By: Brian Wiefering, www.wiefit.com
No Nonsense Magazine Volume 15 # issue 3
After January, August/September is our next busiest season here at WieFit.
January is obvious, too much holiday partying. But summer, with picnics, vacations,
reunions, ball games, boating trips, too many brewskies, potato chips, and
whatever else you could get your hands on while soaking up the rays, can be
just as bad on your physique. Here’s the typical scenario.
August arrives. You finally get around to downloading your pictures to your computer. You see what appears to be you—but only inflated! Oh, you know what I’m talking about—your face looks like someone took a bicycle pump, put it in your ear, and gave it a good 15 pumps. The cuts you had are now hiding under an extra layer of fat and bloat from all the junk foods you’ve devoured.
SUNDAY NIGHT, August 8. You had another blast this weekend. But now all you can think of is “I need to start my diet tomorrow and get to the gym—I am a slug”. Even worse, you have that end of the summer reunion coming up at the end of the month. That means you’ll be wearing swimming trunks (a year hasn’t gone past yet where everyone wasn’t thrown in the pool) in front of people you haven’t seen in years…—you are desperate. I know; I’ve been there too. So, I am going to outline a plan to get you back in shape--FAST!
Your first instinct is probably to cut way back on your food intake. DON’T! That’s a mistake 90% of us make. And it gets us nowhere. You might last a week on that plan, but then you’ll breakdown into a ravaging beast bingeing on anything and everything you can find. Don’t set yourself up for failure.
Here’s what I want you to do instead. I want you to follow a well thought out Carb Cycling plan. You’ll start by reducing calories and complex carbs for 4 days to kick start your fat loss and lose some water weight. It won’t be too low though. You don’t want to go too low for too long or you’ll end up in a catabolic state (losing muscle instead of fat). That’s where the cycling comes in. You’ll go 4 days low, but after those 4 days we will add a planned amount of additional calories. This is not cheating, it’s part of the plan to refuel your muscles with glycogen, to give you the energy you need, and spark your metabolism. Then the plan repeats, 4 days low, 2 days high until your event.
| Bench Press | 5 x 20 reps | Incline Dumbbell Press | 4 x 15 reps |
| Cable Flyes | 3 x 20 reps |
| Push Ups with hands wide | 3 x failure |
| Wide Grip Pull Downs | 5 x 20 reps |
| Close Grip Pull Downs | 4 x 15 reps |
| Seated Rows | 4 x 30 reps |
| Day 2: Legs | |
| Leg Extensions | 7 x 15 reps |
| Sissy Squats | 7 x 15 reps | Leg Curl | 7 x 20 reps |
| Standing Calves | 6 x 50 reps |
| Day 3: Off (Abs at home) | |
| Day 4: Shoulders and Traps | |
| Shoulder Press Machine | 5 x 20 reps |
| Side Cable Lateral Raises | 3 x 25 reps each arm |
| Front Dumbbell Raises | 4 x 15 reps |
| Dumbbell Shrugs | 5 x 50 reps |
| Day 5: Biceps & Triceps | |
| Barbell Curls | 1 x 10 close grip, 1 x 10 medium grip, 1 x 20 wide grip (No rest in between each set—do this tri set three times with 5 minutes rest between the full tri-set.) |
| Dumbbell Curls | 1 x 20, 1 x 15, 1 x 10, 1 x 15, 1 x 20(Increase weight for the first three sets, and then decrease for the last two sets. No rest between the five sets. Do this 5-set twice, with 5 minutes rest after the first 5 sets.) |
| Pushdowns with V-bar | 5 x 20 reps |
| Seated Dips | 10 x 20 reps (Or until failure on each set if you can’t get 20.) |
| Day 6 and 7: Off |
| Day 1: Chest & Calves | |
| Flat Dumbbell Press | 5 x 5 reps |
| Decline Barbell Press | 4 x 8 reps |
| Dumbbell Flyes | 4 x 8 reps |
| Seated Calves | 5 x 20 reps |
| (Go heavy and get someone to assist you on last 5 of each set.) | |
| Day 2: Back | |
| T-bar Rows | 5 x 8 reps |
| Barbell Rows | 4 x 8 reps |
| One Arm Dumbbell Rows | 3 x 10 reps |
| Deadlifts | 5 x 8 reps |
| Day 3: Off | |
| Day 4: Shoulders & Traps | |
| Front Military Press | 5 x 8 reps |
| Side Lateral Dumbbell Raises | 5 x 10 reps |
| (Go heavy on last few sets and get spotter to help you complete the last couple of reps.) | |
| Standing Push Press | 5 x 8 reps |
| (Use legs to help get the weight up on last few reps.) | |
| Barbell Upright Rows | 5 x 8 reps |
| Barbell Shrugs | 6 x 10 reps |
| (Squeeze hard at the top for 5 second count on each rep.) | |
| Day 5: Quads & Hamstrings | |
| Squats | 5 x 6 reps |
| Leg Press | 5 x 12 reps |
| Leg Extension | 3 x 10 reps (heavy) |
| Straight Legged Deadlifts | 5 x 10 reps |
| Standing Leg Curl | 5 x 10 reps each leg |
| Day 6: Bi’s & Tri’s | |
| Standing Barbell Curl | 5 x 10 reps |
| Preacher EZ Bar Curl | 4 x 8 reps |
| Dumbbell Hammer Curls | 4 x 12 reps |
| Skull Crushers | 4 x 10 reps |
| Close Grip Bench Press | 4 x 8 reps |
| Weighted Dips | 3 x 10 reps |
| (Use enough weight if needed where you can only get 10.) | |
Day 7: Off
Ok, now you have a plan—THE PLAN! Stick to it and in as little time as two weeks, you can QUICKLY reclaim your physique (and maybe even better!). Finish the summer lean! Get it back—it’s yours!
