To help get you started I will post a sample routine based on the 3 day split I mentioned above:-
Monday (Chest/Shoulder/Triceps)
Flat Bench Press – 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3x8
Skull Crushers – 3x8 (similar to lying tricep extensions)
Close Grip Bench Press – 3x8
Seated Dumbbell Military Press -3x8
Lateral Dumbbell Raises – 3x8
Wednesday (Back/Biceps)
Dead lifts – 3x8
Bent over one arm Dumbbell rows – 3x8
Chin Ups 3x8 (Or Lat pull downs if you can’t do chins yet)
Barbell Bicep Curl -3x8
One arm Dumbbell hammer Curls – 3x8
Friday (Legs/Abs)
Barbell Squats – 3x8
Dumbbell Lunges – 3x8
Calf Raises-4x10
Abdominal workout (Crunches, leg raises, whatever)
This is just to give you a rough idea. Many people will find that Monday would hit their triceps too much on this routine due to all the pressing movements. If that is the case then by all means switch your split around. As I said before a lot of people like to do Chest and Biceps together for this very reason. If however you are like me and find that you need to hit your triceps pretty hard in order to induce growth then this sort of routine would be good for you. As you can see this sample routine is heavily based around a 3x8 plan. I definitely think this set/rep range is best for beginners.
Remember your leg workout will also work your core out pretty well if you are squatting heavy. Many people find there is no need to do any further ab work. By all means throw in some crunches or whatever you like on that day.
No routine is perfect for everyone so you have to workout your own based on how your body is responding and of course based on what your daily schedule allows.
Part 4: Cutting (Losing Fat)
So there you are. You’ve been training hard, eating like a pig and it shows! You have added say 4 inches to your chest, maybe 2 inches to your arms and you now have legs like tree trunks! The only problem now is your stomach is protruding at an alarming rate. You have a layer of fat covering your perhaps once visible abs, maybe you are even looking a little chubby around the face.
Well do not fret; this section will give you some invaluable advice about losing the extra body fat you have accumulated whilst bulking. In fact this section should be of use to anyone wishing to lose fat, not just bodybuilders. To most bodybuilders and certainly all competing ones, gaining muscle is only half the equation. The other half is losing fat. More precisely losing fat while still maintaining as much of the recently gained muscle as possible.
The difficult thing about writing about dieting is that there are so many different diets out there. I can’t promise to cover them all but I can give you some good advice and recommendations based on my own experience combined with my lovely girlfriends’ nutritional knowledge. (She is a nutritionist)
Ok so here goes… If you remember in Part 2 of this guide I explained how to add muscle you needed to eat more calories than you burned up each and every day. Well for losing fat the opposite is true. You must consume less calories than you burn up each day. It’s common sense really.
One of the biggest mistakes commonly made by those wishing to lose fat is cutting calories too much. Or even starving themselves throughout part of the day. Without getting too scientific, when you eat too little your bodies metabolism slows down. When your metabolism slows less calories are burned just by simply being alive. This obviously is detrimental to fat loss. Not only will your metabolism slow down but your body will begin to feed off your muscle tissue. You will of course lose some fat if you cut calories drastically but you will hit a brick wall very quickly. Due to your metabolism slowing down you will probably find it incredibly difficult to get rid of the last layer of fat surrounding your abs.
If you have starved yourself down to your desired weight and then begin to eat normally again you will suddenly find that all that fat comes back. The reason for this is that your metabolism takes some time to adjust. After a period of starvation it will be incredibly slow. Therefore as you begin to eat normally again you will be consuming more calories than you actually burn up in a day until your metabolism finally speeds up to its normal rate.
Quite simply… If you want a six pack, do not under any circumstances cut your calories too much.
Contrary to popular belief, recent studies have proved that obese people actually have the fastest metabolisms of all. Not the skinny kids who constantly go on about how fast their metabolism is. The reason for this is that they eat a lot of food regularly; therefore their metabolism is constantly active and speeds up.
The speed of ones metabolism is not determined genetically. It changes speed depending on your eating habits. There are of course exceptions but for the most part this is true. Everyone has the potential for a fast metabolism. So if you are overweight you can no longer use the excuse “Oh but I just have such a slow metabolism.”
It’s complete rubbish.
Lets move on to some basic guidelines that should be followed whatever type of diet you decide to partake in:-
1. Eat regularly. Just as in the bulking phase, eat 5-6 meals a day to keep your metabolism high.
2. To get a good starting daily calorie figure for cutting multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 12-13. Adjust if need be after a couple of weeks. If you are a bodybuilder concerned about keeping your hard earned muscle then make sure you are not losing more than 2lb per week. If that is the case then you are likely losing quite a bit of muscle as well as the fat.
3. Don’t drop your calories over night. Remember it is extremely important to keep your metabolism as high as possible when entering a calorie deficit. Therefore it is best to drop your calories gradually. Once you find yourself losing fat keep your calories at that level.
4. Some form of cardio will aid your fat loss. Particularly if it is done on an empty stomach in the morning before breakfast. Research shows that fat loss from exercise done in this period will be increased by more than 35%. Personally I am an advocate of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) type cardio for this. HIIT will cause fat to be burned for longer after the exercise is performed than regular cardio. Also it takes far less time to do and is arguably better for keeping muscle mass than regular cardio. Professionals used to recommend the typical low intensity, long duration cardio for fat burning. Recent research however has shown high intensity, short duration training to be superior. Particularly if you are aiming to keep as much muscle as possible. Take a look at the worlds top sprinters compared to the worlds top long distance runners. The sprinters are heavily muscled yet still very lean, while the long distance runners are all incredibly skinny.
5. Don’t just think about what you are eating, but what you are drinking also. Remember having 6 cups of coffee a day with 2 sugars in each cup is going to seriously mess up any diet you have. If you can’t go without that sugar in your tea/coffee then at least plan it in to your diet or better yet switch to sweeteners. The same goes for Alcohol. It is extremely calorific and full of carbs. And not complex good carbs either. Drink plenty of water and save alcohol for the odd celebratory occasion.
Now let’s discuss some of the different approaches to dieting. There are many types of diets available to you. On a standard cutting diet you should take your bulking diet and lower the overall Carbohydrates until you reach the correct calorie intake for your weight. Bodybuilders should keep their protein intake as high as while they were bulking (Some might even want to up it slightly) and continue to workout as normal. Obviously during this cutting period some strength will likely be lost. Adjust your weights as necessary.
Something else you may want to do is cut your carbs out in the evenings and get your whole daily carb requirements during the day. This is by no means neccessary but it can be beneficial to a lot of people.
This is one approach to fat loss and as long as you are eating under your daily requirements for calories you will lose fat.
Another good approach is a diet based around the principles of Ketosis. The most famous of these diets being the “Atkins” diet. Despite its over-hyped media coverage and the subsequent bad press it has received, it is actually a very safe and efficient way of losing fat. All recent research done into such diets has proved to be very positive. Atkins did not invent the Ketone diet. Bodybuilders have been using it for decades. He just brought it to the publics’ attention.
On a ketosis diet the idea is to cut carbohydrates drastically. To counter this one must up their protein and fat intake in order to make up their calories. Having a diet high in protein and fat will actually suppress your appetite which can be highly beneficial. I won’t go into the science behind ketosis diets as you can easily find out more just by searching on Google for them.
If you take this carb-cutting approach your body will soon enter ketosis and you will lose fat at an extremely fast rate. This type of diet is incredibly efficient and despite what people may tell you is actually quite safe. Remember however that ketosis diets are designed for fat loss and generally not for maintenance. Once you have reached your target weight or body fat percentage you should begin to reintroduce carbohydrates in order to healthily maintain your current weight.
While using a Ketosis diet for fat loss is fine, for general healthy eating it is not advisable. Once you have lost your fat you should go back to eating a healthy balanced diet consisting of the correct ratios of Protein/Carbs/Fats.
My personal favourite diet for cutting is the CKD diet. Information can be found here:-
http://www.c-k-d.com/
This diet is a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet. What that means is that you are putting your body into ketosis for a period of time and then “Carbing” up to replenish glycogen stores and keep your metabolism from dropping too much. To summarise, on this type of diet you cut carbs during the week and then eat plenty of carbs and more calories at the weekend.
Ketosis diets are not for everyone, but if you stick to them properly you will lose fat very quickly.
Now that you have lost your excess fat... Go ahead and start bulking again!
And so concludes my beginners guide to bodybuilding/fat loss. I may not have covered everything here but at the very least it should give you some good starting points. I haven’t delved into the world of supplementation as I really feel this guide has gotten long enough. Before I leave you I will just make a couple of points regarding them.
Supplements are called supplements for a reason. Do not rely on them. Food is the most important thing to be consuming. All these “grow muscles fast” products are a waste of money. Although some people swear by Creatine and Glutamine I personally don’t use them. I have tried them in the past and found no noticeable difference other than Creatine made me retain far more water than I would have liked. Whey protein however is very useful as a Post Workout shake to quickly fill your body with nutrients. Don’t make it your main protein source however. Real food is far better. Save your money and buy a few extra steaks per week.
GOOD LUCK!
