Cut.
Reload
Approved by Renee McGregor
Contents
Nutrition
5
7
Before we start
Eating for healthy fat loss
~ Macronutrients
~ Micronutrients
~ Supplements
~ Tips: get there healthier & happier
14
Nutrition: These 10 weeks
20
A long term approach to sustainable fat loss
~ Increasing your metabolism
~ Changing your body composition
~ Training for long-term results
25
If you’re under-eating
~ Could this be you?
~ The consequences of under-eating
~ Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome
~ A little self love ❤
31
Approved by Renee McGregor
32
References: great sources of more info
2
Contents
Training
36
How to use the training guide
~ Progressions
~ Picking your weight
~ Warming up
~ Picking your weight
~ If you don‘t have any equipment
38
If you‘re a beginner
~ Squatting & Deadlifts
~ Building your confidence at the gym
40
Injuries
41
Rest days
42
Once you’ve finished
~ Build your own workout plan
3
Nutrition
4
Before we start
Hey my friends!! Thank you so much for buying my guide! I’ve put my my heart and soul into
making sure you get the most out of your 10 weeks (and beyond) with Cut ❤
The goal of Cut is to set you up for long-term fat loss while helping you feel strong, athletic
and healthy. That’s a lot of goals in one sentence, and 10 weeks can only be a part of that
lifestyle, but I know it can make a world of difference 🌎
All the information in this programme, for both training and nutrition, is based on current
leading scientific research into health, nutrition and physical exercise, and is shaped to set
you up for successful, sustainable fat loss while protecting your health (and happiness! 😊 )
For that reason, I honestly can’t tell you how over the moon I am to bring you an approach to
food approved for the second time by world-leading Performance and Eating Disorder
Specialist Dietitian, Renee McGregor, whose achievements are more impressive than I could
ever do justice and include working with Olympic athletes over the last two Olympic cycles
(more on page 29!)
Time is precious, so the training sessions are smart and efficient, and the nutrition info
focuses on the changes that make a difference and give you the flexibility to live life fully ❤
My sporting background started early as a kid when I just wanted to try every sport
available! I later became a track athlete, competing at national competitions for a few years,
before I moved onto ultra-endurance competitions and then into resistance and functional
training, and more recently calisthenics and freestyle gymnastics.
I’ve seen huge benefits in each style, and this programme takes lessons from each to bring an
inclusive, rounded approach to training, just like it does for nutrition.
We hope you absolutely love it, and feel the benefits for years to come! 🤸
5
Before we start
😍
g
n
i
z
a
m
a
e
r
‘
u
o
Y
.
P.S
st important
a
le
e
h
t
re
a
s
appearance
e
v
e
li
e
b
l
il
t
s
I
,
guide
and deserves
s
e
s
u
lo
iq
t
n
u
fa
is
a
e
is
p
a
Although this
rld. Every sh
o
w
e
h
t
to
g
eeing on
in
r
s
b
e
to
w
d
e
t
s
a
u
h
w
e
’r
d
e
an
the mould w
to
in
thing about us
s
it
f
it
t
o
whether or n
r
e
tt
a
m
o
n
d
e
to be lov
e.
the TV or onlin
ple a little too
o
e
p
r
e
h
t
o
to
how we look
e
k
ta
ll
a
e
w
,
go: at times
n
a
c
it
w
o
h
w
society.
I kno
in
rt
a
p
g
in
k
ta
t comes with
s
ju
’s
It
.
ly
s
u
io
ser
lthier, feel
a
e
h
e
m
o
c
e
b
u
It can help yo
l.
il
p
ic
g
a
m
a
un shine.
isn’t
s
t
e
fa
h
t
g
d
in
n
s
a
lo
l
u
,
h
if
t
g
make life beau
I prom ise thou
’t
n
s
e
o
d
it
t
u
nfident 🙌 b
o
c
re
o
m
d
n
a
better
anyway.
Those are true
nd that
a
s
u
d
n
u
ro
a
e beauty all
h
t
g
in
e
e
s
m
in way.
a
omes fro
rt
c
e
c
s
s
a
e
k
in
o
p
p
lo
a
t
h
r you than jus
fo
I really believe
re
o
m
y
a
w
, which does
y
d
o
b
r
u
o
y
in
includes
it a better
e
k
a
m
to
u
o
y
out there for
’s
ld
r
o
w
e
h
t
help you
d
n
n
a
a
c
h
c
r
u
ie
m
p
p
o
a
s
h
of
ealthier and
h
,
r
te
You’re capable
it
f
g
n
li
e
I hope that fe
.
y
a
w
n
w
o
r
u
place in yo
go do that.
💛
6
Eating for fat loss
Before we go into any details and some science, I just want to take a minute to say that food is
so much more than the numbers we can track in apps on our phone or a calorie / macro profile.
It helps us grow, perform, stay healthy and have energy (and brings so much joy! 😍 ) On a
personal note, I can’t tell you how much I believe in that having previously seen things differently!
Before we go into the approach for these 10 weeks, and then for sustained fat loss, it’s really
helpful to cover some important information which will make the approach a lot clearer, and I’d
also love to share some personal tips which made a huge difference for me.
Macronutrients
Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrate breaks down into glucose to provide the main energy source for our brain,
central nervous system and physical activity. Fibre is also a form of non-digestible
carbohydrate and helps keep you satisfied after a meal and also helps keep a healthy gut 😉
Large, high-quality analyses of studies comparing low-carb diets with balanced diets show no
difference on fat loss if total calorie intake is kept the same. So there’s nothing clearly
demonstrated as inherent to carbs that makes them a concern for fat loss.
Many carb sources are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, making them super
important for overall health 🍎 🍌 In addition, as carbs are converted to glycogen and stored
in our muscles, they are a crucial source of energy. Studies have shown that low intakes of
carbs (<3g/kg bodyweight) are often linked with reduced performance, a depressed immune
system and altered Thyroid function causing potentially long-term effects on hormonal, bone
and cardiovascular health.
7
Eating for fat loss
More and more studies have convincingly demonstrated the importance of carbohydrate
availability around training, especially for putting out a high level of intensity (which isn’t the
same as ‘perceived intensity’ - sometimes we feel like we’re working really hard but our
energy output is actually below what we’re capable of). As I touched on in my Fasted Cardio Science Explained video, body composition (fat loss results) and performance aren’t shown
to improve through training in a fasted state, so we recommend training with CUT. after at
least one balanced, carb inclusive meal in the day.
Protein:
Protein is an essential part of our diet (fun fact: I was studying protein structure in my PhD
research - it’s so cool 🤓 ). When it’s digested, it’s broken down into amino acids that go into
the repair and recovery of your muscles but are also important for many other functions in
our bodies. Given that you’ll be pushing yourself throughout this 10 week period, making sure
that you have more protein available than you’re burning through exercise is important - a
good target is to be eating ~0.4g/kg bodyweight around 3 times per day. Studies suggest
that during periods of caloric decreases, a higher amount of protein can help preserve muscle
mass 💪 and if you train late in the afternoon, it might be worth adding in an extra protein hit
of 0.4g/kg bodyweight before bed to help with recovery.
8
Eating for fat loss
Fat:
Fat makes up our cell membranes and protects our organs. Fat also helps the body to absorb
vitamins A, D, E and K which are useful for lots of important functions (: Unsaturated fats
(like those from olive oil, fish oil an avocados) are more beneficial from a health perspective
compared to saturated fats found in meat and butter (and therefore cake!) as they don’t have
the same link with heart disease.
As a general guideline, around 1g/kg of bodyweight, with most of this coming from
unsaturated fat, is a healthy target for exercising adults.
From a fat loss perspective, fat is more energy dense than the other macronutrients - 1g/kg
of bodyweight is definitely not going to stop your fat loss, but it can help to be aware of this
when making food choices 😊
9
Eating for fat loss
Some example food sources for each macronutrient:
Protein
🍳
Carbohydrates
🌾
•
Wholegrain & cereals
(wheat, rice, barley,
oats, buckwheat, quinoa)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Vegetables
•
Pulses (beans, lentils,
•
Meat
Eggs
Dairy (e.g. greek
yoghurt)
Fruit
chickpeas etc.)
Fish
•
•
•
•
Fat
🥑
•
•
•
•
Plant/seed oils
Nuts
Avocados
Oily fish
Quorn
Tofu (Vegan)
Seitan (Vegan)
Soya (Vegan)
Pulses (Vegan)
Micronutrients
Micronutrients refer to the vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and trace elements that are
important for enzyme function and the processing of carbohydrates, fats and protein. We
can’t make these little winners 🥇 on our own though, so we need most of these to come
from our diet. And the good news is that if you eat a well-balanced and varied diet, you’ll be
able to get these micronutrients in without needing to take extra supplements
(#studentlifeapproved)
10
Eating for fat loss
Supplements
I personally don’t take any supplements as I feel I get everything I need from my diet to
support my training. If you are considering taking your training to a professional standard or
are concerned about a specific deficiency, then you might find it useful talking about your
nutrition and any possible supplementation with a dietitian 👍
If that’s not you, don’t feel like supplements are necessary for fat loss progress. There’s a
lot of highly effective marketing, but a rounded diet of healthy portions can work wonders ✨
Two exceptions that are worth highlighting are Vitamins D and Vitamin B12. Our bodies make
vitamin D from sunlight, so it may be helpful to add supplementation if you live in a country
with low levels of sunlight (like me!) or if you are not exposed to it much in general. Vitamin
B12 comes from animal sources, and as it’s important for numerous reasons, it’s
supplementation is highly recommended for vegans 💪
Tips to help you along
Here are a few things that I’ve learnt that hopefully can help along the way!
•
Don’t restrict any food types 🙅 Including a little bit of everything and banishing
nothing can make the whole process so much more enjoyable and effective when you’re
thinking about long-term results. I promise you can enjoy food and have the results you’re
after - all food is good, it’s just good for different reasons ❤ I eat cake, chocolate,
burgers and much more all as part of my regular diet - just remember to prioritise those
micronutrient rich foods and your body (and you!) will be happy 😁
•
11
Eating for fat loss
•
Eat lots of volume! If you’re like me and love large portions, packing out meals / snacks
with low impact foods is amazing for staying full. Low impact foods have a low calorie /
macro footprint for their weight (fruit and veg are great examples) vs high impact foods
like nuts (which still have lots of benefits! 🙌 ) Just find the volume that works for you!
•
Get creative with cooking 😍 Who says pizzas, burgers and cookie dough can’t be
nutritious? I’ve got a few videos on how you can make your own recipes easily so you
can swap in your favourite foods with a little more micros at the same time!
•
Rest up 😴 This one’s not about food, but fat loss is about a lot more than just eating
and training. Sleep deprivation can impact fat loss because it causes hormone changes
that make you feel hungry and less satisfied, which might cause you to take on more
calories than your body needs. So make sure to put those PJs on and get those hours in!
•
Tracking with food apps 📱 Apps like MyFitnessPal can be such useful tools but I don’t
think they’re necessary and never recommend them for finding a target food intake.
Unfortunately, their approach to estimating caloric needs is rarely accurate as they don’t
consider a huge number of variables, creating a big risk of under-fuelling.
Also, Renee and I have both seen how using these apps can start to feel like an obsessive
over-analysis of each meal. Although these apps can be great to learn about food initially,
results are all about long-term behaviours and not the details of each day, so if you feel like
you’re overthinking the numbers, remember you don’t need to track to get amazing results.
Food is way more than anything you can add up ❤
12
Eating for fat loss
How to measure your progress:
A common instinct can be to go for the scales, but this guide is for fat loss which doesn’t
necessarily mean the same as weight loss, as confusing as that might sound!
That’s not to say that weight loss isn’t helpful for some people, but when resistance training
comes into play to build muscle, which supports fat loss, the scales get confused 🤷 As
muscle weighs more than fat for a given volume, it’s entirely possible that you can lose fat
and become physically smaller but weigh more (which happened to me!)
I weigh 11kg (24lbs) more than 2.5 years ago, but have less fat and fit into the same clothes!
Let the number on the scale do it’s own thing while you change your body 💃 Instead, try:
•
Taking progress pics: go for the same time of day in the same place - it makes a huge
difference to how you look and the lighting!
•
Going by how your clothes fit
•
Girth measurements: if you’d like to have numbers to track your progress (in the 10
week approach only) and you’re confident you’ll feel relaxed around using them, these can
be useful. 5 measurements should be enough (mid-arm, chest, waist, mid-thigh and calf)
and you can find the exact locations for taking readings online.
•
Just remember! Even a small measurement change over 5 weeks mean a falling body fat %. Our
bodies are constantly fluctuating, even more so for women due to menstrual cycles, so this journey in
measurement reduction isn’t a straight line. Also, in the long-term approach to fat loss we’ll also be
building muscle, so this method might not be a true measurement of the progress you’ve made!
For whichever method, remember that slow, steady progress is key! If you notice big changes
quickly, take another look at your food intake with the nutrition content coming up in mind!
We want all your amazing results to last for good and to protect your health 💕 No big food
cravings, no unsustainable results that contribute to yo-yoing - just a happy, strong you! 😍
13
Nutrition: These 10 weeks
We’ve spoken about many of the benefits of a balanced diet, so lets look at how we’re
going to fuel ourselves for the next 10 weeks for healthy, sustainable fat loss*.
In the next section, we’ll cover how to turn this into a lifestyle that can keep the fat off and
allow you to eat more over time, but for now let’s get these 10 weeks right! 💪
First, let’s think about Net Energy, which you can think of as the calories left over at the
end of a day (and can be either positive or negative):
Net energy = Energy Input - Total Daily Energy Expenditure
TDEE =
Total Daily
Energy
Expenditure
BMR
Basal
+
Metabolic Rate
PA
Physical
Activity
+
NEAT
+
Non-Exercise
Activity
Thermogenesis
TEF
Thermic Effect
of Food
For these 10 weeks, we’re going to focus more on losing fat through increasing the TDEE
component of net energy. Within TDEE, we’re going after Physical Activity in particular this is the energy expended directly from working out. We’ll be targeting a moderate
negative net energy by increasing PA (and therefore TDEE), while only very slightly
reducing energy input (the calories we eat) which will help keep our bodies functioning
properly and will allow PA to go up even more!
The workouts include resistance training - to help preserve muscle mass and BMR - High
Intensity Interval Training and plyometric workouts to efficiently increase calorie burn.
There’s also some cardio on day 4 where you can pick whatever form you like (sport,
walking, cycling, gymnastics 😍 : ) which works wonders for your cardiovascular health.
We’ll cover BMR, NEAT & TEF later in ‘Long Term Approach to Fat Loss’, and how these
can increase to support a higher energy expenditure and eating more food over time!
* If you’ve had a history of restrictive eating, I don’t recommend this approach as it is very unlikely to
be effective and may impact your health. Instead, I recommend you read from pg. 23 onwards ❤
14
Nutrition: These 10 weeks
Great! How do I get started?!:
All the steps below are designed to help you get the very most out of your ten weeks effective results which get you ready for sustained, long term fat loss and maintenance 💪
Remember, this approach is for people who aren’t coming from significantly restricting food
intake. If that’s you, the recommended approach starts on pg. 23
Step 1:
Take 2-3 days before starting the programme to track your usual food intake.
This will help determine the amount of calories you eat before starting these workouts.
•
Quick tip! It’s super important that you eat just as normal in these 2-3 baseline days. If you
don’t track your food intake normally, spend these couple of days with MyFitnessPal. It will be
super easy to change eating habits now you’re tracking (as you become more conscious of what
you eat) and we don’t want that, so my advice is to measure everything you normally eat, make a
note of it and only input it into MyFitnessPal before bed.
If you’ve been tracking your food intake prior to starting this programme, there’s no need
to perform this step. Instead, work out your recent average food intake over the last couple
of weeks and we’ll use this as your starting point 🏁
Step 2:
Start the training in this programme and leave your daily calories as they were
for the first week. I know it can be so tempting to immediately reduce calories and increase
training, but we want long term results and for you to still feel strong and happy at the end
of the 10 weeks 🙅 A super common mistake is to take the idea of moving more and
eating less too far, too quickly and our bodies respond to being put under stress with
mechanisms such as holding onto fat and slowing components of our metabolisms.
In this week, the goal is to understand how the intensity of the training sessions in this
programme compares to your usual workouts. This week will help you decide how to adjust
your calories. These sessions are designed to be difficult and you’ll be doing them for 10
weeks, so proper fuelling is so important! Once your first week is over, move onto step 3.
15
Nutrition: These 10 weeks
Step 3: After one week of the training, you’ll get a feel for how challenging the workouts
are and you’ll fall into 4 main categories —>
•
1.
Wow that was tough! These workouts are a lot more intense than I’m used to! 💦
2.
I train often but these workouts are more challenging than what I’m used to! 😅
3.
Challenging, but very similar in intensity to my usual training 💪
4.
Not as intense as my usual workouts 😳
If you’re in group 1: you may want to increase your calories slightly (100-200
calories) e.g. add in an extra snack and/or increase portion sizes during meal times
•
If you’re in group 2: you may want to leave your calories as they are, or increase /
decrease a touch depending on how big the gap to your usual intensity feels
•
If you’re in group 3: although it may feel like a similar intensity level, try maintaining
your food intake as it is (because these workouts are designed to get that calorie burn
up) or lowering it slightly but by no more than 10% of your current daily intake
•
If you’re in group 4: remember it’s so important to push yourself through each
workout, so increase the intensity either by upping your resistance level, fully exerting
yourself in plyometric exercises / HIIT, and staying super strict in exercise form. If you
feel that the training here is not as intense because there is less training volume than
you’re used to, try sticking with this split but really pushing for four super high intensity
sessions (Days 1, 2, 3 & 5). I suggest you try the first week again with this in mind,
and then reassess which of groups 1-3 you’re in 😅
Now you have your food intake level, some potential signs that you need to up your calorie
intake include: constant tiredness, feeling weak or low energy during training, difficulty
focussing, rapid weight loss and changes to your menstrual cycle.
16
Nutrition: These 10 weeks
Step 4: Follow the training programme and eat as identified in step 3 for weeks 2-5.
If you’re not sure how to convert your calorie intake into macros, here’s a suggestion:
Protein: 1.5 g / kg bodyweight
Carbs: 5 g / kg bodyweight
Fat: 1 g / kg bodyweight
Each of the macros are so, so important for keeping you going strong and protecting your
health, like we discussed earlier. The split above is a guideline and will need tweaking to get
into your target calorie intake and to find the split that feels good 🙌 💪
Experiment with the split a little in these ten weeks, but I really recommend keeping each
change quite small and giving it at least 1-2 weeks to assess how it works for you.
Step 5: The start of week 6 is a great time to assess how you feel: do you have energy
or feel weak? how are your workouts going? how’s your mood?
At this point, we want you to still feel good and like you can workout, with some early signs
of physical change (measured how we discussed earlier in the guide)
We’re not after any drastic appearance changes yet - a small amount is perfect because
you’ll have achieved it without doing much to your food intake and it’s still early days! ☀
If you feel that you’ve made no change, feel free to reduce by up to a further 100 calories.
Trust me, I know the feeling of wanting to go more aggressively but I can’t count how many
people (literally hundreds!) have told me about how any results from doing so would stall and
they’d be left having to eat small portions to avoid fat gain, and that’s not what we want!
Because everyone’s so different and I think experimenting a little with macro splits is so
important, I haven’t provided a meal plan. Both Renee & I have recipe guides, which all
include macros and suggestions for changing the macros of each meal. Hopefully these can
help you adjust your meals to make food work for you! 😊 😘
17
Nutrition: These 10 weeks
A step-by-step example
Jessie’s hasn’t tracked much in the past, so for
Step 1
she lives life as normal, notes
down everything she ate and tracks it in MyFitnessPal at night for a couple of days: her
average intake is 2,100 calories.
Week 1 of training with CUT feels tiring and recovery between workouts feels a little tough
while her body is still getting used to the style. At the end of the week, her body is starting
to adapt and recover better, and the overall intensity doesn’t feel too far from her previous
workouts so she puts herself in group 2 for
Step 3. Since it doesn’t feel like a huge step
up in intensity after a week, she decreases her food intake but keeps it within the group 2
guideline and with just a 5% reduction to ~2,000 calories (a 1,900 - 2,100 calorie
window is perfect, because not every day needs to be the same.)
At the start of week 2, it’s time for
Step 4. For the next 5 weeks, she follows CUT’s
training guide. At 58kg, she roughly aims for the macro guidelines above so ~90g protein,
~290g carbs and ~60g fat and tweaks them to get close to her 2,000 calorie target.
In Step
5, at the start of week 7 Jessie feels like her mood is dropping a little bit and that
she can’t give the same intensity that she could at the start. In this case, it’s definitely
possible that over time, the high energy expenditure of the CUT workouts were already
putting her in a deficit and the slight food reduction took her a little too far, so she’s no
longer feeling as strong and happy. For the last four weeks, she goes back to her original
food intake and lets the intense workouts do the rest.
Note: this same approach would work without tracking. Just adjusting food intake in
whichever direction a little, maybe by tweaking portion sizes or swapping one snack for
another depending on if you’re trying to increase / decrease calories is great too!
Nutrition: These 10 weeks
Sample menu:
Let’s make up an example of an individual day of food! 😊
So, Jessie’s put herself in group 2 and decided to aim for just a very small food reduction
at ~2,000 calories so most of the deficit can come from the tougher workouts in CUT.
She’s aiming for the 1,900 - 2,000 calorie window and even going a little under or a little
over those numbers now and then really doesn’t matter.
Working out after work and before dinner, a perfect meal plan sets her up with
carbohydrates for lunch a few hours ahead of her training so she can really workout with
intensity. Also, this is key for ensure her hormones are in a healthy place and that she can
respond properly to the workouts, for example with the production of growth factors which
enable her body to adapt.
Here’s an example of what she might eat one day:
Carbs Protein Fat
Calories
Breakfast
Toasted bagel with avocado and poached eggs: 1 bagel, 2
eggs, 1 medium avocado, salt and pepper
60g
24g
31g
599
Lunch
Prawn couscous salad: 125g prawns, 75g couscous (when
uncooked), 60g peas, 80g cherry tomatoes, 50g spinach,
150g red pepper, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 30g feta, veg stock cube
77g
40g
15g
614
Dinner
Stuffed veg: 100g soya mince, 3 large red peppers, 50g
basmati rice (when uncooked), 1/2 can chopped tomatoes,
2tbsp tomato puree, 1/2 onion, 1/2tbsp olive oil, 1 garlic clove,
veg stock cube
64g
26g
9g
453
Snack 1
Grapes: 150g
24g
1g
0g
99
Snack 2
Protein banana cream bowl: 150g strained greek yoghurt, 1
banana, 1 square Lindt 70% dark chocolate
53g
21g
6g
305
3g
2g
1g
30
281g
113g
61g
2,100
CUT. workout
Extra
Totals
1 tea, 1 coffee: with semi skimmed milk
19
A long term approach
The best results come down to lifestyle. In the previous section we spoke about eating and
training for fat loss in the 10 weeks of the programme, but it is possible to continue changing
your body composition over a longer period of multiple years through resistance training and
staying active. By doing so, you’ll be able to eat more, get leaner and feel stronger too 💪
I really want to stress at this point that none of that means looking significantly different. For
example, through this approach over 3 years, I still fit into the same clothes and people rarely
notice that I’ve put on a lot of muscle unless I’m working out.
So, looking back at the equation for metabolism:
TDEE = BMR + PA + NEAT + TEF
Total Daily
Energy
Expenditure
Basal
Metabolic Rate
Physical
Activity
Non-Exercise
Activity
Thermic Effect
Thermogenesis
of Food
Looking at this equation, let’s go through how resistance training and a slow increase in food
intake can build muscle over time, which will in turn increase your TDEE (the amount of calories
you burn every day 🔥 )
1.
BMR —> the amount of energy burnt throughout the day when your body is at rest: It’s
largely driven by your lean body mass (fat-free mass), so as you increase your muscle mass
through effective hypertrophy and strength training you’ll be able to increase the amount of
calories you burn throughout the day without even working out!
2. PA —> the amount of energy you burn through physical activity: There are a couple of main
reasons why this will continue to increase when you do resistance training. Firstly, as you get
stronger and can lift more weight, the energy requirement for exerting a bigger force will
increase, so you’ll burn more from your sessions. In addition, any cardiovascular training you
do will also require more energy to move this additional muscle mass you’ve put on.
20
A long term approach
TDEE = BMR + PA + NEAT + TEF
Total Daily
Energy
Expenditure
Basal
Metabolic Rate
Physical
Activity
Non-Exercise
Activity
Thermogenesis
Thermic Effect
of Food
3. NEAT —> The energy burnt in a day through activities not including sports or training eg.
fidgeting, choosing to walk up the stairs rather than take the elevator, standing instead of
sitting, house cleaning. This is determined by your caloric intake and muscle mass. The more
you eat, the more energy you’ll have to fidget around or choose the stairs over the elevator.
Then, the more muscle you have, the more energy required to do those movements as
explained in physical activity.
4. TEF —> The amount of energy required to process and store the food we eat. The more
we eat, the more we burn!
Hopefully that gives you a feel for how the training and nutrition approach in the next section
play into metabolism changes over time as we start to build our bodies through resistance
training and increased food intake. There are some great papers in the reference section on this
if you want to read about it in more detail for all my science lovers out there! ❤ 🔬
21
A long term approach
Training for long term fat loss
Hypertrophy training is the key for a long term approach to changing your body composition and
increasing your lean body mass.
Hypertrophy workouts are focussed on building muscle size, which will unlock benefits across the
TDEE components like we covered above. In this training programme, the lower body workouts
on Day 3 look most like a hypertrophy workout, and should give you a feel for what they’re like.
You definitely won’t have to do hypertrophy training forever, and once you’ve built the amount of
muscle you’re happy with, you’ll find that muscle maintenance requires a lot less effort, so you
can move onto whatever you like! ❤
There are so many different hypertrophy workouts out there so I thought I’d put together a list of
articles and sample workouts that you can start to use once you’ve finished the guide.
•
📓 All you need to know about hypertrophy training
•
📕 A great exercise database 💪
•
📗 If you're looking to increase strength and muscle mass
Even though building muscle mass will help you eat more over the longer term without gaining fat,
I really believe that exercise should be something you look forward to 😍 Although hypertrophy is
the most effective way to gain muscle mass and change your body composition, you may not
enjoy it and that’s totally fine! You can always balance your exercise and blend hypertrophy
work into your other workouts, or just give it one or two sessions per week.
If you’re interested in how I train as I share on social media, which is more focussed around
developing strength, athleticism, functionality and bringing in some calisthenics, you might really
enjoy my other training programme MOVE. :
22
A long term approach
That’s an example of a routine which blends hypertrophy with lots of other styles to bring the
benefits of allowing you to eat more while including lots of variety. You can even mix it up with
whatever else you enjoy like dancing or volleyball (these just came off the top of my head! 😂 )
There are so many benefits of an active lifestyle beyond changing your body composition like
this, and this definitely isn’t the only way to lose fat in a sustainable way. It’s just the approach I
personally love to recommend because it helps to create such a freeing relationship with food 😍
Eating for long term fat loss
Nutrition will play a huge part in muscle growth as you train. I still recommend eating a balanced
and varied diet throughout as mentioned above with some treats thrown in there too to keep you
feeling happy and loving life 😊
Eating enough protein will help you build muscle efficiently, and 0.25g protein/kg bodyweight
4-6 times a day will help develop your muscles and progress towards a higher TDEE.
As your muscle mass increases, your TDEE will increase, meaning your maintenance food
intake will also go up alongside it. You’ll slowly feel more hungry and less able to work hard during
workouts, which will be small signs that it’s time to gradually up the intake. As this is going on
alongside increases in energy expenditure, it doesn’t mean fat gain.
If you don’t see changes in body composition after working with this method for 3+ months, this
could be a key sign that you’re still not fuelling adequately - if there’s not enough energy in our
systems, our bodies break down muscle for energy which will work against us!
23
A long term approach
My personal advice is to go for an increase of around 100 calories each time you feel those
signs of it being time to increase. Starting slowly and steadily while looking for all those little
signals is a great way to find the speed that works for you, which will change over time.
The appropriate pace will depend on a lot of factors like how hypertrophy focussed your overall
training plan is, how often and intensely you workout and a bunch of lifestyle factors like sleep,
stress levels, genetics, general activity, work life, age and more.
In my case, I’d say I bumped up my food intake every month or so for the first 5-6 months as
adapting my metabolism was a big focus of mine for a little while so my workouts were
hypertrophy focussed. As my rate of muscle growth slowed over time as I slowly shifted to other
training styles and was no longer so energy deficient, I noticed those signs every 2-3 months so
my rate of increasing slowed.
This whole approach is exactly how I went from eating 1,500 calories to ~2,700 calories for
maintenance (just for reference, I workout 4-5x / week and am not setting this as a target, but
it’s just an example!) It takes time to build enough muscle to make such a difference and the
journey isn’t a straight line but I promise it’s worth the time and love! 😘 ⌛
24
If you’re under-eating
The belief that you’ll continuously lose fat if you eat less and train more is a common
misconception. Our bodies are super complex and finely tuned, constantly adapting to work at
their best. A complicated system of hormonal and biochemical processes, all working together, is
in place to keep us fully functioning 💪 but disrupt one, and there’ll be effects on the others.
Before starting the approach in this programme, I can’t explain how important it is to be honest
about where you currently are. If you’re already underweight, or if your relationship with food and
body image isn’t in the right place, the 10 week guide is not suitable for you and may be
detrimental to your long-term health. It’s so important to first address these areas before
following a programme like this, which is unlikely to bring results in these circumstances anyway!
How do you know if this is you?
These questions should help you identify if a different approach at first would be right for you:
1) Do you eliminate entire food groups in an attempt to be “clean” or have the “perfect” diet?
2) Do you feel anxiety over how food is prepared?
3) Do you avoid eating food bought or prepared by others?
4) Do you fear eating away from home?
5) Do you avoid social events involving food for fear of not sticking to your diet?
6) Do you think critically of others who have a more relaxed approach to eating / their body?
7) Do you spend more time and money on meal planning and making food choices than you
would like or feels necessary?
8) Do you ever have feelings of guilt or shame when you’re not able to stick to your diet?
9) Do you feel fulfilled or good about eating “healthily” while losing interest in other activities?
10) Do you feel you need to exercise daily to justify eating?
11) Have you noticed feelings of worsening low mood, irrational thoughts and anxiety?
25
If you’re under-eating
12) Does your bodyweight define how you’re able to accept and love yourself?
13) Do you weigh yourself daily or even several times a day?
14) Do you feel constantly cold or struggle to concentrate?
15) Is your sleep quantity or quality poor?
If you answered yes to 1 or 2 of these, it’s worth staying aware and mindful of that. If you relate
to 5 or more, we strongly recommend that you first reach out for professional medical input ❤
If you’re advised to work a little with practitioners in either nutrition or psychology, making sure
they have the right qualifications to give you the support you deserve is so important:
•
For nutrition: only work with registered dietitian or registered nutritionists, which do not include
personal trainers or nutritional therapists
•
For psychological support: there’s lots of evidence that the most suitable help includes
behavioural therapy and NLP, so looking for experience in these is a great start!
Should I take part in the Cut. 10-week programme?
It’s not yet suitable for you to take part in Cut.’s 10-week fat loss programme if you are
underweight or face the symptoms below.
Firstly, the definition of being underweight in adults over 18 years old is having a BMI below
18.5. BMI has had a lot of bad press for not being strictly accurate, but it’s a useful tool towards
the lower end of the scale.
For example, eating disorder specialists recommend that anybody with a BMI under 17.5 does
not exercise at all, and that those with a BMI under 16 do not drive or go to work. For Cut., we
strongly recommend that anyone with a BMI under 18.5 does not follow the 10-week
programme until they are no longer underweight.
26
If you’re under-eating
Above the 18.5 BMI line, there may still be cases where your body is not yet in the right place to
follow the 10-week programme:
1) If you’ve missed 3+ consecutive periods or your cycle is irregular: this is a sign that your
body isn’t functioning fully at the moment as the threat of starvation has caused it to stop
processes considered non-essential for survival (reproduction is one of those)
2) You’re working out hard and being mindful of what you eat, but not seeing changes in your
body / muscle development: this could be a sign that your body is breaking down muscle for
energy. This can easily be confused with not doing enough exercise when really it’s the
opposite!
3) Your recovery between sessions is slow: this is a strong sign of eating too little for your
training intensity, so your body can’t adapt and strengthen between all your hard work 🔥
If you face any of these but you are not underweight according to your BMI, we still strongly
recommend that you don’t follow the 10-week programme here until you have slowly increased
your food intake upwards and overcome whichever you’re facing at the moment. When your body
is ready to change as intended in the guide, Cut. will be here for you ❤ 😘
The consequences of under-eating
Restrictive eating might feel like the right thing to do and to stick with, but if it’s taken too far, it
can have a number of consequences on short- and long-term health, including:
•
Menstruation: loss of periods (amenorrhea) is most commonly caused by not having enough
energy. Skipping just 3 periods in a row can be enough to start damaging bone health and
increase osteoporosis risk.
•
Heart health: low oestrogen levels lead to increased cholesterol production
•
Fatigue: increased risk of injury or illness
•
Depression: vitamin and nutrition deficiency has been shown to increase risks of anxiety /
depression, while carbs are key to producing serotonin which helps us feel at ease mentally
•
Digestion: digestion is considered non-essential, so it slows leading to constipation/bloating
27
If you’re under-eating
Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome:
In sport, low availability of energy relative to what your body needs to perform at the levels you’re
demanding and still function fully is called Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome (RED-S).
RED-S can be intentional or unintentional, but either way, being consistently short on energy has
the same impact on our bodies. The possible areas affected by RED-S are shown below:
Immunological
Gastro-
Menstrual
intestinal
function
Cardio-
Triad
vascular
Bone health
Relative
Energy Deficiency
Syndrome
Psychological
Endocrine
Growth &
Metabolic
development
Hematological
28
If you’re under-eating
In unintentional RED-S, people aren’t aware of their energy (usually carb!) needs or overestimate
their intake, which can happen when we factor in total activity levels eg. an active job.
Intentional RED-S is more complex and typically comes from being highly ambitious, self-critical
or anxiety. There’s often a strong feeling of nothing ever being enough - weight not being low
enough, training not being hard enough etc. A common pattern is for people to follow whatever is
trending in nutrition such as low carb / high fat, “clean eating” and avoiding sugar or gluten🙅
One deceiving component of RED-S is that restricting food intake while increasing exercise to
lose fat or improve health often brings those results in the short-term. Performance can improve
and fat can be lost in those first few months, creating a belief in the approach.
When things then start to slow down and don’t work later on, it becomes a matter of thinking
you’re not working hard enough or being strict enough. Trying to come away from intentional
RED-S often leads to anxiety, especially as stopping training for a while is highly recommended.
A typical cycle of thinking for someone with intentional RED-S:
I don’t feel like I’m doing my best
I want to join in but how can they
Everyone else is happy and
they’ll feel good if they eat clean?
Why can’t I be as perfect as them?
enjoying life
eat that stuff? Do they not realise
I don’t understand how my
If I cut out xxx, I’ll be healthier,
friends go out and eat pizza - do
have more energy and more fun!
they not know it’s bad for them?
Nothing has changed - I’m not
being strict enough!
29
If you’re under-eating
In both intentional and unintentional RED-S, seeking out advice on the appropriate levels of
complex carbs, recovery options, foods for bone health; essential fats for hormone recovery and
micros for metabolism regulation are so important 🙌 🔑
If you’re under-weight, weight restoration is usually crucial to help restore the full set of biological
processes in our bodies. Support from a specialist Dietitian or clinical psychologist can make all
the difference in changing beliefs around food, body composition and performance.
Restoring your body back to health takes time, especially with elements like regaining a period,
and how long varies for everyone. For some women, returning to a healthier weight will do the
trick whereas others need to think about dietary composition, nutrition timing around training etc
If you’ve had issues with bone health, menstruation will need to return before any of the damage
can be reversed - studies have shown that bone health recovers significantly only when vitamin D
is combined with healthy oestrogen levels.
If you have any concerns after reading this section, we really recommend you seek advice as
soon as possible 💕 A general medical doctor is a great place to start, and you can ask for a
blood test looking at certain biomarkers. A great set to consider are:
TSH, free T3, LH, FSH, testosterone / oestrogen, ALT and corrected calcium
You have all our love and support - Renee and I both know you can do it 💌
P.s. Let’s quickly talk about menstrual cycles
If you have a natural and regular menstrual cycle, remember that hormone changes through the
month impact energy and (in particular carb) requirements. Craving more carbs (often chocolate
😍 ) before your period is because our bodies need more carbs for energy per minute.
So don’t beat yourself up! Try including a small snack of complex carbs and fat or protein, like
oatcakes with peanut butter or banana, or a glass of milk with a couple of squares of chocolate
to help maintain blood sugar levels and prevent a crash 😘
30
Approved by Renee
Renee McGregor BSc (hons) PGDIP (DIET) PGCERT(sportsnutr) RD SENr
Renee is a leading Performance and Eating
Disorder Specialist Dietitian with 20 years’
experience working in clinical and performance
nutrition with Olympic (London 2012), Paralympic
(Rio 2016) and Commonwealth (Queensland
2018) athletes.
She works with individuals, athletes of all levels and
ages, coaches and sport science teams to provide
nutritiona l strateg ies to enha nce sports
performance and manage eating disorders.
At the moment, she’s working with a number of national governing bodies including
Scottish Gymnastics, the GB 24 Hour Running Squad and The England Ballet company.
She’s also the best selling author of the books Training Food, Fast Fuel and Orthorexia:
When Healthy Eating Goes Bad.
Recently, she co-founded #TRAINBRAVE, a campaign raising the awareness of eating
disorders in sport, providing resources and practical strategies to reduce their prevalence.
Renee also sees on the REDS advisory board for The British Association of Sports and
Exercise Science (BASES) and sits on the International Task Force for Orthorexia.
She writes for many national publications and is often asked to comment in the national
press, regularly contributing to TV and radio, including News Night and BBC 5 Live.
For more information on her amazing work and books, which I can’t recommend enough,
go to www.reneemcgregor.com
31
References
Feel free to check out any of these articles if you’re interested in some extra reading 📚
1. Bea JW, Cussler EC, Going SB, Blew RM, Metcalfe LL, Lohman TG. Resistance Training Predicts SixYear Body Composition Change in Postmenopausal Women. Medicine and science in sports and exercise.
2010;42(7):1286-1295. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181ca8115.
2. Benton D, Young HA. Reducing Calorie Intake May Not Help You Lose Body Weight. Perspect Psychol
Sci. 2017 Sep;12(5):703-714. doi: 10.1177/1745691617690878. Epub 2017 Jun 28. PubMed PMID:
28657838; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5639963
3. Boutcher SH. High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss. Journal of Obesity. 2011;2011:868305.
doi:10.1155/2011/868305.
4. Byrne HK, Wilmore JH. The effects of a 20-week exercise training program on resting metabolic rate in
previously sedentary, moderately obese women. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2001;11:15–31.
5. Campbell WW, Crim MC, Young VR, Evans WJ. Increased energy requirements and changes in body
composition with resistance training in older adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994;60:167–175.
6. Galgani J, Ravussin E. Energy metabolism, fuel selection and body weight regulation. Int J Obes (Lond).
2008 Dec;32 Suppl 7:S109-19. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.246. Review. PubMed PMID: 19136979; PubMed
Central PMCID: PMC2897177.
7. Helms ER, Zinn C, Rowlands DS, Brown SR. A systematic review of dietary protein during caloric
restriction in resistance trained lean athletes: a case for higher intakes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2014
Apr;24(2):127-38. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0054. Epub 2013 Oct 2. Review. PubMed PMID: 24092765
8. Hoffman JR, Falvo MJ. Protein – Which is Best? Journal of Sports Science & Medicine. 2004;3(3):118-130.
9. Holesh JE, Bhimji SS. Dietary, Carbohydrates. [Updated 2017 Oct 5]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure
Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2018 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/
NBK459280/
10. http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/micronutrients/en/
32
References
11.https://www.t-nation.com/training/fix-your-metabolism-with-weight-training
12. Huntriss R, Campbell M, Bedwell C. The interpretation and effect of a low-carbohydrate diet in the
management of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Eur
J Clin Nutr. 2018 Mar;72(3):311-325. doi: 10.1038/s41430-017-0019-4. Epub 2017 Dec 21. Review.
PubMed PMID: 29269890
13. Kinabo JL, Durnin JV. Thermic effect of food in man: effect of meal composition, and energy content. Br J
Nutr. 1990 Jul;64(1):37-44. PubMed PMID: 2400767.
14. Kirk EP, Donnelly JE, Smith BK, et al. Minimal resistance training improves daily energy expenditure and
fat oxidation. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 2009;41(5):1122-1129. doi:10.1249/MSS.
0b013e318193c64e.
15. Levine JA, Vander Weg MW, Hill JO, Klesges RC. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis: the crouching
tiger hidden dragon of societal weight gain. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2006 Apr;26(4):729-36. Epub
2006 Jan 26. Review. PubMed PMID: 16439708
16. Lowery LM. Dietary Fat and Sports Nutrition: A Primer. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine.
2004;3(3):106-117.
17. McGregor R. Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Goes Bad. UK: Nourishbooks; 2017
18. McGregor R. Training Food: Get the Fuel You Need to Achieve Your Goals Before During And After
Exercise. UK: Nourishbooks; 2015
19. McPherron AC, Guo T, Bond ND, Gavrilova O. Increasing muscle mass to improve metabolism.
Adipocyte. 2013;2(2):92-98. doi:10.4161/adip.22500.
20. Phillips SM, Van Loon LJ. Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to optimum adaptation. J Sports
Sci. 2011;29 Suppl 1:S29-38. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2011.619204. Review. PubMed PMID: 22150425.
21. Phillips SM, Winett RA. Uncomplicated Resistance Training and Health-Related Outcomes: Evidence for
a Public Health Mandate. Current sports medicine reports. 2010;9(4):208-213.
33
References
22.Pratley R, Nicklas B, Rubin M, et al. Strength training increases resting metabolic rate and norepinephrine
levels in healthy 50- to 65-yr-old men. J Appl Physiol. 1994;76:133–137.
23.Ryan AS, Pratley RE, Elahi D, Goldberg AP. Resistive training increases fat-free mass and maintains RMR
despite weight loss in postmenopausal women. J Appl Physiol. 1995;79:818–823
24.Skerrett PJ, Willett WC. Essentials of Healthy Eating: A Guide. Journal of midwifery & women’s health.
2010;55(6):492-501.
25.Slavin J, Carlson J. Carbohydrates. Advances in Nutrition. 2014;5(6):760-761. doi:10.3945/an.114.006163.
26.Snorgaard O, Poulsen GM, Andersen HK, Astrup A. Systematic review and meta-analysis of dietary
carbohydrate restriction in patients with type 2 diabetes. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2017 Feb
23;5(1):e000354. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2016-000354. eCollection 2017. PubMed PMID: 28316796;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5337734
27.Teixeira PJ, Going SB, Houtkooper LB, Metcalfe LL, Blew RM, Flint-Wagner HG, Cussler EC, Sardinha
LB, Lohman TG. Resistance training in postmenopausal women with and without hormone therapy. Med
Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Apr;35(4):555-62. PubMed PMID: 12673136.
28.THOMAS MH, BURNS SP. Increasing Lean Mass and Strength: A Comparison of High Frequency
Strength Training to Lower Frequency Strength Training. International Journal of Exercise Science.
2016;9(2):159-167.
29.Tresierras MA, Balady GJ. Resistance training in the treatment of diabetes and obesity: mechanisms and
outcomes. J. Cardiopulm. Rehabil. Prev. 2009;29:67–75.
30.Treuth MS, Hunter GR, Kekes-Szabo T, Weinsier RL, Goran MI, Berland L. Reduction in intra-abdominal
adipose tissue after strength training in older women. J Appl Physiol. 1995;78: 1425–1431
31.Treuth MS, Ryan AS, Pratley RE, et al. Effects of strength training on total and regional body composition
in older men. J Appl Physiol. 1994;77:614–620.
32.Weinsier RL, Schutz Y, Bracco D. Re-examination of the relationship of resting metabolic rate to fat-free
mass and to the metabolically active components of fat-free mass in humans. Am J Clin Nutr.
1992;55:790–794.
34
Training
35
How to use the training guide
Firstly, this guide is intended to be used in a way that fits your schedule. I’ve minimised any
complexities and want to focus on four challenging workouts per week, with a couple of
lighter days to help you recover well, keep moving a little and get ready for the next big
session 💪
Progressions:
There aren’t a huge amount of moves that require progressions in this programme, but for
those that do (like pull-ups and dips), there are exercises included in the video to help you get
to the final move if you can’t perform it just yet 😊 Just let the video play in the app to find
a progression at a level that gives you a good challenge. If you’re using the progressions, the
best way to advance is to work on the hardest one you can do but also to test out the next
one. There are lots of other progressions you could definitely try out if you prefer, but these
are what I used myself and what I show anyone who asks (:
Picking your weight:
For any resistance based move, pick a weight which puts you 1-2 reps away from failure with
every set. We want just a little bit still left in the tank, and to not go to complete exhaustion.
This is for hypertrophy and for plyometrics workouts.
Rest times:
For HIIT workouts, the rest times are written in the notes section of each workout. For
anything else, I always recommend 60-90s rest before every set. If it’s been a super tiring
set which has totally put you out of breath, take the full 90s rest with long deep breaths.
36
How to use the training guide
If it’s a less intense movement and you feel good to go with great form after 60s, go for it!
We’re aiming for a rest time that lets you work with the same weight and with good form
again. If that’s less than 60s, the sets aren’t intense enough so try upping the weight 💪
Any supersets are clearly marked in the app, so always take a rest before every set unless
you see SS1 or SS2 clearly shown (which is just a small proportion of the exercises).
Warming up:
People have different preferences for warming up, which I think is really great. I completely
recommend going for whatever makes you feel warm, loose and ready to go! For me
personally, I like to do some dynamic stretching (stretching and moving to prepare the
muscles I’ll be using in the workout) for 10 minutes before working out. But you’ll also catch
me skipping, jogging, or anything that gets me moving a little 🤸
In case you don‘t have any of the equipment:
Gyms really vary in the equipment they have, I’ve done my best to make sure that all the
moves in this guide suit any kind of gym. But if there’s something that you don’t have access
to, just go ahead and swap it with a version that’s similar, copying the same set – rep
breakdown as in the guide e.g. if your gym doesn’t have a barbell for barbell rows, you can
try on a smith machine, or use dumbbell rows.
37
If you’re a beginner
I can really clearly remember being a beginner to the gym as if it were couple of weeks ago!
If that’s you, go through the first week of the guide testing out all the moves. Being new to a
gym can feel like a really daunting experience, so just familiarise yourself with all the
equipment, understand the moves and take the time to read up on or talk to a gym instructor
about the form of any exercises you’re not sure about. Focusing on technique throughout
your training, especially at the start, will help avoid injuries and will develop your strength,
coordination and functionality way more efficiently. And honestly, from experience, relearning
a move down the line is so much harder than learning it right in the first place!
Also, spend the first week writing down all the weights you are using for the different moves
so that you can easily find your weights when you go back - the AFLETE app makes it easy
for you to do this 👍 . Honestly, I didn’t do this when I first started and I used to spend a
good 30mins each workout just thinking about what weight I should be on, so I’ve already
made that mistake for you!
Once you’re comfortable with the exercises and the technique by practising them at either
bodyweight or extremely light weight, feel free to actually kick off the programme again
(repeating week one), but this time actually using the weight that works for you.
Each time you get to a new move you haven’t seen before, again just spend that first time
getting used to the technique before doing it for sets and reps.
38
If you’re a beginner
Squatting & deadlifts:
These are extremely great compound exercises that practically use all the muscles in your
body. They are really key foundational move for so many reasons, and doing them well
definitely takes time! I spent my first three or four weeks of squatting literally just working on
my flexibility in the gym and before bed, getting really comfortable sitting in a deep frog squat
for a few seconds. Only on my fourth or so week did I actually start adding a small amount
of weight. Mobility is important for allowing your body to move the right way, and it’ll take a
little time to develop.
That’s pretty true of training in general. There’s a little bit of foundational work that goes in
to understanding the movement of each exercise to get tension through the right angles, but
taking a few easy weeks up front is honestly so worth it!
Building your confidence at the gym:
If you feel uncomfortable at all being in a gym, just remember that you’re there to do such an
amazing thing for yourself and that every single person – from Usain Bolt to Serena Williams
– was a complete beginner at one point and made so many mistakes along the way! I still
make them all the time and it’s not rare to have a gym full of people see me slap the
resistance bands back into my own face by accident, but that just means I’m trying! As long
as you’re being careful to keep yourself safe, there’s honestly absolutely nothing at all to
worry about! ❤
It’s amazing that you’ve started and I’m so excited for everything ahead of you!
39
Injuries
If you suspect you have any kind of injury, I always recommend seeing a qualified
practitioner before anything else. Even if it’s a small niggle, don’t worry about taking some
time to recover and continue with this programme when your body is ready so that you can
keep the sessions intense as intended 🔥
I’ve pushed myself through workouts with small injuries out of fear that I’ll lose my progress,
and the setback of having a worse injury has always been bigger than if I’d slowed down for
a moment to let my body recover.
If you’d like to stay active through your injury, try using machines for a while to keep your
muscles engaged while protecting yourself from further injury. Active recovery can also be
really helpful for the injury as light stretching and very light exercise can increase blood flow
to the area which can improve the rate of recovery. Again, if you want to give this a go, I’d
recommend clearing this with your doctor first.
If you have any issues with the impact of some of the plyometric exercises (e.g. jumping
squats, box jumps), a really great way to mimic this style of training is to perform similar, noimpact exercises but using speed variations to replicate the explosiveness. For example, to get
a very similar outcome to a box jump, you can try squatting with a light weight, but
performing the negative of the motion very slowly (2-5 seconds), and then exploding up and
performing the concentric (lifting) part of the exercise as quickly as you can.
40
Rest days
Rest days are just as important to overall progress as regular training days. I really
recommend being strict on having one rest day a week at least, and eating the same as usual
on these days so your body can actually do what it’s supposed to – recover. The idea is that
this day can make the other five or six way, way better if you really take advantage of it –
better than 7 average or good sessions. I personally do very little physically on my rest days,
and try to focus on enjoying the other things that make me happy like spending more time
with family and friends because the complete mental break really helps too (:
I’ve built in a day of active recovery (Day 4) but if you prefer to take it off as a rest day
then please do! I personally take 2 days rest a week because that works around my schedule
and if I tried to do more, I think I’d struggle to juggle everything going on!
41
Once you’ve finished
The first thing I’d say is it may be helpful to avoid being in a net energy deficit (eating less
than your body needs for maintenance) for too long. 10 weeks is already a sustained period
of deficit, but if you want to continue for a little longer just stay mindful of the signs of being
overtired, depressed, constantly low energy etc.
Another option is to move onto the long-term approach to fat-loss discussed earlier. You
could even include Days 2, 3 & 5 in this programme as part of your new programme 😊
Build your own workout plan:
If you’re not interested in the long term fat loss approach that I talk about here, but you’d
still just like to stay active then you could consider my other guide Move. to improve
functionality, strength and athleticism or create your own programme. Below is my approach
to building one that gives you whatever results you are after:
1. Define the goals you’re working towards: whether it’s strength, explosiveness,
muscle building, calisthenics, fat loss or whatever you’d like - even if it’s a mix
2. Identify which workout styles work best for the goals you’ve set: most workout
styles will be useful for making progress across a number of goals, but will generally be
best for a particular target
•
e.g.1: hypertrophy training for muscle building to shape your body and increasing
your metabolism to make you leaner in a sustainable way
•
e.g.2: plyometric for improving speed and explosiveness and reducing fat on a
relatively efficient but more short-term basis
42
Once you’ve finished
3. Design your workout split: firstly, split your muscle groups or training style across
days to best serve your goal. After a rest day, I like to put my most intense and
important session for whatever my goal is. Another tip is to try to leave 48 hours
between muscle building sessions, so you can help recovery and be primed for those
workouts.
In terms of overall volume, from experience and from working with successful athletes,
4 intense sessions is the maximum to shoot for. Trying to go beyond this runs a high
risk of lowering the intensity of all sessions - 3/4 high quality sessions (with another
couple of lighter ones if you like) beats 7 average ones!
Making the workout split sustainable by building it around your lifestyle was a big
lesson for me. I realised that the physical goals I was chasing will take time to achieve,
and I can only keep going for long enough if I make my workout splits fit in with else.
For example, if you have two particularly busy days where you just can’t workout, don’t
worry about it. Feel free to take the two full days as rest and bear that in mind with the
other five days, rather than trying to force fit a programme into your life.
4. Creating your individual workout: this will take trial and error, and will also be
massively influenced by what your goals are, but there are a few key tips I really believe
in which have helped me across all the workout styles I’ve tried:
• Within a workout, start with the exercise that is the most important to driving
towards your goal. Generally, this will be the most difficult move, and is usually
compound, but it may not be. After, try to keep key moves quite early into the
workout as a general rule of thumb.
43
Once you’ve finished
•
Swap between muscles / muscle groups every 1 – 2 exercises to avoid burnout,
unless you’re training in a style where that is the goal like hypertrophy. You’ll see in
this guide, on upper body days, I try to move from ‘pull movements’ to ‘push
movements’ a couple of times through the workouts generally (some days, not doing
this is intentional for other reasons).
•
Including 1 – 2 exercises each workout which are slightly less intense, maybe because
they use smaller muscle groups or because they are more skill based, can be really
helpful for getting the most out of your intense exercises. You can mix these in,
maybe ahead of a difficult plyometric or compound move, to give you 3 – 5 minutes
to recuperate and moderate your heart rate before you really push yourself again.
•
Generally, in terms of the overall structure of the workouts, I personally think that
40 – 75 minutes is the window for training duration for the styles of training
incorporated here. That will definitely be person dependent, so this is just from my
experience. The rest periods I mention above in ‘How to Use this Guide’ are those
that I’d recommend generally, but again feel free to adapt to whatever makes you feel
ready to go while really challenging you.
•
Lastly, mixing up the number of exercises across your workouts can also be a helpful
tool. Some days, I’ll spend almost the entire session really focussing on squats or
other foundational moves. Other days, I’ll pack in a massive number of different
exercises and just keep working through them all.
44
Once you’ve finished
5. Set yourself up to enjoy your training: this isn’t really the same type of tactic as
the other four, but it might be the most important one on the list. I’ve trained for a
whole number of reasons over the last few years, and I really have learnt that nothing
is more important than finding and listening to what you’re in love with doing.
I honestly believe it’s the absolute key to feeling happy and healthy overall, which is
the best goal I could ever try to workout for. And the funny thing about just listening
to what I wanted to do, even if it meant weird workouts with five different training
styles included, was that it made my performance probably the best it’s ever been.
Exercising with love and because you’re excited to shape or teach yourself really will
make all the difference.
45
And that’s it!! Thanks again for buying this guide, I really hope you find this
training guide helpful and feel free to tag me in your training photos! I’d love to
see your progress over time!!
natacha.oceane
Natacha Océane
46