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Copy ri ght : © 2008 by Lyl e M cDon al d. All Righ t s Reserv ed This book book or any pa part rt th ereof, reof, may n ot be reproduce reproduced d or r ecorde corded d i n an y form wi th out perm pe rm iss ission in wri ti ng from th e publi sher, exce except pt for bri ef qu otation s em bodied bodied i n criti cal cal articles or reviews. For in form ati on cont act: Lyle McDonald Publi Publi shi n g PO Box 1713 Salt La Lake ke Cit y, Ut U t 84110 Email: l yl em cd@com ca cas st .n et Fir st E Edi di ti on First irst Prin ti ng
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Introduction You received this e-book when you purchased either the hardcopy or e-version of my Rapid Fat Loss Handboo k. In t hat book, I out li ned a begin n ers hom e exercise program th at can be don e wi th no m ore equip ment t han your ow n bodyweight and possibl y two m il k ju gs fil led wit h water. If you want to get more equipment than that, perhaps small dumbbells or some rubber tubing, most of the exercises in the program can be done with those as well (most commercial tubing you can buy will come with exercise descriptions). You can be as creative as you want, food cans be used for resistance, you could even li ft rocks, or your chi ld ren. If you get seri ous, you can usuall y fi nd h om e gym equi pm ent at any yard sale or in the newspaper want ads. For each exercise, I’m going to explain what muscles are going to be worked along with how to do the exercise; each also has pi ctures to show you exactl y w h at y ou’r e supposed to be doi ng. Addi ti on all y, I’ve in cluded both a begin ni n g and mor e advanced version of m an y of th e exercises. The exercises li sted in th e order you sho ul d do th em. I’v e also in cluded a few op ti onal exercises aft er t he main program, exercises th at you can do i f you wi sh but wh ich aren’ t required. Wh at I’ d actuall y recomm end you d o is prin t t hi s ent ire e-book out and p ut i t i n a small bi n der. Then, you can simply turn the page to the next exercise and read the description/look at the pictures while you’re resting. As well, so that you won’t have to keep going back and forth between the books, I’ve also included the exercise in form ati on fro m t h e Rapid Fat Loss Handb ook i n th i s e-book. Fir st I want t o repeat some in form ati on from th e m ain book before present in g th e exercises th em selv es.
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The basics of resistance training I want to talk a li tt le m ore generall y about t he topi c of resistance train i n g. Fir st I want to explain some terms for people who are wholly unfamiliar with resistance training, those appear in the box below.
Basic Weight Training Terminology Repeti ti on (rep): t he raisin g an d l owerin g of t he resistance once is referred t o as one rep (or repeti ti on ). Set: A set i s a seri es of r epeti ti on s. So i f y ou l if ted a weigh t 8 ti mes an d t hen stopped, you w oul d h ave don e on e set of 8 repeti ti on s. Rest in terval (RI): Betw een sets of t he sam e exercise, you ty pi call y r est (doin g n oth in g), and th is rest m ay last anywhere from 15-30 seconds up to several minutes, depending on the specifics of the training program. Frequency: This is simply how often you exercise, typically individuals will perform resistance training anywhere from two to seven days per week (some very advanced or simply very obsessed athletes will li ft more th an once per day). Wi th in th e context of t he rapid fat loss plan, tw o to th ree days per week of resistance train i ng i s m ore than enough . M uscle group: Thi s simpl y refers to t he muscle or mu scles th at are targeted by a given exercise. A bicep curl may work only the biceps (the muscle on the front of the arms) while a squat may work the glutes, hamstri n gs and qu adri ceps (muscles of t he l ower body)
Perhaps the single most important piece of advice I can give to beginners regarding starting an exercise program is t o start slow ly an d buil d up graduall y. If t here’s a sin gle way to ensure th at you w on ’t stick wi th an exercise program, it’s to start with far too much and either get so sore or so overwhelmed that you don’t m ake it past th e first day. Trust me when I say that this is all too common an occurrence: someone decides to start exercising, overdoes it the first day, can’t walk for the next week and that’s the beginning and end of the program. Bett er to start m ore slow l y and bu il d up mor e graduall y. That way, by the tim e you’ re actuall y doi ng a lot of exercise (or training very intensely), the increase has been so gradual that you never really felt overwh elm ed by th e program. One nice thing about being completely new to exercise is that it doesn’t take very much to generate a respon se in terms of gett in g str onger or gaini ng or m ain tain i ng LBM . In th e secti on above I defin ed sets; here I only want to mention that numerous studies find that, for beginners, a single set gives essentially identical results to doing more than one set. This isn’t to say that increasing the number of sets done over time can’t be useful or isn’t a good idea, only that, in the beginning, there’s little to no need to do more th an th at. For that reason, in the sample exercise programs below, I strongly suggest that beginners perform only a sin gle set to begin wi th . I’l l t alk about h ow to progress th e train i ng program (i f desir ed) as well . Anot her issue for begin ners is li ft in g speed; th is refers to h ow q ui ckly (or slow ly ) th e reps are done. For begin n ers, th ere’s reall y l it tl e to di scuss. For both safety r eason s an d from th e standp oin t of learn in g the exercises, I recomm en d th at begin ners use fairl y slow and cont rol led mo vement speeds. Lif ti n g the weight 4
in tw o seconds an d low eri n g it i n t wo seconds wou ld be an appropr iate speed. Thi s woul d m ake each repeti ti on last fou r seconds. Fin all y i s th e issue of breath in g. Gen erally speaki n g, wh en li ft in g an y t ype of r esistance, begin ners are best served by exhalin g as th ey l ift th e weight and i nh ali ng as th ey l ower it . However, far m ore im portant ly is that people make sure to breathe in the first place; I’ve often seen beginners hold their breath and end up gaspin g for air mi dway th rough a set. It ’s more im port ant th at you breath e th an how you breath e. A begin n i ng weight t rain er shou ld be perform in g the most basic of rout in es. At m ost on e exercise per bodypart shoul d be done and th e whole body shoul d be worked at each wor kout wi th hi gh repeti ti ons (1215) and li ght weight s. As mentioned above, this accomplishes a number of important goals: it burns calories, will decrease the carboh ydrate stor ed i n mu scle (whi ch i n creases how mu ch f at th e body burn s at rest) and tends to be safer and m ore effecti ve in th e begin ni n g stages of t rain in g. If you belong to a gym, this type of routine can be done easily and quickly using machines or free weights (barbell s or dum bbell s). If yo u don ’t belon g to a gym, th e accompany in g e-book contain s som e basic exercises th at can be done at h ome usin g the min i mum amoun t of equipm ent . The workout it self woul d be done a maximum of two to three times per week (three is the absolute maximum) on alternating days. If y ou decided to exercise tw ice per week, you w oul d want t o spread the days out across th e week. M on day and Thu rsday or M on day an d Fri day or som e sim il ar spacin g (e.g. Tuesday/Fri day) woul d be ideal. If you exercise three times per week, you would exercise Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. In the box on the next page, I’ve include two sample routines for beginning exercisers; one is a basic gym rout in e if you h ave access, th e oth er i s a basic h om e rout in e th at can be don e. If y ou n eed or w ant m ore details than that, you can go purchase one of the dozens of beginning weight training books on the market. Thi s sh oul d get you st arted.
Begin n er Hom e Exercise Rout in e Exercise Squat or lunge Glute bridge* Push -up 1-arm row Lateral raise* Biceps curl* Triceps dip* Crunch Bird dogs
Sets 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-3 1-3
Reps 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15
RI 1’ 1’ 1’ 1’ 1’ 1’ 1’ 1’ 1’
M uscles exercised Glutes, quadri ceps, hamst rings Glutes, ham strings Chest, shoulders, tri ceps Back, biceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Stomach Lower back
Although sets are listed as 1-3, I highly recommend that beginners start with only one set of each exercise on t h eir f i rst day. As m ent ion ed above, an excell ent way to com pl etely derail an exercise program i s to start wi th too m uch t oo soon . If t he fir st day is ext remely easy, you can alw ays add a second set du ri n g your second workou t . If it ’s sti ll chall en gin g, sti ck wi th t he sin gle set. 5
Although the repetitions are listed as 12-15, not everyone will get to 15 repetitions, especially on bodyw eigh t exercises (weight machi n es at t h e gym can alw ays be set very l igh t) i n it iall y. I recomm en d th at you stick with the exercise until you can get 15 repetitions fairly comfortably before considering adding a secon d set. On ce you can do 2 sets of 15 easil y, you can con sider addi n g a th i rd set. Or you can add w eigh t instead of addi ng sets as di scussed t wo paragraph s below on progressio n. RI stands for rest i nt erval, w hi ch I h ave set at on e mi nu te across th e board. If y ou’r e on ly d oin g one set of each exercise, this means th at you wo ul d rest on e minut e between exercises. If you are doi n g mul ti pl e sets of an exercise, you shoul d rest one minut e betw een sets. So say you are doi n g 3 sets of 12-15 leg presses. You d o you r fi rst set of 15, r est a mi n ut e, do a second set of 15, rest a mi nu te, do a th ir d set, rest a mi n ut e, then move on to your next exercise. On e factor I h aven’t talked about yet i s progression . To get stron ger (or bu il d bi gger m uscles), you h ave to overload them by m aki n g them wor k harder. For begin ners, thi s usuall y means addin g m ore weight t o th e exercise t o make it m ore di ffi cult . So on ce you can do 15 repeti ti on s easil y wi th say, 10 pounds, you w oul d move to 12 or 15 pounds. This might brin g you back down to 12 repeti ti on s, then you’d bui ld back up to 15 repeti tio ns, once th at got easy, you ’d add weight again . Begin ners can generall y use th is ty pe of approach for quite some time before needing anything more complicated. For the home exercise routine, progression can be a bit more difficult. I’ve included some more advanced movements in the accompanying e-book that you got with this manual but eventually even those may become too easy. Addi n g weigh t by usin g small dum bbell s, plates (both of w hi ch can u suall y be purchased fairly inexpensively at various sporting goods stores, or found used) can be used. Exercises m arked wi th a * shou ld be consid ered opt io nal. They can be perform ed i f y ou h ave en ergy, ti m e or in cli nati on bu t are n ot requir ed. The goal of t hi s rout in e is to h it th e greatest amoun t of m uscle mass wi th th e least n um ber of exercises. If you on ly p erf orm ed th e main exercises, you wou ld have covered you r bases.
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Exercise 1: The squat If t here were a sin gle exercise t hat you could d o for t h e low er body, it wou ld be th e squat. Alm ost nothing works the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps (the three biggest muscles in your lower body) as well . And t h e best part is th at everybod y kn ows h ow to squat. W h en you sit down i n a chair, or sit down t o use t he toil et, you ’re squatti n g. Onl y n ow we’re goi ng to m ake it an exercise.
To perform th e bodyweight squat, you shoul d stand w it h your f eet roughly shoul der wi dth apart and w it h your t oes an gled out sli ght ly. M ost w il l f in d t hat i t’s easier to balance wi th th e arm s out i n f ron t as show n below. Slow ly l ower (taki ng roughl y 2 seconds) unt i l t h e t hi ghs are parall el t o th e ground, you wil l n eed to l ean f orwards sli ghtl y to avoid fall in g over. Then return to t he standin g posit ion . That consti tut es on repeti ti on, conti nue unti l y ou reach th e goal of 12-15 repetition s. You shoul d in hale as you l ower you rself and exhale as you stand back up.
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The squat can be m ade m ore dif fi cul t by addi ng resistan ce. If you h ave access to dum bbell s, th ey can be hel d by t h e sid es duri n g the exercise. If you h ave rubber tubi ng, you can stan d on t op of i t t o provi de resistance. An easy hom e sol ut ion i s to t ake t wo em pt y gall on m il k ju gs and f i ll th em t o th e same l evel with w ater. These can be held by the sides to m ake t he exercise m ore dif fi cult as shown on the next page. Other than the addition of resistance, the intermediate version of the squat i s id ent i cal t o t he begin n er version .
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To perf orm th e spl it squat, st ep out wi th one leg (th e back leg shou ld be on th e toe) so t hat, w h en you bend y our kn ees, both end up at a 90 degree an gle as shown on the ri ght . In hale as you l ower an d exh ale as you stand back up. Perf orm 12-15 repeti tion s on on e leg, rest on e m in ut e, t hen perfo rm y our repeti ti on s on t h e oth er leg. Alt h ough th e spl it squat is bein g dem onstrat ed here wi th mi lk jugs, you shoul d perform th e exercise wi th out any w eight th e fi rst few t im es th at you do it.
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Exercise 2: The glute bridge (optional exercise) If you didn’t feel like you worked your lower body enough with the squat, you can do a second l ower body exercise that wi ll especiall y target t h e glutes an d hamstri ng m uscles. That exercise is t he gl ut e bri dge sho wn below.
To begin the glute bridge, lie on your back with your feet out away from your butt, arms go by your si des. From th is posit io n, press th rough you r heels to raise your r ear-end off t he fl oor. On ly raise up un t il your body i s in a str aigh t l in e (as show n below) before low eri ng. That consti tu tes on r epet it ion , an d you shou ld p erfor m 12-15 repeti ti on s. Exh ale as you bri dge up and in h ale as you lower.
To m ake th e glut e bri dge m ore di ff icul t, y ou can add r esistance. If you h ave dumbbell s, you can h old t h em i n you r lap; small weight p lates wor k here as well . Alt ern ately, you could pl ace a h eavy book or som eth in g sim il ar in your l ap t o i ncrease th e resistan ce. Of course, you can also move to a more advanced version of the exercise, shown on the next page.
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I want to make it very clear that the 1-legged glute bridge is a very advanced variation on this exercise, requiring a great deal of not only leg strength but also core stability. I’d strongly suggest fi nd in g a way to add resi stance to th e no rm al glut e bri dge before att em pt in g thi s on e.
Like the normal glute bridge, start by laying on your back; this time you will have one leg ext end ed str aight , th e oth er l eg is on t he flo or in th e sam e posit ion as for t h e n orm al glu te bridge. Your arm s sho ul d be by your sid e. From t hi s posit i on, fi rst ti ght en you r abdom in al (stom ach) m uscles before raisin g your but t of f t he floor by pushi ng th rough t he heel of t he oth er l eg.
Exh ale as you raise up to f ul l extensi on, don ’t but don ’t over-ext en d your lo w back. In hale on t he way down and that equals on repetition. Don’t be surprised if you can’t get very many repetitions t he fi rst few t im es you t ry th is exerci se.
As with the normal glute bridge, if you get to the point where the single leg glute bridge is too easy, you can always add weight by placing small dumbbells, weight plates or a heavy book on your stomach.
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Exercise 3: Push ups I imagine most everybody has, at one time or another, done or at least tried to do a pushup. Worki ng t h e m uscles of t h e ch est, sho ul ders an d t ri ceps, t hi s wi ll be on e of you r p ri mary exercises t o tr ain th e m uscl es of y our up per body.
The simple fact is that, even the standard and modified push-up are often too difficult for compl ete begin n ers. For t hi s reason , I’m goin g to suggest t hat y ou start w it h a wall p ush -up. If this is too easy (or as it gets easier) you can move to the intermediate and advanced versions of t he exercise.
To perf orm th e wall push u p, you sh oul d start wi th your feet several f eet f rom th e wall so th at you can l ean i nt o it. Your hands shoul d be sli ghtl y wi der th an shoul der wi dth , startin g wi th your arm s str aigh t. Keepi n g your bod y i n a str aigh t l i ne (don’t l et y our back sag or arch), bend t he arms until your face is close to the wall, inhaling as you do so. Exhale as you straighten your arms. That’s on e repeti tion . As al ways, try t o do 12-15 repetition s befor e restin g.
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The in term edi ate push-up , oft en derogator il y r eferred t o as a ‘Girl ’ pu sh -up i s sim pl y a push-up done wit h t he knees on t he ground. Wh il e more dif fi cult t han th e wall push-up, it ’s much easier t han a standard pu sh-up .
The modi fi ed push-up start s wi th th e feet up and t he knees on th e fl oor, th e hands sho ul d be about shoul der wi dth to begin. From th is posit ion , bend your elbows un ti l your chest i s just above th e fl oor, i n hali ng as you l ower yourself as show n in th e pi ctur e below . Exh ale as you pu sh your self back to th e start in g posi ti on . That’s one repeti ti on. Don ’t be surpr i sed if you can’ t go all th e way down w it hout collapsin g or can’ t get very m any repeti ti ons wh en you fi rst t ry t hi s exercise. As you get stron ger, you’ll be able to lower yourself m ore and do m ore reps.
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W h en m odi fi ed push -ups get too easy, t h e n ext progression is to mo ve to nor m al or “ unm odif ied” push-ups. As I m ent ion ed above, I im agine that everyon e is famil iar wit h t he stan dard pu sh -up, so oft en th e bane of grade school PE classes. The start ing position is sh own bel ow, t h e onl y di ff erence i s th at n ow t he knees are off th e fl oor and th e body shou ld be in a completely str aight li ne.
W h il e in hali n g, bend th e elbow s un ti l t he chest i s j ust of f t h e fl oor (as sh ow bel ow), before exhaling and straightening the elbows and returning to the start position.
On ce again , don’t be surpr ised if you can’ t go all th e way down or do very many r epeti t ion s th e fi rst ti me you try th e standard push-up. Sti ck wit h i t and you’l l be able to lower yourself furt her and do more reps as you get stron ger.
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Exercise 4: One-arm row Possibl e t he most di ff i cult m uscle group t o exercise at hom e or wi th out equi pm en t i s th e upper back, in fact m ost of th e bodyw ei ght exerci se program s I’ ve ever seen sim pl y i gnored th e problem completely. To perf orm t he one-arm row, you w il l n eed som eth in g to prov id e resi stance. In th e pi ctures bel ow, t h e exercise i s bein g dem on str ated wi th an obj ect I i m agin e everyon e wi ll have in th eir h om es: an empt y gall on m il k ju g. Fil led wit h w ater (or san d if y ou prefer), th is can pr ovi de resist an ce dur in g the exercise. You wi ll also need a chair or l ow t abl e to stabi li ze you rsel f on . The one-arm row wor ks th e mu scles in th e back alon g wi th th e biceps (m uscles on th e fr ont of the arms).
To perf orm th e 1-arm row , fir st stabil ize yoursel f on th e table (or sofa, or ben ch) w it h one arm , t he oth er l eg can stay on th e fl oor or also go on t he table. You shou ld be ho ld in g th e resistan ce in th e opposit e hand, wi th th e arm h angin g straight dow n (l eft picture). Your upper body shoul d be fl at t o th e floor; t hat i s, don’t t urn your shoul ders. Pull in g wit h y our back muscles, pull th e mi lk jug (or dum bbell ) straight up un ti l your elbow is sli ghtl y above your upper body, exh ali ng as you do so. In hale as you l ower th e weight back to th e start in g posi ti on . That’s on e repeti ti on. Perf orm your set of 12-15 repeti ti on s befor e resti ng f or a m in ute an d exercisi ng t h e ot her arm. There isn’t an y m ore advanced version of t hi s exercise, th e best way t o m ake it m ore diff icul t is to use m ore resistance. So you can f il l t he mil k j ug up wi th m ore water, or put san d in it , or in vest i n som e dum bbell s or ru bber t ubin g if desir ed.
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Exercise 5: Lateral raise (optional exercise) Alt h ough y ou wor ked your shou ld ers wi th th e push -ups, som e hom e exercisers may w ish t o do ext ra work f or th ose m uscle grou ps. Like the on e-arm row above , there’s n o parti cularl y easy way t o wor k t he sh oul ders wi th out some sort of equi pm ent to p rovi de resi stance. Agai n, y ou can use tw o gall on mi lk jugs fi ll ed wi th water (m ake sure to fi ll th em equall y) or small food cans, or dumbbells or what have you.
Standi ng wi th your t wo j ugs (dum bbell s, etc.) at arms length by your sides (left p ictu re), you wi ll sim pl y raise your h an ds and arm s up and ou t t o th e sid e un ti l th ey are level w it h y our sh oul ders (ri ght pi cture). Exh ale as you raise th e weight , in h ale whi le you l ower un ti l you h ave perf orm ed all of your repeti ti ons. You can make th is more dif fi cult by addin g more water t o th e mi lk ju gs, or usin g heavi er dum bbell s. Thi s exerci se can also be don e wi th rubber tubi n g by standi ng on to p of i t and r aise th e tu bin g out to t he sid e.
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Exercise 6: Biceps curl (optional exercise) Alt h ough t h e biceps (th e m uscles on t he fron t of th e arm ) were work ed duri ng th e on e-arm row exercise, some hom e exercisers m ay w ish t o do m ore work for t his m uscles group . The biceps curl exerci se i s th e way to do th is, lik e th e previous exercise, it wi ll requi re someth in g to pr ovi de resistan ce. Again , we’ll be usin g our h an dy m il k j ug.
To perform the biceps curl, start with one jug (dumbbell, etc.) in each hand with your arms str ai ght by y our sid e. From t hi s posi ti on, exhale as you curl th e resistan ce up t o sh oul der l evel , your el bows sho ul d stay by you r sid es. In hale as you l ower th e weight s, th at’ s on e repeti ti on . As alw ays, t ry to perfor m 12-15 repeti ti on s before resti ng. As with the lateral raise, there’s no advanced version of this exercise, you can make it more di ff icul t by usin g heavi er resistan ce by addi ng m ore water (or san d) t o t he mi lk cart on, usin g dum bbell s or standin g on tubi ng.
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Exercise 7: Triceps dips (optional exercise) Alt h ough t h e tri ceps (on th e back of t he arm ) were h it wi t h push -ups, some hom e exercisers m ay wi sh t o do more work for th em. I give you th e tr iceps dip. You’l l n eed a sturdy chair or table to do t hi s one.
To perform th e tr iceps dip, start w it h hands on th e table or chair and t hen walk y our feet out to th e posit ion show n i n t he pictur e on t he left . In hale as you low er yourself by bendi ng your elbow s un ti l t hey reach a 90-degree angle as shown i n t h e pi cture on t he left . Exh ale as you str ai ght en y our arms agai n; t h at’ s on e repeti ti on. Try to p erf orm 12-15 repeti ti on s before resti ng. To make this one more difficult, you can put something heavy in your lap, books, small dum bbell s or somethi ng li ke that.
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Exercise 8: Crunch The crun ch w orks your abdomi nal m uscles, wh at m ost call th e stom ach m uscles. Before sh owi ng you t he exercise, I want t o poin t out t hat all of t he crun ches in th e worl d won ’t giv e you a fl at stom ach or a six -pack. Bot h of t hose goal s is mostl y about reducin g body fat, wh i ch i s wh at th e rapid f at l oss program is al l about. Doi ng crunch es is more about st ren gth en in g your mi dsecti on . Just don’t think that by doing endless crunches, or doing them every day, or anything like that t hat you ’re goin g t o sli m you r stom ach. Do your 12-15 repeti ti on s l ike all of t he other exercises, rest an d m ove on.
To perf orm th e crun ch exercise, li e back on t h e fl oor w it h your k nees ben t (t h is help s t o keep stress off th e low back). Probably th e bi ggest mi stake people make wh en th ey do crun ches is yanki ng th eir h ead up off th e fl oor wi th th eir h and s, gi vi n g th emselves n eck str ai n. In stead, put you r h an ds besid e you r h ead or by y our tem pl es (you can also cross th em across your ch est to make the exercise a bit easier).
From th at po sit ion , exh al e as you t ry t o curl y our sh oul ders and upper back up off t he floor t o th e posit i on shown in th e second pi cture. Pl ease n ote th at t hi s is a very sm all range of m oti on movement, you don’t have to rise up very far to work the abdominals. In h al e as you l ower back d own and th at’ s one repeti ti on . Perf orm 12-15 repet it ion s as alw ays. There are a number of ways to make this exercise more difficult when doing it as above becomes easier. On e is to put t he arm s str aigh t out overh ead, ano th er i s to p ut a sm all weight on th e chest (e.g. book, dumbbells). 19
Exercise 9: Bird dogs The bird d og exercise work s th e m uscles in both your upper and l ower back th at are im port an t f or low-back health.
To start t h e bir d-dog exercise, you wi ll need to get on th e fl oor on all four s. You may wi sh t o put a th ick t owel or mat on th e fl oor i f th is one both ers your kn ees. Your hands sho ul d be di rectl y underneath your shoulders and your back should be flat as shown above.
From th e start p osit i on, you are goin g to li ft on e arm and t h e opposi te leg up unt il th ey are level wi th th e fl oor as sho wn in th e pict ure above. Try to keep your back fl at and your h ead in th e sam e positi on as wh ere it started. Exh ale as you l ift . In h al e as you l ower th e hand and l eg an d t he repeat w i th th e opposi te arm and l eg and t h en l ower. That equals one repeti ti on. Perf orm 12-15 tot al repeti ti ons whi ch m eans 24-30 t otal l if ti ngs and low eri ng.
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Conclusion So that’s that. As you can see, it ’s m ore th an p ossibl e to get a very w ork abl e and eff ecti ve begin ner exerci se program train in g at h om e. Depend in g on wh ere you’r e start in g an d how qui ckly you m ove th rough th e vari ous exerci ses and progressi ons I’v e laid out (i.e. addi ng resistance, adding additional sets of each exercise, moving to more difficult exercises), this program mi ght last you 8 weeks or i t mi ght last you m any mon th s. At some point, assuming you want to continue making progress in your training, odds are you’ll be ready for somethi ng a li tt le bit more inv olved. Alt hough I di scussed it in th e in tr oducti on t o t hi s e-book and i n th e Rapi d Fat Loss Handbook, I want to f in ish up t h is e-book by t alk in g about progression. The key t o im provin g both fi tn ess and body composit ion is progression in traini ng. To grow str on ger, you have to ch all enge your m uscles a li tt le bit m ore. That m i ght m ean p erf orm in g a m ore di ff i cult exercise, or addi ng resistance, or doin g addi tion al sets. At a m ore advanced l evel, m any resistan ce tr ain ers wi ll spl i t t h eir m uscle groups across di ff eren t d ays. They mi ght tr ai n t he l ower body on on e day, the upper body on anot h er, etc. There are m any di ff eren t w ays to approach tr ain in g (th is gets a m ore detail ed discussion in m y book The Ketogen ic Di et). Thi s all ows them t o do m ore exerci ses and work each m uscle m ore i nt en sely t han w it h a ful l body exerci se program li ke the one I’ve laid out in th is e-book. However, such programs usually entail having access to more exercise and equipment and that usuall y i nv ol ves j oin in g a gym . By t h e ti m e you’v e fi n ished th e exercise program in t hi s course, you m ay be ready t o do exactl y t hat. Thi s program wi ll h ave given y ou a reason able baseli ne of fi tn ess so th at you can m ove to a m ore int ensive gym based pr ogram fairl y easil y. I w ant t o em ph asize th at i t’ s very easy for relati ve begin n ers to be h orri bly in ti m i dated in th e gym, especiall y i n th e weigh t r oom (and t hi s is especiall y t rue for wom en ). Pl ease don ’t be. Rather, if you decide to join a gym, realize that you have as much right to be there as anyone else. You might consider hiring a personal trainer to help design your training program, or get one of t he m an y book s avail able on resi stance tr ain in g. Fin all y, as I m ent ion ed i n th e Rapi d Fat Loss Handbook, wh il e a lot of aerobi c/cardi ovascular activi ty duri ng th e diet tends to do m ore harm t han good, it can be very effecti ve in li mi ti ng weight lo ss once th e di et i s over. You can start a walki n g program out si de, consider h om eexercise equi pm ent, or, as m en tioned above, joi n a gym an d h ave access to a tremendous num ber of di ff erent exercise opt i ons. In any case, I h ope th at th e in form ati on in th is e-book h elps you to both begin and conti nue an exerci se program for li fe. Out si de of good nu tr it i on, n o oth er l if esty le ch oice can h ave as large of an im pact on your overall h eal th as exercisin g regularly. Good luck, Lyle
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