12 WEEKS TO REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR BODY Herculean Strength Copyright © 2020 Herculean Strength PDF Edition All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. CONTENTS Title Page Copyright Page Introduction Losing Fat Herculean Food Sources What You Need to Do to Lose 20lb in 12 Weeks Meal Plan Hunger Pangs Supplements Cardio Building Muscle Form Splits Warming Up Supplements Coaching Enquiries INTRODUCTION So you’ve made the decision to improve your physique for whatever reason you may have. Kudos to you. First of all, congratulations on making the choice to download this eBook. Second, congratulations on making the choice to improve your physique. This eBook has been put together with novice gymgoers in mind; there is a lot of confusing information out there as to how you should go about losing fat and building muscle. Gone are the days where the binary choice of either losing fat or building muscle is sacrosanct. You can absolutely lose fat and build muscle at the same time—you just need to be sensible about it. I hope to dispense useful information so that you have the inside track when it comes to improving your body composition. It can be tough and unnerving when approaching the gym or the choices that need to be made in the kitchen before embarking upon what is an exciting life journey. A good physique isn’t a fixed destination, but the accumulation of good choices made throughout several years of trial and error—in my case, a whole lot of error. And I made a ton of errors that blighted my progress in the weight room. Moreover, when it comes to losing fat, many people want to lose fat yesterday—and that’s understandable—but Rome wasn’t built in one day. Herein, we will guide you to lose between 1-2lb of fat a week at a sustainable rate, giving you the basic knowledge you need in order to realize your fat loss goals while unlocking muscle building potential. You need to become familiar with your natural limits as a blossoming lifter. Many programs will promise extraordinary results; certain fitness personalities will show off unnatural, unrealistic transformations in order to sell over-thecounter supplements or programs. These individuals do not care, in their heart of hearts, about the wellbeing of their customers. All they care about is money. Promising unrealistic results will only deter beginners when they fall pitifully short of what they believed was achievable. And, as a result, these beginners may become more inclined to abandon their training regimen. Before we get started, I wanted to remind you why it sucks to be fat. Check out this list before from: 1) You’re Less Traditionally Attractive 2) Chronic Inflammation 3) Digestive Problems 4) Diarrhea 5) Weaker Immune System 6) Low Testosterone 7) Joint & Back Pain 8) Poor Skin 9) Hormonal Imbalances 10) Low Testosterone 11) Lower Energy Levels 12) Social Exclusion 13) Insulin Resistance 14) Proneness to Type II Diabetes 15) Cellulite 16) Stretch Marks 17) High Blood Pressure 18) Increased LDL Cholesterol & Aherosclerosis 19) Breathlessness 20) Sleep Apnea 21) Reduced Athletic Performance/Sedentary Lifestyle 22) Chronic Heartburn 23) Injury Proneness Due To Extra Load 24) Shorter Life Expectancy 25) Proneness to Metabolic Syndrome 26) Increased Risk of Cancer 27) Increased Risk of Heart Disease 28) Body Odor 29) Sweatiness 30) Finding Fitting Clothes 31) Finding Flattering Clothes 32) Body Image Issues—Reluctance To Disrobe in Public Settings e.g. Pool, Beach 33) Low(er) Self-Esteem 34) Reproductive Issues 35) Low Sperm Count 36) Poor Circulation 37) Erectile Dysfunction 38) Low Libido 39) Heavier Breathing/Mouth Breathing 40) Higher Likelihood of Dying from Disease 41) Greater-than-average Medical Costs 42) Difficulty in Adopting Healthier Dietary Habits 43) Increased Rsk of Sudden Death 44) Increased Risk of Psychological Issues Stemming from Obesity 45) Chafing 46) Skin Problems Related to Extra Bulk/Extra Hygiene Required 47) Swelling 48) Higher Likelihood of Developing Stress Injuries 49) Loose Skin 50) Increased Risk of Stroke Let’s get started, shall we? LOSING FAT To lose fat you have to be in a caloric deficit. Simple as. In order to be in a caloric deficit, you have to consume fewer calories than you burn off. The most calorically expensive thing you can do—in other words, the activity that consumes most calories—is to be alive. Most people would have to perform vigorous exercise— like playing soccer at a fast pace—for SEVERAL hours to match the number of calories burned by simply being alive. This is a breathtakingly unrealistic goal. In fact, last week, I played over three hours of soccer and I was pooped for a few days after the event. You cannot do this every single day—especially when eating slightly less than usual. There are ways to boost your base metabolic rate (how many calories you burn per day at rest), but these methods, overall, take several years in order to make any meaningful impact. There is NO magic pill to strip fat off your body. To calculate your base metabolic rate and find a rough estimate of how many calories you burn per day, you need to multiply your weight in pounds by 15. If you weigh 200lb, your base metabolic rate would be roughly 3000 calories (200 x 15). There are NINE calories to a gram of fat. If you wanted to lose a pound of fat, you would need to be in a deficit of 3500 calories or 500 calories per day (3500/7)—something which is more than doable! And there are various ways to do this, too. You could eat 3000 calories and burn off 500 calories via exercise (not recommendable). You could eat 2700 calories and burn off 200 calories via exercise, for example. You could eat 2500 calories and do no exercise (not recommendable). Either way, you need EAT LESS AND DO MORE. Macronutrient Breakdown: Protein 1g = 4 calories Carbohydrates 1g = 4 calories Fats 1g = 9 calories Alcohol 1g = 7 calories Dietary Fiber 1g = 0 calories Another thing to consider is that you need around 1 gram of protein (4 calories) per pound of lean body mass to optimize muscle growth (muscle protein synthesis). Let’s take the example of the 200lb lifter. To keep the math simple, let’s say he’s 20% bodyfat; this means he’s holding 40lb of fat, with a lean body mass of 160lb. However, accurately measuring one’s body fat % can be pretty difficult and expensive, so it would be best to shoot for 1 gram of protein for each pound of bodyweight. A greater protein intake when losing fat will help maintain satiety in a caloric deficit as some might experience unpleasant hunger pangs. Now that 800 calories (200lb x 4 calories in protein) has been taken up by protein, it’s up to you to fulfill your remaining daily caloric intake—assuming you’re that 200lb guy. Generally speaking, I prefer to partition my macronutrient—protein, carbohydrate, and fat—intake in the following breakdown: 30% Protein 30% Carbohydrates 40% Fat For this imaginary 200lb person eating 3000 calories a day, it could look something like this (keeping the math simple): 200g Protein = 800 calories 200g Carbohydrates = 800 calories 156g Fat = 1400 calories Since this person is aiming to consume around 600 calories less, and protein intake shouldn’t be lowered in order to preserve and even grow new muscle tissue, carbohydrates and fats must take a hit in order to achieve an adequate caloric deficit. It could look something like this: 200g Protein = 800 calories 200g Carbohydrates = 800 calories 89g Fat = 800 calories A change like this could occur by swapping out fatty red meats for white meat or fish as protein-source replacements. This slight alteration would be, in my opinion, one of the easiest and subtle dietary changes that could be made so that the dieter in question does not suffer as much. Alternatively, if dietary fat is a must for the dieter, they could scythe down their carb intake by 150g (600 calories a day) in order to be in a good caloric deficit. Sadly, you will have to exercise some brain power to figure out which caloric intake and macronutrient ratio works best for you. Likewise, you will also have to track your progress by taking regular pictures of your body and a MEDIAN weight. Weigh yourself at the same time every day— preferably in the morning in your underwear before eating or drinking anything to gauge a fair reading of your progress. If after a week or two your weight remains unchanged, lower your calories slightly and/or gradually increase your cardiovascular activity. HERCULEAN FOOD SOURCES Here is a basic list of foodstuffs pertaining to each macronutrient group. PROTEIN: Whey Protein Powder Lean Cuts of Beef Chicken Turkey Egg Whites (Skinless) Salmon Tuna Cod Trout Tilapia Peas (If you’re Vegan) Hard Cheese (Parmesan) Whole Milk CARBOHYDRATES: Rice Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Sourdough Bread Pasta Couscous Quinoa Fruit Oats FATS: Oily Fish Avocados Nuts Seeds Olive Oil Coconut Oil Butter Cheese Egg Yolks FIBER: Oats Cruciferous Vegetables Fruit Popcorn (Find a brand that is air-fried) Legumes Many of the above food sources also contain other macronutrient values. For example, whole milk contains quite a fair bit of fat and carbohydrates as well as protein. Pasta, although listed as a carbohydrate, also contains a decent serving (8g/100g) of protein. Be sure to enter all of what you eat into My Fitness Pal to ensure that you are not over- or undereating any macronutrient group. While in a caloric deficit, you might not be meeting all of your micronutrient requirements. It is therefore prudent to supplement a multivitamin while you attempt to lose fat. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO LOSE 20LB IN 12 WEEKS To lose 20lb you need to be in an aggregate caloric deficit of 80,000 (81,720 to be precise) calories. There are 84 days in twelve weeks. You would need to be in a caloric deficit of around 1000 calories a day in order to reach this goal. Most sustainable caloric deficits would be within a range of around 20-30% of your base metabolic rate. For our esteemed 200lb lifter with a rough base metabolic rate of 3000 calories a day, he would need to reduce his calories by 600-900 calories per day to lose weight in a sustainable manner. I, personally, would not advocate for him to reduce his calories to 2100 (3000-900 calories); and, as I previously identified, he would have to reduce his calories by 500 a day to lose a pound a week. Being at 2400 calories a day (3000 – 20% (600)) would put him in a position to lose slightly more than a pound a week. If he wished to lose two pounds a week while eating a sustainable diet, he would need to burn off a further 400 calories through exercise. Thankfully, this is relatively easy to do. Assuming he is not completely sedentary, lifts weights for an hour 5 days a week (approx 280 calories an hour), and clocks in at least 5,000 steps a day (roughly an extra 273 calories), he should easily meet his 1000 calorie per day goal. And that’s it—that’s how, in theory, you’d lose 20lb of fat in 12 weeks. MEAL PLAN Before we get started, you will need to track your calories. We recommend My Fitness Pal which can be downloaded for FREE to ensure that you’re not under- or overeating. But don’t eyeball your food intake and try to guess your calories; the chances are that you’re grossly underestimating your caloric intake. Sauces, condiments, and fatty cuts of meat can vary greatly and can be the difference between losing fat or staying the same. It is of paramount importance that you track your food intake to the highest degree of accuracy to avoid future frustrations. It is entirely up to you as to how you structure your meal plan. We recommend that you construct your meal plan to accommodate your lifestyle—and not the other way around. If 16:8 intermittent fasting with two meals a day works best—go for it. But if you lack the discipline to fulfill your reduced caloric requirements, it may not be best for you. If 4 meals a day is best for you—go for it. Ideally, your best fat-losing diet model is one that doesn’t make you feel like crap. Let’s say that after making calculations, a 2400 calorieper-day diet is what you’d need to start losing fat on a pound-a-week basis; you’d need to figure out how to divide up those calories within your prescribed meal frequency. On three meals a day, you would need to consume around 800 calories per meal; but it doesn’t have to be that rigid. You could potentially eat 600 calories for your first meal, then 1200 calories in your second, and another 600 calories in your last. With an app such as My Fitness Pal, you can refer to past entries and become more familiar with a diet model that works best for you. Once you’ve started to lose weight, you need to reevaluate your caloric intake to continue losing weight at a similar pace. Say you’ve lost 10lb—congrats, this is a great achievement—you’d need to remain in a caloric deficit of a further 150 calories to continue losing weight at a similar pace. If you started out by eating 2400 calories a day, you’d need to either consume 2250 calories a day or increase your daily activity (e.g. cardio) to burn a further 150 calories. And if you still struggle to lose weight, try to lower your calorie consumption by 100 calories per day a week or increase cardio by 10 minutes until you notice a change on the scale or in the mirror. One of the biggest problems I see is frustration setting in and dieters making rash decisions such as dropping their calories sharply—or not eating AT ALL—in a bid to lose weight. While unpleasant, and while it may work in the short run, eventually you will hinder your progress when you attempt to lose more weight in the future. HUNGER PANGS Some may struggle to reduce calories for a prolonged period of time, so here are some suggestions from my post to help kill your appetite. Many fitness personalities with insane physiques will result to taking prescription or illegal stimulants to help curb hunger pangs at a lower body fat percentage. Here are some safer options: Entering a caloric deficit for whatever reason can be difficult to sustain, especially if calories are lowered too quickly or sharply. But, whatever your reason for dieting may be, very few people can get away with lowering their calories and not feel hungry in the process—jeopardizing one’s caloric deficit by assuaging that hunger with calorie-laden foods. Drink Water Drink Coffee Drink my Magic Fat-Burning Potion Drink Sparkling Water/Diet Sodas Eat Sugar-free Jello Eat Shirataki Noodles Pile on the Salad Eat More Protein Make Your Food Spicy Eat More Fiber SUPPLEMENTS We won’t recommend over-the-counter supplements as their net calorie burning effect is marginal and it’s a good way to squander your hard-earned cash. However, some of the active ingredients within fat burners can promote increased fat loss by its stimulant content. My Fat-Burning Magic Potion This is my own creation; it can help increase insulin sensitivity, boost testosterone, increase energy, reduce inflammation, and a host of other positive health benefits. Taken from: herculeanstrength.com/my-magic-fatburning-potion It’s a very simple and hydrating drink you can keep beside you when you work, workout, or with whatever else you could be doing. I recommend sipping this drink in the morning or early afternoon at the latest as it might interfere with your sleep regimen. Boil 250ml of water and pour it into a cup Add 2 bags of green tea, let them brew for 30-60 mins— not a typo Add chopped ginger (to taste) Add a teaspoon of powdered cinnamon Grab a 2liter bottle of wattle Fill it with 1.5liters of cold water Add juice squeezed from one whole lemon Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar Pour the concoction into the water bottle Shake Drink Enjoy You can add powdered cayenne peppers or any healthrelated products or vitamin powders if you’re feeling adventurous. CARDIO Taken from: herculeanstrength.com/why-you-must-docardio-when-losing-fat You can get shredded without doing cardio. It would be horrendous, but it is possible. Once you’ve tracked your base metabolic rate and have your diet dialed down, cardio is an additional tool to get yourself into a deeper calorie deficit. Remember: one of Herculean Strength’s Golden Rules: You can’t out-cardio a bad diet. Cardio is what keeps your [diet] alive. Let’s take an imaginary lifter; he’s a little more active than sedentary, 6ft tall, and 180lb at around 20% bodyfat (he likes beer and pizza on the weekend). Here, his base metabolic rate here would be around 2700-2800 calories a day to maintain his weight at his height and activity level. Then, let’s imagine he has above-average genetics and trains hard for 3 years and puts on 25lb of lean muscle mass with his bodyfat remaining at 20%. The extra 25lb of lean tissue would increase his base metabolic rate by 500-750 calories a day. So his adjusted base metabolic rate for maintenance would shoot up to around 3200-3550 a day—let’s call it 3400 as an average and to keep the math simple. Now, this imaginary lifter wants to strip down to 1012% bodyfat for the summer and he has 4 months to do so. His lean bodyweight is around 170lb at 0% bodyfat— which is impossible to achieve, but his ideal goal weight would be at around 185-190lb. He would need to drop 15-20lb in 4 months— something that is perfectly doable. Let’s assume that he isn’t the most disciplined lifter when it comes to nutrition; and even though he could easily drop a pound a week to be within the 15-20lb range, lapses of judgements, miscalculations, and errors are bound to happen for amateurs. In order to lose a pound a week, he would need to burn off a total of around 65,000 calories spread across the 16 week period—a total weekly deficit of around 4,000 or between 500-600 calories a day. (I am keeping the math simple and rounding up or down.) For the first month, he could drop his daily caloric intake to 2,800-2,900 a day to kickstart his cut, which is a very comfortable intake. After a couple of weeks, the lifter could take his weight, measurements, and before and after photos, making adjustments accordingly to his daily caloric intake and total cardio. The lifter could walk for 30 minutes a day to deepen his deficit a little further. In fact, walking for 10-15 minutes after every meal can improve insulin sensitivity as well as breaking up total cardio for the day into manageable chunks. At the beginning of each month, our imaginary lifter could then deepen his deficit by 100-200 calories a day— although I wouldn’t recommend our friend to go below 2400-2500 calories a day at his size to avoid the risk of losing muscle mass as he would be at a deficit of nearly 1000 calories a day assuming he does no cardio. He could strip off 50-100 calories a day and add an extra 15-30 minutes walking to get there. Put simply, doing cardio enables you to eat more when losing fat. And it doesn’t have to be running long distances. Walking, walking on an incline, a leisurely bike ride with your family, swimming, sex, playing soccer, tennis, squash, rugby, etc, are all good forms of cardio. But the most important thing to consider when cutting weight is how comfortable the cut is, so that you don’t break it or fall into temptation. The other day, I ended up pigging out on my wife’s chocolate for baking, chips, and other stuff as I was insatiably hungry from lowering my calories excessively. By the end of his cut, he could comfortably reach his goals while eating around 2700 calories and walking for a little over an hour a day—which is very doable. If you’re not competing for a show or trying to get down to 5% bodyfat, there is no reason for you to suffer or to take harsh compounds. If you’re suffering when cutting, you may lose sight of why you began dieting in the first place and relapse. BUILDING MUSCLE Building muscle is one of the best things you could ever do in your life. Not only will you look better, feel more confident, be healthier, more insulin sensitive, have greater bone density, protect yourself from brittle bones in late adulthood, but you’ll also boost your metabolism and burn more calories by doing nothing. If you have “good” genetics, you could put on around 15lb of muscle in your first year of training—provided everything is on point. Each pound of lean muscle mass you gain translates to an extra 20-30 calories a day burned—just by doing nothing. Now imagine how much more you could burn with an extra 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35lb of muscle. Even an extra 15lb of muscle translates to a range of an extra 300-450 calories burned a day. Furthermore, muscle is heavy and more muscle requires more energy expenditure to contract. Exercises such as running, walking, and sports would be more metabolically demanding for a well-muscled individual. And muscle can be gained while losing fat when you’re a novice or intermediate lifter—as long as you eat enough protein and train hard enough. Try to avoid alcohol, caffeine in the afternoon, stress, and staying up late. Approaching your workout program When approaching what workout you should adopt, it should be in line with your goals, lifestyle, budget, and equipment at your disposal. There is no one “correct” way to approach working out, and before you jump right in to training you need to, more or less, have an idea as to what it is you’re setting out to achieve. While there are various training methodologies, “free weight”—especially barbell training—will be the form of training that will best suit you if you wish to build strength and muscle. As a primer to lifting weights, your workouts shouldn’t be convoluted or over-complicated, but should be replicable in the greatest number of gyms possible. Training with elaborate equipment such as bands, bosu balls, chains, special barbells such as the log or elephant bar, should not be a priority. The priority, instead, is to train with sufficient volume to stimulate muscle growth rather than going balls to the wall and overtraining. If you’re new to training, you can make substantial gains while familiarizing yourself with gym equipment and exercises without including any complex or unpleasant movements. Your rep scheme can vary; the most important rep range, in my honest opinion, is to adopt a “reps in reserve” approach where you keep a couple of reps in the tank until your final set. You don’t want to hit your maximum reps on the first set then fatigue yourself for the remainder of the workout. For example: On the bench press, if you are seeking to do 3 sets of 8 reps (with 2-3 reps in reserve) at 60kg, trying to bench press that intended weight for 10-11 reps then only managing 5-6 reps from the last two sets won’t be as conducive to muscular growth. Three sets of 8 reps is a total of 24 reps at 60kg; but 10 reps on the first set, then eking out 11 reps on the remaining two sets is a total of 21 reps at 60kg. You might find that on your final set you struggle to get the final rep in—here’s when it would be prudent to have a spotter take a minimal load off the bar by placing their fingers underneath the bar and slowly ensuring you are training to the fullest of your ability. In many articles, pamphlets and programs, you’ll often see rep ranges discussed as follows: 1-5 reps—to build strength 6-12 reps—to build muscle (hypertrophy) 13+ reps—to build endurance (resistance) I’ve often stressed the importance of practicing all three rep ranges for the best, most well-rounded results once you’ve graduated from novice to intermediate and beyond. But for the sake of newer lifters, we will opt for a rep range of 8-12 reps per set and 3-4 sets per exercise, depending on how you feel. However, we will keep the rep ranges simple for these workouts. How to know when to increase or decrease the weight? If on your final set for one exercise you can complete 12 reps, the weight is too light so increase it marginally your next workout; and if you can’t do 8 reps on your final set, decrease the weight slightly going forward until you can complete at least 8 reps on all sets. Aim to push harder each time you go to the gym—this is called “progressive overload” and it is a fundamental principle to building strength and muscle. SIDE NOTE: Don’t feel disheartened if you’re shaking like a leaf on your first few attempts at lifting. Even if you struggle to bench the bar, for example, it’s not necessarily that you’re weak, per se, but your body isn’t used to that movement and your central nervous system is trying to figure out what muscle fibers to activate. Within a couple of weeks, you will become more efficient at completing the lifts—without all the blustery shaking! FORM You don’t need to push massive numbers in order to grow. Training in itself is enough of a stimulus to grow if you’re new to the gym. Your focus should be good form. You need to practice good form to minimize risk of injury, to ingrain GOOD motor patterns into your mind, to forge mind-muscle connection, and to grow optimally. While some ma-hu-sive guys at the gym throw the weights around willy-nilly, it doesn’t mean you should follow their lead as they’re putting themselves at a tremendous risk of injury. Now, obviously, you don’t want that. But while I’ve received some amazing advice from gym bro anons in the weight room throughout my life, please proceed cautiously as not all bro science dispensed by beefy gymgoers is any good. Thankfully, we live in an age where you are blessed with an abundance of free and accessible resources such as YouTube where hundreds of fitness-related accounts provide tutorials for proper form and execution if you’re uncertain after reading this eBook. I’m old enough to remember when I first started lifting, I didn’t have the same resources; I’d have to depend on mainstream fitness magazines which, more often than not, provide the reader with generic and subpar advice. For the sake of this program, I ask you to follow a 3-1 rep tempo—that is, 3 seconds to slowly lower the weights in a controlled manner during the eccentric phase (lowering portion) and focus on contracting the targeted muscle in a one-second concentric phase (lifting portion). Each set should take around 30-40 to complete. Without resting or pausing mid set, we will retain “time under tension” or TUT. Thirty to forty seconds is generally viewed as being the sweet spot for TUT. SPLITS In the past, I’ve blasted “bro splits” for natural lifters; however, this is the easiest way to ease a novice lifter into training for the first few months and even years. A “bro split” is subdivided as follows: Monday: Chest Day (often joked about as being “International Chest Day”) Tuesday: Back Day Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Leg Day Friday: Shoulder Day Saturday: Arm Day Sunday: Rest Your workout should be intended to stimulate—not DESTROY—each muscle group, targeting each head of the muscle on that day. And for simplicity’s sake, we will adopt the above workout split below: Monday: Chest Day 1.1) Incline Barbell Bench Press 1.2) Flat Dumbbell Bench Press 1.3) Dips (Weighted, Bodyweight, or Assisted, depending on your strength levels) 1.4) DB Floor Flyes 1.5) Low-to-high Cable Crossovers (Optional) 1.6) Face Pulls Tuesday: Back Day 2.1) Barbell Row 2.2) Shrugs 2.3) Deadlift (Pull off blocks/rack if you lack mobility) 2.4) Lat Pull Down w/ Pronated Grip 2.5) DB Pullover Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Leg Day 3.1) Back Squat 3.2) Walking Lunges 3.3) Romanian Deadlift 3.4) Hamstring Curl (Lying or Seated) 3.5) Leg Extension (Optional) Friday: Shoulder Day 4.1) Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press 4.2) Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4.3) Standing Cable Lateral Raise 4.4) Reverse Flyes on Pec Deck 4.5) Face Pulls Saturday: Arm Day 5.1) Standing EZ Bar Curl 5.2) Close-grip Bench Press 5.3) Seated Dumbbell Curl 5.4) Cable Tricep Rope Extensions Sunday: Rest The exercises shown should, ideally, be performed in the order they are listed. Why? Because the most physically demanding exercises—with the exception of the deadlift on back day—should be executed first to move the greatest weight and when you are at your freshest to avoid form breakdown. This is with the exception of the deadlift. In my years training for powerlifting, I found that doing barbell rows and shrugs before the deadlift would enable me to fully warm up my legs and lower back for the movement. And I have also selected the incline bench press as the first pectoral movement as it targets the upper chest—a body part many struggle to hit effectively. By expending our freshest energy on the incline bench press, we can activate the muscles with greater weight and time under tension than if it were the second or third exercise on our chest day. Now, we realize that not everyone will be able to perform all of these exercises, so here’s a list of suitable replacements. If you really struggle with an exercise, we recommend you try performing it on a machine FIRST before attempting to master the free weight version. Monday: Chest Day 1.1) Incline Barbell Bench Press Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Slow Decline Bench Press Reverse-grip Flat Bench Press 1.2) Flat Dumbbell Bench Press Barbell Bench Press Machine Chest Press Pushups (Weighted, Bodyweight, or Assisted, depending on your strength levels) 1.3) Dips (Weighted, Bodyweight, or Assisted, depending on your strength levels) Decline Bench Press Floor Press 1.4) DB Floor Flyes Incline Dumbbell Flyes Machine Flyes Pec Deck 1.5) Low-to-high Cable Crossovers (Optional) Light Dumbbell Low-to-high Cable Crossovers 1.6) Face Pulls Band Pull-Aparts Rear Deltoid Dumbbell Lateral Raise Tuesday: Back Day 2.1) Barbell Row T-Bar Row Chest-supported Row Seal Row Hammer Strength Row Cable Row 2.2) Barbell Shrugs Dumbbell Shrugs Snatch-grip High Pull 2.3) Deadlift (Pull off blocks/rack if you lack mobility) Block Pull Rack Pull Weighted Back Raise 2.4) Lat Pull Down w/ Pronated Grip Pull Up (Weighted, Bodyweight, or Assisted, depending on your strength levels) Machine Pull Down 2.5) DB Pullover Machine Pullover Standing Cable Straight-Arm Pulldown Lying-Down Cable Pullover Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Leg Day 3.1) Back Squat Front Squat Goblet Squat Hack Squat Leg Press 3.2) Walking Lunges Bulgarian Split Squat Reverse Lunges Barbell Lunges Single-leg Leg Press 3.3) Romanian Deadlift Kettlebell Swing Stiff-leg Deadlift Conventional Deadlift Sumo Deadlift 3.4) Hamstring Curl (Lying or Seated) Glute-Ham Raise Back Raise Reverse Hyperextensions 3.5) Leg Extension (Optional) Friday: Shoulder Day 4.1) Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press Seated Military Press Standing Overhead Press Arnie Press Machine Overhead Press 4.2) Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise Strict Supported Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4.3) Standing Cable Lateral Raise Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise Strict Supported Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4.4) Reverse Flyes on Pec Deck Seated Bent-over Rear Deltoid Lateral Raise Standing Bent-over Rear Deltoid Lateral Raise 4.5) Face Pulls Band Pull-Aparts Saturday: Arm Day 5.1) Standing EZ Bar Curl Preacher Curl Machine Preacher Curl Cable Curls 5.2) Close-grip Bench Press JM Press Dips Seated Dumbbell Tricep Extension Dumbbell Skullcrusher 5.3) Seated Dumbbell Curl Spider Curls Zottman Curls Concentration Curls 5.4) Cable Tricep Rope Extensions Over-the-head Cable Tricep Extensions Machine Seated Tricep Extensions If possible, try to avoid substituting exercises on a regular basis. “Shocking” the body can be deleterious to your progress as it’s too difficult to gauge honest progressive overload by using an excess of exercises. Try to find the exercises that work best for you. Like with your diet, keep a log book where you TRACK your workouts and record what weights and reps you’ve used to ensure that progressive overload is at the forefront. Once you’ve become more familiar with the weight room, you can change exercises according to how well your body responds to them. For example, if you make no progress with the bench press, there are dozens of other replacements out there that you can try instead. WARMING UP We advise you perform 2-3 warm up sets with a total of 2030 reps AT A LIGHT WEIGHT before each major exercise. Jumping straight into your workout can put you at a greater risk of injury. Not only does warming up draw blood to the muscles while slightly tearing down the muscle fibers, but it also prepares your central nervous system to lift heavy weights close to failure. You could start just by stimulating the movement with an empty bar or light dumbbells before hopping into your workout. SUPPLEMENTS Now, here comes the shocker: fitness personalities and companies are absolutely desperate to palm off their products to benighted consumers desperate to achieve an unnatural—and often photoshopped—physique from one of their sponsored athletes. The reality is that while some supplements absolutely DO work, the majority of supplements lack either bioavailability in their underdosing to bring about any significant effect, or, don’t do all that much in the first place. For example, if you’re consuming enough protein in your diet, BCAA’s don’t do all that much. Likewise, many of the ingredients in pre-workout powders are either overhyped or underdosed. Creatine, for example, in preworkout powders, is dosed at under 5g per serving—its threshold dose. There are some awesome over-the-counter supplements out there that DO work—but don’t kid yourself; you’re not going to turn into a ripped freak through supplements alone: they’re merely the icing on the cake. Most of the progress you make to your physique will come from years of hard work, discipline in the kitchen, and rest—everything else should be secondary. Anyway, here are some supplements that might help optimize your performance in the gym and beyond: Multivitamin As I’ve previously mentioned, when eating in a caloric deficit, your micronutrient intake might be curtailed by the fact that you’re now consuming fewer calories. And while there are ways to ensure that you’re not deficient in anything, taking a daily multivitamin might help prevent any deficiencies from creeping in. ZMA Zinc and magnesium are two minerals that are lost through sweat and must be replenished via nutrition or supplementation. Zinc plays a role in regulating metabolism via enzyme activity, thyroid health, protein synthesis, recovery, and maintaining healthy testosterone levels. Magnesium helps support muscle and nerve function as well as energy production—both crucial for lifting weights. Chronically low levels of magnesium can be linked to a variety of potentially fatal health problems. Creatine Great for body and mind. For the longest time I had convinced myself to forgo taking creatine—but it well and truly works. Creatine can help you boost your strength, muscle growth, and recovery as well as potentially enhancing cognitive functions. Vitamin D This one’s more for those who live in places with poor overcast climates—think Scandinavia, UK, the Pacific Northwest, New England, Northwestern France, Continental Europe. My favorite method to get vitamin D is by catching some rays—that’s right, taking my top off outside. Of course, during the winter months, I have to take a vitamin D supplement to compensate for the gloomier weather. Vitamin D is essential in the regulation of calcium and phosphorus—both of which are vital for healthy bones and teeth. Aside from its more commonly known function, vitamin D has been linked to boosting testosterone levels and fat loss, while simultaneously reducing depression. Whey Protein (Optional) Most people consuming a wholesome balanced diet shouldn’t have to supplement their meals with a protein shake as they should be getting enough protein through their meals. But if you struggle with consuming enough protein, a protein shake is a great low calorie source to up your protein consumption to facilitate muscle protein synthesis. Pre-Workout (Optional) Alternatively, you can make your own pre-workout at home: Taken from: herculeanstrength.com/the-homemadepreworkout Some pre-workouts may be expensive, ineffective, or simply leave you developing a caffeine tolerance after much clammy jitteriness. While it’s wise to take a break from pre-workouts every once in a while to help reset your tolerance level, you may feel that your workouts have taken a hit without your favorite powders. Alternatively, you could be new to lifting and/or on a budget. Pre-workouts can be quite expensive—a month’s worth can cost up to $50 or more. I’ve been broke before—and it’s not fun. You can’t afford complete supplementation and you may have to make numerous sacrifices when balancing a budget and reaching your goals. While pre-workout powders are far easier on the palate, I was recently locked down due to the pandemic and resorted to using other, more c commonplace, home ingredients to help chase a pump at my (home) gym. Here are the ingredients: Pre-workout: Swallow 2-3 raw cloves of garlic (this actually works). 1.5 teaspoons of instant coffee 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon 1 teaspoon powdered ginger 1 tablespoon honey Stir until dissolved into solution, take 20-30 mins before workout. Intra-workout (optional): A tall glass (300ml) of watermelon or pomegranate juice. Total calories: Coffee with honey: 45 kcals 3 Cloves of garlic: 15 kcals Watermelon juice: approx 100 kcals Total: 160 kcals My Magic Fat-Burning Potion Reminder: Always try to consume sufficient water. Two liters a day is NOT ENOUGH. If you are doing strenuous exercise on a regular basis, and if you wish to grow, I cannot stress how important it is to drink enough water. Strive to drink at least 4 liters of water a day. COACHING ENQUIRIES If you have gained anything of value and would like us to provide you with dedicated personalized coaching, please do not hesitate to contact us by sending an email to herculeanstrength1@gmail.com. We offer a variety of services in various gym-related fields ranging from building muscle, losing fat, increasing athleticism, gaining Herculean strength, and more!
