring your hands out further. This will make the exercise much easier. Another method is to put your knees on the ground. This places more of your weight into your legs and relieves the pressure on your triceps.
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Chin Ups
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This will be one of our greatest tools for developing large biceps. Stand with your body facing a chin up bar. Grasp the bar with the palms of your hands facing toward you. Lift yourself up until your chin is above the bar. Lower yourself back down.
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How to make it more difficult? In order to make the chin up more difficult we must incorporate body weight distribution. Keep your hands in the same position but shift your weight so one arm is taking the majority of the weight. You may be at a 80/20 weight distribution or a 70/30. It doesn’t matter as long as you fatigue within the 8-12 rep range for muscle growth or the 6-8 rep range for muscle strength. Make sure to get both sides.
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How to make it easier? The simplest method to make the chin up easier is to put your feet on a chair. The closer the chair is to your body the easier it will be. Push the chair away from you to make the exercise more difficult.
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Diamond Kiss Push Up
This is another exercise to fatigue the triceps muscle. Put your hands on the ground in the shape of a diamond. Position your body so it is in the normal push up posture. Lower your body down until your nose touches anywhere inside the diamond. Push back up.
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How to make it more difficult? There are several methods of making this exercise more difficult. The first is to put your feet on a chair. This will distribute more of your weight forward and demand more from your triceps. Another method is to distribute your weight more toward one side. Keep playing around with how your weight is distributed in order to make it easier or harder.
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How to make it easier? The easiest method of making this exercise easier is to drop your knees to the ground. You will strengthen the tricep and have the added benefit of staying within the prescribed rep range.
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Close Grip Pull Up
This is a great exercise for strengthening the back muscles in a way that is slightly different than the normal pull up. Position yourself so you are facing a pull bar. Grasp the pull up bar with your hands about 6 inches away from each other. Your palms will be facing away from you. Pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar. Lower yourself back down. Repeat. Remember to squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lift yourself up. This is extremely important because it places more emphasis on your back instead of just your bicep.
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How to make it more difficult? Shift your weight to one side or the other using your opposite arm to assist as you pull yourself up.
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How to make it easier? Use a chair and place it underneath you so that you can support yourself with your legs as you pull yourself up. As you become stronger position the chair away from you.
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Mountain Climber Pull Up
This is a great exercise to target the bicep and back muscles in a unique way. Stand underneath a pull up bar. Grasp the bar with your palms facing each other. Pull up while coming up on one side. Then pull up while coming up on the other side. Repeat.
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How to make it more difficult? You can make this exercise more difficult by placing your weight more in one arm. Fatigue fully on this arm and then do the same with the other arm.
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How to make it easier? Use a chair by placing it next to the wall in front of you. Put your feet on the chair as a support. Over time push the chair away so you are supporting more of your body weight.
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Leg Exercises:
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Pistol Squats
Pistol squats are the same thing as one legged squats. They require not only tremendous strength but also balance and flexibility. Start off in a standing position. Lift one leg off the ground. Lower yourself until your butt hits your ankle. Push off the ground (while keeping your other leg off the ground) until you are straight again.
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How to make it more difficult? There are really only two ways of making this exercise more difficult without adding weight. You can go down really slowly or you can incorporate a plyometric movement and blast up really fast. Both will make the exercise more challenging.
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How to make it easier? The most effective method of making this exercise easier is to incorporate the use of a chair. Place a chair on the same side as the leg that is doing the work. As you squat down place your hand on the chair and shift your weight into the hand to help support yourself. Use both your leg and your arm to help yourself back up.
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Leaning Tower
This exercise is used to strengthen your leg muscles. Get a foam mat or a pillow. Place it on the ground. Position your knees on the mat. With your body completely rigid hinge at your knee until you can’t go any further. Lift yourself back up. Make sure that you don’t hinge at the hip joint. You will want to do this as you fatigue but it is cheating so don’t do it.
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How to make it more difficult? There are two methods of making this exercise more difficult. the first is to lower yourself deeper into the move. Again, make sure that you are not hinging at all with your hips. Only hinge with your knees. The second method is to lift your arms above your head as you come down. This will bring more weight higher up and will make your legs work harder.
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How to make it easier? One method that you can use to make the exercise easier is to not go down very far. Only lower yourself about 12 inches or so. Then come back up.
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Single Leg Bear Squat
The Single Leg Bear Squat is one of my favorite exercises to fatigue the muscle after a difficult exercise like the squat or the lunge. Start off on the ground on “all fours.” Lift one leg up in the air and squat back into your supporting leg until the back of your leg touches your calf muscle. Then come back up.
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How To Make It More Difficult? One method you can utilize to make it more difficult is to slow down the movement. The slower movement will require you to utilize more muscle fibers and make it more challenging. Another method is to not come back up all the way. On your way back up to the starting position stop just before you are up all the way. This will keep the tension on your leg and make it more challenging.
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How To Make It Easier? The best way to make this exercise easier is to turn it into a Double Leg Bear Squat. In other words, keeping both legs on the ground will make it much easier.
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Shrimp Squat
This is a great exercise to strengthen the leg muscles. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart. Lift one leg until you can grasp it with the same side hand. Place your other hand on the back of a chair for support. Squat down as far as you can. Come back up.
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How To Make It More Difficult? The most effective way of making this exercise more difficult is to lower yourself down as far as you can. The lower you go the more difficult the movement will become.
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How To Make It Easier? You can make this exercise easier by not going down so low. Only go down about 6-12 inches and it will be a lot easier. Over time you can work on deepening the movement. You can also place your hand on a chair to support yourself as you come down.
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Single Leg Plyo Jumps
This is a plyometric movement which means that it is an explosive exercise. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Lift one leg off the ground. Lower yourself down as fast as you can and then blast off into the air. Repeat.
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How To Make It More Difficult? The key to making this exercise more difficult is to go lower. Remember to make the movements explosive and get as low as you can.
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How To Make It Easier? In order to make this exercise easier don’t go down very far. Only go down 6-12 inches. However, this is a plyometric exercise so it is important to make each rep explosive.
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Final Thoughts…
You are about to embark on an incredible journey. The below pictures marked the transformation that I needed in my life to add confidence in my own body. It took 6 solid weeks of balls-to-the-wall training and hard-nosed nutrition to
make these changes. Not everyone can do it. Its tough work.
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It takes dedication. It takes the mentality that maybe you’ll have to miss an episode of Dancing with the Stars or Grey’s Anatomy. You may have to tell your host at a dinner party that you are on a special diet and can’t eat the pumpkin pie.
! How Bad Do You Want It? !
After reading this program some people are turned off by the amount of time the workouts take. I frequently tell them to do the best they can. This is a journey. If you know you can realistically only dedicate 30 minutes each day than do as much as you can in 30 minutes and then stop.
! That is ok. You will still see results. !
Yet realize that the more effort, time and focus you bring to this program the greater results you will see.
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! ! John gave the necessary amount of effort and saw the results… ! !
"My name is John and I am 48 years old. I have been on a quest for last couple of years to lose weight and get in shape. Through persistence and managing a good and healthy diet I lost around 30 pounds. But now my goal was to put on some muscle. I have read and tried a lot of things on the Internet and YouTube from HIIT to kettlebell to sandbags and BodyWeight exercises. I got some results.
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But when I found Todd's BodyWeight Overload I was excited. Through his 6 week program I managed to lose 2 inches from my waist (35 to 33) and add one inch to my arms and 2 inches to my chest. I lost a couple of pounds but that was not my goal. By using his protocol of angular training you will discover this is not your ordinary BodyWeight routine. Also because of the angular and single limb training you will find imbalances and be able to fix them. I highly recommend Todd's program if you are serious about BodyWeight training and developing strength and muscle.”
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! So did Joe… !
I'm Joe and at 36 I've been training on and off for 18 years. Until a couple of months ago I used to push iron in the gym but I found it boring and repetitive, hence the on and off part of training. I was looking for an alternative and discovered body weight training. I contacted Todd about testing this program Body we ight O verload 75
and was lucky enough to be accepted.
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2 weeks into BodyWeight Overload I cancelled my gym membership. There was no need to pay expensive fees when I had everything I needed already - my own body. Who knew Todd's way of doing push ups would give me quicker and better results than dumb bells?
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I had a great time rediscovering what my body is capable of and look forward to pushing myself further. Bring it on Todd!
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Its time to start your muscle building story. Put away the weights. Cut up your gym membership.
! Push your body to the point of overload. ! To your success! ! Todd Kuslikis
[email protected]
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P.S. That is my personal email address. Feel free to reach out to me any time with questions or concerns. I especially wan’t to see your before and after pictures in 6 weeks. Hooyah! I know you’ll be blown away at the new you!
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