PTC
PERFORMANCE TRAINING CENTRE NEWSLETTER
ISSUE # 37- SPECIAL EDITION
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO FAT LOSS AND BODY RECOMPOSITION
The topic of weight loss is always the most popular in my gym. It is also the most misunderstood. I am writing this newsletter in the hope that it will be the definitive answer to all your weight loss questions.
First things first. The term weight loss is misleading. It’s fat loss we seek, not weight. You could amputate a limb, or a head in some client’s case and you could lose 10kg of ugly weight, but it’s not all fat. The goal for everyone should be to lose fat and minimise muscle loss. If you simply want to lose weight, stop eating. There is no need to read any further. Bye bye. If you are interested in losing fat, read on.
Now, why is it so important to maintain muscle mass while dieting to lose fat? Because muscle mass determines how many calories our body burns while resting. That is our basic metabolic rate (BMR). So the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn. This is very important as I will show later. Most popular diet plans totally ignore this. Anybody can lose weight with a sensible diet that eliminates junk food. We have had these diets available for the last 20 years, and now we have the fattest population in the world. Why?
Well, I think it’s because the majority of people who have got fat by eating low fat food and processed carbohydrates, have reduced their weight by restricting calories and doing mindless cardio of the useless nature, such as walking, jogging, exercise bike, rowing machines, steppers, pump class, spin cycle. None of these exercises build any muscle. That is not their thing, baby. They are designed to burn calories, and they do that well, but only while you are exercising. So you burn extra calories for one hour during your session. Imagine if you could exercise for one hour and burn extra calories for up to eight hours. Well, you can.
But guess what, that exercise is hard. It’s actually very hard. The harder you train, the longer you burn calories for. Now, most think that they exercise hard on the treadmill. They are so wrong. There is no strain on your muscles, it may be difficult on your lungs, but it’s doing nothing for your muscles. One set of 20 rep squats with a challenging weight will burn calories for hours. That’s one 4 minute set. The only people that will doubt that have never done a difficult set of 20 rep squats. By difficult, try and load 1 1/2 times your bodyweight on a bar and squat it 20 times. Let me know how easy that is when you’re done. I challenge you doubters to try it. I mean full squats, not namby pamby � squats done in commercial gyms.
Now, if you are the type that got fat, lost weight through diet and didn’t build muscle while lifting heavy weights, you have reduced your BMR. Pretty soon you will start getting fatter simply be eating the same amount of food you ate previously while possessing a higher BMR. You now diet the same way again, because you know it works as you lost weight last time. Your BMR is lower again. Round three soon begins. By round five, you should be obese. This is where the term yo-yo dieting came from. I have numerous friends who have done this. You can’t stick brains in a statue.
If you still don’t understand what has been written so far, you need to read it again. You simply need to understand the role muscle plays in fat burning. Until you do, you will carry around those extra bags of chubber on your stomach, hips, legs, arms and back. Those manboobs are not sexy, buddy.
Okay, that is very basic information, more a refresher, but it needed to be said, simply to educate those that get information from Personal Trainers, Doctors, Dieticians and mainstream media. That’s where most of Australia gets their information from, and most of Australia is overweight, hence why we are ranked #1 in the world for obesity. Maybe it’s time to look elsewhere for information, what have you got to lose besides your chubber.
So what is the best way to lose fat and maintain muscle? Well, I have a theory, and it’s been pretty successful with clients for many years. So here it is, but it requires discipline and hard work, if you’re not prepared for both, read no further, just click your heels three times Dorothy and piss off to Chubberland.
To keep this simple, I will use a guy that weighs 91kg. That equates to 200lbs. His basic metabolic rate should be around 3000 calories a day. To lose fat he should reduce calories by 10% and burn another 10% off with exercise. A total of 20% reduction per day should see 600 calories per day disappear, giving us a total of 4200 calories per week. That’s 500gms of fat. That is all you will be able to lose while maintaining your muscle mass. Ignore those on Fat Bastard that lose 12kg in a week, it’s not fat, it’s why they still look crap. If you lost 12kg of fat in a week, that would be a reduction of 108,000 calories per week. That means you would need to create a deficit of 15,428 calories per day. Can’t be done, nobody is that fat that they could even have a BMR of 15,000 calories per day. They lose fat, water, muscle, skin and hair. I’m joking about the last two.
So when someone comes to me wanting to lose 4kg a week, I simply roll my eyes. You didn’t gain it at a rate of 4kg per week, why do you think you can lose it that fast. Everybody should set a goal of 500gms of fat loss per week. At that rate, you can maintain fat loss for a very long time, while maintaining muscle mass.
First problem you guys should notice is the burning of 10% of your calories through tough exercise, daily. It’s not realistic that you guys can train every day. It’s also not advised for long term either. Three heavy training sessions per week plus a very hard cardio based session twice a week would be enough. Because we all work for a living, we are not able to live like professional athletes, so we don’t have the ability to recover from 7 days a week training. Those that are trying to gain muscle and are eating 20% over maintenance calories can train every day, and make terrific progress. This is what Max does during school holidays. This is why Max makes the best gains, in terms of muscle gained and weight lifted.
So we begin with our weight in pounds multiplied by 15 to get a rough idea of our BMR. There is no exact method, we simply begin with this and make adjustments as we go. For some, this will be perfect, for others too high and for others too low. Some may need 13 times bodyweight in pounds to maintain. Until we begin, we have no idea, so we start with 15.
So we have now covered the why we need to exercise using progressive resistance training if our goal is to lose fat. We have covered the maths side of fat loss. We understand how often we need to train and how many fewer calories we need to ingest on a daily basis. But there are other things we need to do.
Firstly, we need to eat multiple meals during the day. The ideal number is six times per day, or roughly every two and a half hours. This is a chore for many. I’m not sure if it’s as much a chore as lugging around 20kg of extra fat, but it’s a chore. I’m always amazed how little people want to change yet expect their bodies to change. If you want drastic changes in your physique, be prepared to make drastic changes in your lifestyle.
The more often you eat, the more stable your blood sugar levels are. This is very important. If you go long periods without eating, like 5-6 hours, your blood sugar levels drop, you tend to over eat, and generally the wrong the foods because you are hungry. Smaller more frequent meals allows your body to maintain an anabolic environment, this in turn allows your muscles to rebuild, the same muscles you damaged in the gym exercising. Yes, damaged. This always seems to surprise people. The average guy thinks you build muscles in the gym. Your goal should be to break muscle tissue down, only then will you give your body a reason to change. You see, the body doesn’t want to change. Its job is to keep you alive. The body treats exercise as a stress. It will repair the damaged muscle tissue. And if you repeatedly tear down muscle tissue, it will make the muscle a little bigger and stronger each time, if it gets the correct food often enough. If you don’t increase the exercise resistance, the body will adapt and simply maintain.
So in order for your muscles to repair and get bigger, we need to feed it protein every 2-3 hours. This is an anabolic environment. How much protein? I believe around 4gms of protein for every kilogram of bodyweight is ideal for building maximum muscle mass. This is what every hard training lifter should be aiming for. If you don’t exercise and simply watch the Simpsons all day, you can get by with half that amount. Nobody ever got fat by eating too much protein. The body utilises 30% of calories ingested from protein for digestion. So if you ate a can of Tuna with 30gms of protein, that’s 120 calories. Forty of those calories would be used for digesting, leaving you only 80. Pretty cool hey? When it comes to carbs, the body only uses 6% for digesting. So eat your protein. It’s also why it’s one of the few supplements I recommend, a good whey protein with next to no carbs.
So far, were lifting weights, increasing the weight whenever possible, eating 6 times a day, getting lots of protein? This is a very good beginning, but it is only the beginning. We can’t live simply on protein. We need essential fats and carbohydrates. From the carbohydrates we will get our fibre. The best sources of essential fats are fish oil supplements, olive oil, avocado, nuts, and olives. The best sources of carbohydrates are fruit and vegetables. Eliminate man made carbs. No bread, pasta or rice. Remember, I am giving you the BEST advice. If you eat a little rice, it won’t kill you, but that is not the best advice. If you are happy to stay ordinary, to cover up your flaws with clothes, you have been wasting your time reading this. Click your heels again and piss off.
If you think I am being too harsh, read the title again. This is not Weight Watchers, where near enough is good enough. This is designed to give you the best information. Once you achieve the physique you truly want, not the one you’re willing to accept, but the one you really want, you can introduce bread, rice and pasta back into your diet. But we’re talking about body recomposition. Learn the best way to do something, achieve your goals, then modify. Once you display the discipline to achieve total body recomposition, you will NEVER have to worry about being overweight again. Being armed with all the knowledge you require, plus the discipline, will leave you set for life.
I haven’t discussed other foods like yogurt and Weetbix because they are crap, there is no place for manmade foods in this diet plan. Small amounts of cheese and milk is all that’s allowed. Eat what nature provides, not Safeway’s.
Drink no calories other than a little milk. Some prefer their protein powder in milk, I don’t have a problem with that. No soft drink unless its diet, no alcohol, no juice. Water and diet soda’s. If you must have sugar in your tea or coffee, keep it down to 3 teaspoons a day total. If that means one coffee per day, so be it, if it means 3, that’s better.
So now were lifting heavy weights three times per week, doing high effort cardio twice a week, eating 10% less calories than we need every day, eating 4gms of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, eating no man made carbs, getting all our essential fats from nuts, olives, avocados, oils and supplements. Were drinking no calories and were eating 6 small meals a day. What’s left you ask? Well let me tell you.
You must eat protein in EVERY meal, without fail. Your best protein sources are meat, chicken, fish and eggs. Secondary are cheese, bacon, milk, nuts and supplements. Every meal. If you go 5-6 hours without any protein, you will be in a catabolic state. We need to try and avoid this at all times. It’s bad enough we can’t control this whilst sleeping, unless you’re willing to get up during the night and sink a protein drink.
Fruit is best eaten during the day up until 3.00-4.00pm. After that, get your carbs from vegies. All vegies are good, but some are better than others. The only 2 you should avoid or limit are potato and corn, due to their high starch. If you must eat potatoes or corn, do so straight after a workout. Limit fruit intake to 2-3 pieces per day, but you can eat vegies 6 times a day. The higher the fibre in vegies, the better.
As far as essential fats go, pour a tablespoon of olive oil on your salads, chuck some olives in your salad, snack on nuts if you get peckish between meals, although this shouldn’t happen if you are eating every 2 � hours. Take around 5gms of fish oil tabs per day. The better quality ones are obtained from Vitamin outlets that have a Naturopath on staff, they are practitioner only ones. They are more effective and you won’t smell like your cat. They are a little more expensive though.
To recap, lifting heavy 3 times per week, 2 high effort cardio sessions per week, 6 meals a day, protein in each meal, 4gms of protein per kg of bodyweight every day, 2-3 pieces of fruit before 4.00pm, vegies during most meals, olive oil on salads, 10% less calories than we need per day, no man made carbs, no calories obtained from drinking. Sounds pretty much spot on.
Now, lots and lots of people know all this, so why are we still fat. Discipline and the inability to put it all into practice. I can read and find out how to assemble a very strong, powerful and reliable engine. Am I able to build one? Possibly. Could I build one as well as an expert who does this everyday for a living? No. I will make stupid little mistakes, avoid some processes that I deem unnecessary etc. There is a manual for everything that we need to do in life, yet we muck up constantly. It’s also why we have experts. If I need my computer fixed, I consult an expert. If I need an engine rebuilt, I take it to a mechanic, if I need a date for the night, I go to the classifieds, there is an expert for everything you need. If you struggle to put together a diet plan even though you have all the information, don’t stress, you should see how incompetent I am with a computer, even though I have so many computer savvy friends who help me all the time, I simply don’t get it. Get help if you need it, I do.
Now the training. This is my favourite subject. I have yet to meet a lifter who can perform better on his own than he can with a coach. I have been involved with training for 30 years, never met anyone. Others have asked and I have wondered what I would have been able to achieve if I had myself to coach me when I was starting out. I no longer have to wonder. My son Max has my genetics. He has learnt all his training from me and I have trained him during most of his sessions. Last week at 16 he powercleaned 95kg while weighing 69kg. I cleaned 95kg when I was 44 while weighing 90kg. He is slightly ahead of the curve. He squatted 140kg at 16, I hadn’t even started squatting at that age. By the time he is 20 he will have smashed every lift I ever made, and I made some big ones. He has already managed to squat 1 � times bodyweight for 20 reps, I never accomplished this, even though I tried. I learnt everything I know through trial and error. If I read something, I tried it, held onto the useful stuff, discarded the crap. This is very time consuming, but worthwhile. Every training system will work, Max and I both managed a 95kg powerclean, it’s just that I took 28 years after I started training, Max took less than two.
I am very grateful I didn’t know what Max knows at 16, for my career would have gone down a very different path, and Max would never have been born. It’s only when I think I what I would never had found if I wasn’t so ignorant when I was 16 and started training, that I am thankful for my ignorance. Most coaches will tell you that they gain so much more satisfaction in coaching winners than when they won as players. Until you experience you won’t understand. When I see Matt and Jimmy lose 30kg, when I see Max gain 20kg in a year, when I see a recreational lifter pick 200kg off the ground, his face beaming, the expression of disbelief impossible to hide, these are the most satisfying moments for me.
It’s in the gym that I excel. It’s also one of my saddest moments. When a lifter leaves to go and train elsewhere, I know he will never reach his full potential. Nobody ever came to me and got weaker. They all leave much stronger than when they arrive. If these guys really had a clue or the drive, why were they so weak when they first arrived? I’m still waiting for the day when an ex client comes back after training at a commercial for any length of time and impresses me. Plenty have had the chance, but I’m still waiting. I don’t mean recently either, even before I ever set up PTC. The fact remains, the best athletes in the world have coaches. Interesting article in the paper this morning. Andy Murray recently hired a strength and conditioning coach amongst other coaches, having gone alone for so long. I think he is currently ranked #4, having earned $4,000,000. Money well spent? In comparison was a guy who went it alone, an Australian, ranked in the mid one hundreds, plays club tennis in the Netharlands to earn dollars so he can tour. He is now 34 years old. How different it could have been if he had chosen a different path. Luckily for Andy Murray, he did before it was too late.
You guys who are training at PTC should make the most of it while you are there. Don’t take the time for granted. I push you guys for a reason. I’ve explained before that I get paid whether you try or not, I simply don’t need to care, don’t need to write these newsletters. As far as I know, most PT’s keep clients in the dark. They are very secretive. I not only describe sessions to others on the internet, I explain all my dieting techniques to everyone. No secrets from me. I love what I do. I want everyone to read these newsletters and learn, that’s why I spend so many hours doing this. Providing information for free to people I’ll never meet is not an issue for me. I do this because I don’t want others to waste their time doing useless exercise, eating incorrectly for their goals and body type.
A topic I haven’t discussed is the use of drugs, legal or otherwise, that will help you attain lower body fat levels. These are bandaids. Learn to do it correctly, the hard way. The satisfaction achieved is much higher. The reason we want to shed fat is for greater health. There are morons out there who take harmful drugs to achieve better health. There really are people that stupid in our society. I’m not anti drugs, far from it, I’m against lazy POS who can’t be bothered to do it the right way, who want a short cut. While you’re young, learn how the body works, reach your natural limits, then make an educated decision about whether you want to take drugs, legal or otherwise.
As far as I can tell, there are no short cuts to any place worth visiting.
I hope this special edition newsletter is helpful and written in a way that everyone can understand. Hopefully it covers everything you need in your goal to transform your body. I’ll provide the information, you guys provide the effort. If you truly want something bad enough, you will achieve it. Discipline is not something that only elite athletes possess, we all do. We just can’t be bothered to display any. Try it for 16 weeks. See how much your body will transform. If you can eat 672 planned meals in 16 weeks, I absolutely guarantee your body transformation will shock you. If you train at PTC and are consistent and fall inside the training guidelines, you won’t have to worry about the training, I’ll take care of that. If you don’t, you will need to show a lot more discipline and provide your own motivation.
In my time, I have met very few lifters who can eat 672 consecutive planned meals. I did this around 18 months ago, dropping my weight from 102kg down to 90kg, that’s 12kg in 16 weeks. Most of it was fat with some water. I posted pics on a forum of my results. When I got down to 90kg I bench pressed 150kg, hopefully displaying that I had actually gained strength during this period. For those that are constantly on a bulk or strength cycle, wake up and smell the roses, it’s just a cop out.
I tried my diet theories on myself first. I bulked up to 102kg to display that my bulking information was accurate, then I dieted down to 90kg to show that my theories on fat loss were accurate.
Please don’t try and lose weight faster than 500gms per week. A key indicator that you’re losing muscle is a reduction in strength. You may lose a little, but if you drop 30kg off your squat like some of my clients have, you’ve got it all wrong.
I see clients checking their weight every session and showing disappointment at the results. Leave it for a fortnight in between weigh ins. A one kilogram loss every fortnight is a great result because it means it will all be fat if you have followed the information printed. If you haven’t, then it’s anyone’s guess as to where the weight loss has come from.
Another key indicator that someone has poor dieting skills is when they tell you what they eat each day. It shouldn’t change day to day. Generally they have one good day and four bad days. I have some clients like this, actually most are like this. I laugh when I hear them telling others what they ate.
I recently had two overweight clients start up. They both possess diet plans that have come from me. In the same period, one has lost 8kg while one has gained a kilogram. The nutrition information is the same, they were both a similar fat percentage, they both lift three times per week, they do the same exercises. The only difference is one is disciplined while the other is the Mayor of Chubberland, having recently moved there from Ignorantville.
I have very good eyesight, you don’t need to tell me what you’ve been eating. Some eat well, others eat at Old McDonalds farm, seriously, some of you that have come back from a break look like you’ve eaten a small farm animal. No names, no pack drills, you guys know damn well what you’ve been eating.
Start showing some discipline and you too can start thanking me like many others do.
Now for a final recap. The ones that are going to lose the most amount of body fat will be lifting heavy weights three times per week, increasing the weight used whenever possible, they will be doing two very intense cardio sessions where they will run with weights, sprint, swing kettlebells, lift KB’s that are over their bodyweight, do complexes that will leave them nauseous, at least twice a week, they will be eating six small meals a day, making sure they have protein in each meal. They will be eating four grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight every day, divided into six portions. They will obtain all their carbohydrates from fruit and vegetables, ensuring they don’t eat any fruit after mid afternoon. They will avoid all manmade carbs. They will drink no calories. They will get eight hours sleep every night.
This newsletter has been a labour of love. There are so many out there who truly don’t know who to listen to. There is an expert on weight loss on every corner. This is an article on fat loss. Like I have explained, weight loss is dead simple, anybody can do it. But if you truly want to get lean and stay lean, this is the best way. It’s not the easiest way, but it’s the best way. It may seem militant to some, but that’s only because as a society, we have become very soft. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I am the best and that my way is the only way, but I will tell you that my way is guaranteed to work if you have the discipline. Simply doing what I have outlined for 16 weeks will be enough proof.
Another thing it does is build character. There aren’t many things more important to me than character. Anyone that displays character to me has my respect for their whole lives. Those that don’t, generally end up out of my life eventually. Losing body fat in the manner described will have you looking a whole lot better, will enable you to reach a level of discipline that you didn’t think was possible, and will build character that you may not have previously possessed.
Another thing it does if you are a parent is it shows your kids that anything is possible. By doing this yourself, you will be better prepared to help others, especially family members. Your kids are the most important people in your lives. Live long enough to enjoy them. My brother was recently telling me about some guys we used to hang around with when we were in our early twenties. One has had a heart attack and another a stroke. They are in their early to mid forties. They have never exercised in their lives, nor cared what they ate. Neither was overweight, and dressed in clothes, looked healthy enough.
Please remember, it’s later than you think.
Please forward this newsletter to someone who could really use it, you’ll be doing them a favour. To all the Personal trainers who get this, give it to your clients and just delete the PCT from it if you think it can help your clients. I want this to reach as many people as possible, but especially the ones that think that you can burn twenty kilograms of fat off by riding an exercise bike or walking on a treadmill, while maintaining bread and pasta in your diet on a daily basis. I know there are many health experts that include rice, pasta and bread in healthy diets, they also tell you everything in moderation. That advice will leave you looking ordinary.
If you are unsure what ordinary is today, go to your local mall and visit the food court at lunch time. Peruse the people who eat there on a daily basis. That is today’s version of ordinary.
My brother’s friends were ordinary.
