Notice The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The author advises readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, be sure that your equipment is well-maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and tness. The exercise and dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or treatment or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your doctor. As with all exercise and dietary programs, you should get your doctor’s approval before beginning.
overview
Go Harder not Longer
After you’ve established a solid base of tness, training with high intensities and short rest periods are the keys to burning fat and building athleticism. The workouts in this advanced version of Body of F.I.R.E. aren’t longer than many of the workouts you’ve already completed, but they will sculpt and supercharge your body faster than ever before. Years ago, Dr. Tabata’s research gave us all a hard kick to the gut. His team of scientists showed that people who train with a very high intensity lose fat and build their aerobic and anaerobic tness much, much faster than those who train for longer periods at a lower intensity. Indeed, when it comes to fat loss, intensity is the most important component to get right. Now, the workouts in this program don’t revolve around Tabata protocols (those have been beaten to death) but my training principles for fat loss are heavily inuenced by his research. Long, mind-numbing aerobic workouts only help your aerobic tness. A well-designed highintensity athletic program, on the other hand, will boost your aerobic endurance, strength, and anaerobic power. That’s what both athletes and people that want fast fat loss need to reach the next level.
Programming Details
This program is based on four workouts per week. Ideally, you’ll do Workout 1 on Monday, Workout 2 on Tuesday, Workout 3 on Thursday, and Workout 4 on Saturday. If you can’t do that exact schedule just do your best to space the workouts as evenly as possible over a week. Each workout starts with rope jumping and foam roller drills for mobility (shown in the next few pages). Then you’ll do the workout followed by the stretches that are covered after the training logs (these are the same stretches you did in the original Body of F.I.R.E. so they should be familiar). Before starting this program you should do three things. First, measure your waist or hips (females) with a cloth tape and weigh yourself. Second, take three pictures: from front, side, and rear wearing nothing but shorts or a bikini (females). Third, do the two tests that are outlined on the next page and write down your results. When the program is nished, compare your before and after stats. Are you ready for the next level? Let me take you there!
testing broad jump & overhead squat weeks 1 & 8
test 1 broad jump “If you’re not testing, you’re guessing” is a mantra that I live by. An athlete’s success depends on his performance, and there’s no way to know if his performance is increasing unless I test it. But even if you’re not an athlete - even if you’re a female who just wants to look better in a bikini, or a guy who wants to see his abs for the rst time - you can benet from improving the following two tests. Perform each test at the beginning of week 1 and the end of week 8.
Test #1: Broad Jump Why you should test it: the standing broad jump is a simple and accurate way to measure
acceleration, deceleration, and balance. For all you non-athletes out there, here’s something to keep in mind: you’ll never nd a fat person who peforms well at this test. The leaner and stronger you are, the longer your jump will be. How to do it: stand behind a line or a piece of tape on the ground. Place your toes at the edge of the
line (tape) with your feet shoulder width apart (Fig. 1a). Quickly crouch down (Fig. 1b) and explosively leap forward using arm swing (Fig. 1c), and land without falling down (Fig. 1d). It’s important to land with your feet at with the emphasis put on your hips, not your knees. If you fall down the jump doesn’t count. Do three jumps with a minute of rest between each. When you land, have a partner mark just behind your heels with a piece of tape (or you can hold the tape in your hand and mark it yourself when you land). The distance from the line/tape to the point just behind your heels is your broad jump distance. Measure the distance and write down your longest jump out of the three attempts. Fig. 1d
Fig. 1c
Fig. 1b
Fig. 1a
test 2 overhead squat Test #2:Overhead Squat Why you should test it: the overhead squat is the ultimate test of full body mobility and stability
strength. When you can master it like the pics show below, you will be a better athlete. Intense training, whether it’s for a ghter or fat loss, requires healthy, mobile joints. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to gure out what your problem is, assuming you can’t mimic the technique below. The mobility drills, workouts, and stretches in this program will likely correct what’s holding you back. It’s a great idea to have someone video your technique before the program and compare it to the end. How to do it: hold a light, straight bar overhead with your hands wider than shoulder width, elbows
locked. Your stance should be slightly wider than shoulder width with your feet angled out slightly (Fig. 2a). Take a deep breath, hold it, then push your hips back and squat down while keeping the bar directly over the posterior portion of the top of your head. At the bottom position your heels should be down, knees should be over your feet (not buckled in) and above your toes (not in front of your toes), torso is 60-75 degrees relative to the oor, head neutral with spine, and the bar should be slightly behind your head (Fig. 2b). Stand and exhale. Repeat for ve reps and video your technique. Repeat at the end of the program.
Fig. 2a
Fig. 2b
ADVANCED
mobility weeks 1-8
prep/mobility foam roller drills Perform the following rope jumping and foam roller drills before starting each workout. Rope Jumping
Time: 5-10 minutes (depending on what week you’re in). Explanation: you can perform the rope jumping while hopping with both feet together, or by skipping
one leg at a time. To determine the correct rope length, stand on the center of the rope with your feet together. With the rope pulled straight up, the handles should be at shoulder height.
Spinal Erectors/rhomboids Reps: 10 How to do it: lie with your upper back resting on a roller, just above your shoulder blades (Fig. 3a).
With your knees bent and feet at on the ground, cross your arms at your chest to expose the rhomboids to the roller. Walk your feet back to roll the roller down your back. Once you reach your low back (Fig. 3b), reverse the movement and walk/roll back to the starting position (Fig. 3a). That’s one rep. Repeat for 10 reps. Fig. 3a
Fig. 3b
prep/mobility foam roller drills
T-spine (Throracic spine) Reps: 10 How to do it: sit on the ground with your knees bent and feet at. Place the foam roller against your
mid back, just below your shoulder blades. Clasp your hands behind your head and pull your elbows together in front (Fig. 4a). Extend back as far as possible while keeping your hips on the ground (Fig. 4b). “Crunch” forward to the starting position without pulling on your head. That’s one rep. You should be able to extend farther back with each rep. Repeat for 10 reps. Fig. 4a
Fig. 4b
Quadriceps Reps: 10 How to do it: lie prone with the roller resting against both thighs and your elbows resting on the
ground. Roll the foam roller up and down your thighs from just above the knee to upper thigh. Move your body over the roller by “walking” with your elbows. Start just above the knee, roll up the thigh, and back to knee. That’s one rep. Repeat for 10 reps. (You can do this drill one leg at a time, if you prefer.)
prep/mobility foam roller drills IT Band Reps: 10 How to do it: lie on your left side with the foam roller resting against your outer thigh (IT band). Your
legs are straight and feet together. Rest your left elbow on the ground and roll your IT band from just above the knee to hip and back down to knee. That’s one rep. Repeat for 10 reps with each leg.
Glutes Reps: 10 How to do it: sit on a foam roller with your hands resting behind you on the ground. Cross your left
leg over the top of your right knee. Shift your weight to the left side so your left glute is resting on the roller. Roll up and down your glute and spend a little extra time on areas that are sore. Repeat for 10 reps with each side.
ADVANCED
phase I training weeks 1-4
ADVANCED phase i workout 1 (monday) prep/mobility Jump rope 5 min.
Spinal erectors/T-spine/Quads/IT band/Glute roll for 10 reps each
cardio Squat thrust/push-up/mountain climber/jump combo
Jumping jack
No rest
No rest, repeat 4 more times (5 circuits total)
10 reps
10 reps
strength (start with a 6RM and continue with that weight for all sets) Pull-up w/narrow grip Front squat
Dip
Rest 30s
AMAP
Rest 30s
AMAP
Rest 30s
AMAP
Single arm/leg plank
Rest 30s repeat 5 times (6 circuits total)
Hold 30s each side
cardio strength Combo 7
10 reps (the entire sequence is one rep)
STRETCHES Hip exors (hold 20s)
Calf (hold 20s)
Chest (hold 20s)
T-spine (hold 20s)
Rest 60s repeat once (2 sets total)
ADVANCED phase i workout 1 EXPLANATION Prep/Mobility Start with ve minutes of rope jumping and follow it up with the mobility drills. Then move on to the Cardio portion of the workout.
Cardio Start with 10 jumping jacks, and without resting squat down and place your hands on the ground and jump your feet back, do one push-up, then do one mountain climber (one rep with each leg), then jump and reach overhead. That’s one rep; repeat for nine more. When 10 reps of the squat thrust/ push-up/mountain climber/jump combo is nished do another 10 jumping jacks followed by 10 more reps of the combo. Perform ve circuits total (50 jumping jacks and 50 reps of the combo). Ideally, you’ll do the entire sequence without resting, but that’s challenging unless you’re in good shape. Rest as much as you need to at rst until your tness builds up. When that’s nished, move on to the strength exercises.
strength Start with a weight you can lift around six times for your rst set and continue using that weight for all sets. You’ll start with a narrow-grip pull-up for six reps, rest for 30 seconds, then do the dip for six reps, rest 30 seconds, next do the front squat for six reps, rest 30 seconds, then hold the single arm/ leg plank for 30 seconds on each side. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat the circuit ve more times (six total circuits). Keep in mind, your reps will drop off with each subsequent set. After the rst set of six reps you might only get four or ve reps for the second set, and even fewer for subsequent sets. This is correct and it’s how the strength circuit is designed. If a pull-up is too difcult you can perform a lat pulldown with a narrow grip or a bent-over row with a neutral grip. If a dip is too difcult, replace it with a push-up with your hands together. The front squat can be performed with one or two kettlebells (or dumbbells) depending on your strength. After nish ing six circuits, move on to the cardio strength exercise.
Cardio strength For this workout you’ll combine a squat thrust, push-up, core row, power clean, push press, and reverse lunge. Keep the weight relatively light so you can transition quickly between each exercise. Once you nish 10 reps, rest for one minute and repeat another set of 10 reps. Now it’s time to nish the workout with stretches.
Stretches Start with the hip exors stretch and hold each side for 20 seconds at a position where you feel a deep stretch without pain. Then, hold the calf stretch for 20 seconds with each leg. Next, hold the chest stretch for 20 seconds. Finally, hold the T-spine stretch for 20 seconds. The T-spine stretch is a little tricky because you must squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and abs tight before you lift your arms overhead. If you don’t, your back will arch too much. All of the stretches can certainly be held for longer than 20 seconds, but that time is the minimum.
ADVANCED phase i workout 2 (TUESday) prep/mobility Jump rope 5 min.
Spinal erectors/T-spine/Quads/IT band/Glute roll for 10 reps each
cardio I Squat thrust with jump
Lateral hop
No rest
Split jack
No rest
10 reps
10 reps w/each leg
No rest, repeat cycle 3 more times (4 total cycles)
20 reps
cardio strength For the following swing/clap push-up pairing you’ll start with 11 reps of each and work your way down to one rep of each (11 sets of 11/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 reps). Swing Push-up w/knee tuck No rest, repeat cycle 10 more times (11 total cycles) dropping a rep with each set
No rest
11-1 reps
11-1 reps
cardio II Sprint at top speed for 30s, then do jumping jacks for 30s. Repeat the sprint/jumping jack cycle nine more times (10 total) for a total of 10 minutes’ worth of work.
STRETCHES Hip exors (hold 20s)
Calf (hold 20s)
Chest (hold 20s)
T-spine (hold 20s)
ADVANCED phase i workout 2 EXPLANATION Prep/Mobility Start with ve minutes of rope jumping. Then, perform the mobility exercises. Now you’re ready to move on to the rst cardio exercises.
Cardio i Start with 10 lateral hops (10 with each leg), then immediately do 10 squat thrusts with a jump followed by 20 split jacks (each time you clap your hands in front is one rep). Repeat the entire circuit three more times (four circuits total). Do your best to rest as little as possible throughout the entire sequence.
cardio strength Start with 11 swings followed by 11 push-ups with a knee tuck. Then do 10 swings followed by 10 push-ups with a knee tuck. Next do nine swings followed by nine push-ups with a knee tuck. Continue dropping one rep of each exercise until you perform one swing and one push-up with knee tuck. If this push-up is too difcult, you have a few options. You can do a regular push-up with weight vest, or do a regular push-up with your feet elevated on an exercise ball, or do a push-up with your hands on an exercise ball. The key is to nd a version of the push-up that’s challenging but doable for the higher rep sets.
Cardio ii Sprint for 30 seconds, then stop and do jumping jacks for 30 seconds (or do 30 jumping jacks). Sprint again for 30 seconds followed by 30 jumping jacks. Perform this cycle 10 times for 10 minutes’ worth of work. It’s best to sprint outside or on a track, but if that’s not an option you can do the sprint portion on a treadmill, then jump off and do the jumping jacks before you jump back on. This is not ideal since there will be lag time, but if it’s your only option you can make it work. After this cardio sequence is completed, nish the workout with stretches.
Stretches Start with the hip exors stretch and hold each side for 20 seconds at a position where you feel a deep stretch without pain. Then, hold the calf stretch for 20 seconds with each leg. Next, hold the chest stretch for 20 seconds. Finally, hold the T-spine stretch for 20 seconds. The T-spine stretch is a little tricky because you must squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and abs tight before you lift your arms overhead. If you don’t, your back will arch too much. All of the stretches can certainly be held for longer than 20 seconds, but that time is the minimum.
