THE NATURAL COMPETITOR

Q: Brian, I’m 39, trained with weights for sports in high school and later joined a gym for a couple of years. I’ve got a family and job but I try to play softball once a week during the summer and jog whenever I get motivated. Now, I’m approaching 40 and I want to get back in shape again. I’d describe myself as "muscularly average +", about ten pounds overweight with some remaining muscle.  What should I do?

A: Tom, It doesn’t matter if you are a bodybuilder, powerlifter, collegiate or professional athlete, or like most people, just a “family guy with a job who plays softball occasionally, runs if you feel up to it, and needs to drop 10 lbs of fat and maybe put on a few lbs of muscle”—my answer is going to be pretty much the same.  There are two keys to achieving fat loss and muscle gain.

1.      Eat an absolute minimum of 4, and preferably 6 or even 7 good, clean meals every day.

2.      Train on a consistent schedule whether at the gym or home. Set a time and train – no excuses.    

I. COMPETITORS DON’T MISS MEALS.

1. The first thing you’ll need is a grocery list (email me at bwief@fuse.net and I will send you the grocery list that I share with my clients).  Being prepared starts with having the right foods to prepare. Get rid of the junk in your kitchen, and replace it with the foods on the list.
2. Next, get a shaker cup.  One I really like is called the Blender Bottle®.  You can order them online, or get them at your local GNC or Whole Foods. I’ve been pondering carrying them on my website, so check out www.wiefit.com to see if I have them by the time this article is released.  And, get three of them while you’re at it, one each for your gym bag, office, and home. 
3. Pick a few hours one day a week and prepare your foods.  Make all of your meat, brown rice, sweet potato’s etc.  Make as much as you can store for a week so that you can just heat them up when you are ready to eat.  If you want to make things even easier, get Glad containers and store each meal in its own container. For example, put 8 ounces of marinated chicken breast, 3/4ths cup of cooked brown rice, and ¼ cup of almonds in the container.  When it’s meal time, just pop it in the microwave for a minute or two, and presto!
4. Be prepared for an emergency meal when you least expect it.  If you open the center console in my car, you’ll find a few bags of beef jerky, a container of almonds, a piece of fruit, etc.  And under my seat, you’ll find a clean shaker cup, bottled water, and a jug of UMP.  There’s is no excuse to miss a meal.  Always be prepared.  It really doesn’t take much time—just set aside a few hours once a week.
5. Save money and time.  Let’s face it.  Eating healthy isn’t cheap.  So, I’m going to show you how you can make it a lot less expensive.  First, you’ve got to come to grips with the fact that 5-7 smaller meals a day is non negotiable if you want to lose your fat and increase muscle.  There are no “ifs, ands, or buts” about it.  This is just the way our bodies have been designed to lose fat and gain muscle. Now that we agree on this, lets also agree that it’s very time consuming and expensive to prepare and eat 6 whole food meals each day.  That’s where Beverly’s UMP, Muscle Provider, and/or Mass Maker come in. 

What if I could tell you that three of your six meals will take less than one minute to prepare, less than one minute to eat (drink), and only a few dollars…Well, things just got better, didn’t they?!   With this being said Tom, you have got to get this into your head, “BEVERLY’S PROTEINS ARE NOT AN EXTRA THAT YOU CAN DO WITHOUT; THEY ARE PART OF YOUR GROCERY BILL—PERIOD”.  They’ll save you money and time, and there’s not much better than saving money or time (except hitting a most muscular on stage!!).  In fact, with this struggling economy, if you want to get into shape and save money, then you should be stocking up on Beverly Proteins—it’s about as inexpensive high quality meal as you will find! 

6. Invest in other supplements besides your proteins.  Tom, do you want to get there faster?  Do you want to look your best?  Do you want to actually enjoy working out—I mean enjoy it to the point of loving it?!  If so, you’ll want to add these Beverly supplements pre workout. Take two 7-KetoMusclean, 2 scoops of UP-LIFT, 1 scoop of Creatine Select plus Phosphates, and 1 scoop of Glutamine Select plus BCAAs 20 minutes prior to your workout. 

Tom, we can all find ways to cut back.  Again, these are the things that competitors do that a large amount of my “average Joe” clients have decided to do as well. That’s why these average Joe’s have achieved incredible results.

II. COMPETITORS DON’T MISS WORKOUTS

1.      Train at least three days a week.  Remember, consistency is key.  Four days a week is best for me, but I tell my clients to let three be the minimum, and five be the maximum.  Yes, there is a maximum. 

2.      Use a variety of exercises and set and rep schemes.   Tom, have your ever seen those guys in the gym who go straight to the barbell bench press, then to dumbbell curls—workout after workout.  Have you noticed that their physiques never change?  Well, that’s because their bodies have adapted to the same workout day in and day out.  I know what I’m about to say sounds a little crazy; and maybe I’m on the extreme side of this, but I love to be sore.  I love to know that I’ve broken down muscle tissue to its fullest (so I can feed it more proteins for growth!).  I rarely do the same workout twice.  For example, whatever I do today for shoulders, I’ll do something different next shoulder day. It may be different exercises or a different set or rep scheme, or both.

3.      Make sure you take your supplements in a timely manner.  Tom, if you are going to take the time out of your day to drive to the gym, workout, and drive back home, then let’s make sure you are getting the most out of it.  I want to make sure that my energy levels are at their highest. That’s why I take a scoop or two of UP-LIFT and two 7-Keto MuscLEAN before hand.  Let’s make sure your strength levels are at their highest.  That’s why I take my Creatine Select.  Let’s make sure we are feeding our muscles the necessary amino acids to keep from burning our muscle up for energy. That’s why I take Glutamine Select plus BCAAs, along with Mass or Density.  And let’s not lift on “empty”.  So that’s why I drink my pre workout shake of Muscle Provider about 30-45 minutes prior to my workout.

Tom, along with a diet template, I’ve attached a four day workout template, too.

In conclusion, I hope that I’ve helped you, and not overwhelmed you.  Just reread this guideline a few times and remember to do your absolute best in sticking to this regime for 60 days.  In doing so, it will become habit; you will love the results; and it will then become a part of your life!

Nutrition and Supplement Template for Tom who is 39 years of age, wants to regain muscle while at the same time losing fat.

SUPPLEMENTS

Ultimate Muscle Protein - Use as specified in diet below

Muscle Provider - Use for pre and post workout only

Up-Lift, Glutamine Select and Creatine Select 

- Mix one scoop of each together with 16 ounces of water, and drink at least 30 minutes prior to your workout. (Sometimes I use 2 scoops of Up-Lift here.)

- Mix one scoop of each together with 16 ounces of water, and drink during your workout.

- On non-workout days only, drink one scoop of Creatine Select in the morning and one scoop of Glutamine Select before bed

7-Keto MuscLEAN - take 2 in am and two around 2pm

Ultra 40’s & Mass 500: Take 4 BETWEEN each meal for consistent anabolic status.

MEAL PLAN

WORKOUT PROGRAM TEMPLATE

Day 1: Chest and Back

Day 2: Legs

Day 3: Shoulders and Traps

Day 4: Bi’s and Tri’s

-- Do abs twice a week with any of the above workouts

-- Do Cardio for 25 minutes (HIIT TRAINING) two or three days a week after weights or on off days.  HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training.  I want you to do a 3-4 minute warm-up, then a pace of 80-90% effort for 30 seconds, 50% effort for 1 minute, 90% for 30 seconds, 50% for 1 minute…continue for the rest of the 25 minutes.

CHEST & BACK

Pick 3 exercises each for back and chest.  Do 5 sets of 8 (with two warm-up sets), or 4 sets of 10, or a pyramid set of 5 x 12, 10, 8, 10, 12 for each exercise.  Don’t do the same exercise the following week.  Choose three different exercises for each part the following week.

LEGS

Choose 2 exercises for quads and 2 exercises for hamstrings. Do 4 sets of 15 reps each exercise, or 3 sets of 20 reps each exercise (make sure you do one or two warm up sets also).

1 exercise for calves. Do 5 sets of 20, or 4 sets of 30, or 3 sets of 40-and rotate the exercise each calf workout. Note: ignore the burn and work through it.

SHOULDER AND TRAPS

a. Shoulder Press Movements -- Pick one press movement do 5 x 10, or 4 x 12 reps or a pyramid set of 5 x 12, 10, 8, 10, 12 for each exercise (always do a warm-up set).

b. Shoulder Raises -- Do one exercise for sides, one for front, and one for rear each workout.  Do 3 sets of 12 each exercise.

c. Traps -- Choose one exercise and perform 5 sets of 12 reps or 4 sets of 15 reps.

BICEPS AND TRICEPS

Choose 2 exercises for tri’s and 2 exercises for bi’s each workout. Do 4 sets of 10 (with one warm-up set), or 5 sets of 12 each exercise.  Don’t do the same exercises the following week, choose two different ones.

ABS

Choose 2 exercises for 5 sets of 15 reps, or 4 sets of 25 reps, or 3 sets of 50 reps.

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