The Busy Man’s Workout and Diet
Welcome the to the Busy Man’s Workout and Diet. The information below is designed with one goal in
mind. Make it simple! The workout focuses on strength and is based on the principle that all benefits
start with strength, including aesthetics, health, and weight loss. The diet plan includes a few different
options, so you can pick the one that works best for you. Some of the diet plans do not require calorie
counting and some do. Make sure you are familiar with all the options and then pick one that best fits
your personal needs and tastes. It is important to remember that no matter how hard you are training,
if you are not cleaning up your diet you will almost never see real results.
The pages that follow include a page for your starting information and basic guidelines, the three diet
plan options, and the three day per week lifting routine. Each of these has options to make it easier or
more difficult as time and energy allow. If you feel overwhelmed, simplify!
If you aren’t reaching your goals, feel free to reach out to others for help. This might be a training and
accountability partner, a personal trainer, or just sending an email to Cody for some advice.
Finally always talk to your Doctor before starting any diet or workout program. Your own health is
ultimately your responsibility.
Basic Guidelines and Starting Point
Current Weight:___________
Goal: Fat Loss / Mass Gain
Date:__________
Now we use our current weight and goal to calculate our daily calorie allowance:
Current weight X 15 calories = Total calories allowed per day (if your goal is fat loss and you have 20+
lbs. of fat to loose you can probably start with 13 calories per Lbs. of GOAL bodyweight)
____________ X 15 calories = _______ Calories Allowed Per Day
How will you track calories?
1. Download the app Fatsecret or other calorie counter app. Fatsecret is the easiest to use, has a
barcode scanner, and includes calories for many restaurant meal options.
2. Weigh your food at home, using a simple digital food scale available at Walmart or Amazon.
3. Know these basic facts: 1g of protein = 4 cal., 1g of carb = 4 cal., & 1g of fat = 9 cal.
i.e. 20grams of chicken breast = 80 calories, 14grams of butter (1 tablespoon) = 126 calories
4. Keep sugar intake under 30grams per day. This is the biggest change. Fatsecret helps track this,
but you can also check Sugarstacks for reference. Just one red apple will put you at 23grams of
sugar. This will require you to cut out most fruit, processed foods, and NO SODA!
5. Avoid alchohol. If you will be drinking, save your carbs for the evening and keep track. Liquor
with a no calorie mixer is a good option, such as vodka, soda and lime.
6. Sound like too much? Just look at these photos to see what 2,500 calories per day looks like. If
you use this method, beware! You eat more than you think. Take a photo of every meal! Try to
stop eating at 80% full. The 40/40/20 should keep you feeling full and energized.
Three Week Check in and Calorie Updates
Current Weight:___________
Goal: Fat Loss / Mass Gain
Date:__________
If your goal is fat loss, are you happy with the scale? If not, recalculate your calories for 13cal. / day. If
your goal is mass gain, are you happy with the scale? If not, recalculate your calories for 17cal. / day. In
another three weeks, if you are still unhappy, then you may need more specific diet guidelines.
____________ X 13 calories = _______ Calories Allowed Per Day (Fat Loss)
____________ X 17 calories = _______ Calories Allowed Per Day (Mass Gain)
Simple Eating Options
Option A: Simple Calorie Counting
To make this plan work, you have to update the Fatsecret app after every meal. The great thing is, you
eat whatever you feel like eating as long as you stay under your total calories. Remember one rule
though: Less than 30g of sugar each day!
Option B: Low Carb Diet ( + a high carb ‘cheat’ meal each week)
This plan will still benefit from calorie counting (however it is not necessary), but we introduce another
rule:
Keep Net Carbs under 30grams each day!
Net Carbs means any carbs that are not listed as fiber. If you eat a meal that has 40 grams of carbs, but
10 of those are from fiber, you have eaten only 30 grams of net carbs.
Total Carbs Consumed – Fiber = Net Carbs Consumed
A few tips will make this diet more successful:
1. Remember, veggies are low calorie and filling. You can eat basically unlimited quantities of
greens, especially leafy greens, spinach, broccoli, and asparagus.
2. Eat good quality proteins and fats to stay full.
3. No alcohol. It has too many carbs to be consumed.
4. Keep a list of your carb cravings for the week and reference these on your cheat meal.
The low carb cheat meal allows you to fight food cravings through the week and beat those cravings on
one night each week. Your first cheat meal comes at 10 days into the diet, but then you get one every
7 days. These days can be moved one day earlier or later to allow for cheat meal to be the same night
you go out with friends. A few rules for cheat meal:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
You start your cheat meal 30 minutes before your regular dinner time.
Cheat meal includes as many carbs as you want to (or can) eat.
Cheat meal ends 4 hours after it begins.
Be sure to drink plenty of water the day before, of, and after cheat meal.
If possible, schedule cheat meal after a workout. This will help limit the negative impact.
Option C: Well-rounded diet
This diet is the most complex to follow. It may be a good idea to switch to this diet after a couple
months of following one of the other diet options. Moving directly to Option C may prove to be too
difficult of a change to begin for most individuals.
40% of calories from protein, 40% of calories from carbohydrates, and 20% of calories from fat.
Remember, less than 30grams of sugar each day!
A few guidelines to make this diet more successful:
1. Eat at least 1 gram of protein for each pound of bodyweight.
2. As you realize you enjoy more carbs or less carbs, adjust the percentages by only 5% up or
down each week. For example, decrease carbs to 35% and increase fats to 25%.
3. Aim for at least 90% of food intake to come from healthy, whole foods. That includes any
vegetables (especially leafy greens), sweet potatoes, fruits, nuts, lean proteins such as fish,
chicken, grass fed beef, and healthy oils such as olive oil, grapeseed oil, & macadamia nut
oil.
4. Every 7 to 10 days, eat a meal out with your friends. Enjoy that meal and don’t worry about
how it fits into the diet plan.
Workout Guidelines
This workout is meant to be simple and can be completed in as little as 30 minutes on days when you
get very busy. Each workout has a strength component, which is required, and an auxiliary component
which should be completed if you feel good and have time. The workouts can be done in any order, as
long as you do three different routines in the week. Remember, rest is crucial for training, so take a day
off between each workout.
On the days where there is no workout, you should walk for at least 20 minutes at a brisk pace. Take
the dog, your girlfriend, or your buddy. Make it an enjoyable social time. Or, if you prefer, walk alone
and listen to an audiobook or podcast. Some people even do meditative walking, which can reduce
stress. Reductions in stress can also lead to an increase in testosterone.
Each workout should be recorded in a journal or just a simple note on your phone. You will need to
record the weight used, sets, reps, and how you felt about the lift (i.e. the last rep was too easy). This is
important to make sure you are growing stronger and see the results on paper.
Each week, you will add 5 pounds to each lift. Continue to do this until you fail to complete a workout.
Stick with that weight until you are able to complete the recommended reps and then try to increase by
5 lbs. again the following week.
Warm Up
If you do not warm up properly, you increase chance of injury, which will drastically slow your progress.
First, use a tennis ball, lacrosse ball, or a foam roller to complete the Defranco Agile 8 Movements.
Next, do lifting warm ups as follows.
3 sets of 3 reps @ 40%, 60% and 70-80% of the days workout weight. Each set should be followed by 2
minutes of rest. After the final 2 minutes rest, move into the strength training portion of the workout.
Strength Training
For maximum muscle activation, tense glutes, abs, and lats for each lift. Squeeze the bar tight with your
hands. The last rep of each set should be completed, but you should feel as though you can’t possibly
lift one more. The first set is the heaviest and then weight is decreased to allow for more reps on the
second set.
For the Optional Auxiliary Work do as many of the extra movements as you feel like. For this portion
aim for 3 sets with 8 - 12 reps. Keep rest periods at one minute or less. Exercises marked with a * are
our favorites. Feel free to add your own favorite movements.
Workout A – Legs and Biceps
Bulgarian Split Squat:
1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Romanian Dead Lift:
1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8 (Only perform this movement in your current range of motion.
If your
form breaks down when you move more than 3 inches then only move 2. Work up slowly over time to a full range of motion. Making sure
to fire your glutes and hamstrings as hard as possible at the top of every rep is essential for this movement.)
Barbell Curls:
1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Hammer Curls:
1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Optional Auxiliary Work
Legs: Lunges, leg extensions, leg press, leg curls, goblet squats, pistol squats*, step ups, seated calf
raise, back squats* front squats*, standing calf raise, donkey calf raise, kettlebell swing*, lateral lunges
Biceps: Preacher curls*, machine curls, concentration curls*, reverse curls, dumbbell curls, drag curls,
incline curls, wrist curls.
Workout B – Chest and Triceps
Incline Barbell Press:
1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Flat Barbell Press:
1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Close Grip Bench Press: 1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Focus on the tricep during the movement.
Optional Auxiliary Work
Chest: Dumbbell incline, decline, or flat, dumbbell fly, cable crossover, pushups, machine fly, machine
press, feet elevated pushup.
Triceps: Weighted dips*, close grip bench press* skull crushers, push downs, kickbacks, bench dips,
overhead tricep extensions*.
Workout C – Back and Shoulders
Weighted Pull Ups:
1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Standing Barbell Press: 1 X 5, 2 minutes rest, 1 X 8
Optional Auxiliary Work
Back: Bent over barbell row*, dumbbell row, pull downs, low cable row*, machine rows, dumbbell
pull- overs, rack pulls, snatch grip rack pulls, pull ups, hyperextensions* deadlifts (make sure you know
how to do this properly).
Shoulders: Dumbbell press, Arnold press, side laterals, front raises, farmers carry*, machine shoulder
press, rotator cuff work, face pulls*, upright rows, shrugs.
Final thoughts for success
Consistency (both in nutrition and in the gym) is the single most important factor for improving your
health. Make sure you get in, at a minimum, the three strength portions a week. Be honest with
yourself about your eating habits as well. Get in as much walking as you can. Find excuses to get
outside more. Make sure to get up from your desk.