You see my point? Why is the glass always half empty and not half full?

What is an optimal vegetarian diet?

Nutrition is nothing more than fueling yourself with nutrients. While there are moral, religious and preferential winds that influence one’s nutritional path, a good diet (and by that I mean the food you eat on a daily basis for any significant amount of time) should focus more on ‘what is needed’ than on ‘what shouldn’t be eaten’. Talking about the vegetarian diet, if you have made the choice (or have been forced to make the choice, as in most cases) to remove meat and meat products from your diet, you better find a nutritionally equivalent if you desire to live without nutritional deficiencies.

In the case of the current Indian vegetarian diet (which is possibly the only case where people are born as vegetarians and have a really hard time even considering starting to eat meat or even eggs for that matter), a replacement does exist – grains. While grains fill in the gaps (physically) and calorically, they are in no way nutritionally equivalent to meat, seafood and eggs.

Make no mistake – I’m not even hinting that all meat inclusive diets are optimal or even marginally superior to vegetarian diets. Enough junk meat and meat products are available and most people find themselves eating plenty of crappy meat/meat products that health and nutrition are not anywhere close. But when one does make an attempt to start eating real food, the vegetarians face more of a challenge than the rest.

And if you’re wondering, this applies to me too. I live in India now which is more of a vegetarian society than anything else. Even meat eaters (affectionately called “NV” or non-vigitarians) are nothing more than vegetarians who eat a little  meat. That and the fact that quality meat is not easily available, forces me to eat a vegetarian diet for the most part.

So then the question is – what is an optimal vegetarian diet? And, not surprisingly, the answer to this question is the same as for the question – what is an optimal diet? An optimal diet (vegetarian or not) is one that provides the consumer with all the nutrients required for optimal functioning.

Focusing on the half that is full

All that said, an optimal vegetarian diet should…

• Include plenty of vegetables, especially spinach and other greens since they are abundant in Vitamin K, Vitamin A and magnesium. While this is a rule that applies to both vegetarians and meat eaters alike, it needs to be more prominent in a vegetarian diet for the reason that since most vegetarian diets are dominated by grains, vegetables are almost non-existent. Most folks tend to eat a meal of rice/wheat with some form gravy and a tiny bit of vegetables and end up neglecting vegetables. Read this article about how the Indian vegetarian diet contains no vegetables!

• Include a significant amount of fermented foods, especially dairy due to their richness in Vitamin B12. Fermented foods help by introducing beneficial bacteria into our gut (probiotics) and adding in such bacteria has shown to be extremely beneficial to health. Relief from lactose intolerance, protection against colon cancer, reduction in IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and urinogenital infection severity and frequency are some of the benefits. Also, vitamins available in foods are more readily available when the gut contains a healthy dose of beneficial bacteria. Whole milk yogurt/curd, natural aged cheeses, kefir, natto and tempeh are excellent choices for fermented vegetarian foods (provided they are made from top quality milk/soy beans).

• Be rich in saturated fat. If you’re concerned/confused about saturated fat and its health consequences, read my article The Saturated Fat Scam which talks in length about why saturated fat isn’t harmful but abundantly healthy. Ghee, butter, coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut in any other form are foods that feature right at the top of the list of healthiest foods.

• Include whole eggs. I’ve said this a million times and I will say it again – eggs are as awesome as awesome can get from a health perspective. Egg yolks are one of the healthiest foods anyone (especially vegetarians) can eat. Eggs yolks contain choline which is extremely critical for the body’s proper functioning, lutein which saves eyesight, contains essential fatty acids and healthy dose of cholesterol which, again, is a substance that is absolutely required for the body to function smoothly. Read this article by Arvind Ashok – Eat that yolk! – that talks plenty more about why you should eat whole eggs. And sorry, while the lack of protein due to an egg-less diet can be compensated for in many ways, I don’t have a nutritional substitute for eggs (especially yolks).

• Supplement with fish oil. Fish oil is magic! It is rich in EPA & DHA (the important omega 3 fatty acids that you don’t get from flax seeds or walnuts) and Vitamins A and D and has health benefits ranging from protecting against cardiovascular diseases to protection against cancer to much improved joint health to protection against alzheimer’s and much more. I’ve written about this in the past and you can read this article to understand how beneficial fish oil truly is. While it is not in anyway a supplement, from a vegetarian’s perspective, it is best considered a medicine and gulped!

• Obviously be devoid of allergens like gluten, industrially processed vegetable and seeds oils, preservatives, artificial sweeteners and sugars.

• Obviously not be dependent on nutritionally inferior foods like grains.

So what might such a vegetarian diet look like?

Sample meal plan

For someone who is ~ 70 kg the following should satisfy pretty much all nutritional needs.

Breakfast

• 1 cup whole milk (maybe coffee/tea) with 1 tsp sugar/honey

• 2-3 idlies/dosas (or idiyappam or 1 cup poha/aval/white rice) with 3-4 tbls coconut chutney and 2 tsp ghee

• 2-3 whole eggs with 30g cheese and 1 cup vegetables (Scrambled, omelet, sunny side up, baked, boiled, curry etc etc!)

• 1-2 tsp cod liver oil

Lunch

• 1 cup rice

• 2 cups vegetables cooked in 1tbls coconut oil or ghee or butter

• 1 cup sambar or rasam or daal

• 1 cup yogurt

• 2 cups raw vegetables topped with 2 tsp olive oil/sesame oil (i.e. non lettuce real salad)

• 1 medium fruit

Dinner

• 2 cups vegetables cooked in 1tbls coconut oil or ghee or butter

• 1 cup daal or beans or pulses pressure cooked with simple vegetables, without oil and topped with 1-2 tsp olive oil/sesame oil

• 1 cup horsegram upma or sprouted pulses toasted with shredded coconut

• 1 cup whole milk yogurt or raita

• 1 medium fruit or a couple of dates or a square of dark chocolate.

Snack options

Firstly, snacks are unnecessary unless you’re actually trying to gain some weight. So snack only when absolutely required. That means, don’t look for something to munch just ‘cos you have nothing else to do. Snack if you’re unusually hungry between two meals or realize the next meal is too far away. Here are some awesome snack options which will keep you full and satisfied physically and nutritionally.

•  2 cups mixed vegetable raita (1 cup raw cut mixed vegetables like cucumber, carrot, spinach, green mango etc + 1 cup whole milk yogurt + seasonings

• 1 tender coconut or 1 cup salt lassi/lassi and a small fruit

• Fruit & veg bowl – Cut up avocado, raw green mango, onions, carrots, banana stem & tomato. Top with some olive oil, lemon juice, salt and spice.

• Flavored paneer cubes – Mix up a bunch of spices you like and toss the cubed paneer (like a dry rub) and pan fry using ghee for 2-3 min per side.

• Mix up  10-15 chopped nuts, couple tablespoons of fresh shredded coconut, a tablespoon of raisins, pinch of salt and pepper

• Natural whey protein powder mixed in one cup whole milk and a small fruit

• 30-40g cheese/tempeh with a cup of fresh fruit

Note: This is NOT a fat loss diet. This is meant to fix you health by fixing your gut and once you’re able to do that, well, fat loss is just a side effect of that good health you just achieved!

And just so we’re clear

• Organic vegetables and fruits are MUCH healthier than the regular ones.

• 1 cup = 240 ml. Anytime someone tells me ‘1 cup vegetables’ they’re talking about a cup so small you can fit in like one pea and anytime (the same) someone says ‘1 cup rice’ they’re talking about a barrel so big you can easily fit in a truck! So FYI, 1 cup = 240 ml irrespective of what is in it!

• If you weigh more or less, adjust accordingly.

• If you workout, add in a scoop or two of natural whey protein powder.

• If fat loss is the goal, eat starch only during the meal that is immediately post workout. On other meals, stick to vegetables, cheese, milk/yogurt, lentils and fruit and stop eating well before you’re full. The best foods to pull out of this plan (when looking to lose fat) are snacks, rice and fruit in that order.

• If you feel starved, eat more of the good stuff. Stay away from starch when you don’t need it.

• Depending on what your current nutritional deficiencies are and what diseases you suffer from presently, you will need different amounts of different foods. It is on you to figure that out.

So what do you think? Is this a template something you can stick to (80% of the time) for a lifetime? Are there more things you’d like on here? What else stops you from eating real food? Talk to me in the comments section!

Stay sane. Stay patient. Don’t be greedy for weight loss. Focus on food quality and you’ll give yourself the gift of lifelong health and fitness.

Peace out.

In March 2011, I got an email from this person…

Divya (October 2010)

… and it read -

Hello Raj!

Greetings from Sydney!  I came across your blog via the Jugalbandi blog, and was very impressed with your own story, the diabetic client’s story and so on.  Needed some advice, and perhaps you can help!

I am an almost 40 year old South Indian living in Sydney. I am currently a stay at home mom with  a  one year old daughter. I have always been overweight (obese per the BMI index calculations), although no noted medical problems.  I have had a typical sedentary lifestyle being in IT.  I am a staunch  vegetarian (no eggs, avoid cheeses that are made with rennet etc.) I do however love my milk, curds, ghee, paneer etc!

About 3 weeks ago, I felt bloated, uncomfortable and without energy. I decided to change my lifestyle, and slowly began cutting down on grains, and started some moderate 30 min work outs - with the Biggest Loser XBOX game.

Last week my med report showed  5.8 on the Total/ HDL Ratio. and the GP’s suggestion was ” get some cardio exercises”  and “watch your diet – dont eat fried stuff”.  I do know that typically the only cholesterol source that I have is the dairy products, so the last one week I have done away with dairy, have negligible oils, but landed up not watching the grains!!

I know from your blog I have to go  ‘grain free’. However with cholesterol do I have to give up dairy as well, or will the grain free diet be enough to correct the imabalances?  I dont mind swallowing fish oil if I have to …but really cant eat eggs, salmon etc!    I want to stay fit as long as I live and have an active life …I dont want to run marathons etc!!  I lost two approx 3 kilos in 3 weeks and currently weigh 82kgs (my height is 5.2′), and want to get to 70 kilos for now.  Please advice!

Thanks  and Regards,

Divya

Realize that I get too many emails like this and 1) I’m not going to play doctor and give them specific health advice and 2) Is it worth my time? How many of these people are truly going to make a change? To want is one thing, but (as many of you know real well), to do is a whole different ball game. So I replied with general information that could possibly help her. Very similar to what you would find on my Nutrition Cheat Sheet.

I love helping people who are committed to make a change and I always give them a choice between…

Here is the general information I can give you. You can start here and continue making iterative improvements. I’ll help you as much as I can without getting into specific details.

and

If you are not comfortable doing this by yourself, then (and only then) we can consider an online consult.

I have certain rules when I work with people. I always urge people to make changes by themselves before ever getting into a consult with me since there is a lot one can do using the information that is on this site. Its never about the money. Its about the commitment. I don’t have enough time to consult with everyone who contacts me but I do have the information that could help pretty much everyone who reads this site. So why not use it right?

Anyways, after that initial email exchange, Divya kept sending me updates with plenty of questions and concerns. Soon, I realized she was not the usual ‘Help me now!!!‘ fat loss enthusiast but the unusual ‘I had a wake-up call and I’m ready to make a serious change!‘ fighter. Our interactions grew and we moved on from general recommendations to more specific recommendations as and when she shared more specific details with me. It had been 2-3 months since we started interacting and Divya was seeing some great results mainly because she was making every effort possible to eat real food irrespective of whether she was traveling or working or whatever. Only at this point (mid-May ’11) we got into a consult and we got into a more regimented approach with respect to nutrition and working out.

Slowly but steadily we worked our way up to 150+ emails. And this is what we have in the end after 10 months, here is what we have.

Part 1 – Some random emails

Exhibit A – An update email dated 8th June ’11

Hello Raj – Weighed and measured my self today.  Before starting the workouts my weight was already down to 71.65kilos!  I was 75kilos when I filled out your questionnaire.  Was thrilled to find that today’s reading was 70.40kilos!

Exhbit B – My reply

Divya,
You know why this is so awesome? Because on March 6th when you first wrote to me, you said…

“…I want to stay fit as long as I live and have an active life …I dont want to run marathons etc!!  I lost two approx 3 kilos in 3 weeks and currently weigh 82kgs (my height is 5.2′), and want to get to 70 kilos for now.  Please advice!

Thanks  and Regards,

Divya”

And in 3 months you have lost ~ 12 kg and reached your goal. All this while you slowly made changes to your diet and while you traveled to India and while you were a vegetarian! And guess what… you have just started consulting with me and your journey toward fitness has just begun!

Very very proud of you!

Keep pushing hard… its all going to be great!

Exhibit C – A not so unusual OMFG email dated 14th November ’11

Hi Raj!  I feel like I betrayed my good body!  I cooked and cooked and cooked for my little girls bday party. Sugar, Fat, Wheat, Deep frying etc etc! The food was a hit, and I did land up eating a lot – in the name of tasting etc. But my weight is down to 60.85 today!! Maybe yesterdays sins will catch up tomorrow!!

Exhibit D – My reply…

Youre good dude. Its your little ones bday and you had some fun. Chill out. Havent you realized that youre not the crash dieting type? You are all about lifestyle changes and thats why you are at 60kg today… far far away from where you started! You are adream client Divya! Dont feel bad about the party and please dont call it a sin. Food is nourishment for the most part and celebration rarely. Embrace it. You’re good dude… you’re good!

Smile… cos its all good!

Part 2 – Some random thoughts from Divya

Note: I wanted to keep this real (like I always do in this blog) and hence didn’t want to Divya to write a  testimonial or anything. I asked her to jot down whatever she could come up with when thinking about the last 10 months and this is what she had to say. Again, everything is quoted verbatim.

* I have always been overweight / obese. I have tried a few diets and programs earlier. It’s always been a losing battle that left me demoralized.   I never realized health and fat-loss  is so unbelievably simple until I started reading Raj’s blog, and began trying his approach. I am convinced that this lifestyle is one of the best, and I can very easily follow it for the rest of my life.

* Something clicked when I felt his no-nonsense approach. Fat-loss, not weight-loss. Nutrition, not skimpy diets. Minimal effective exercises, not boring cardios. Great Health, nor merely great looks.

* I was obese, had messed up cholesterol figures, sleep-deprived, stressed, irritable and totally unfit. I shot off a mail to Raj, not expecting him to reply to a random blog reader. To my pleasant surprise, with two days, I received not just a  reply, but  clear and concise guidance on what to eat, what to avoid, what supplements to take and how to begin exercising.

* I started feeling better, happier and healthier  almost immediately after I began following his advice on eating clean. What had always seemed a Herculean task, was suddenly so easy.  Weight seemed to fly off effortlessly right from week 1.

* Raj’s blog is a wealth of information for anybody.  His customized nutrition and exercise program even more effective. It  is easy to follow, and filled  with sample diets, exercise videos, inputs on what supplements to take and so on.  He understands where you are in life, and plans what’s just right for you, and directly addresses your goals.

* The nicest part -  he even tells you how to have your ice cream cheese cake sundae, without beating yourself up about it!

* Raj’s facebook group of likeminded people is huge support, in a world that still largely believes whole grains, low fat food, heaps of fruit  and expensive gym memberships are key to good health!

* I used to find simple day-to-day household work tiring. When I wasn’t at the office, I was zoned out on my bed in front of the TV, for entire weekends.  These days, I am nearly always out all day – Beaches, Parks, Swimming,Dancing, Music, having the time of my life with my toddler.  I am raring to go even after the part is over.

* Motivation  is key. It’s not enough just to want and wish to be fit. Healthy lifestyles cannot be just a choice. I believe it’s the only way to live.  I am in my 40s, and I found my motivation with the arrival of my little girl.   I HAVE TO BE physically and mentally young and healthy in order to be a good parent, for many many  more years to come

* Socializing, partying, travel is not so difficult, and becomes easier and easier once you learn how to choose the right foods within the options available.

* About Familial and social pressures – What I have realized, is that people who care about you, are happy with your choices when they see the good it’s doing you. The others who mock your choices or refuse to see reason  -  I couldn’t care less about!!

* Interactions with Raj – Always honest, factual, no-nonsense and very prompt!

Part 3 – The before and after

I work with so many overweight/obese folks and they all complain about how long a journey they have ahead of them. What they don’t realize is that a year or two of fighting hard results in 30 or 40 or even 50 more years of bliss!

Divya realized that and here she is showing us what (a short) one year of investing in health and fitness can do for you…

January 2011                                                         January 2012

Thank you Divya. Thank you for being awesome! You inspire me and I’m sure you will continue to inspire many many more folks who see, hear and learn about you!

Summary

So a 40 year old vegetarian (who doesn’t even eat eggs) was able to lose 60 lbs in 10 months and literally changed her life around. All this she did by just eating real food and working out 2-3 days/week for less than a total of 2.5 hours/week. I’m sure a lot of you eat ‘cleaner’ than she does and workout for much longer than she ever did, but there is something she did that you didn’t do – she stayed the course! Divya was very very consistent and lived true to her goals. And that is exactly why she is where she is today.

So I have nothing different to say other than stop complaining, quit whining, forget shortcuts, throw your excuses into the bin and start making a change already! But what do you have to say? Why are you not making the change? Is it motivation? Do you not have the resources? Can I help you in any other way? Let me know in the comments section.

Peace out.

But these strategies that are aimed at fast results don’t apply to everyone and things are different for the bigger guys and gals among us.

Firstly

I really don’t want to get into the humane and morality side of the argument so I’ll throw in some disclaimers up front.

- This is applicable to anyone who is overweight by 20 kg (45 lb) or more.

- I realize that you may have hormonal imbalances or a genetic disposition to be overweight/obese, but that doesn’t change anything that I’m going to say here.

- I’m in no way being mean. I’m just not being artificially nice (read: fake) like most people you meet possibly are. So if you can’t deal with reality delivered in a no-BS tone, maybe this isn’t for you.

- Be sure to talk to your doctor before making any of these changes ‘cos your health is going to get so much better and he/she may mistakenly take credit for it.

But you have to be nice, Raj!

Ask any of my clients and they’ll tell you I’m full of love… tough love, but love nevertheless. Make no mistake – I will do anything and everything possible to help you reach your goals, but never do anything that even closely resembles sugar coating and hand holding. Why? ‘Cos you’re not stupid! Like one would expect you to take action if you’re running out of money to feed your family, I expect you to take action if your health is deteriorating rapidly. You need reality and I never think twice before giving it to you.

But the truth is – I’m nice. Very very nice actually. I care about you enough to not let you fail. And I do that by being mean real. Don’t get it?

Listen. According to you success is making that number on the scale drop. According to me, success is making you aware of your true situation, feeding you with knowledge about fitness, nutrition and health, moving your thoughts from ‘Where is that bloody magic pill?!’ to ‘This needs work but I know can do this!’ and, finally, pointing you towards the path to sustainable long term health and, hence, happiness.

But you have to be ready to work, buddy!

As far as I’m concerned, there are two types of people – the type that does what it takes to reach their goals and the type that does whatever it takes to reach their goals.

If you are obese or grossly overweight, you better learn to become the type that does whatever it takes to reach your goals! Effort is not what you think it is and don’t ever come to me saying ‘I put in all the effort but I see no results!‘ until you have understood and done everything that is mentioned below.

- Your don’t want a diet. You don’t want fat loss. Diets and fat loss are for people who have a couple of kilos to shed. You want lifestyle changes. You want a transformation. A transformation is like going to school or getting a degree. It is in many ways a graduation! It requires time, consistency and effort. Working out well one day or eating one good meal is like doing well in one class test. It is worth a pat on the back but not much more. You need to be able to consistently do what(ever) is required for however long it is required for you to get to where you want to be.

- It isn’t going to be quick. I took you decades to get to where you are today. It will take you a significant amount of time to get to where you call yourself fit. Understand that and get ready for the ride. And don’t forget to pack a few thousand gallons of patience ‘cos you’re going to need all of it and possibly more.

- It isn’t going to be easy. You are going to be unhappy with either what you eat or how much you eat or both. Lunch will not be ‘Living life king size’ anymore. Choco-whatever-nonsense won’t feature in your life other than in the line “No choco-whatever-nonsense!”. But you had your fun all these years. Don’t try and make it easy. Harden the f*ck up and grab the bull by the horns!

- You need to eat right... today, next week, next month, next year and for the rest of your life.

- Stop constantly telling yourself that you’re making sacrifices or compromises. This is your new way of life… the healthy way of life. Don’t resist it. Embrace it. This is the right thing to do!

- Eat real food! Base 90% of your diet on vegetables, meat, eggs, fruits, lentils and dairy. Supplement with non-allergenic starches (potatoes, rice etc.) and stay the hell away from potentially allergenic foods! Special mention – stay away from wheat and any gluten containing foods. Move from vegetable and seed oils to ghee, coconut oil, lard and butter. But, irrespective of what oil you use, reduce oil consumption to ~ 2 tbls per day. Read more about why and how to eat real food here.

- Keep the math out of it. Food isn’t just about calories. Eat below appetite. But don’t starve yourself and don’t eat to fullness.

- Have a legit food log. Write down anything and everything that goes into your mouth. This will help you truly understand how much (and what) you actually eat.

- Learn to cook! Understand recipes and find multiple ways to cook per these guidelines. ‘Boring food’ is a phrase that doesn’t exist. It generally means ‘I don’t know how to cook’ but in my world it means ‘I lack commitment’.

- You need to stay active… today, next week, next month, next year and for the rest of your life.

- Move! This could mean regular walks or playing a sport or even zumba classes for all care. But find a place to move. Find a way to move. Find a reason to move.

- Add some form of resistance training. Push, pull, displace and carry some weight 2-3 days a week. No other details matter right now.

- Mobility is a need. A lot of overweight/obese people lose plenty of weight and find themselves (relatively) skinny but can’t seem to be able to move through their full/optimal range of motion which limits them majorly in performing optimally in life. If focused mobility work is not an option, incorporate functional mobility drills into your daily life (more on this later).

- You need to get your sleep… enough of it.

- I understand you’re busy. I understand you have a taxing job. I understand you want to stay up late and watch some TV. But do you understand that the lack of sleep is messing with your health? Do you understand that the lack of sleep is stopping you from progressing towards your goals?

- Chronic sleep deprivation (i.e. sleeping a little less over years) causes weight gain, irritability, hypertension, irregular heartbeat, increased stress hormone levels, compromises immunity etc! Read more about the importance of sleep here at The Harvard Medical School and here at Chris Kresser’s 9 Steps of Perfect Health.

- You need to reduce stress.

- You need to not be obsessive.Worrying constantly about numbers on the scale or whining about giving up that dessert or complaining about having to make changes, isn’t doing you any favors except making you chronically more stressed.

- Chronically elevated stress levels (due to lifestyle or work or obsession) stalls fat loss without doubt and puts you at a much higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, memory impairment and more. Read what the awesome Robert Sapolsky says about stress and it’s physiological effects and to understand more about how stress destroys you and how to keep it at bay, knock here at Chris Kresser’s door once again.

- Stay sane. Stay strong. Before you say ‘No I can’t eat that cake’ with puppy dog eyes that are ready to burst into tears, say no to pity and say ‘f*ck no’ to self-pity! The act of saying no to that cake is NOT a sacrifice. It is NOT a compromise. It is an act of awesomeness that is slowly but steadily helping you walk towards a goal that is larger than life!

The world is a mean messed up place filled with tasty junk food, cushy chairs and sedentary solace! I’m not complaining. I made it that. You made it that. And it is awesome the way it is as long as you’re not a total idiot. I’m just saying you need to be aware of this and be prepared to deal with every obstacle life throws at you.

I understand this is a lot of work. Definitely more work than any of your friends or colleagues or relatives would ever need to put in. But I want you to understand that you have a lot more to gain out of this!

Now get ready ‘cos this is a challenge and this absolutely calls for a fight! But whats life without a challenge? Whats life without a fight?

Peace out!

If you’re ready to work, let’s get this show on the road.

Why will this work?

Let make make this clear. This is not a scam. This is not the ‘Look and feel awesome in just 3 minutes a day’ bullshit. This is not ‘Why choose hard when easy works’ nonsense. This is legit. This involves progression. This involves hard work. And this works only if, brace yourself, you actually do it!

- In order to get strong you need to strength train. I’ve spoken about this in detail multiple times earlier, but I’ll summarize again. Getting strong(er) is achieved only by linear progression i.e. starting off with a load you are comfortable with and very gradually increasing that load in as small increments as possible. So irrespective of what the exercise or workout is, be sure to start off light ‘cos if you stick to the progression for even a couple of months, you will find yourself working with much more weight than when you started. Starting off too heavy will only result in ugly reps and plateaus too soon into the game.

- To lose fat, it isn’t enough that you momentarily burn some calories. To lose fat effectively and consistently, you need to rev up your basal metabolic rate. Traditional cardio doesn’t quite help with this (wrt efficiency and sustainability) and short duration high intensity conditioning work is the best way to achieve this. Read more about this here.

- To gain endurance you need to challenge your anaerobic (and aerobic) threshold and this is best done by improving work capacity which directly relates to improving endurance. In other words, by increasing the amount of work you can do in a given period of time, you increase your endurance, power generation capability, coordination, fatigue threshold etc. In some other words, endurance also known as sufferance is your ability to fight through stress (exercise) over a given period of time and the more sufferance you are capable of, the fitter you can be.

- And finally, to improve your mobility, you need to consistently move through the full range of motion during every rep of every set of every workout.

So can all this be done in a 15 minute workout? Definitely. But only if all aspects of strength, conditioning and mobility are taken into account when designing the workout.

Here is one way to do it.

Raj’s full body strength & conditioning sequence

Perform a standard 5 minute warm-up with squats, lunges, pushups, leg swings, arm circles etc. and then do as many rounds as possible of the following in 10 minutes ensuring each move is done flawlessly and each rep is solid and strong. No ugly reps. No grinding out reps.

• Clean two kettlebells.

• Do a thruster.

• Drop weights down and bear walk for 5-10 meters (preferably to a pullup bar).

• While still on all fours, do a pushup.

• Jump to a squat position.

• Do a jump squat and (if you are at a pullup bar) grab the bar and do a chest-to-bar pullup.

• Bear walk back to the kettlebells.

Here is the video.

Note:

• Each round took me about 30 seconds but as I got tired it took me much longer and I ended up with about 15 rounds in 10 minutes.

• I used 20kg KBs but feel free to use lighter/heavier ones based on your capability.

• Cleans, thrusters, squats and pullups are all awesome multi-joint compound moves that demand plenty of muscle usage thereby making the sequence extremely energy hungry.

• Technique is paramount irrespective of what the exercise is. So dedicate some time to learn technique if you aren’t familiar with these exercise.

• I’ll post more workouts which have a similar output i.e. strength and conditioning in under 15-20 min in the future. Be sure to mix and match.

• We workout at Bamboola Play School after coaching The Quad’s BootCamp. This was filmed at the end of my workout today and had to be done ASAP before the kids start pouring in. So pardon the lack of solidity at the start.

But I can’t do this because…

When you can come up with excuses to not walk on a daily basis, I’m sure you can come up with a bunch of excuses to not do this. So here are some modifications -

• If you don’t have kettlebells, use dumbbells or barbells. If you don’t have kettlebells or dumbbells or barbells, use sandbags. If you don’t have kettlebells or dumbbells or sandbags or barbells, use a backpack/school bag. The point is to lift a weight from the floor to your chest and then squat thrust is overhead. No equipment isn’t an excuse.

• If you don’t have a place to do pullups or can’t do pullups, well, don’t do them. Finish with a max height squat jump.

• If you don’t have enough space to do bear walks, do 20 mountain climbers instead.

• If you’re not ready to suffer through it, then get back to your treadmill and stay weak.

Peace out.

• Stop asking about fitness, fat loss and health on FaceBook forums filled with idiots who think they know nutriton ‘cos they eat and fitness ‘cos they flail around a couple of dumbbells.
• Shut up, open your mind and listen when I talk.

If thats cool, read on. If not, thank you for stopping by.

Linear Progression

Strength is the foundation of fitness. Period. The sooner you realize that and start working towards get stronger, the faster you will get to your goals. So then what is the fastest, safest and most effective way to get strong?

Arnold - Strong is awesome!

In the world of strength training, the world in which people are strong as hell and look awesome as heaven, the concept of linear progression is a very familiar concept. The awesomeness of this concept is that it applies equally to both the beginner who wants to look and perform well in life and to the fitness enthusiast who is looking to continue climbing up that fitness ladder.

Linear progression is, in all honesty, nothing more than continually progressing linearly. This refers to progress that is continuous and linear without any sharp jumps or drops during the (training) cycle. And if you understand the concept of linear progression, you will realize that it is the only sure shot way to fitness and success in general. Don’t believe me? Think about it for a second.

Why do you start school at grade 1 and make your way up to grade 12 before moving on to college/university? Why do you start off as a subordinate and slowly make your way to the managerial positions? Why are you asked to start off with the empty bar (wrt barbell work)?

The point is, linear progression works and it works so well that, as long as you stay the course, success is a given! Let me explain.

Have you heard of Milo? No. Not the sugary junk that is marketed as health food. I’m talking about Milo of Croton – a wrestler from the 6th century BC. Heard of him? If not, check this out. Definitely an interesting read. Among many of his feats of strength, the following is applicable to what we’re talking about.

Legends say he carried his own bronze statue to its place at Olympia, and once carried a four-year-old bull on his shoulders before slaughtering, roasting, and devouring it in one day. He was said to have achieved the feat of lifting the bull by starting in childhood, lifting and carrying a newborn calf and repeating the feat daily as it grew to maturity.

See what he did there? He started off by lifting and carrying around a newborn calf and then he continued to lift and carry around the same calf each and everyday. In a few years, the calf was no longer a cute little thing that weighed a few pounds but a fully grown monster bull that weighed as much as a dozen men! And, Milo, grew strong enough to lift and walk around with a fully grown bull!

Myth? Maybe. Maybe not. But the point is that you start with a load (resistance) that you can comfortably handle and every progressing day (or week), you increase the load by the smallest possible increment. Ideally, you want to increase the load in such small amounts that you hardly even notice the added resistance. That, my fine folks, is the holy grail of getting strong and there is no denying it!

What about beginners?

Here is a question for you – Before we get all fancy with loads and reps and increments and rest periods, can you control your own bodyweight? Are you strong enough to move your body under total control? If you said no, then read carefully.

Let me make this very clear.

• If you can’t do 25+ proper full ROM bodyweight squats, you have no business trying to squat a load or sitting at the leg press machine.
• If you can’t a 120+ sec plank you’re pretty far away from a 6-pack or washboard abs. Period.
• If you don’t have 25+ legit pushups (chest touches floor), the bench press station means nothing to you.
• If you don’t have a single pullup, you are only making yourself look like a douche curling those 25lb dumbbells.

I can go on and on, but I’m sure you get the message.

Folks, seriously – walk before you run. Bodyweight training before weighted training. As a general rule when you work with a particular weight, move on to the next weight, ONLY when you have truly dominated this weight!  So work up to a good number of reps of each bodyweight exercise before you even consider adding extra poundage or touching them machines.

How do you do that?

1. Simplify your training. Understand that a fitness program isn’t a compilation of a bunch of random fancy looking moves. Fitness is the capability to do things and there isn’t much things you can do if you haven’t mastered the basics. So instead of doing 30 different exercises for no sensible reason, focus on the very basic movements – squat, pushup, pullup and plank.

2. It might sound like common sense to learn to do something right before doing it over and over again, but common sense isn’t so common these days. So learn the right way to do these basic moves.

3. Once you have learnt the right way to do things, practice them! Strength is a skill and unless you practice strength (moves) over and over again, you’re never going to get good at it i.e. you’re never going to get stronger.

4. If you see that you’re not strong enough to perform the basic moves as is, look into beginner variations. Mark Sisson has some awesome videos that explain beginner progressions for the various basic moves. Check them out here - Squat, Plank, Pushup and Pullup.

5. Work towards satisfying the following requirements before adding any kind of weight to your movements.

• Squat – 25+ repetitions with perfect form
• Pushup – 25+ repetitions for men (5+ repetitions for women) with perfect form
• Pullup – 10+ repetitions for men (1+ repetitions for women) with perfect form
• Plank – 120 sec+ elbow plank

Be it the random trainer at your neighborhood gym or the extremely experienced CrossFit level 1 trainer or Mark Rippetoe himself. I don’t care who tells you what. The bottom line is – if you aren’t strong enough to satisfy the above requirements, you have absolutely no business doing anything other than these 4 basic movements.

I’m not a beginner anymore! What now?

If you don't know what this is and/or which book this is from, you're still a ranked beginner

So I’ll assume you laid the foundation as stated above and you’re now an advanced beginner or an intermediate i.e. someone who satisfies the above requirements and is aware of the proper technique to do the basic moves. Here is what you need to do.

1. Simplify your training. Choose a squat (back squat, front squat, KB squat etc.), a push (OH press, pushup, dip etc.), a pull (pullup, row, inverted row etc.), a hinge (KB swing, Rack-pulls , Deadlift etc.) and a isometric hold (plank, L-sit, L-hang etc.). Forget everything else. Seriously.

2. Do 2 sets of 5 reps of each of these moves every other day or 3 days a week. For eg. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Rest as required between sets.

3. Each progressing training session, increase the number of repetitions by 1. Once you get strong enough to perform 12 solid repetitions, increase the weight by the smallest possible increment. Continue progressing.

4. Eat slightly above appetite and sleep as much as you can.

5. Don’t do anything else. And by that I mean, don’t f*cking do anything else! No running on off days, no basketball in the evenings, no extra ‘weights’ at the gym, no more nonsense. More is not better. Better is better and it doesn’t get better than this.

What about women?

Yeah. What about women? Won’t we get big and bulky? Ummm no, you wont. Don’t believe me? Look at Neghar Fonooni. Is she big and bulky? Or is she strong and awesome? You tell me.

Neghar Fonooni – Strong is awesome!

How does she train? Well, here is a sample.

Summing up

Whether your goal is to get fit or look awesome or both, do what been said, and only whats been said, till you get strong enough to back squat 2 x BW (1.5 x BW for women), deadlift 2.5 x BW (1.75 x BW for women), do 15+ pullups (6+ for women) and hold a 3min plank.

And then we’ll talk. We’ll talk about variety and macros and six pack abs and training frequency and rest periods and tempo and what not. Until then, shut up, open your mind and listen when I talk.

Peace out.

My honest answer…

1. I only like to do stuff that makes sense.

2. I stay away from doing anything that is counter-productive.

3. My time is very valuable and I’d rather spend it on something I enjoy than on a stupid machine which spits out random numbers.

While such an answer sounds cool, it is of no good to anyone interested in the topic. So, in this post, I’ll try to be less of a smart-ass and actually explain why I recommend against ‘doing cardio’.

Before we get on with the post

Allow me to clarify a couple of things.

1. Most people “do cardio” in order to lose ‘weight’ and/or to improve their cardiovascular health. These people are, for the most part, found running on treadmills or dominating the EFX/stepper and are driven by numbers (calories burned, total time etc.) that appear on the screen. These people don’t really understand fitness and do it for the sake of doing it. These awesome peeps who believe in ‘ignorance is bliss’ are referred to as ‘cardio junkies’.

2. Runners or dancers or swimmers or cyclists who do what they do ‘cos they enjoy it and people who train towards endurance goals (triathlons etc.) are not considered cardio junkies and what they do isn’t considered ‘cardio’ but is considered training or enjoying an activity.

Doing cardio vs. working the cardiovascular system

You see, cardio, as it is affectionately called by bodybuilders and elliptical-loving-fatties alike, actually means any activity that works the cardiovascular system and anything that raises your heart rate, from skiing to sex, can be considered as “cardio”. The benefits of cardiovascular exercise, as normally proclaimed, are -

• The heart muscle develops more muscular walls and becomes stronger
• The heart beats at a slower rate when resting.
• The heart is able to squeeze a greater volume of blood out per contraction.
• Recovery after exercise is enhanced.
• The heart becomes more efficient (ie delivers more blood with less effort).
• The lungs become more efficient at delivering oxygen.
• Increased elasticity of the arteries thus improving circulation.
• Increased numbers of capillaries within muscles, improving circulation.
• Our blood volume increases enabling greater uptake and delivery of oxygen to our bodies.
• Blood Cholesterol Levels decrease.
• Endorphins may be released causing us to feel happier and healthier.
• Increased calorie expenditure and higher metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories).

While I agree that the effects of cardiovascular exercise are pretty awesome, I disagree that you need to “do cardio” to reap these benefits.

The thing is, the act of optimally working the cardiovascular system is extremely beneficial with respect to fat loss and cardiovascular health. No question about that. But, unfortunately, “doing cardio” the traditional way is not the optimal way to losing fat or improving cardiovascular health. If you have read my article, The Cardio Conundrum, you’d know why traditional cardio is ineffective and, actually, detrimental to both fat loss and cardiovascular health. If you haven’t read it, well, read it now. It is a simple read which will answer most, if not all, of your questions.

Adding sense to fitness – Strength training

While the benefits of strength training range from better bone mineral density to washboard abs, I like Rip’s reasoning to strength train…

Stronger people are just harder to kill.

This being the case, I think it is obvious that, in order to train completely and optimally towards fitness and health, one needs to work both the muscular and neuromuscular systems (strength training) and the cardiovascular system (cardio) in order to produce not just superior health, but also, the body of his/her dreams.

I know what you’re thinking -

So this means I need to strength train and do traditional cardio right? So how about I do resistance training 3 days a week and then spend 60-70 min on the treadmill/elliptical for the other 4 days? Should I do cardio first thing in the morning and strength training in the evening?

Stop the mind chatter and listen up!

Strength training is cardio!

While trying out new workouts is always fun, Arvind and I realized that, the constant effort to novelty resulted in lack of focus and too much time investment. So in order to restrict ourselves from drifting away from our personal goals we made a decision. We said all our workouts need to be completed within 40 mins + stretching. Warm-up was not an issue ‘cos we workout right after coaching the The Quad’s BootCamp.

So last morning, we set the timer to 40 mins and got to work. This is what I got done…

• Quick dynamic full-body warm-up & mobility work

• Weighted pullups: BW + 16 kg x 4
• Weighted pushups: BW + 34 kg x 8
• Squats jumps: BW x 11

• Weighted pullups: BW + 16 kg x 4
• Weighted pushups: BW + 34 kg x 8
• Squats jumps: BW x 11

• Weighted pullups: BW + 16 kg x 4
• Weighted pushups: BW + 34 kg x 6
• Squats jumps: BW x 11

• Weighted pullups: BW + 10 kg x 6
• Weighted pushups: BW + 34 kg x 10
• Squats jumps: BW x 11

• Weighted pullups: BW + 16 kg x 5
• Weighted pushups: BW + 34 kg x 12
• Squats jumps: BW x 11

• Sprints: 15 sec @ 90% intensity; 45 sec rest x 5

• Core work: 20 sec hollow hold, 20 sec rest x 8

• Close-grip chinups: BW x 12

We got all this done in 40 mins and we were real close to throwing up! Anyone who has strength trained will know how taxing a heavy set of squats or pullups or presses or pushups are and for those who haven’t, let’s just say, a death set can leave you gasping for breath and blacked out all at the same time. Not the only sign of a good workout, but a sign of pushing beyond limits and definitely an optimal, efficient and effective method of working the muscular, neuromuscular and cardiovascular systems.

So, from a cardio perspective, what really happens when you do a whole lot of heavy multi joint compound moves in a short period of time with minimal rest periods without ever going to failure? You crank up that heart rate acutely, let it recover and repeat this multiple times for the duration of the workout. In this particular case, I did it about 21 times. In other words, I had 21 intervals during which my heart rate was elevated to my max (i.e. 192 bpm or more) and then allowed to recover. In some other words, I had 21 short intervals of max effort and the same number of longer intervals of rest.

Sounds familiar? It should ‘cos this mechanism is the exact same as…

Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to near-maximum exertion, while the recovery periods may involve either complete rest or activity of lower intensity.

Why is this awesome? 

Because such a well structured training session as this is your one stop for all things fitness! Such workouts when performed at reasonable frequency…

1. Make you stronger with a higher metabolism, stronger bones, reduced risk of injury and much better body composition due to the focus on resistance training.

2. Produce better results with respect to fat loss and heart health since this is truly HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) which works the cardiovascular system better than traditional medium intensity cardio does.

3. Is time efficient since you get both strength training and cardio done at the same time and hence need lesser number of training sessions per week to get and stay fit.

4. Is more sustainable due to the limited time investment.

5. Is what awesome people do!

If fitness or fat loss or heart health or joint health is your goal, why waste time doing cardio and hurt yourself in the process, when there is a much more optimal and effective way to reach your goal? If you can get more bang for your buck, why not take it?

This, my fine folks, is why I recommend against cardio and why we do what we do at The Quad and why my clients get amazing results with under 3 hours of training per week!

Stay away from BS machines. Stay aware of true fitness.

Peace out.

If you said yes, read on ‘cos you’re about to surprise yourself with 4 weeks of effort. If you said no, don’t waste your time reading this. Please continue your eternal search for the magic pill.

- – - – - – - – - – x – - – - – - – - – -

You’re an intermediate if…

• You can comfortably perform 25+ legit pushups and 10+ solid pullups/chinups.
• You (at least) know what ‘linear progression’ means.
• You are aware of proper technique in most lifts and are capable of learning new moves fairly quickly.
• You have done one or more of my previous workouts.

You’re an enthusiastic beginner if…

• You understand you are a beginner and are ready to put in the work required to move up the fitness ladder.
• You have no ego and are open to modifying moves to suit your fitness level.
• You are not an idiot and are open to learning technique and fixing your movement patterns before jumping up in weight.
• You don’t hesitate to comment and ask for modifications and/or ways to work around your injuries, constraints etc.

Warm up

Do the following in as many sets as required. Take breaks as required. The point is to “warm-up”, so don’t over do it and get wasted.

Intermediates

• 100 Jumping jacks
• 40 Lunges (10/leg)
• 40 Squats
• 20 Broad jumps
• 60 Arm circles (30/side)
• 40 Pushups
• 60 Hinges

Beginners

• 60 Jumping jacks
• 20 Lunges (10/leg)
• 20 Squats
• 10 Broad jumps
• 60 Arm circles (30/side)
• 40 Knee-pushups
• 60 hinges

Workout 1

Intermediates

• Weighted jump squats: 5 sets of 8-12 reps (Goal is to use a weight that allows you to clear the ground comfortably for the entire set. No ugly reps.)
• Weighted pushups: 5 sets of 8-12 reps (Use a weight that allows you to push off the ground explosively for the entire set. No grinding out reps.)
• Chinups: 5 sets of max reps (but not going to failure in any set.)

Beginners

• Do only 3 sets per move.
• Modify. Do bodyweight squat jumps, do pushups or knee pushups instead of weighted ones and do let-me ins instead of chiups.

Workout 2

Intermediates

75 Weighted burpees (Rest as required. Explode in each pushup and each jump. No blurpees. Only solid strong burpees.)

Beginners

• Do 40-75 regular burpees based on your fitness level. If you can 10+ pushups, do 6-step-burpees, else stick to 4-step burpees.
• Explode in each pushup and each junp. No blurpees. Only solid strong burpees.

Workout 3

Intermediates

• One-arm clean and press: 15 sets of 2 reps per arm (Choose a dumbbell you can press only 5 times. Clean the dumbbell violently and press it twice. Drop, rest 30 sec and repeat on other arm.)
• High knees in place or wall sprints: 4 sets of 15 sec max intensity sets. (Get crazy with it! Nough said.)

Beginners

• Do the following instead of the clean & press – Choose a weight that you can press only 5 times. While maintaining a straight back, pick up the heavy dumbbell from the floor with both hands and bring it up to your chest. Press the weight twice overhead with both hands. Place the dumbbell back on the floor. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat this for a total of 15 times.

Notes

• Do these 3 workouts consistently for 4 weeks. Do them on alternate days ensuring you have at least 1 off day between two workout days. So a mon-wed-fri or a tue-thur-sat type schedule works well.
• Each week try to increase the weight you use by a reasonable about (~ 2kg) while still performing the move with good form.
• Eat real food. If your goal is to gain some mass, eat 3 good meals a day with at least one meal being above appetite. If your goal is to lose fat, eat 2 good meals a day skipping breakfast or 3  small meals a day with all meals being slightly below appetite.
• Bonus: Maintain a diet log and you’ll be surprised at how big an effect that has on your nutrition.

If you do these they way I have laid them out and eat real food, again, per the recommendations, you WILL see results. Period.

Peace out.

Swarna, was truly an amazing client. She trusted me, stayed the course, was open to making any and all changes that I recommended, very respectful of my time and, most importantly, a tiger when it came to implementation! Not once, and I repeat, not once, did she ever complain or whine about not being able to eat wheat or that she didn’t know how to make real food tasty or that the workouts were too intense or blah blah. In short, no excuses, no BS. All action, all results.

I know I say this about all my clients who see great results, but it is the fact! Stay true to your goals, trust your coach, don’t complain, don’t get greedy and look for shortcuts, don’t find ways to justify quitting, do the program AS IS, eat as told and results are inevitable! If you are indeed serious about your goals, be it fat loss or joint health or strength or performance, 6 months of watchful sensible eating and staying active is a breeze. And even better, what you get in return for 6 months of being diligent is just worth so much its hard to describe! Don’t believe? Ask Swarna… or Neha or this 61 yr old or any of my other clients who stayed the course.

OK. I’ll shut up now and let Swarna talk.

In one sentence if you want me to describe the effect of my nutrition/fitness session with Raj it is “Raj gave my life back”.

When I came across Raj’s blog my condition was thus:

• Excess fatigue attacks, which lead me to sleeping straight 18 hours.
• Severe joint paint which made me immobile. Knee pains as if I am 60 year old and not in 30s.
• Doctor diagnosing that my condition is mostly Fibromyalgia and referred to a neurologist and even though I know I was not depressed I was given anti depressant
• Flu like body pains
• Sever heartburn, stomach cramps
• Recurrent vertigo attacks
• Insomnia, trouble getting sleep and very less sleep of only 3 hours or so
• Neck and shoulder pain.
• Every day morning the possibility of facing the day was gloom. No energy, no stamina. Everyday living was a chore.
• No energy
• NO zeal for life
• Concentration level down in the dumps

Then I came across Raj’s blog. That was definitively my lucky day. I enrolled in Raj’s online fitness regime and within a month there were so many changes. Going of grain immediately solved my insomnia. Real food solved my chronic constipation and stomach cramps. Off sugar stopped vertigo attacks. I was about 11 pounds overweight, but within 3 months I lost 14 pounds, more than I bargained for, which is wonderful

Raj was very helpful throughout and answered questions and suggestions to help my health. I, being a lacto vegetarian brought up in India, never thought this, but found I was milk intolerant and thanks to raj for helping me to find this .

I feel much better these days…maybe I got rid of my fibromyalgia…if that is even possible…or at least I almost did it.

By cleaning up my food and adding stuff rarely on cheat meals I found that I am very intolerant to gluten, milk and vegetable oils. If I avoid those I am not just good but great

The workout routine has made me more energetic. No more severe overall body pain or neck pain or fatigue crashes. Very less pain these days and I am sure over the period of time I will conquer that too.  And as bonus my weight has also come down.

No pain reliever pills, no fatigue crashes, life is wonderful and my concentration level has rocketed high. For the first time, yesterday, I played soccer with my son! It was humongous achievement for me, because 4 months earlier getting out of bed during weekend was a big question.

Thanks Raj!

Swarna continues to follow my real food recommendations eating awesome wholesome meals with plenty of fat, carbs and protein. She is healthy, solid and still very curious and helpful, questioning, learning and contributing in our FB group.

Heres wishing Swarna awesome health and continued success in 2012!

Peace out.

Excuses are BS (yea yea, I know I’ve said this a million times before but if you’re getting a free training program out of me, you better sit through this). No one really puts any thought  before they come up with an excuse. Let me explain. Say you know you’re fat but you’re not doing anything about it. And one day someone asks you why you don’t workout and you instantly say…

Well, I never have the time. Work keeps me busy during the day and at night I need to blah blah.

But tell me this honestly – is this true? I mean, did you truly put any thought into this answer? Did you write down everything you do in a day from the time you wake up to the time you sleep? Did you honestly make an effort to find time to workout? Did you try to move things around a tiny bit to give yourself the time to take care of your body? Heck no! Why? ‘Cos if you did do these things, you would’ve absolutely found or made the time to workout.

Listen. 30-40 min is all you need to get a good workout and that works out to ~ 120 min per week. I refuse to believe that you’re swamped for the entire 10,080 minutes of the week that you can’t dedicate a paltry 1% of it to fitness. Sorry, you’re so full of BS if “no time” is your excuse.

That said, what can you do in 30-40 minutes that qualifies as a good workout?

Plan to create

Before we get to the specifics, here are some you-better-knows.

1. You don’t have to go to the gym to get a good workout. In fact, you don’t have to go anywhere to get a good workout. You can get a pretty darn awesome workout at home in your living room or bedroom or your garage or the patio.
2. You don’t need any machines or equipment to train. All you need is resistance and it doesn’t matter where this resistance comes from or how you generate it. If you have a body, you’re good to go.
3. You don’t need to do cardio. You can get all the cardiovascular benefit and more from resistance and interval training.
4. You don’t need to train more than 3 days a week to get and/or stay fit.

Now that you know better, here are a couple of things you need to do before actually creating a plan or working out.

1 – Find or make the time to workout! Stop kidding yourself. You can dedicate 40 mins every other day to workout. It doesn’t matter if this is in the morning, afternoon, even or night. Find that tiny window.

2 – Make training a part of your schedule. Not a ‘nice to do’, but a ‘to do’.

Create the plan

You (like most people) don’t do anything about your fitness ‘cos you don’t know what to do! Even the day you decide to workout, you walk into the gym without having the slightest idea of what to do and hence end up doing what everyone else there does or rely on a trainer to tell you what to do. And sadly for you, what everyone else is doing is nothing more than wasting time and money and what the trainer will have you do is not too different from that.

So, like how a new cook needs a good recipe to make a decent tasting dish, you need to create a training plan from a solid template to produce any kind of result. Here is how you do it.

On Monday, choose one each of a lower body move (squat, lunge, squat jump etc.), an upper body push (knee-pushups, pushups, pike presses, dips etc.), an upper body pull (pullups, inverted rows etc.) and a speed move (high knees, jumping jacks, box jumps etc). Do 50 perfect reps of the first 3 moves and 150 quick & clean reps of the last move. Do this is in as many sets as required resting as needed, but never go to completely failure. If this is too high a number, start with a number that you can complete in 30 minutes. From there, keep increasing the reps by 10% each week and try to complete in under 30 minutes each time. Keep progressing.

On Wednesday, either sprint or do wall sprints at max effort for 20 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat this for a total of 6 rounds. Next week, reduce the rest period to 25 seconds and increase total rounds by one. Keep progressing by reducing rest period and increasing number of rounds.

On Friday, do burpees! Learn to do perfect 6-step burpees and do as many of them as possible (with perfect form) in 10 minutes. It doesn’t matter how many you do. Note down your number and, next week, try to get more burpees in the same 10 minutes. Once you are able to get 100 perfect 6-step burpees in 10 minutes, move on to burpee pullups or double pushup burpees. If you can’t do 6-step burpees ‘cos you don’t have a pushup, start with 4-step burpees and work towards progressing to the 6-step version.

There you have it – a workout program that needs no equipment, no gym, no learning curve, demands less than 60 minutes per week and brutally effective!  If you are a beginner/intermediate and/or the kinds that finds excuses to get a workout in, this is your solution!

Remember – It isn’t about how complicated your program is. It is about how consistent you are at it. If you are sedentary/lazy/full of excuses right now, what harm can come from dedicating a total of 60 minutes per week for fitness? Seriously, what do you have to lose? Open your mind and try something new. Give it a shot!

Peace out.

And whats the best way to get past these struggles?

• Try something different.
• Get outside your comfort zone.
• Find something thats fun.
• Consider joining a group, so you stay motivated to reach your goal.

Or in other words, change the way you look at fitness!

In the coming weeks, I will be writing a bunch more about unconventional training methods, quick & effective training, creative equipmentless training and basically, ways to make working out interesting and sustainable. But until then, I hope this short video will keep you motivated to stay fit and prove to you that going into a gym to use machines isn’t the only way to train!

Please do share the video and help us spread the good word! Thanks a bunch.