In only the space of a week, I feel like I’ve already come on quite a bit. Perhaps not physically to the naked eye (and God help you all for having to see me in my partially nude state) but I mean in my day-to-day routine.
Fitting in two sessions a day, a couple of times a week, in between work, wasn’t easy in the first week but this week I feel I’ve managed it better.
Also, preparing meals in advance has really helped. You don’t have to be worrying about what you’re going to make and you can concentrate on other things around your day and not be thinking about what is/isn’t going into your belly.
Two of my favorite meals I had during the week were a blueberry pancake, which included just two eggs, less than a handful of blueberries and a scoop of vanilla protein. When cooked it was a bit dry so I drizzled lemon over it.
Also, spice turkey meatball with avocado wrapped in lettuce. The meatballs were made with turkey mince, an onion, coriander, cumin, curry powder, garam masala and an egg mixed together.
I’m starting to get over that feeling of the ‘new guy’ in the gym. I feel more confident about what I’m doing when I’m left on my own. Although, I have learned one thing so far, when Dan asks me how I got on with a certain session, the answer isn’t ‘grand I thought it was alright’ as that spurs him on to make the next session under his watchful eye even harder.
Dan says…
One of the biggest misconceptions out there in the world of fitness is that people believe that the more you train your abdominals with exercises such as sit-ups and crunches the flatter your stomach will become because you feel you are targeting that area.
In Week 3’s JOE Gets Ripped video I put Brian through the toughest workout he’s had to endure so far. You can see that from Monday, but here are some facts that you may find interesting…
In order to achieve visible abdominal muscles, you must;
- Complete high intensity interval training
- Eat a high protein diet with adequate fibre
- Minimize cortisol in your body by reducing the amount of bad stress you have in your body
- Resistance train to build muscle
Most untrained people who want to achieve the beloved ‘six pack and pecs’, only focus on training the upper-body and completely neglect the lower-body – which can in fact give you the most return on the above goals.
The fastest way to achieve abdominal muscles is to resistance train and build muscle mass. Since your legs make more than 50% of your whole body’s muscle mass, you are at a significant disadvantage if abs is what you are after and you do not take leg training seriously.
Although I am an avid fan of the squat and lover of the dead-lift as an exercise, you will not see them being prescribed with heavy-loading in my programming for Brian – to teach him proper form would provide too much coaching. The other effective tool in my box is the leg-press and since my objective is fat loss with Brian, the leg-press can be made just as intense and rewarding without any of the risks of lower back pain, form and loading that a beginner weightlifter might occur.
I guess what’s left to say is that the only reason I can think of why people don’t take leg training seriously enough for fat-loss is probably the fact that training legs is physically and mentally very hard, and leaves you tired and in pain long after the workout is done. That’s why training legs will build your mental endurance and character like no other exercise and produce abs unlike sit ups and crunches alone.
You can also win some of the supplements that Brian is using over yonder.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
