Getting your body in tip top shape can’t be done overnight but it can be done quickly. The solution is to combine a few tactics that work synergistically to help you get there. The other thing that is absolutely necessary is avoiding all of the detrimental things that will get in the way. If you want results and you want them fast, there is simply no room to screw around. The good thing is that if you follow the ten tips below most everything will take care of itself. Fit these rules into your current routine and get ready to see your body catapult to the next level!
1. Try Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is one of the easiest ways to consistently burn body fat without having to make any other changes. It can be done every day or periodically and still yield some awesome results. Essentially, this strategy helps to stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels, thereby maximizing the bodies production of fat burning hormones. Learn more about how to skip a few meals to burn fat or build muscle here.
2. Try a One Day Fast
This strategy is a little trickier than number one but it works. The reason it can be tough is that it involves eating nothing for the entire day. Typically, the best day to do a fast for the entire day is once per week after a day of heavy eating. So, for instance, if you eat a lot of calories on Saturdays, then Sunday can be a smart day to fast. The logic behind this approach is similar to intermittent fasting but there’s another reason it works: fasting after “feasting” allows your body to burn body fat more efficiently since your leptin levels rise and help your body maintain a faster metabolism.
3. Try to Eat your Carbs after Your Workouts
This is a simple tip that is easy to follow and makes a HUGE impact on how your body looks. The idea here is that your body will more efficiently utilize carbohydrates when you consume them right after working out, versus any other time throughout the day. Some people would argue that eating carbs before your workout is the way to go but I would emphasize that you don’t need to eat much in the way of carbohydrate before working out if you want to target body fat. Eating too many carbs before workouts shifts your body from fat metabolism to carb metabolism so your body will burn the carbs before tapping into stored fat mass. Take home point: save your high carb meals for after your workouts.
4. Limit your Overall Carb Intake
One of the easiest ways to get your body lean fast is to get your system to burn fat instead of carbohydrates for fuel. And the best way to do this? Limit your carb intake. Doing this almost always yields great results for most individuals. For some people, their main problem is simply consuming too many carbs. Most people will see results from dropping their carbohydrate intake to between 50 and 100g per day.
5. Keep your Protein Intake High (but not too high)
Focusing on keeping your protein intake high has several key benefits in regard to burning body fat. First of all, it helps with satiety so you stay more full and are less likely to load up on carbs. It is also a key component in muscle growth and maintenance, so it helps the body improve metabolic functioning. One thing that people may not realize is that while high protein consumption is good, taking in too much can sometimes get in the way of losing weight or burning body fat. Gluconeogenesis – the process by which the body creates glycogen from protein – can sometimes contribute to fat storage. Bottomline: most active people can get the benefits of protein by consuming up to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
6. Only So Much Sodium
Sodium is an important compound needed during exercise and it’s often given a bad wrap. The thing is, we do need sodium but – like anything else – too much can be bad. The main problem with sodium is not that it limits fat burning directly but that it can cause water retention in tissues. This results in a “puffy” look and can get in the way of dropping body weight. The key here is to avoid overly salty foods, processed options, and most all fast food type meals. The other indirect way that reducing sodium intake causes you to burn more fat is that to do so you reduce your intake of foods that are typically also very carb and fat laden.
7. Wash it Down with Water
Believe it or not, drinking more water will help your body burn more body fat. There are a few reasons. First of all, drinking more water helps with satiety so it sometimes helps people eat less. Water also helps saturate tissues so it can help with the muscle building process, which ultimately will boost your metabolism. Finally, drinking lots of water quenches your thirst so you’ll be less likely to fill up on other, more calorie dense liquids such as soda, alcohol, juices, or sports drinks.
8. Limit your Alcohol Intake
Alcohol is often viewed as a diuretic – and it is – but it’s still laden with calories that contribute to weight gain. Although a few drinks a week may ultimately be beneficial to health, drinking more often just adds calories to your daily total. The problem is that instead of decreasing carb and fat intake while drinking (which is what I’ve mentioned in the article how to drink and lose weight) most people eat their normal diet and end up adding a bunch of calories and at the end of day in the form of alcohol.
9. Add ALA
Alpha Lipoic Acid, also known as ALA for short is a an antioxidant that is made by the body natural but can be taken in supplement form as well. Studies (and anecdotal reports) have shown promise with ALA for the treatment of complications from diabetes and other metabolic disorders. The key behind ALA’s effectiveness is it’s ability to help the body manage blood sugar. ALA is essentially what’s known as an insulin mimetic. This means that it mimics insulin in the body and can assist the body in lowering blood sugar after meals. The other incredible thing that alpha lipoic acid has been shown to do is make the body more likely to store carbohydrates as muscle glycogen or in the liver as opposed to body fat. This gives the muscles more energy and makes the body more resistant to creating new fat cells when consuming excess carbs. The dosages vary but people have recommended intakes as low as 50mg and as high as 1200mg per day depending on your goal. I have personally seen good results in the form of improved body composition from consuming 600-900 grams per day with meals.
10. Count on CLA
Conjugated linulaeic acid or CLA is a relatively newly discovered “good” fat that helps the body with fat metabolism. Not only does CLA help with fat burning but it also has been shown to possibly assist with muscle building and even preventing cancer. The amazing thing about CLA is that it seems to preferentially target body fat in the abdominal region. Click here to get more info on the benefits of this powerful antioxidant.
For more tips on how to get ripped stay tuned for Volume 2!
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Losing weight without exercise can be done. Most of the time exercise will help and is often absolutely necessary. By the same token there are a few approaches that can be followed in order to achieve amazing weight loss or body transformations with little to no exercise. With a few of these strategies exercise can even be counterproductive – especially for certain periods of time.
Exercise is to weight loss what milk is to cereal. Not that I eat much cereal or anything but I think the analogy is pretty damn accurate. Cereal, of course, can be eaten without milk. Sometimes it works. But it’s just not the same in it’s non dairy-infused form. The relationship between exercise and weight loss is similar. You can have one without the other, but the results will not always be optimal.
With that said, there are times where not exercising is ok if you’re trying to lose weight, burn fat, build muscle or just “tone” up your body. In fact, there are actually a few situations where not exercising (but focusing solely on other methods) is not only unnecessary but also undesirable.
Now, many people think this is great news. NO exercise? Really? Well, it’s not quite that simple. Let me explain.
Most people fall into one of two categories. They either want to get great results from not working out and will do almost anything to get there if it means they don’t have to exercise OR they want to get great results and are willing to work out a little if it means they can get their body into awesome shape.
And of course there are people who fall somewhere in the middle and just want to have balance and are willing to make sacrifices to reach their goals.
Another factor that comes into play is how fit someone is to begin with and how far away they are from their ultimate goals. But really, this whole not exercising business can apply to anyone. That’s the point I would like to make here. It works for most and actually is especially effective if you are just starting off and trying to “get the ball rolling” OR are already well on your way and just need to shave off those last few inches of body fat. So, ultimately, regardless of where someone is in relation to their long term goal, not exercising to lose weight, burn fat, build muscle or just look plain sexy can be an awesome strategy.
But we’re not really just talking about one strategy here. Sure, like I said, it’s a great – albeit contrarian – approach. The real question is what does it entail? There are a few different options that you can use to reach your goals without exercise and they all have different benefits and different applications.
The one common thread? They all involve modifying what you eat or how you eat…
Dieting Strategies for your BEST Body
As I alluded to above, there are many different solid approaches that you can use to change your body without exercise. I like using about four or five main strategies in sequence, one after the other regardless of the client’s starting point. They all involve slowly changing what you eat and how you eat and the idea is that they aren’t designed to be a quick fix. While they can elicit some pretty quick, pretty incredible changes, they aren’t supposed to be a magic pill for a sloppy physique. They are designed to help shift your appearance relatively quickly – but only slightly. This helps with initial motivation and adherence to the new eating styles; more improvements are eventually seen but they take a little longer and build upon one another. The ultimate goal with using the eating strategies that I’m going to outline below is to help people get into awesome shape and stay there. If the new dieting habits become just that – habits – then people tend to maintain or even improve their bodies as time goes on, especially if they introduce exercise and progress accordingly.
Change What you Eat and How you Eat It
There are four different eating styles that work together when used in sequence to elicit solid results over the long term. They can work when used independently but I find the progression from one to the next seems to favor long term progress. Here they are, in the most effective order.
1. High Protein, Low Carb, Moderate Fat Diet –
This is one of the simplest ways to lose weight. Not only is it effective but it’s very easy to follow. The idea behind eating mostly protein is that stored body fat becomes the go-to energy source for the body – instead of dietary carbs. The great thing about this tactic is that it’s very hard to overeat protein. Said another way, it’s difficult to eat so much excess protein that it gets stored as body fat. So when people cut down their carb intake to almost zero – even if they drastically increase protein – they’ll still probably lose weight. Not only does the protein rarely get stored as body fat (most of it will go towards muscle building or energy) but it also helps with satiety so people are less likely to have the same appetite for carbs that they normally would. Protein also speeds up your metabolism because it is more metabolically active than carbohydrate and, when consumed with fat, is healthier for the body. When people consume more protein, their rate of protein synthesis is increased and their blood sugar and lipid profiles are often improved as well.
How to Do It: I recommend trying a high protein low carb approach for approximately two weeks. Often I have clients who already are exercising cut down on their activity levels to try this two week diet blitz. This is because it can be difficult to drastically increase your protein intake while working out (since muscle cell turnover is so great). Whether you are or aren’t exercising, focusing on only low intensity activities during this period is the way to go. Since you will not be taking in (hardly) any carbohydrate, your muscle glycogen stores will be low and you don’t want the exercise to tap into your protein sources for energy. The key is to really cut down your carbohydrate intake drastically. Most people will see results from cutting down to 50g of carbohydrate per day, although some may even benefit from as little as 20-30g of carbs. People (myself included) have been known to lose five to ten pounds during this period – much of it body fat.
Problems with this Approach:
The problem typically comes in when people try to do this for extended periods or time or while also exercising. Eventually the body resists the low carb state and the dieter will binge on carb heavy foods only to gain the weight back. Another problem is seen when people try to exercise too much while cutting back on carbs. Their energy levels typically plummet (as can one’s mood) and binging or giving up to some degree becomes more likely.
*This is meant to be a short term tactic that sharpens your appearance and gives your motivation a jump start so that you can move on to other, longer term approaches. It’s also great for people who are in decent shape and want to look good for an upcoming event, and only have one to two weeks to do so.
2. Intermittent Fasting
This is another great nutritional strategy that normally elicits some pretty incredible results. It’s not as stringent in terms of specific rules and it can be pretty easy to follow over the long haul. It’s nice in that most people can adhere to it regardless of their lifestyle, training history, or goals and it gets most people results in even the trickiest of cases. So how do you do it? The idea is simple, only eat during specific times of the day and fast during the other periods. The easiest (and most effective) way to do this is to fast for sixteen hours and eat for eight. For instance you would start eating at ten in the morning and then stop eating at 6 in the evening. For a lot of people eating four times per day is optimal but you can eat as often or as infrequently as desired. The key is to have longer periods of the day during which you don’t eat, than you do now. This will help lower insulin, raise glucagon, increase growth hormone, and stabilize blood sugar – all of which help with both fat burning and general health.
How To Do it: Intermittent fasting is pretty easy to follow. You can refer to my other intermittent fasting article here for more info but overall the main point to remember is this: fast for sixteen hours of the day and eight for eight. Because you are fasting, you don’t have to be as strict about your food choices, but the cleaner you can eat (especially if you’re not working out) the better. You will lose weight fast if you do this correctly – most of it will be fat – and you’ll keep it off.
Problems with this Approach:
Typically the only problem with intermittent fasting for weight loss is that people can’t get used to actually fasting. Most people are so used to eating six times per day that they can’t fathom the thought of going without food. What they don’t realize is eating too often is actually bad for fat loss and muscle building because it forces insulin levels to stay chronically elevated, which sets off a whole host of problems within your body. Don’t listen to the supplement companies who tell you to eat ten times per day because they are WRONG. (refer to my some of my other articles that cite new research supporting this fact). In any case, if you can adopt intermittent fasting it’s a great strategy that you can use indefinitely. It is really a great way to lose weight and you can lose weight fast if you actually apply it consistently.
3. Carb Cycling
Carb cycling is another great tactic that people who systematically plan their diets around workouts or athletic competitions often use. It’s also great for people who are not very active at all. The whole idea behind carb cycling is to rotate or “cycle” your carbohydrate intake each day according to your activity levels. Essentially with carb cycling you want to allow yourself to take in high amounts of carbs on your more active days where you are burning more calories and can use the extra calories towards physical endeavors. Alternatively, on days where you aren’t very active you want to decrease the amount of carbs you consume because the idea is that your body doesn’t really need them and is more likely to store them as body fat.
*One other benefit of carb cycling for people who workout is that it does (yes it’s a cliché) keep your metabolism “guessing” because you are taking in varying levels of total calories from day to day.
***The important thing for everyone but especially those people who aren’t working out to realize (this does apply to everyone) is that cycling your carbs is great regardless of whether or not you are working out at all. Here’s why: there’s a hormone called leptin in your body which controls how efficiently your body burns body fat. The thing about leptin though is that it decreases when you decrease your calorie intake. So, yes, the whole idea of your metabolism slowing when your decrease your caloric intake does have a lot of truth to it. With that being the case, the they key then would be to try to keep leptin levels up – even while keeping calories lower than normal, right? That’s it. And that’s one more benefit of carb cycling, it will help with your leptin levels (which will help you burn more fat than if you kept your calories low all the time).
How to Do it: As I alluded to above, it’s all about cycling. If you aren’t working out, you don’t need many carbs period, but you can still benefit from this approach. Simply increase your carbs on days where you feel you are more active (ideally 2-3 days per week) and keep them lower on your “off” days. If you aren’t working out your probably don’t need more than 100g to 200g on your “active” days and can subsist on 50g or less on your “off” days. Some experimentation might be needed but these numbers are good estimates. Either way, the increase in carbs – even for those who aren’t active – will help keep that metabolic fire burning.
Problems with this Approach:
The only problem with this approach is being consistent over the long term. A lot of people can go low carb for a short amount of time and then “fall off the wagon” and stop trying. The good thing about carb cycling is that it doesn’t require you to cut out carbs completely (like the short term high protein approach at #1) so most people can stick to it over the long haul. It also helps people to know that they can crank up their carb intake a little bit more if they add in exercise. Good for motivation and positive reinforcement.
*For people who hate carbs and wonder if you can you eat carbs and still lose weight, check out more info here. The answer (if you haven’t realized yet) is yes.
**Macro cycling is another nutritional strategy that is similar to carb cycling but basically just goes into more depth. It is also very effective.
4. Indefinite Paleo
I call this “indefinite” paleo and it refers to just that: being able to practice a paleolithic or “paleo” approach over the long haul, without much variation. It may sound a little bit extreme, but this dieting approach, by all accounts, seems very healthy and – until proved otherwise – is a very wise approach. For those who don’t know much about the Paleo diet, it’s a pretty simple, straightforward approach that doesn’t overload users with too many restrictions. It’s basically all about eating whole, natural foods that researchers theorize would be similar to those eaten by our ancestors some thousands of years ago. Although there is some disagreement about when agriculture came about, (and, in a sense, how natural it is) the consensus is that eating anything that we could have hunted, gathered or grown, while avoiding anything man-made and processed is considered to be a Paleolithic eating style. Researchers as well as trainers, nutritionists, and some (non-ignorant) medical doctors realize that the paleo diet carries with it a host of benefits from better hormone and blood lipid profiles (including better blood glucose readings and cholesterol levels) to reduced body fat and improved immune function. The idea is that the main contributes of these health improvements are both the lack of processed ingredients (hormones, synthetic fats, and carcinogens) as well as the presence of natural ingredients that the body craves.
*One interesting point to note is that the paleo diet does not limit meat consumption. Although lean meats are recommended, it encourages the consumption of animal proteins. It is good for people to realize this because it illustrates a larger dynamic that people should be aware of. Essentially, in many cases – especially with dieting strategies – people confuse absence with presence. In this case the health benefits of the paleo diet do not arise from the absence of meat (because meat eating is encouraged) but from the presence of other natural healthy foods. A good point for the vegans out there but I’ll save that discourse for another time.
How to Do it: Pretty simple here: if it comes in a box, don’t buy it! If it contains ingredients that you can’t pronounce, don’t eat it! (well, admittedly, that’s not always true, but you get the idea). This diet requires you to exclude most wheat and starchy carb sources from your diet, so cut out the bread. Focus on consuming 20-30 percent of your calories from lean meat sources. The bulk of your diet (unless your have a high protein requirement, then ignore some of this) should come from vegetable, fruit and healthy fat sources, with more coming from the vegetable side. Limiting fruit intake can be helpful, especially if you are trying to get ultra lean and are in good shape or have a very substantial weight loss goal and are very de-conditioned.
Problems with this Approach:
There isn’t much that can faulted with the Paleo diet. The biggest issue for people is giving up all the processed goodies (crackers, cookies, dairy products) and basic wheat products. For some people, such as athletes, they might find it difficult to get enough carbohydrates from vegetables and fruits but in most cases it just means they’re not trying hard enough. The fact that calorie counting and other irritating practices are thrown out the window makes it pretty sustainable and effective overall. It’s also healthy.
How to Use these Strategies to Lose Weight Without Exercise
The truth of the matter is that any of these strategies will help just about anyone to lose weight, regardless of their starting point – or which one they choose. Ideally though, applying some degree of order to things, makes sense. As I mentioned above, starting with approach number one and going down the list is a pretty smart way to go for most people. To review, starting with the high protein diet allows you to jumpstart the weight loss/fat burning process and gain motivation by achieving quick, visible results. Intermittent fasting can be used after this and, really, indefinitely if it works for you. Carb cycling can be used next as the third strategy and it also can be used over the long term but ( and this was not mentioned above) it can actually be combined with intermittent fasting for people who want to see greater gains or accelerate the rate of lipolysis (fat burning). Transitioning from this to the Paleo diet and sticking with a paleo approach or modified paleo is often very effective for most people. Paleo is probably the easiest of the group in terms of long term compliance but I often encourage clients to alternate from one style to the next because increasing the variety helps with adherence as well as long term progress.
Try them out and see how they work for you!
*You can email Andrew at info@mylifemybody for more specific nutrition questions or concerns.
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Most of us eat all the time without giving it a second thought. We snack on this or that and typically just eat when we’re hungry instead of at specific selected times. So much of our energy goes into figuring out what to eat that we often totally forget that when we eat can have just as much significance on getting the body you want. Don’t get me wrong, food choice is very important. I’m not about to tell you that you can get away with eating junk as long as you are strategic about your timing. Sorry to rain on your parade.
What I am saying though is that controlling when you eat done in conjunction with controlling what you eat will have a greater impact on your weight loss, fat burning, or muscle building efforts than focusing on either independently. The real juice here – which I’ll get into more below – is that even the folks who are very meticulous about meal timing do not see the results they could because they may be eating at the wrong times, especially if they’re just listening to what’s “trendy” in health and fitness.
With that said, I don’t think that there is actually one best time to eat period. If that were the case I’d be recommending eating one time per day, which would be pretty ludicrous for most people (although it certainly works for this guy). What I am suggesting is that there are better times during the day to eat than others. I’m not going to get nit picky about the best time to eat dinner or even the best time to eat carbs. Nor will I go into the best foods to eat after a workout or the best foods to eat to lose weight – in this post (but check the site later for those articles). Although these little tidbits are important, they don’t matter as much in the beginning when you’re just trying to lay down a basic template. Simply eating generally healthy foods at the right time is usually much more effective for people who are trying to see results than trying to eat like a monk from the get go. In the long run, dietary adherence is often more important than the type of diet itself.
Eat Earlier in the Day or Later?
Like I mentioned above, this is all about the general timing of meals as opposed to the idea that eating at one specific time each day is better than others; the main idea I want to let loose here is that eating later in the day may have some benefits over eating earlier. Specifically, eating more of your calories in the latter half of the day is better for maintaining lean tissue and burning fat. Of course, the earlier eating wasn’t a horrible approach either since – in the same study – it was shown that this more typical strategy results in more general weight loss. Since the effectiveness of later eating is contrary in some ways to popular belief, this is where letting go of that trendy mainstream fitness speak is helpful, as is switching your mindset so that you’re open to testing assumptions.
The idea behind the effectiveness of this strategy here is twofold: that eating at certain times is more beneficial in terms of long term adherence to that particular approach, (i.e. eating at night is easier to stick to then eating earlier in the day, thus the entire diet would be easier to stick to) and that eating at later times also produces more beneficial modulations in hormone levels which play a key role in lipolysis (fat burning).
The studies above as well as this study here demonstrate that eating later in the day has a positive impact on several hormones including insulin, leptin, and adiponectin which, again, have a big influence on both satiety (feeling full so you don’t wreck your diet) and your body’s overall fat burning ability. According to the research it may also lower certain inflammatory markers meaning it could be healthier overall.
Carbs don’t Sprout Horns and Grow a Tail After Six PM
It may or may not have started in ancient lore, but for as long as I can remember, a lot of the mainstream fitness advice tossed my way for a long time included in it the idea that carbs were very bad for you if consumed later in the evening. And if you think about it, it makes sense. Why? Because you’ve been horse fed this crap forever, that’s why!
Just kidding…kind of… I’ll concede that it wouldn’t have been that hard to believe. Logically it was realistic to think that eating carbs later in the day was bad when people tell you that you don’t need them since you’re less active and probably lounging on your couch. To some extent it makes sense – and still makes sense, but here’s the thing:
it’s not the eating of carbs later in the day that is bad, if they are truly “back loaded” (eaten mostly later). It’s the behaviors that most people associate with eating carbs – and food in general – later in the day that are bad. What are these “behaviors”? Easy: eating a LOT of food the rest of the day as well, among other things. Most people that binge later in the day (as opposed to those who specifically plan to eat later) have other bad habits, i.e. sedentarism, alcoholism, high caloric intake, poor food choice, high stress levels, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think carbs can be bad if consumed in excess instead of strategically at certain times to maximize fat burning or muscle building. It’s just that, as long as you are consuming less earlier in the day (of any type of calorie) there is often room for – and benefit to – consuming more later, especially if you are working out regularly.
What about Breakfast?
I thought I’d throw this little bitty in at the end here just to shell out a little more info that supports the idea of eating later in the day. To answer the above question would be to go against everything I said this post was about since I noted that I wouldn’t be talking about what you should eat, only when. But I realized that the title is perfectly fine because it forces me to reveal the fact that I rarely eat breakfast. Yep, you heard right. I don’t obsess over “breaking my fast”. If anything I fast longer and don’t eat until a few hours after waking up. And you know what? My already low body fat has gotten lower and I’ve maintained my muscle mass with this approach. My results attest to the power of intermittent fasting and how you can skip a few meals to burn fat or build muscle.
But the really cool thing is the convenience factor. If you’re like a lot of people and you’re super busy in the morning but like to eat big dinners with friends without caring about counting calories, then intermittent fasting is the way to go. The studies above, as well as tons of anecdotal experience show that it’s great for burning fat and building muscle and probably just as beneficial to your health.
So let go of some of those past assumptions. Think about your health and fitness instead of just blindly following the crowd.
For extra info on intermittent fasting you can check out fellow trainer Martin Berkhan’s site leangains.com. It’s packed with tons of info and a lot of success stories.
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Feeling good most of the time is very possible. While a lot of people will say that “life is tough” or “we’re not supposed to always be happy” I’m here to argue that feeling good consistently can be done. It just takes a little effort, specifically, shifting your awareness and adding a pinch of introspection to your daily cognitive diet.
Let’s start with a little scenario…
Think about the last time you got cut off in traffic.
How did you react?
Did you become enraged, flipping the person the bird? Did you yell and scream?
Or did you do nothing at all? Perhaps smile and wave…
Regardless of how you may have reacted in that particular situation the point I want to make is that how we respond to an unpleasant situation while driving – or while doing anything – is all a matter of how we interpret the given situation.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s true that we can all interpret the same thing differently. In dealing with the same circumstance people have wide interpretive latitude, and this is ok. The thing to keep in mind is that our perception of things has a big impact on how good we feel. If you’ve ever really thought about the phrase “perception is reality” then you catch my drift.
Now, sure, there are a lot of factors that come into play when we’re talking about your ability to control your perceptions and feel good. Your genes may play a role, creating for you a certain happiness “set point” around which you typically sit. There are also lifestyle components that can influence whether or not you feel good about yourself and enjoy each moment in life.
And things that make you feel good aren’t all good themselves, especially the things that give you a temporary sense of satisfaction like drugs or unhealthy foods, which can sometimes have negative consequences and provide only a temporary high. On the other hand having a healthy diet and exercising regularly are “natural drugs” that help you feel good in the short term and also increase your chances of being happy and healthy over the long haul. Of course at the end of the day there is another tool that we all have at our disposal, and that is conscious choice.
To some extent, you could argue that we can simply choose to feel good. That we can choose to be happy.
In that vein I think that attitude is important and it can be a very powerful element of feeling great. For example saying something as simple as “I don’t feel good” when you are sick has been shown to raise your chances of staying sick. In a similar way, people who are struggling with cancer and other chronic, debilitating diseases have been shown to improve their chances of recovering by simply having a more positive outlook.
But we can’t always totally control what we think even if we have a lot of control over the interpretation of our thoughts. With that being said, there are a few tips that will help you to be aware of how you think and how you act in order to ultimately feel great – or at least better – than you do now.
Tip # 1: Celebrate good times like it’s going out of style
This isn’t just a tip that I made up to give people an excuse to party. Nope, it’s actually backed up by real evidence. The truth is the studies have shown that when you focus on the positive and are really expressive about doing so, you feel better and that great feeling lasts longer.
If you get a good grade on your college exam and then you go out and have a couple of beers to celebrate and really enjoy the accomplishment, your brain and body will bask in that positivity longer and it will likely become overpowering (in a good way).
You’ll enjoy yourself more in the moment and that feeling will last.
Another reason that really being exuberant and getting excited about positive events is good is that it causes your brain to let go of a lot of your negative emotions because the positive thoughts become so powerful. Your brain can only process so much – especially when it comes to emotions – and when you’re spilling over with happiness, there isn’t a whole lot of room for sadness.
Another thing to realize is that celebrating with others has a much more substantial impact on how happy you will feel.
And last but not least, don’t engage in analytical thinking unless you have to. While it’s ok and sometimes useful to do so to think your way out of a funk, it can also be bad. Particularly it’s no good if it prevents you from enjoying a positive moment that you should be celebrating because it can dampen your mood by causing you to doubt your happiness.
Tip # 2: But Don’t Force Yourself to Be All Sunshine and Rainbows
Yep, this tip is exactly what it sounds like. I know it sounds like I’m contradicting Tip # 1, but believe it or not I’m suggesting that positive thinking can be bad.
Why the long face?
Well, first of all, let me clarify. I’m not saying that positive thinking is bad per say, I’m just saying that you need to do it the right way.
Here’s the deal.
There are some hazards to positive thinking.
I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Let me elaborate.
Social psychologist Norbert Schwartz from the University of Michigan has done research on the way we think positively and he’s come to the conclusion that positive thinking has to be done correctly.
For instance, when he asked students to remember 12 positive life events from their past, many of them had an easy time recalling two or three and could get to six or seven if they tried, but ultimately had a lot of trouble getting to 12.
The problem with this was that when people start to think that they can’t remember enough positive memories then they run the risk of thinking that there were not enough positive events to remember in the first place, and they get depressed.
Pretty crazy, right?
The moral here is that counting your blessings isn’t always a good thing.
Now, there’s more though. The flip side is true as well. When the same exercise was used and people were asked to remember negative events from their past they had an equal amount of difficulty. It turns out in this case thinking bad thoughts was actually helpful because the peoples’ perception that there must not have been a lot of negative thoughts in the first place made them happy.
It’s all about interpretation.
The advice here is that when trying to feel good, focus on a few positive things but don’t try to think of a bunch. And when trying to think about all the crappy events from your past and you find you have trouble, be content with the thought that there weren’t many.
Tip # 3: Get Rid of “Before and After” Thinking
Another study by the above-mentioned Schwartz was done where he asked a group of college students to think about a positive event that happened in the past, before they came to college. He then asked a second group to think about a negative event that happened before they went to university.
The results were counterintuitive but they illustrate that positive thinking can be hazardous if done incorrectly.
Here’s what happened:
The students who thought of the positive events were actually less happy than the students who thought of negative events because they became nostalgic about the past and began to not appreciate – or even resent – their present situation. On the contrary the students who thought about the negative events were happy because the perceived those events to be part of their past life and they made their current present situation seem that much more desirable.
It’s not that thinking about positive events from your past is bad and negative events are good. It’s more about the fact that people identified the events as having happened in the past. They broke up their life into two discrete phases, a sort of “that was then, this is now” type of view.
Thinking about positive events as part of your current life or self can really help you to feel good and limit your chances of getting down. On the opposite hand, thinking about negative events that happened in the past as happening in the past is actually useful because it allows you to disconnect from those events and not carry them around as part of your current self if you so choose.
Finally, another way to feel good that avoids “before and after” thinking is to focus on good things happening in your current life that hadn’t happened in a previous stage of your life.
To Summarize:
Feeling good is all about interpretation. Think about how you think about things. Don’t believe that you should be thinking this or that or that your life isn’t good enough. Focus on the positive but don’t forget the negative. Don’t dwell on the past unless it’s to briefly recall all of the negative crap you’ve left behind. Think about the positive things in your life now and realize that the positive things from your past are still a part of your being today. And above all, celebrate the good times!
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In nabbing the lead role playing the God of Thunder in the summer blockbuster Thor, Chris Hemsworth had some pretty big shoes to fill. The actor had the challenging task of packing on over twenty pounds of muscle to model his physique after a giant muscular god. Not an easy task.
Before starring in Thor, the Australian born actor had minor roles in films and tv programs but wasn’t known for his physique. His pre-Thor pics show a lean, fit guy who had slightly above average sized muscles. It was a far cry from the large, muscled being he plays in the latest action hit. But Chris tackled the challenge head on, working out with intensity and consistency and including the proper diet to build the new and improved Chris Hemsworth Thor body. And he didn’t just reach his goal. The leading man actually put on too much muscle and overshot the mark. He actually had to slim down just prior to filming because he no longer fit into his custom tailored Chris Hemsworth Thor costume.
As you can see from the photos, he was able to add slabs of muscle to his frame, while still staying ultra lean. A big part of this may have been his special Thor workout, which was designed to help him add considerable lean muscle mass. At the same time, however, you have to consider that the Chris Hemsworth diet was spot on as well. Another thing to realize is that the actor’s body shape prior to bulking up for Thor may have actually helped him get as big as he did. This is because when you’re thin and ultra lean, your body is in prime condition to build new muscle without adding much fat if you follow the right type of workout routine and eat the right types of foods.
So, for most people reading this (at least the fellas) the question is how can I get a body like Chris Hemsworth?
What did he do specifically to transform his body and how can I do the same?
I’ll get to that in a second. But first lemme explain a few of the principles behind the workout – a few things you need to keep in mind. (As I noted in the Cristiano Ronaldo Workout, when you’re trying to mold your body to look a certain way, you have to pay special attention and only focus on doing the things that help you achieve that look. You have to let go of anything that doesn’t help the process along and especially forget all of the stuff that could get in the way, i.e. playing sports to exhaustion, not eating right, not sleeping enough, etc.).
First and foremost to build a bodybuilder esque physique like the one Chris Hemsworth did for Thor you have recognize the goal. It’s to build muscle. (and stay lean doing it). That’s it and that’s all.
What this means is that if there is an activity that you enjoy doing that doesn’t contribute to building muscle then don’t do it. Again, I alluded to this in the Cristiano Ronaldo Workout. I said that just because Ronaldo plays a lot of soccer doesn’t necessarily mean you have to play a lot of soccer if you simply want to look like him.
So, the point here is that the main goal is to train your muscles. Since Chris Hemsworth isn’t an athlete, we don’t really need to train specific movement patterns or anything like that. No one reading this is likely going out to play tight end for the New York Giants. You just want to look like you do.
Now, keep in mind that Chris Hemsworth never touched a weight before filming Thor. That’s right, he never lifted weights! This is actually great news for most people because what it tells us is that (unless the actor was simply a genetic freak) if you’re pretty lean and thin to begin with, eating right and throwing weight lifting into your routine (done right) could, quite possibly, turn you into a superhero. It’s worth a shot, right?
With that being said best type of exercise routine for most people, whether they’ve been lifting weights for very long or not would probably be a body part split routine. It worked for this star so it will likely work for you as well. This is a routine where you typically lift weights between 4 and 6 times per week, exercising a different muscle group each time. The idea is that because you are essentially isolating each muscle region each time you hit the weights, you are able to stress each individual muscle group more (while also giving it more time to recover between sessions) so you will grow bigger and stronger – with good overall development and proportions.
Left: Chris before ever lifting weights - Right: Chris after a few months of lifting for Thor
So I’ll get to the workout (and some diet guidelines) in a second but before doing so let me just lay out some of the logic behind the workout approach and explain some of the principles that make it a fail proof way to achieve a big ripped physique!
Most of the workouts in this routine will either include strength or cardiovascular training. Here are the reasons behind each type of training:
*Body Part Split Weight Training:
- Builds muscle
- Improves myogenic tone (muscle tone)
- Increases EPOC (post-exercise oxygen consumption)
- Creates a favorable hormonal environment (HGH, Insulin-like Growth Factor, and Testosterone levels are optimized )
- Focuses on a variety of different types of exercises to maximize balanced, aesthetic muscle development (aka having a nice body)
*Cardiovascular Training:
- Burn extra calories
- Increase metabolic rate
- Improve strength training performance via VO2Max improvements as well as other adaptations
** Both of these types of training also improve insulin sensitivity, which allows your body to build muscle and burn fat more efficiently.
There are some general rules that this particular routine follows. Some of these rules tend to hold true in the majority of other programs as well. A few of the general guidelines used to create these workouts are the following:
1. Bigger muscle groups get worked in the beginning of the workout.
2. Compound movements (multi-joint movements) are most effective for adding muscle mass, burning fat, and improving athleticism. They make up the brunt of the exercises in this routine. They should be done before isolation movements. For example, rows would be performed before bicep curls.
3. Dynamic or power movements should be placed in the beginning of the workout. As a general rule, the exercises that involve more central nervous system energy come first in workouts. There aren’t many of these movements in this workout, but the rule still applies when necessary.
4. Strength and Hypertrophy exercises should be placed in the beginning to middle of the workout.
5. Endurance, stamina and fat loss exercises/activites should be placed in the middle to end of the workout.
6. Close-Chain movements are opted for over open-chain movements. (Close-Chain movements are exercises in which the end segment of the exercise limb is fixed, or the end is supporting the weight. Most compound exercises are closed chain movements) Close-Chain movements are move advantageous because they provide more core and synergist/ancillary muscle activation.
7. Training opposing muscle groups back to allows the body to increase the amount of work done in the same amount of time (density, intensity) by limited localized muscle fatigue. For instance, training the chest muscles directly before the upper back muscles improves can improve strength in each area, thus allowing you to work harder. This is actually an old technique that Arnold Schwarzenegger and other classic bodybuilders used to develop their perfect physiques.
A few notes:
* This routine includes 6 resistance style workouts per week that allow you to work each muscle group on two separate workouts each week. If you are a beginner, then this level of frequency and training volume can help you grow. At the same time, more advanced trainees trying this workout may find that (if it’s more than they’re used to) this style of training will shock your body into growing and developing further (as long as you allow for recovery between sessions)
* If six days per week begins to get too tough, try eliminating one arm day from the schedule before eliminating other days. This routine is meant to last 12 weeks so if your lifestyle is not too demanding, you may be able to continue with six days on most weeks as long as you get enough rest.
* This workout is designed primarily for those who want to add muscle mass and body weight. If you do not want to add body weight in the range of 15-30 pounds then simply watch your overall calorie consumption, and be particularly aware of carbohydrate intake. If you are more concerned with adding some lean mass but not “bulking up” or adding any additional fat, try consuming carbs only doing breakfast and before and after your workouts. The workout below only includes two cardio days per week, but that can be increased to 3 or 4 if you feel as though you need another strategy to ward off fat gain.
Now that you understand some of the basic rules used to create the workout as well as why you need to do each type of training (cardiovascular and strength training) to get a Hemsworth-esque physique, without further a dieu, here is the routine, seperated into daily workouts:
*Peform the following exercises in order, sticking to the prescribed reps, rest, and weight: 3 sets of each exercise doing 4-6 reps on the first 2 sets and 12 reps on the 3rd and final set. Take 1-2 minutes rest between sets.
Chris Hemsworth Workout Day 1
Body Part Split Routine: Chest & Back
(perform a thorough total-body warmup prior to any of the following exercises)
1. Barbell Bent Over Row
2. Incline Bench Press
3. Pull Ups (with extra weight if possible)
4. Flat Bench Press
5. Prone Double Arm Dumbbell Row
6. Dumbbell Chest Fly
Cardiovascular Training: None on this day
* Eat and Rest
Chris Hemsworth Workout Day 2
Body Part Split: Arms & Delts
1. Barbell Shoulder Press
2. Dumbbell Lateral Raise
3. Barbell Bicep Curls
4. Skullcrushers (aka lying tricep extensions)
5. Incline Bicep Curls
6. Seated One Arm Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
7. Standard Dumbbell Bicep Curls
8. Standing Overhead Cable Tricep Extensions
Cardiovascular Training
Steady state (moderate pace) cardio performed for 30-40 minutes doing an activity of your choice (treadmill, bike, ellyptical, swimming, hiking, jogging)
Chris Hemsworth Workout Day 3
Body Part Split: Legs & Abs
1. Barbell Squat
2. Barbell Deadlift
3. One legged step ups
4. Walking Lunges
5. Roman Chair Leg Raises
6. Weighted Decline Bench Cruch
Cardiovascular Training: None on this day
Chris Hemsworth Workout Day 4
Body Part Split: Chest & Back
1. Dumbbell Chest Press
2. Y Chest Supported Flys
3. Dumbbell Incline Chest Press
4. Lat Pulldown
Cardiovascular Training: None on this day
Chris Hemsworth Workout Day 5
Body Part Split: Arms & Delts
1. Barbell Shoulder Press
2. Dumbbell Lateral Raise
3. Barbell Bicep Curls
4. Skullcrushers (aka lying tricep extensions)
5. Incline Bicep Curls
6. Seated One Arm Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
7. Standard Dumbbell Bicep Curls
8. Standing Overhead Cable Tricep Extensions
Cardiovascular Training
Steady state (moderate pace) cardio performed for 30-40 minutes doing an activity of your choice (treadmill, bike, ellyptical, swimming, hiking, jogging)
Chris Hemsworth Workout Day 6
Body Part Split: Legs & Abs
1. Plate loaded Leg Press Machine
2. Hack Squat or Selectorized Leg Press
3. Reverse Lunges with Weight
4. Leg Extensions (machine)
5. Roman Chair Leg Raises
6. Weighted Decline Bench Cruch
Cardiovascular Training: None on this day
Ok, so not too tricky, right? The next question in your mind though is probably what did he eat? and, what should my diet look like if I want to look like Chris Hemsworth? Let’s break it down…
The Chris Hemsworth Diet
So, the working out is the tough part, but eating right is still very important if you want to become a mountain of muscle. A lot of people think that if they’re lifting heavy and trying to “bulk up” that they can cheat on their diet and eat whatever they want since more calories mean more size. While this is true to some extent, you still want to watch what you eat because even though you are eating more total calories, the cleaner those calories are, the more total muscle you’ll end up putting on. This translates to a better looking body. You’ll look bigger, be bigger, and be healthier to boot.
So what should you do?
I’ll give you the skinny on what the actor did diet wise and how you can do the same. To keep it simple though, I’ll just lay out some guidelines that you can use to get there. I find these are typically better than specific recommendations since everyone is different and using more general strategies (that you can tweak as needed) works for most people. (for private nutrition/workout coaching where I give you specific formulas based on your body type and goals you can email me at info@mylifemybody.com)
So without further delay, here’s the lowdown:
1. The actor ate a lot of food, probably 500-1500 more calories than he was used to. Increasing your overall calorie intake is one of the first things most people have to do.
2. He also ate a lot more protein. Protein is the primary building block of muscle tissue. So yea, it’s important. Shoot for one gram per pound of body weight per day. Try to get it from lean healthy meats, legumes, or protein powders.
3. Getting most of your carbs from fruits and vegetables will allow your body to have more energy with minimal fat gain while adding muscle. This is what Chris did, using a modified Paleo diet approach.
4. Focus on taking in your carbs at breakfast and before and after your workouts with minimal amounts of carbs consumed later in the day. If you are extra skinny or have trouble gaining weight you may benefit from eating more carbs and consuming them throughout the day. Also focus on healthy fats such as olive oil, peanut butter, and almond butter especially if you’re a hard gainer.
5. Drink a lot of water and get plenty of rest. This is when your body recovers and your muscles grow!
* For some individuals certain dietary supplements may be helpful. Explore our site for articles on muscle building nutritional supplements and always check back for new articles on nutrition, supplementation, and training!
There you have it, the Chris Hemsworth Workout! Stick with this routine for 12 weeks to and follow a sensible diet in order to achieve maximum results. Also keep in mind that recovery is just as important as nutrition and training.
For some more in depth info on this workout check out my youtube video series on the chris hemsworth workout below – sorry for the bad sound quality.
Chris Hemsworth Workout Part 1 (of 4)
Any questions or comments can be left in the comments section below. You can also contact me directly at info@mylifemybody.com.
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