Table of Contents
About Me……………………………………………………… ………………….…….pg. 1
Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………...................................pg. 3
Chapter 2: 10 Things I Wish I knew When I Started Lifting………....pg. 4
Chapter 3: Diet and Nutrition………………………………………….………..pg. 7
The Basics………………………………………………………………………...pg. 7
Calculating Macros……………………………………………..……………...pg. 7
Example Macro Calculation……………….………………………………...pg. 9
Composing Meals………………………..……………………………………...pg. 11
Tracking Your Diet………………………………………………………...….pg. 11
Meal Timing and Meal Frequency……………………………….…………pg. 11
Fiber……………………………………………………………………………… pg. 12
Sodium……………………………………………………………………………pg. 12
Flexible Dieting……………………………………………………………...…pg. 12
Fine Tuning Maintenance Calories………………………………...………pg. 12
Deciding to Bulk or Cut……………………………………………………...pg. 13
Gain Muscle and Lose Fat Simultaneously…………………………....…pg. 13
What About Skinny Fat? ………………………………………………....…pg. 14
If Your Goal is to Gain Muscle…………………………………...…………pg. 14
If Your Goal is to Lose Fat…………………………………...………………pg. 15
HELP! I Stalled……………………………………………………………….…pg. 15
Transitioning Between Bulking/Cutting…………………………..……pg.15
Tracking Macros When Eating Out…………………………………..……pg.16
Tracking Less Seriously………………………………………………...……pg. 17
Sample Meal Plans………………………………………………………..……pg. 18
Sample Meal Plan: Maintenance Macros…………………………….……pg.19
Sample Meal Plan: Bulking Macros………………………………..………pg. 20
Sample Meal Plan: Cutting Macros…………………………………...……pg.21
Chapter 4: Training……………………………………………………………...….pg. 23
Intro……………………………………………………………………………….pg.23
Four Types of Routines………………………………………………………pg.23
Full Body Routine……………………………………………………………..pg. 24
Body Part Split…………………………………………………………………pg.24
Upper/Lower Split……………………………………………………………pg. 25
Push/Pull/Legs…………………………………………………………………pg. 25
Sample Full Body Routine…………………………………………………..pg.25
Strength vs. Hypertrophy…………………………………………………..pg.28
Progressive Overload…………………………………………………………pg.28
Sample Intermediate Routine: Upper/Lower Split…………………..pg. 29
Sample Advanced Routine: Push/Pull/Legs Split……………………..pg.32
Chapter 5: Supplements……………………………………………………….......pg. 37
Recommended………………………………………………………………..…pg.37
Works But Not Necessary……………………………………………………pg.38
Useless…………………………………………………………….………………pg. 39
Chapter 6: Conclusion……………………………………………………………...pg. 40
ABOUT ME
My name is Adam Pfau. At the time of writing this book, I am 27 years old. I began working
out at the end of 2005 and like a lot of you now, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. After
years of frustration and experimentation, I started to figure things out and made some decent
progress. Although I never intended to compete in bodybuilding competitions, I wound up
competing in my first show in 2010, two more in 2011, and a fourth one in 2015 where I won the
overall and a WNBF pro card. Now, I can call myself a professional natural bodybuilder which is
pretty cool. Despite this accomplishment, I’m just a guy who likes to live the fitness lifestyle. I
know how frustrating it is when you first get into this so my goal is to help as many people as
possible because it still feels like yesterday when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I am
not a certified trainer or dietician. Everything you read in this book is strictly based on my own
research and experimentation since 2005. Below you will see my progress over the years from
2005 to present day.
Before beginning any new exercise or diet program, it is recommended that you seek medical advice from
your personal physician. This book is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a licensed physician, nor is it
intended for the treatment or prevention of disease. Use of the information herein is at the sole risk of the reader.
Copyright. No Part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without written permission from the author. Copyright © 2017 by Adam Pfau. All rights reserved.
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2015- After winning the overall at
the WNBF Autumn Explosion and
earning a Pro Card.
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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
I remember joining the gym at the end of 2005 and immediately became addicted.
Naturally, I wanted to maximize my progress so I tried to learn as much as possible in regards to
training, nutrition, and supplements. However, I was soon bombarded with a ton of conflicting
information. I read some articles telling me there were supplements I needed to take. There were
other articles saying those same supplements were useless. Some articles recommended full body
routines. Others recommended body part splits. There were some people who said I needed to go
on an all-out bulk to make any kind of progress. Other articles recommended a slower approach.
With so much conflicting information and people trying to sell me stuff, I had no clue what the
best approach was and who to believe.
This feeling is probably how a lot of you feel. Unfortunately for me, it took me several
years to weed through the misinformation and experiment with different methods to figure out the
truth. That is why I wrote this book. The point of this book is so you can bypass the beginning
stages that I went through where you feel completely lost and confused and don’t know what to
believe. If I had this when I started, I would have saved myself a lot of frustration and been on my
way to making progress a lot sooner.
This book is geared towards beginners. I define a beginner as someone who has been
working out for 0-12 months. However, you will probably find this beneficial even as an
intermediate lifter as well. If you come across anything in this book that you don’t understand or
you want clarification on, feel free to reach out to me via my Instagram @apfau or e-mail at
pfaufitness@gmail.com. Just tell me you purchased the book, reference the part you want some
clarification on, and I will be happy to help. This book is not meant to encompass every single
aspect of training and nutrition. Rather, it is supposed to be a huge initial stepping stone to get you
on your way to making gains without suffering that initial phase of confusion.
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