Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.

Before we get into any exercises, sets, reps etc. I would nee you to understand the following.

• In order to look awesome, you need to add muscle mass to your frame and gaining muscle mass without gaining strength is stupid. So our goal here is to get stronger, build muscle and lose fat.
• Building muscle without strength/resistance training is impossible. You can do hours and hours of cardio but that will only catabolize existing muscle making you flabby and weak. So a major portion of this program will be resistance training and the harder you work, the better your results.
• If any exercise for whatever reason makes you hurt, stop immediately and find an alternate exercise. No exercise is worth the risk of injury.
• You’ve got to lose enough fat to make your muscles visible and that is dictated by what goes into your pie hole. Your fat loss results depend largely on your adherence to the diet.

Step 1: Get your diet in place.

If you’re diet is a wreck, so are you. Do NOT email me about results or progression or plateaus till you get your diet straightened out.

• Don’t count calories. Eat till you’re satisfied but never till you’re full.
• Drop the junk. Drop the sugar. Drop the grains (wheat, rice, corn, quinoa etc.). Drop the legumes/beans (including lentils). Drop the starchy vegetables (carrots, peas, potatoes, yams etc.). Here is an easily printable cheat sheet.
• Reduce dairy consumption and to only full fat dairy.
• Cut the fruit out.
• Eat only fibrous low calorie vegetables for carbs (spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, asparagus etc.)
• Eat good fats liberally. Read this post for information about good and bad fats.
• Eat a lot of protein (preferably from natural sources). Ensure that you get at least 1gm/lbs of bodyweight.
• Skip breakfast and make lunch your first meal. Intermittent fasting is probably the best way to restrict calories.
• Eat a cheat meal every week. Plan for it. Relish it. Read this post to learn how to cheat without hurting your progress.
• If you are serious about reaching your goals, read this post to understand why diets fail.

Step 2: Learn the basic moves.

Realize that strength is a skill and the more you often you do a move, the better you get at it. Here are some beginner friendly videos which have exercise progressions. See where you fit and start there. I have clients who have gone from 0 to 10 push-ups in 3-4 weeks. If they can do it, you can do it.

• Push-up Progression – Video One ; Video Two
• Pull-up Progression – Video One; Video Two
• Squat Progression – Video One, Video Two
• Inverted Row Progression – Video [Thread a rope through your pull-up bar instead of the handles]
• Videos for other prescribed exercises are linked to the exercises below.

Step 3: Do the program

Note:

- There is no text book method for special populations in general. Why? Because these are “special” populations. So realize that your impediment (be it age or injury or health condition) might stop you from following any particular template and you might have to either do a lot of experimentation and find what works for you, or work with a trainer who knows his/her shit.

- I’ve designed this program with simple exercises to ensure that you get the most benefit while minimizing risk of injury. But remember that it is completely your responsibility to learn each exercise properly and execute it in a way that it benefits you and doesn’t hurt you.

- This is not the only workout program there is and

- While I always recommend doing every move with maximum intensity (unless explicitly mentioned), ‘maximum’ is very relative and varies greatly from person to person. So make it a point to give every rep your best effort and you will be a happy bunny.

- Though I denote exercises using their generic names (chin-up, bench dip, push-up etc.) you need to do the variation you are capable of doing at the recommended rep range (chair assisted chin-up, bent knee bench dip, knee push-up etc.).

- Please be sure to warm-up appropriately before each workout and stretch after each workout.

Monday:

• Walk or slow bike 60 sec.
• Run or bike as fast as you can for 15 sec.
• Repeat this for a total of 10 rounds [Workout time: 13 min]

Tuesday:

• Do 1 set of max pushups. Note down your number.
• Rest 1 min.
• Do 1 set of max chin-ups/pull-ups. Note down your number.
• Rest 1 min.
• Bear walk for 30 meters
• Rest 1 min.
• Continuous jumping jacks for 1 min.
• Rest 1 min.
• Repeat for a total of 3 rounds [Workout time: ~ 20 min]

Note: Once you are able to do 12 reps of an exercise using your current variation move to the next variation and work towards getting 12 reps in that variation and so on. Once you are able to do more than 10 chin-ups you can move on to the workouts listed in How To Look Awesome Naked – A Step-By-Step Guide

Wednesday:

• Rest. Spend time with family/friends. Eat clean. Eat less. Chill out.

Thursday:

Do the following at moderate intensity i.e. you should be able to talk a clear sentence at point during the workout. The goal here is to not finish it quickly, but to do each rep properly with full range of motion.

• 30 total reps of Bodyweight Lunge (15/side)
• 20 total reps of Bird Dog (10/side)
• 20 reps of Groiners
• 20 reps of Superman
• 30 total reps of Reverse Woodchoppers [Use dumbbells or any item that suits your fitness level]
• 1 set of max Plank Hold
• Repeat this for a total of 2 rounds.

Friday:

• As many push-ups as you can in 30 seconds
• Rest 30 seconds
• As many squats as you can in 30 seconds
• Rest 30 seconds
• As many inverted rows as you can in 30 seconds
• Rest 30 seconds
• Repeat for a total of 5 rounds [workout time: 15 min]

Saturday:

• Do some form of yoga that you are comfortable with. Join a class or just do 20-30 sun salutations.

Or

• Cover 5k by foot – If you can run it great, if not walk it or walk some and run some. Just complete it.
• Spend 10-15 min doing some mobility work. Eg. 10 min full body mobility sequence.

Sunday:

• Rest. Stay active. Go for a little hike. Do some chores around the house. Eat less. Chill out.

Following weeks…

• Repeat the workouts until you master each variation of each exercise, especially the push-up, pull-up and squat.
• Feel free to substitute exercises and learn more skills as you progress.
• Find an activity or sport that excites you and do it once or twice a week for a couple of months. This could be yoga or hiking or squash or swimming or whatever else that interests you.

If you need to make a change towards the good and aren’t sure when, where and how to start your journey, here you have it – A simple and enjoyable way for any beginner, young or old, to go from fat, unfit, old and/or weak to strong, lean, healthy and just plain awesome!

And if you are too fit for such basic stuff, I’m sure you have an overweight friend or an old parent who you’d like to have around for longer. Please share via Facebook, Twitter, E-mail or the million other communication channels that exist.